“Because of my Champions

I now know what I want for myself, what I have to do, and what I need to achieve my own expectations.”

SPEAKHIRE Dreams Come True is SPEAKHIRE's fifth annual Summit, which brought together diverse professionals to talk to our young people about their career aspirations, and our Soiree, which brought together our incredible young people who have received awards from our various programs this year.

Relive 2022 Soiree

SPEAKHIRE For Their Dreams

SPEAKHIRE For Their Dreams, SPEAKHIRE's fourth annual Summit, brought together speakers from diverse sectors to speak about their career pathways and our many young people who have persevered this year on their journey towards pursuing their career pathway. We were excited to celebrate their accomplishments over such a challenging year!

This year, we had exclusive Summit events for our young people to continue learning about different career pathways and also hosted our first ever Soiree on #GivingTuesday, celebrating resilience, persistence, determination, accomplishments, power and voice. It was a beautiful way to SPEAKHIRE FOR THEIR DREAMS.

During the Summit, from 12:00 pm eastern to 4:30 pm est., students joined CSAA panelists and health science panelists to learn about different jobs in their fields, their experiences and get guidance directly from them.
On #GivingTuesday, we held our first Soiree on November 30th from 5 to 6:30 pm, an incredible and inspiring night with the SPEAKHIRE community, including our amazing Champions and incredible young alumni.
All ticket sales went to supporting SPEAKHIRE programs impacting youth around the nation.

SPEAKHIRE FOR THEIR DREAMS SUMMIT

Brought to you in part by our Silver Sponsor - CSAA - a Triple AAA Insurance Provider

During the Summit, from 12:00 pm eastern to 4:30 pm est., students joined CSAA panelists and health science panelists to learn about different jobs in their fields, their experiences and get guidance directly from them. Click below to watch the recording of the SPEAKHIRE For Their Dreams Summit!

SPEAKHIRE Soiree

On #GivingTuesday, we held our first Soiree on November 30th from 5 to 6:30 pm, an incredible and inspiring night with the SPEAKHIRE community, including our amazing Champions and incredible young alumni.

All ticket sales went to supporting SPEAKHIRE programs impacting youth around the nation.

SPEAKHIRE Summit 2020

#SpeakingMyName

The 2020 SPEAKHIRE Summit, titled ‘#SpeakingMyName’, featured incredible panelists from IDEA Schools, Name Coach and more, a brilliant segment on voice training from Vital Voices, and a youth town hall with NY Senator Alessandra Biaggi.

First Hour:

Panel Introduction

Featured

Poem - ”Is” by Kennita Ballard

HUYENTRAN VO

Panel Moderator and #SpeakingMyName Campaign Co-Lead

DR. PRAVEEN SHANBHAG

Praveen is the Founder and CEO of NameCoach. Initially inspired by his sister’s name getting mangled at her college graduation, Praveen built NameCoach's first product to enable schools to easily collect and embed audio recordings of student names and gender pronouns wherever instructors and staff need to access them (e.g., on class rosters, for graduation, for advisers). His company’s mission is to enable respectful and inclusive interactions in every interaction. Praveen got a PhD in Philosophy from Stanford, an MPhil in History of Technology from Cambridge, and BA in History from Harvard - but scrapped it all to build some tech.

ED BIANCHI

Ed Bianchi is the Director of College Partnerships at IDEA Public Schools in Texas. Prior to joining IDEA Ed spent four years as an Assistant Director of Admissions at Lafayette College. He has worked in education (from Pre-K through Higher Ed) for 18 years in South Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Texas.

NORMA A. VEGA

Principal of ELLIS Preparatory High School

REOUHIDI REUBEN NDJERAREOU

Born in N'djamena, Chad (Central Africa)

Been in Grand Rapids, MI for 8 years

Serves as the coordinator of the African Collaborative Network (ACN): a collaborative of like-minded African professionals working together to make social and economic impact for Africans in Grand Rapids and Michigan

Second Hour:

Workshop - Vital Voices Training with Names

Third Hour:

Youth Town Hall with NY Senator Alessandra Biaggi

Alessandra Biaggi is the Democratic New York State Senator in her home district (Bronx/Westchester), and Chair of the revived Ethics and Internal Governance Committee. The granddaughter of Italian immigrants who lived in Hunts Point, she is the fourth generation of her family to live in District 34.

Within her first two months in office, Senator Biaggi chaired the first public hearings in 27 years on sexual harassment in the workplace, and led the charge in New York to pass legislation that strengthens protections for survivors and holds employers accountable for addressing sexual misconduct. In a joint effort with her colleagues in the Democratic conference, the Senator worked to pass transformational legislation including tenant-centered housing reforms, bold climate-change initiatives, unprecedented criminal justice reform, comprehensive workplace protections, and expansive legislation making it easier to vote.

