Precious Bivings (Coach P)

Professional development coach and thought leader

Precious Bivings is an intuitive thought leader who helps high performing leaders and public figures transform their mindset, and reach personal fulfillment beyond the work they are known for. Affectionately known as “Coach P,” she’s built a thriving brand as a coach and speaker that shows others how to M.A.S.H. (Make Amazing Sh*t Happen) and experience complete alignment in every area of their lives.

Coach P has established herself as the woman to see if you’re ready to interrupt patterns of mediocrity and unlock new levels of self-mastery, emotional intelligence, and abundance. She’s an accomplished author and sought after speaker known for delivering high-impact and transformative presentations on stages across the country, including TEDx! The Coach P Experience is rounded out with powerful live events such as the MORE Retreat and MASHCon2020. To learn more about her work, or invite her to speak at your next personal or professional development event, visit preciousbivings.com.

Connect with Coach P on all social media platforms at @hellocoachp and Precious Bivings

Jay Cameron

Entrepreneur, world traveler, speaker, playwright, community leader and philanthropist

With a multi-faceted career that has spanned nearly 30 years, Jay Cameron’s expertise as an entrepreneur, world traveler, speaker, playwright, community leader and philanthropist is unparalleled. Jay's ventures have been featured in media publications and news outlets worldwide.

As a traveler, Jay's interest shifted to African diaspora travel after a life-changing trip to Ghana. His experience opened the door to more exploration on the continent of Africa. Theses adventures led him to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro and a Serengeti safari in Tanzania. Jay has also traveled to Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Togo, Benin and Salvador, Bahia in Brazil.

As a result of Jay's experiences, the Maximum Impact Travel movement was launched with an emphasis on African diaspora travels around the globe. Jay desires to introduce as many people as possible to the inspiring cultures, powerful history, profound education and wonderful people he encountered on his journeys. His passion and energy for African diaspora travel is evident the moment he shares one of his many experiences.

In 2020, Jay launched his “Black History Before Slavery” initiative to shine the light on the vast history of the African diaspora before the Arab and European slave trades. Culture, cuisine, art and history will be the focus of this campaign. Jay’s mission is to inspire people to learn more about the history that has been omitted from many curriculums. He also hopes to inspire others to visit the continent of Africa to see history first-hand and to expand their perspectives.

Akilah Richards

Speaker, Writer, and Facilitator

Akilah S. Richards is passionate about mindful partnerships and parenting. Since 2016, she has hosted Fare of the Free Child, a podcast about the connection between liberation, learning, and parenting, particularly among Black, Non-Black-Indigenous, and People of Color communities. Parents, educators, unschoolers and entrepreneurs tune in weekly to connect about unschooling, deschooling, conscious parenting, and self-directedness.The voice and work of this Jamaican-born, digital nomad have been featured on NPR, Forbes, NBC TV, Good Morning America’s blog, and in several literary and in-person spaces throughout the U.S., Jamaica, and South Africa.

She is a TEDx Speaker, an accomplished digital content writer, and sought-after facilitator whose highly-anticipated book, Raising Free People: Unschooling as Liberation and Healing Work (PM Press), will be released in the Fall of 2020.

Gina Paige

Co-Founder & President of AfricanAncestry.com

Country of Origin: Nigeria
Tribes: Hausa and Fulani

Gina Paige is the Co-Founder & President of AfricanAncestry.com, but her magic lies at the intersection of culture, science, and business. Her passion for helping individuals connect to their cultural identity, and her role as a bold, risk-taking pioneer have secured her a place in history. With a career that spans nearly thirty years, she has become the go-to expert on DNA-based ancestry tracing for people of African descent.
Gina’s business savvy was first tested at the age of eight when she launched a magazine to raise money for a trip to an amusement park. As an adult, she worked in corporate America with a degree in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business in hand. Here, Gina honed her craft as a consumer goods marketing expert at Sara Lee and Colgate-Palmolive.
This prepared her for entrepreneurship, where she co-founded AfricanAncestry.com with Dr. Rick Kittles in 2003. AfricanAncestry.com is the first consumer DNA-testing company established to help people of African descent reconnect with their ancestral heritage using genetics. Since its founding, AfricanAncestry.com has empowered more than one million people of African descent with information on their African country and tribe of origin.

Some of the most notable people to discover their African roots with AfricanAncestry.com include Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott King, Chadwick Boseman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Taraji P. Henson.

Christine St.Vil

Speaker, author, social media trainer

Christine St.Vil is a speaker, author, social media trainer and homeschool mom of 3, as well as a wife of almost 15 years.

Christine is known as the FLY Mom™ Coach of Moms ‘N Charge®. She started MomsNCharge.com in 2012 because she wanted to empower moms to go after their goals and dreams, without sacrificing them to motherhood.

She is the Founder of the Social Scoop™ where she helps small businesses harness the power of social media to start and/or grow their business and brand.Her work has been featured in numerous local and national TV and media outlets (including Fox 5 DC, WJLA, News Channel 8, Madame Noire, Huffington Post, Huff Post Live, Black Enterprise, Sirius XM, RollingOut, and Essence Magazine amongst others)

Brandy Woods

Educator, entrepreneur, speaker, author, and publisher

Brandy Woods-Smith is a charismatic and passionate educator, entrepreneur, speaker, author, publisher and most importantly wife and mother of 6. She is known as a thought leader, change agent, community developer and to many she is hailed the Millionaire Midwife.

