Community & Guest List
Paul Lachelier is a sociologist, and founder and director of Learning Life, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit lab innovating education and citizen engagement. Learning Life’s flagship program, the Family Diplomacy Initiative, is developing a family form of citizen diplomacy to help democratize diplomacy. Paul holds a B.A. in sociology from Georgetown University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before founding Learning Life in 2012, he taught at Stetson, Harvard, Tufts and the University of Wisconsin. Paul’s writing, research and programmatic work focus on the intersection of democracy, culture and education. His writings have appeared in academic journals as well as popular media including the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Albuquerque Journal, and truthout.org. More at Paul’s Linkedin page and his website.
María is a 24 year old from Puerto Rico currently living in the DMV area. She always knew that social media was the key to helping small businesses thrive and grow but never got a chance to explore it. That’s why when she discovered Social Media Management she went after it and shortly after, launched SMS Media. She had a Bachelor's in Advertising and 2 years of experience as a Paid Ads Consultant. She is now the CEO & Founder of SMS Media, LLC, a social media management and coaching business for wedding vendors. She's passionate about helping wedding vendors save time, money, and stress & get booked out months in advance by enhancing their social media presence.
Noyan started his entrepreneurial journey during his university years. He has been interested in coding since childhood. He graduated in electronics engineering and is currently pursuing his MBA. He struggled with preparing too many presentations for student club meetings, school projects, and his prior startups. This led him to build Decktopus: the fastest presentation builder.
Nahamani Yisrael is an Organizational Development Consultant and Senior Webmaster at Nahamani.org. She obtained her BSBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio before launching her Consulting and Communications firm. Nahamani is a certified Ice House Entrepreneurship Program facilitator. She was featured as Natural Woman Magazine Top Ten Women of The Year 2017 and 100 Wise Women of Cincinnati in 2018. Nahamani serves on the Board of Directors for Bethany House Services and is active in the West End community.
I grew up in a small village outside the capital of India, where we had no running water, or electricity and didn't even have toilets - that's a story for another day but this was the beginning of my life. I moved to the US at age 12 and after college, I took up a job in the sciences that would make my parents happy. After some years of collecting courage, I quit my corporate job to pursue my passion - of which I had no idea! So I went out to find it and through many jobs and businesses I did. That's when GLYD was conceived.
and relationships forever."
Sean Douglas is a U.S. Air Force Veteran, TEDx Speaker, Master Resilience Implementer, Suicide Awareness Trainer, Performance Enhancement Expert, International Radio Show Host, and Author. His WHY is he's a suicide survivor who hit rock bottom with no purpose or passion. He believes that you were created for a purpose, and once you unlock your true potential, you will elevate your life, which is why he founded The Success Corps. In a highly interactive and engaging environment, utilizing online mentoring sessions and face to face workshops, Sean provides a framework for success to Millennials up to 50-year-old Professionals, Military Veterans, Speakers, Entrepreneurs, and Business Owners that reduces anxiety, stress, and depression in your personal and professional life.
Darin Gull, General Manager and President of TRACI.net, Inc. in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He has kept TRACI.net at the forefront of the communications industry, as one of South Florida’s leaders in Hosted PBX, Unified Communications, SIP, Cloud, and Data solutions. Darin actively fuels the vision and direction of the company while managing partners, vendors, and key client relationships. He has several industry certifications and a B.S. in Marketing and Small Business Management from Florida Atlantic University.
natural way."
Eric has spent his career in entrepreneurial and leadership roles, including as chairman and CEO of Sensitech, a venture-backed business twice named to the Inc. 500 before being acquired by Carrier Corporation. Eric served as a CEO-partner with Ascent Ventures, as executive chairman of HubCast, and on the board of advisers of the Avedis Zildjian Company. His nonprofit work includes chairing the Gettysburg Foundation and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He is co-author of "Food Foolish: The Hidden Connection Between Food Waste, Hunger, and Climate Change," and "King Philip's War: The History and Legacy of America's Forgotten Conflict," and author of "Weathermakers to the World." Eric is a graduate of Brown University and the Harvard Business School.