Before launching her campaign, she served in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Counsel’s Office focusing on the New York State’s women’s policy agenda, advocating for passage of the Reproductive Health Act and the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act. During the historic 2016 election, Alessandra was the Deputy National Operations Director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, overseeing a budget of $500 million, 38 state directors and 45 associated staff.

Her run for office was preceded by a decade of advocacy and service to the people of New York. She interned for the Kings County D.A.’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and was a legal fellow for New York State Homes and Community Renewal, working to ensure that families across New York State had access to affordable housing. She served as Assistant General Counsel for Governor Cuomo’s Office of Storm Recovery, working with small businesses and municipalities to rebuild New York after Hurricane Sandy. She was a 2015 New Leaders Council (NLC) fellow, sat on NLC’s Advisory Board, and is a member of The New Agenda's Young Women Leadership Council. Alessandra attended Pelham public schools and holds degrees from New York University and Fordham Law School. She is also a graduate of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University.

SPEAKHIRE Student Participants

Featured

Chloe Navarro

Mahfuja Khatun

Bianka Pena

Noashin Sarker

Khadidia Traore

Sanzida Chowdhury

Social Lives

We went live on our socials with Irma Herrera and Alan to talk to them about their incredible work with inclusion of diverse populations using names! Head to our socials or view their Social Lives on our Youtube Channel.

Featured

Irma Herrera

Irma Herrera is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer and performer. Her solo play, Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? weaves history and comedic insights into stories about names, and sheds light and throws shade on our prejudices and assumptions. How open are we to seeing people who aren’t white as equals? How welcoming of others are we, really?

Irma’s five-month run at The Marsh (both in San Francisco and Berkeley) played to sold out audiences, and garnered glowing reviews from critics and everyday folks. Following most performance, Irma’s talk-back guests had on-stage conversations on topics ranging from the school to prison pipeline, the rights of transgender folks, and immigration policy. She has performed to sold-out audiences in New Mexico and Texas.

More recently she created her Stairwell Teatro series, telling short stories (five minutes or less) from la scala, the stairwell in her home. You can binge-watch the entire series in less than an hour at https://www.irmaherrera.com/stairwell-teatro

Prior to becoming a playwright and performer Irma spent three decades as a San Francisco lawyer advocating with and for people of color and women from every racial and ethnic backgrounds. She was an Attorney and later Director of Educational Programs at MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund) and served as Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates, a legal advocacy organization advancing the rights of women and girls headquartered in San Francisco. In addition to her career as a lawyer, she has worked as a journalist.

Alan Headbloom

Works with foreign-born professionals in hospitals, universities, and industry, helping them acculturate to American English and American ways (http://headbloom.com/) • Presents on topics of language and cultural diversity, workplace inclusion, and adapting to co-workers from different backgrounds • Without blame or shame, helps his white brothers and sisters understand the pernicious effects of racism on the personal, cultural, and economic life in the U.S. • Has lived on four continents (N. America, Europe, Africa, and S. America) and traveled to six (all but Antarctica) • Speaks fluent German, passable Spanish and Portuguese, and enough French, Swedish, and Hausa to get himself into trouble (also studied Farsi, Czech, Japanese, Hmong) • Has taught preschool, high school, adult education, and university students, including teaching American theater students how to act with foreign accents • Holds a bachelor’s degree in German (Albion College), a master’s degree in English (University of Wisconsin), and a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics (University of Michigan) • Received 2015 Building Bridges Award from West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce • Has given radio interviews, public presentations, and even a sermon on ethnocentrism and its insidious presence in all our lives • Produces, with his wife, a web-based talk show called Feel Like You Belong, a TV program about immigrants and making a new life in the United States (www.FeelLikeYouBelong.com) • Received the 2019 Community Champion Award from the Grand Rapids Vietnamese Community for his documentary featuring the lives of nine Vietnamese refugees who resettled in Michigan • Is active in racial justice education, through the United Church of Christ and the Institutes of Healing Racism (https://www.grandrapids.org/podcasts/facing-racism/) • Lives in Allendale, MI with his wife Kim and their dog Gladys, a Coton de Tulear • Enjoys jogging, pruning his apple trees, and watching Big Bang Theory with his wife • Has volunteered on church resettlement committees to integrate refugee families from Iraq • Has sponsored (along with his wife) a high school student in Nepal • Has two daughters, a physician in Ann Arbor, MI, and a hospital chaplain in Long Beach, CA

Yodit Haile

Social Live Moderator and Campaign Co-Lead

Hetal Jani

SPEAK Founding Executive Director; Social Live Moderator and Campaign Co-Lead

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SPEAKHIRE Summit 2019

Diversity Is Your Asset

Keynote Address

Nisha Agarwal

A child of immigrants from India, Ms. Agarwal became a public interest lawyer out of Harvard Law School, leading the Health Justice Program at the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest in 2006. Among other initiatives, she worked for translation services for immigrants seeking health care. She later was the deputy director and co-founder of the Center for Popular Democracy and the executive director of the Immigrant Justice Corps, a legal fellowship begun by Robert A. Katzmann, the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Agarwal served as Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs since the beginning of the de Blasio Administration, building landmark initiatives like IDNYC, the City’s municipal identification card, and Cities for Action, a national advocacy coalition of local elected officials. For the second term of de Blasio’s administration, Agarwal will take on the role of Senior Advisor to the Deputy Mayor to boost civic engagement among New Yorkers and build DemocracyNYC’s efforts on immigration, disability, and healthcare.