After serving the public school system for 13 years, Woods opened Imagine Me Academy in 2013 and now has multiple locations. Her life's work has been dedicated to the betterment and education of children of color.

In her quest to help other entrepreneurs achieve success, she founded a business incubator Powerhouses United (PHU) and PHU Publishing. Childcare Millionaires Association is the fastest growing division of PHU helping thousands of Childcare owners achieve optimal success.

Believe BIG! Expect BIG! Do BIG! is the mantra she lives by. Woods says, “Although BIG is not the most eloquent word, it gets the vision across clearly! With belief in my heart, the work of my hands, and the words in my mouth. I will accomplish what I am commissioned to do: Motivate! Educate! Produce!”

Assata Moore

Educator, entrepreneur, mathematician

Assata started teaching at the age of eighteen! In her twenties, she used her work ethic as leverage to become a partner of a restaurant in Lansing, MI. During this same time period, she set a goal of retiring in her forties. In February of 2017, at the age of forty-one, she retired from her district-level position at the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute. Prior to that position, Assata spent five years as a high school principal where she brought a school from red to green in terms of education, staff morale, and budget. As a teacher and principal, she traveled the world teaching other teachers how to teach mathematics, physics, and engineering in a fun and engaging way; effective leadership; and systems and strategies for running a successful school.

She has a mathematics degree from Michigan State University where she also served as the program coordinator. In 2009, she was voted one of the top mathematics teachers in the state of Illinois. In 2005, she decided to invest in real estate alongside teaching. This would be her vehicle to retirement. In order to make this goal a reality, she first accumulated several properties to bring in enough rental income to replace her six-figure salary.

Afterward, she started flipping single-family homes to sustain the standard of living she had become accustomed to.

Her workshops and speaking engagements are what she calls, EduAction. You will be educated and you will put that learning into action. It's about building wealth y'all!

Ashley N. Company

World traveler, global activist, and speaker

Inspired by a dream, Ashley N. Company boldly left her corporate career to travel more than half the world at 100 countries and become the visionary force behind Jelani Women Travel and Jelani Girls, Inc. She curates cultural immersion and service trips for Black women traveling to Africa, while simultaneously raising funds to recreate the experience for underserved youth in South Africa and the US. As a global activist and speaker, she has started a movement for Black women and girls to reimagine Africa and redefine their concept of community and identity.

Ashley has been featured in multiple media sources most notably CNBC Africa. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the World Affairs Council. Ashley has been honored by the Foundation for Enhancing Communities with the Women In Philanthropy Award, Hampton University’s Top 40 Under Forty Alumni Award and Essence Magazine’s She Got Now Award.

Ronnie & Lamar Tyler

Founders and owners of Black and Married wth Kids / Traffic, Sales and Profit

Lamar and Ronnie Tyler make up the husband and wife power pair behind Black and Married with Kids, the largest independent African American marriage and parenting site on the web. Fed up with the pervasive negative images of black marriage in the media, Lamar and Ronnie started the site to combat the negativity by focusing on positive messages about marriage in the black community. Armed with a passion for empowering married couples and a knowledge of how to leverage social media, Ronnie and Lamar have in eight years taken Black and Married with Kids from a small personal blog to an international brand under their own Tyler New Media umbrella that also boasts four independently produced films and a social media presence that includes over 500,000 Facebook fans.

Celena Gil, Esq

Celena Gill Design / Freres Branchiaux

Celena Gill, Esq., is a licensed attorney and brand manager who helms four family businesses: Celena Gill Design, Frères Branchiaux Candle Co (FB Candle Co), Black Oak Grooming, and Boybombs. In addition to running the family businesses, Celena has also worked as a costume designer, wardrobe stylist, and image consultant for various television and movie productions. She was a frequent contributor to regional, national, and international publications; regularly contributed to national radio and television outlets; and provided content for various fashion, beauty, and lifestyle sites. Celena has a BA in Anthropology and Psychology from The College of William and Mary, an Ed. S. in Educational Administration and MA in Special Education from the George Washington University, and a JD from Rutgers University School of Law. She resides with her husband and 4 children in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area.

Formerly a special education teacher and youth advisor, she honed her teaching skills to help her youngest 3 sons, Collin (14), Ryan (12), and Austin (9) Gill, create a six figure candle business in less than 12 months while being homeschooled. In October 2017, the young Gill brothers wanted more allowance to purchase video games. Mama Celena told them that they had maxed out their toy allowance and to either “get a job or start a business” if they wanted more money. They decided to start a business. Mama Gill attended a candle-making workshop and then taught the brothers. They now combine their own scents with the finest fragrance oils, hand pour each candle in small batches, and have even added accessories such as room sprays and diffusers.

About Frères Branchaixu Candle Co

FB Candle Co. candles are made using a domestic proprietary soy wax blend, cotton core wicks, fine fragrance oils, and apothecary inspired packaging. The small-batch creations are made of the finest ingredients. Not only do we create great smelling products, we donate 10% of our profits to homeless shelters in the Washington DC Metro area. We have raised over $25K for homeless shelters since 2017. We have been featured in the Washington Post, Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, and numerous media outlets. We have also been awarded the the DC Chamber of Commerce Youth Entrepreneur of the Year award, Role Model Award, Best of DC, Youth who Make a Difference Award, Excel Youth Mentoring Youth Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and Congressional citations. Their products can be found in over 70 boutiques and stores nationwide. They can also be found in select Whole Foods, Macy’s, and select Ace Hardware stores.