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The Voice + Visibility Women's Summit is designed to empower women, expand networks + opportunities & elevate the voices of diverse women.

ASHLEY CALLINGBULL

Ashley Callingbull is a Cree First Nations woman from the Enoch Cree Nation in the province of Alberta, Canada.

She is very devoted to her culture and people, and takes pride in her Native Cree heritage, and has shown this through her volunteer work with community Elders and youth.

Ashley is a model, actress, jingle dress dancer, and First Nation’s activist who was the reigning Mrs. Universe 2015, an actress on the Gemini award-winning series Blackstone and Tribal, and a contestant on the Amazing Race Canada.

Ashley is also an international motivational speaker and role model for many educational institutions, workshops, conferences, and award ceremonies. Ashley has spoken at Harvard University, TED Talks, and WE Day. Ashley’s hard work and outreach work was recognized as she received the Role Model Award at the Dreamcatcher Gala and she also received the Top 20 Under 30 Award in Canada. Ashley also received a role model award from the United Nations for Global Dignity Day.

Ashley has graced the magazine covers of Chatelaine, OptiMYz, Dress to Kill, Kind Magazine and has written for Flare and Fashion Magazine. Ashley is also a spokesperson and model for Hillberg & Berk, RW&Co, Dress For Success, and the Nike organization.

TIFFANY DUFU

Tiffany Dufu is the founder and CEO of The Cru. Their algorithm matches circles of women who collaborate to meet their personal and professional goals. She’s also the author of the bestselling book Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less. According to foreword contributor Gloria Steinem, Drop the Ball is “important, path-breaking, intimate and brave.” Named to Fast Company’s League of Extraordinary Women, Tiffany has raised nearly $20 million toward the cause of women and girls. She serves on the board of Girls Who Code and Simmons University and lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

SCOUT BASSETT

Scout Bassett spent seven years in a government-run orphanage in Nanjing, China after she was abandoned on the side of a street following the loss of her right leg in a chemical fire as an infant. Given a makeshift prosthetic leg patched together from leather belts and masking tape, she never stepped outside of the orphanage, spending her days mopping floors, washing dishes and taking care for the younger children before being adopted by an American couple from Michigan in 1995.

Still learning the English language, Bassett joined sports as a way to connect with her peers. She tried basketball, softball, golf, and tennis before competitively racing in track & field and triathlons. At 14, she was introduced to the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), who gave her a grant to fund her training while also allowing her to attend running clinics and mentor young amputees. She worked her way to qualify for her first U.S. Paralympic Team in 2016. In pursuit of her Paralympic dreams, Scout competed at the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Track and Field London Trials, where she placed 2nd in the 200m and 3rd in the 100m.

Standing at 4’9”, Scout is a 6-time National Champion in the 100m. She is currently the World Record holder in the 400m and American Record holder in the 100m and 200m. Prior to competing in track, Scout was on the USA Paratriathlon National Team, where she won 3 silver medals and 1 bronze medal at the ITU Paratriathlon World Championships. Off the track, Bassett spends time as a mentor, activist for people with disabilities, athlete ambassador, and motivational speaker and is a unique and inspiring role model for all people to dream big and believe.

GLORIA STEINEM

Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist, and feminist organizer. She travels in this and other countries as an organizer and lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles, and child abuse as roots of violence, non-violent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice. She now lives in New York City and is the author of the travelogue My Life on the Road.

​ In 1972, she co-founded Ms. Magazine, and remained one of its editors for fifteen years. She continues to serve as a consulting editor for Ms., and was instrumental in the magazine’s move to join and be published by the Feminist Majority Foundation. In 1968, she had helped to found New York Magazine, where she was a political columnist and wrote feature articles. As a freelance writer, she was published in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, and women’s magazines as well as for publications in other countries. She has produced a documentary on child abuse for HBO, a feature film about the death penalty for Lifetime, and been the subject of profiles on Lifetime and Showtime.

Her books include the bestsellers My Life on the Road, Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Moving Beyond Words, and Marilyn: Norma Jean (on the life of Marilyn Monroe), and in India, As If Women Matter. Her writing also appears in many anthologies and textbooks, and she was an editor of Houghton Mifflin’s The Reader’s Companion to U.S. Women’s History. Ms. Steinem helped to found the Women’s Action Alliance, a pioneering national information center that specialized in nonsexist, multiracial children’s education, and the National Women’s Political Caucus, a group that continues to work to advance the numbers of pro-equality women in elected and appointed office at a national and state level.

She also co-founded the Women’s Media Center in 2004. She was president and co-founder of Voters for Choice, a pro-choice political action committee for twenty-five years, then with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund when it merged with VFC for the 2004 elections. She was also co-founder and serves on the board of Choice USA (now URGE), a national organization that supports young pro-choice leadership and works to preserve comprehensive sex education in schools. She is the founding president of the Ms. Foundation for Women, a national multi-racial, multi-issue fund that supports grassroots projects to empower women and girls, and also a founder of its Take Our Daughters to Work Day, a first national day devoted to girls that has now become an institution here and in other countries.

She was a member of the Beyond Racism Initiative, a three-year effort on the part of activists and experts from South Africa, Brazil and the United States to compare the racial patterns of those three countries and to learn cross-nationally. She is currently working with the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College on documenting the grassroots origins of the U.S. women’s movement and on a Center for Organizers in tribute to Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. As links to other countries, she helped found Equality Now, Donor Direct Action, and Direct Impact Africa.

AISHA NYANDORO

Aisha Nyandoro is on a mission to holistically and compassionately support families as they work to exit poverty. As the Founding Chief Executive Officer of Springboard To Opportunities, she uses a “radically resident-driven” approach to end generational poverty.