Diversity Is Your Asset

Featured

Stefan A. Kloss

ROLE

As a leader in ZS Associates’ Value & Access solution area, Stefan develops solutions that enable clients achieve market access for their innovations.

Stefan also currently leads ZS’s New York office on the 51st floor of the Empire State Building.

EXPERTISE

During his 15 years at ZS, Stefan has advised many large pharmaceutical companies as well as mid to small-sized biotech companies on sales and marketing strategy and implementation.

Although Stefan has been working primarily with US-based pharma clients during recent years, he has also been working on projects in many international markets and is familiar with key pharmaceutical markets in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

At ZS, Stefan engages with several thought leadership initiatives and supports many ZS project teams globally with his expertise on the global payer environment and with Biosimilars.

EDUCATION

Stefan holds a BA, MA in Economics from Cambridge University and an MBA from INSEAD.

Alpa Rajai

Alpa Rajai is a seasoned financial services professional with over 14 years of experience. In her current role, she works on Strategic Initiatives for Financial Control Americas at Barclays. Prior to Barclays, she worked at PwC, Sapient, and Citi. In her previous roles, she was focused on regulatory initiatives in the capital markets domain mainly Dodd Frank Title 1 and Title 7, MiFID II, FINRA 4210, etc.

She holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Entrepreneurship from New York University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics / Statistics from Stony Brook University.

She was born in Mumbai, India and raised by a feminist-but-in-denial family that introduced her to community service early on in life – which is probably why remains passionate about giving back and attaining gender equality. She was the first in her family move abroad to study and, as such, fully understands how the lack of a mentor can negatively impact career trajectory. Hoping to bridge this gap for someone else, she signed up as a mentor for SPEAK. She eventually joined the board as she saw the value SPEAK provides to the immigrant female population which she closely identifies with. When she is not working or volunteering, she loves to spend quality time and rediscover this beautiful world with her curious little daughter.

Gunjali Trikha

Gunjali Trikha, Assistant Professor of Marketing, earned an MBA in Marketing and Finance from New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Economics from Hollins University.

Prior to joining Marymount Manhattan College, Gunjali worked at the NYSE for thirteen years, most recently as Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, where she engaged with the world’s largest companies on issues pertaining to women’s leadership, financial capability and environmental sustainability. During her career at the Exchange, Gunjali spent a majority of her time in Marketing as a Product Manager, Customer Relationship Manager and Project Manager for a portfolio of digital services.

At Marymount Manhattan College, Gunjali teaches Marketing, Introduction to Business, Organizational Behavior, Leadership and Advertising. She also teaches Introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility and Women in Business Leadership at NYU.

Jade L. Morrison

Jade L. Morrison, Esq., is a West Indian American Attorney who practices law in Brooklyn, New York. She is currently a Staff Attorney at the Transport Workers Union (TWU), Local 100. Jade is a Labor and Employment Attorney. She is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, the Eastern and Southern District of New York and New Jersey.

She represents Union members at disciplinary arbitration hearings and negotiates Collective Bargaining Agreements on behalf of both private and public sector employees. Jade truly enjoys fighting for the rights of working-class men and women. She is currently the assigned attorney to the Working Women’s Committee of TWU Local 100. As the assigned attorney, Jade provides legal advice in the areas of law that are of particular concern to women in non-traditional work place. Such as their rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, New York Paid Family Leave and protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pregnancy Discrimination Act, American with Disabilities Act and New York State and City Human Rights Law.

Prior to her work with the Union, Jade worked for a private firm in Long Island, New York. She started as a law clerk, but was promoted to Associated Attorney and subsequently became a Managing Attorney before her departure. Her practice allowed her to represent clients in the area of Criminal Law, Family Law and Civil Rights. In the area of Civil Rights ligation Jade practiced Plaintiff side litigation in Employment Discrimination matters. Jade handled claims of race, gender, disability and religious discrimination. She was able to litigate matters before administrative bodies such as the New York State Division of Human Rights (NYSDHR) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), as well as varies in Federal Courts.

