Yemi Akisanya is the Vice President of Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and People Experience at Axon

My +16 year career in Business Strategy, Technology & Finance has always paralleled my passion for People + Culture. As a People Leader, my work and lived experience have greatly informed my practice, ensuring that humanity remains at the forefront of my initiatives and programs. By creating a space that empowers and accepts all, we are much better suited to manifest the true prosperity of our institutions, communities, and world.

I am a global strategist, expert communicator and aspiring educator who craves optimal results. For the last half decade, I have held seats on advisory boards of local and global for-profit and non-profit firms. Alongside other influences, this involvement inspired my decision to actively pursue my mantra, “People First”. In my current role as Vice President of Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and People Experience; I’m responsible for building a Diversity and Inclusion office at the Clearinghouse. This includes strategy and policy creation of short and long-term Diversity & Inclusion plan. Our mission is to teach, inspire, and engage a diverse workforce and to create and sustain a positive corporate culture.

I have found that my results in strategic advisory, data analytics, research, design, and product development have drastically improved when objectives are tied to social impact and when all people feel valued and have the opportunity to be included. We have demonstrated a commitment to effective initiatives, through attracting the support of change agents with passionate and transparent approach to change.

Larry Wilson

Larry manages the Morgan Stanley North America Structured Notes Sales team, originating and distributing cross-asset structured investments to financial advisors within private banks, wire-houses, regional banks, and independent broker dealers.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Larry spent 16 years at J.P. Morgan, 12 of which were spent on the Structured Investments team, first as a senior sales person, and eventually as the team’s manager. Under Larry’s leadership, the J.P. Morgan Structured Investments team rose to the top of the market and is now widely recognized as one of the most developed and successful platforms in the United States.

Larry has a Bachelor of Science from Oakwood University and a Master of Business Administration from University of Chicago – Booth. Larry is the proud father of three beautiful ladies, Olivia (12), Elisabeth (8) and Lorena (3).

Angela Nurse

Angela currently serves as Vice President, Management Supervisor at the BGB Group. In her 15+ years of experience in Medical communications and marketing, she’s partnered with mid-to large sized biotech companies based Globally and within the US to help guide strategic planning for impactful scientific communication and product commercialization.

In this capacity, she is accountable for leading teams to ensure project and overall strategic goals are carried forward and executed with financial efficiency. Her focus is also cultivating positive and longstanding brand relationships and participating in new business pitches. She looks forward to applying her skills to help facilitate success for DID’s strategic vision and execution plan.

Kanayo Oweazim

Kanayo Oweazim is the Business Growth and Entrepreneurship lead for Advancing Black Pathways, a JPMorgan Chase initiative that is designed to have a sustainable impact on the economic success and empowerment of black entrepreneurs.

In this role, Kanayo has implemented multiple programs to provide resources, advocacy, and capital to Black entrepreneurs. Programs such as digitalundivded’s BREAKTHROUGH bootcamp, which provides women of color entrepreneurial coaching, mentorship, marketing strategies, networking opportunities and capital to scale their business ventures; the National Minority Supplier Development Council – Minority Business Enterprises (NMSDC MBE) certification reimbursement program for Black and Latin entrepreneurs, which facilitates the connection between minority businesses and corporations; and the Fearless Funds Get Venture Ready Cohort, which is an intensive training program for Women of Color business owners focused on venture capital.

Prior to his role as the Business Growth and Entrepreneurship lead, Kanayo served as Vice President in the JPMorgan Business Banking line of business where he was responsible for facilitating and creating strong banking business relationships with clients on behalf of their company. In this role, Kanayo managed a portfolio of over $100 million in deposits and $50 million in credit facilities.

Outside of work, Kanayo has a strong passion for serving the underserved community and serves as an advisory board member for nonprofit Kiva U.S., an organization that focuses on providing financial access to minority entrepreneurs. Understanding the obligation of giving back to his community, Kanayo has added value to his birthplace of Nigeria, by facilitating the refurbishment of schools in villages where his mother and father were born, as well as funded educational scholarships for your young women.

Kanayo received a BA in Economics from Stony Brook University and is a graduate of the JPMorgan Chase leadership development program.

Rodrigo Zavala (President, CEO & Partner, StarSolar)

Rodrigo Zavala is the President & CEO of StarSolar, a renewables energy company focused mainly on solar systems in Puerto Rico for the residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale segments.

A strategic leader with over two decades of history in driving business innovation and transformation, Rodrigo has a track record of consistent delivery of plans in extremely diverse and challenging situations ranging from global strategy redefinition to improving the operational aspects of retail business and raising the bar of a Global commercial business, from the ground up, setting new ways of working on people, processes, customer proposition and using it to leverage our own energy transition.

Rodrigo has spent his career on the front lines of an industry in which the only constant is, change.

Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to work with talented teams across the globe including Puma Energy, a multi-national petroleum conglomerate, where he held various high-profile roles of increasing scope and accountability.

This is inclusive of his role as Chief Executive Officer & Global Lead, Commercial Centre of Expertise, where he drove investments and divestments in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean and set the company on the course to double its global commercial business by 2025.

When he isn’t sitting on the board of agricultural companies in Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Paraguay, Rodrigo is spending time with his wife and kids, surfing and playing tennis with friends.