She’s both deeply practical, strategic and very impatient; launching the very first of its kind guaranteed income program for single Black mothers in the history of the United States – The Magnolia Mother’s Trust. Nyandoro has more than two decades of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating programs aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals with limited resources. She has worked in various capacities-- as an academic, evaluator, philanthropist, and nonprofit executive. These varied experiences have allowed her to better understand systems and policies that impact vulnerable communities.

She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Tennessee State University, a M.A. in Community Psychology and Urban Affairs and a Ph.D. in Ecological Community Psychology from Michigan State University. Aisha’s commitment to community and passion for social change is demonstrated through her varied volunteer work including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the various boards of directors and advisory councils to which she lends her expertise and service. Aisha has received multiple honors, including recognition as a fellow of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network and Ascend at the Aspen Institute. She is a TEDx speaker and her work has been featured in both print and news media outlets including: The Washington Post, Amanpour & Company, Essence Magazine, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, CNN, MSNBC, Fast Company, and The Nation to name a few. The varied recognitions for her work distinguish her as a trailblazer in the larger national conversation about economic and racial inequity.

When not working to transform the world, she is a wife and Mommy to the best two little boys in the world.

LUZ CORCUERA

Luz Corcuera is the executive director of UnidosNow, a nonprofit organization committed to empowering Hispanic/Latinos to achieve the American dream through education, integration, and civic engagement.

Luz was born in Peru and emigrated to Canada where she practiced as a psychotherapist for 16 years and remains a Clinical Member of the Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists before moving to Florida in 2000. She earned a BA and MA in Clinical Psychology at San Martin de Porres, in Lima, Peru, and a MA in Pastoral Ministry from Barry University. ​

Luz has a proven track record in community-building and engagement. She previously served as Program Director for Healthy Start Manatee and as a Community Health Director for the Florida Department of Health in Manatee. Luz is passionate about education, health, and cultural competency. Her significant work includes developing and overseeing diverse community-based initiatives to empower underserved and at-promise communities via prevention and education. ​

Luz has been recognized with numerous awards for building strong relationships in the Manasota region with private, public, faith-based, and civic organizations to close the education achievement gap, reversing negative health trends, and empowering people to civic integration.

MERCEDES SOLER

Mercedes Soler currently works with her husband at Solmart Media, their audio, broadcast, and digital media company. She oversees editorial content, community outreach/advocacy, and marketing. Prior to this, she coached media and press strategies to high-placed leaders, executives and diplomats as a subcontractor for the State Department. She is a renowned bilingual speaker focused on the advancement of women’s and girls’ empowerment and leadership. ​

Mercedes is a five-time Emmy, Peabody and GLAAD awards-winning media personality and broadcast journalist. From 2010 through 2016 she anchored a daily, live, news, issues and women’s show for CNN Español. Prior to that, she spent two decades at Univision News, as an international investigative correspondent. ​

Mercedes co-authored the book Dish & Tell: Life, Love and Secrets [Harper-Collins, 2005] with a group of girlfriends. The book was adapted for the stage as a musical. She has been a columnist for El Nuevo Herald and is well versed in current US and hemispheric affairs. Ms. Soler also taught journalism in Spanish, through the University of Miami. ​

Mercedes sits on the Boards of three non-profit organizations: The Community Foundation of Sarasota County, The Ringling Museum of Sarasota and Campowerment’s Foundation: Give Her Camp. She is also a member of The Institute for the Study of Latin America, and the Caribbean’s Taskforce at the University of South Florida. She learned commitment to community service from her mother. Tomasa Linares Gómez or Chela, as she was called, earned a PhD in Social Work with a master in Pedagogy at the University of Havana and always held positions of leadership in social welfare organizations such as networks of homes for the elderly, primary schools, and afterschool programs. Sitting on these boards, Committees, and Task Force aligns with Solmart Media’s core values of service to our community. ​

Mercedes was born in Havana where she lived until age 9. Her parents, wanting to spare their 4 daughters from a life of unfulfilled potential under a repressive communist dictatorship, moved the family to Madrid, then Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Spain and eventually settled in Chicago where she finished middle school, High School and graduated in Communications from Loyola University.

Mercedes considers herself a news junkie and, an avid reader and a foodie. She loves cooking, though not baking. She’s most at home in the Amazon and Andes of South America where she learned the true meaning of “Ayllu” and where her spirituality is deeply rooted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayllu

With her husband, Tom Martinez, she raised two wonderful children who pursued their parent’s passions in their own careers: Art and Broadcasting.

DR. AJ LEE

Dr. AJ Lee is a Leadership & Culture, Brand Developer, Co-Founder, Podcaster, and DEI Certified leader with a passion for helping leaders clarify vision and own their strengths to lead well and grow their impact. With a PhD in Higher Education from Auburn University and expertise in organizational leadership, she has led, developed, and implemented leadership, inclusion, and well-being training programs for organizations nationwide. She will be launching her well-being coaching practice this winter, where she'll provide resources and coaching to help busy working women build and prioritize healthy habits.

In her spare time, AJ enjoys cooking plant-based meals with her husband, traveling, and developing content to serve others through her other passion projects (Marriage Inside Out, Chalkbox Forum, Daily Choice Foods).

CHRISTINA UNKEL

Christina Unkel, J.D, M.B.A is a litigation attorney, entrepreneur, and sports tv analyst/journalist.

She focuses her law practice primarily on complex business and construction litigation with a specialized focus in sports law.

​As a past NCAA collegiate soccer athlete and former FIFA referee, Christina has spent the past 15 years working and performing at the highest professional, international, and collegiate levels of the soccer game among the elite players of the world. ​

Christina has recently been announced as the New State Referee Administrator (SRA) for the Florida State Referee Committee (FLSRC).

Mar 04, 9:00 AM EST | Virtual Event

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