During her time in private practice, Jade had the opportunity to engage in criminal defense work. Criminal defense is Jade’s true passion. She entered law school with the hope of becoming a Criminal Defense Attorney. She earned her J.D, cum laude, in 2013 from Widener University School of Law, Delaware Campus. Where she obtained her Juris Doctor degree, certificate in Criminal Law and was awarded the Judge Cullen Ganey Criminal Procedure Award. Such honor is given to the graduating law student who achieved the highest grades in the area of Criminal Law. While in law school, Jade was a member of Widener’s Journal of Law, Economics and Race. As a member of the journal she was elected to the executive board as the External Managing Editor for the 2012/2013 academic year. As External Managing Editor, Jade organized the Journal’s yearly symposium entitled “Diversity in the Legal Profession.” Through this symposium Jade was able to gather members of the legal profession, from diverse cultural backgrounds, to speak about their professional journey and the obstacles they conquered.

She obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut in 2010, with a major in Political Science and a minor in Sociology. As an undergraduate student, she became a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, Sorority Incorporated, Nu Mu chapter. As a member of her sorority, Jade held several executive board positions and was instrumental in gaining international recognition for her undergraduate chapter.

Jade was born in Queens, New York but was raised in Trinidad and Tobago. She was raised by her Aunt and Uncle in Mason Hall, Tobago where she attended nursery and primary school. She returned to continue her education in the States at the age of seven. It at this tender stage in life, she started the journey of embracing her West Indian heritage and facing her new American reality.

Students’ Choice Speaker

Dr. Edmund Adjapong, a native of the Bronx, NY, is an assistant professor in the Education Studies Department at Seton Hall University. Dr. Adjapong is also a faculty fellow at the Institute of Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University and the author of #HipHopEd: The Compilation on Hip-Hop Education Volume 1. Dr. Adjapong holds a Ph.D. and three masters degrees in science education from Teachers College, Columbia University and received a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry with a minor in Africana Studies from The State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

Dr. Adjapong holds a teacher certification in science secondary education and is a former is a middle school science pedagogue at a New York City public school in The Bronx. He is the co-founder and director of the Science Genius Program, a program that engages urban students in the sciences through Hip-Hop, and the director of The Science Genius Academy, a program that encourages and prepares students to pursue STEM careers while providing mentoring and support. Dr. Adjapong has appeared on media outlets such as Hot 97’s radio station and is a contributing writer for The Good Men Project, where he writes and speaks about issues of race, diversity, social justice and education.

As a graduate student, Dr. Adjapong was heavily involved in the Institute of Urban and Minority Education (IUME) where he served as a Graduate Research Fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University. As a graduate fellow, Dr. Adjapong’s research focused on engaging black boys utilizing multimedia and evaluating educational programs that utilize Hip-Hop as a tool of engagement.
Edmund believes every student has the ability to learn and does so differently. He also believes that engaging urban youth with media–despite its unconventional method–is an effective way to educate. Edmund enjoys working with and mentoring youth, especially young men of color, as they are our future. His research interest includes issues of class, race, gender, privilege, diversity, youth programming and STEM education.

Student Speakers

Cristal Davidson - Student Keynote

Cristal Davidson is a 15-year old high school student at American History High School. She moved from Guyana to America with her family five years ago. She served as the Ambassador in the 9th grade for her school as well as the Vice President of the SPEAK Chapter Club.

Joining the SPEAKHIRE program was something that she was very excited about because she felt this was the right path to her success. With big goals of wanting to be a very successful book editor, she was dedicated to her responsibilities and was very excited to learn. Reading is something that she is passionate about and hopes she can turn her interest into a career.

In order to get closer to her career path, she took on the role of becoming student editor of the SPEAKHIRE Mag and will be continuing her journey with SPEAK through the Exploratory Years. Cristal takes advantage of every opportunity she is given and is driven to achieve all of her goals and continue to dream big.

Ayoko Kessouagni - Student Poetry

Ayoko Kessouagni is a junior at American History high school in Newark, New Jersey. She is also a SPEAKHIRE alumna as well as a former sophomore Ambassador and President of the SPEAKHIRE Chapter Club at her school.

With a passion for fashion and literature, Ayoko aspires to become a fashion journalist, and wishes to attend either Brown University or New York University.

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SPEAKHIRE Summit 2018

Perspectives - Equity Across Contexts

Speaker Bios

Featured

Jasmine Wahi

Jasmine Wahi is a Curator, Activist, and the Founder of Project For Empty Space. Her practice focuses on female empowerment, binary structures within social discourses, and multipositional cultural identities through the lens of intersectional feminism.

Lauren Wells

Dr. Lauren Wells has led statewide education coalitions, school transformation initiatives, and policy for Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka in for over 10 years.

Dorcas Adekunle

Dorcas Adekunle is chief counsel in the office of Bonnie Coleman where She helped the Congresswoman create the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls- the only Congressional caucus dedicated to advancing policies that would improve the conditions of Black Women and Girls nationwide.