Alexis Rathborne

Alexis is Managing Director of Investments at Trident. As Managing Director, Alexis leads sourcing, diligence, and execution efforts at Trident. She sits on multiple portfolio boards and is actively engaged in the management and growth of portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Trident, Alexis led direct investing at Clear River, a single family office in New York City, with a focus on consumer investments. Previously, she was an investment banker at KeyBanc Capital Markets covering the consumer market and an Associate at Four River Holdings, an investment firm focused on deploying capital in frontier markets. Before business school, Alexis was a strategy consultant at The World Bank. Alexis holds a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Patricia Mota

Patricia is an innovative trailblazer, start-up entrepreneur, author, connector, public speaker, and compassionate leader with a particular strength that exemplifies the mission of the Hispanic Alliance of Career Enhancement (HACE) to positively impact the workforce by cultivating the pipeline of Latinx/a/o and underrepresented talent and providing insight, access, and support to their careers. Patricia serves as the President & CEO for HACE, leading strategy, fundraising & development, leadership programs, and expanding organizational reach on a national and international scale. Patricia’s story of transition is one that is representative of many of the stories of those positively impacted by programs and opportunities through HACE.

When she was asked to step in as the interim CEO in 2014, her mission was clear: maintain the programs, lead by example, and create a new path for the future CEO. She built the strategic plan and deployed it that same year. Less than 1 year after accepting the interim CEO opportunity, she was the likely choice as she identified with the members, learned from colleagues, was creative at turnaround and assumed the role as CEO. In her first year, she grew new partnerships by $1.5M, increased membership by 67%, expanded the Mujeres de HACE women’s leadership program from one to eight cities, broadened the spectrum of the El Futuro High School program, and kickstarted a pilot of the HACE Leadership Academy – Nonprofit Series, impacting the lives of over 25,000 students and professionals. Today, the budget has quadrupled, membership has tripled to nearly 100k, with an expanded reach across 35 states and 7 countries, and enhanced leadership programming to include senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and multicultural participation.

Patricia remains fixed on member needs, revenue turnaround and growth, all the while focusing internally on a staff that had to shift to a remote-only workplace during one of the highest growth years since the inception of HACE. The year 2020 saw her leadership take a front seat to increasing activity around a newly virtual workforce, where she acted with urgency, communicated with transparency, sought diverse opinions from her team and board and led with empathy, ultimately leading a thriving organization during such a tumultuous time. In 2021, Patricia added Co-Founder to her list of accolades, collaborating to build SHENIXTM, a FinTech startup that is leading the development of a financial tool to help close the wealth gap by providing culturally relevant financial education, career development tools, and resources to the underserved, the underbanked or unbanked, starting with Latinas.

Patricia has a strong history of serving in capacities that garner access to education, meaningful jobs, and advancement, also reflected by her service on various boards and accolades; serving on the Associated Colleges of Illinois, Indiana University’s O’Neil School of Public Affairs Distinguished Alumni Council, Chicago Theological Seminary Board of Trustee, Illinois Treasurer Charitable Trust Board and most recently awarded the SHERO award by the Center for Asian Pacific American Women (CAPAW) in 2021, the Nonprofit HR Top Leaders to Watch in 2020, and Crain’s Chicago Business Top 20 Most Powerful Latinos in Chicago in 2019.

Modupé Congleton

Modupé Congleton is an award-winning business and diversity executive who is passionate about fostering inclusive experiences for all and amplifying the voices of historically marginalized communities. With a proven track record of developing strategies that harmonize people, technology, processes, and accountability, Modupé has taken Fortune 100 companies to new heights in growth and profitability.

She is widely recognized as a Diversity Impact Leader and sought-after speaker, known for evangelizing the connection between diverse leadership teams and increased profits, consumer insights, workforce engagement, and better decision-making through inclusive leadership. Modupé's dynamic skill set and extensive experience make her a leading expert in culture Transformation, Change Management, Operations, Sales, and Marketing.

She possesses a unique blend of self-awareness, credibility, relationship-building, bias for action, humility, and authenticity, making her an effective leader and role model. Modupé Congleton is a true asset to any organization seeking to transform its culture and drive growth and profitability through diversity and inclusivity.

As the global leader of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Amazon Worldwide Stores, Modupé spearheads initiatives aimed at enhancing access and engagement for underrepresented and marginalized communities worldwide. Her advocacy for an inclusive and equitable experience extends to all employees, customers, partners, and sellers within Amazon's ecosystem, as she leads her team to create a level playing field for everyone.

With Amazon's vast reach, serving over 1.2 million employees and 600 million customers from diverse backgrounds, Modupé's role also entails overseeing Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Inclusive Marketing, and Social Impact teams. She takes pride in her role as a champion of diversity and inclusion, driving positive change both within and beyond Amazon.

Before her current role, Modupé led the AWS Sales & Marketing, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team, where she collaborated with HR and business leaders to develop processes for the equitable distribution of talent and activated DEI as a differentiator to drive sustainable change globally for the multi-billion-dollar business.

Under her leadership, AWS strengthened from within, with increased professional growth opportunities for persons of color and a multi-channel inclusion engagement campaign that reached thousands daily.

Modupé's career also includes nearly 15 years at Cisco Systems, where she was head of Cisco Supply Chain Inclusion, Diversity, and Workforce Strategy. There, she launched a cultural revolution that increased the hiring of diverse talent, established a diverse talent strategy modeled across Cisco Systems, and introduced initiatives that led to a 157% growth rate in top talent.

Modupé holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and Communications Studies and numerous certifications in Organizational Leadership, Business ProcessManagement, and Change Management. She has served on multiple boards, including the Urban Assembly Global School of Commerce and the Howard University School of Business Supply Chain Board. Modupé is a top speaker and writer on the topics of diversity, authentic leadership, gender equality, and brand ownership.

Beyond her professional career, Modupé enjoys spending time with her family, mentoring young business professionals, and supporting global diverse businesses and organizations. Overall, Modupé's professional career exemplifies a true commitment to improving the employee experience through innovative new solutions that maximize inclusive talent acquisition practices.