Keynote Speakers
Dr. Akilah Cadet
Dr. Akilah Cadet is the Founder and CEO of Change Cadet consulting firm, which offers a broad array of anti-racism and diversity services including strategic planning, crisis rebuilding, advising, executive coaching and facilitation. Cadet (her last name) is a French term that means soldier. As it’s often an uphill battle for BIPOC, women,
and underrepresented communities to achieve success and equity in the workplace, Change Cadet prepares soldiers of change to overcome these continuous battles so individuals and companies can thrive. Akilah has 15+ years of experience working in various organizations, with both private and public sector companies. She literally has all the degrees, lives in Oakland, CA, has a rare heart condition, and is a proud Beyoncé advocate.
Mariam Naficy
Mariam Naficy, Founder and CEO of Minted, is a pioneer in e-commerce and crowdsourcing. Growing up traveling the world with her family, she learned to appreciate artisanal design and exceptional craftsmanship by experiencing unique design first-hand. In 2007, Mariam saw an opportunity to leverage the internet to help
crowdsource great design, starting with stationery. She founded Minted, a marketplace of independent designers, with the mission of bringing the best in independent design to consumers everywhere. Today, Minted sells wall art, stationery, and home goods designed by independent designers and artists to consumers, and also serves as a platform for sourcing design for other retailers and brands.
Prior to Minted, Mariam co-founded Eve.com, the first online cosmetics retailer, in 1998 and sold it successfully in 2000. She sits on the Boards of Every Mother Counts and Williams College and on the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. Mariam was named one of the 100 Powerful Women in 2009 and again in 2019 by Entrepreneur, one of the 100 top Female Founders in 2019 by Inc. and one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company in 2014. Mariam is a graduate of Williams College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Video Appearance
Tarana Burke
A proud native of the Bronx, NY, Tarana’s passion for community organizing began in the late 1980s. As a young girl, she joined a youth development organization called 21st Century. She launched initiatives around issues including racial discrimination, housing inequality and economic justice. That work, coupled with a desire to deepen her academic education and community organizing skills, eventually led her to Alabama State University, a historically black institution.
Tarana’s organizing and advocacy work continued throughout college. Upon moving to Selma, Alabama, her career took an intentional turn toward supporting survivors of sexual violence. She encountered a Black girl who shared her story of sexual violence and abuse. Soon she found herself meeting dozens more. As a survivor herself, these were the stories with which she identified personally. Tarana faced the realization that too many girls were suffering and surviving abuse without access to resources, safe spaces and support.
In 2006, the “me too.” Movement was founded by survivor and activist Tarana Burke. In those early years, they developed their vision to bring resources, support, and pathways to healing where none existed before. And they got to work building a community of advocates determined to interrupt sexual violence wherever it happens.
Panelists & Workshop Facilitators
Cynthia Meng
Cynthia is a New York-based music director, software engineer, and pianist. She works mostly in the New York theatre scene, though she also performs regularly as a session keyboardist and singer in the live music circuit as well. She is a member of the music team for the the Tony- and Grammy-winning production of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown, playing at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City. In addition, she has played keyboard for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and prior to the international pandemic, was playing keyboard in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company (starring Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone), which came fresh off a successful run on the West End.
Prior to becoming a musician, she worked as a software engineer at Pandora Radio, creating data visualization tools for the music industry. She studied computer science at Harvard University and has also served as a guest speaker at the Grace Hopper Celebration, the world’s largest gathering of women technologists.
As a side woman or orchestra member, she has played at the likes of Radio City Music Hall and the Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. She has played with the Emmy- and Grammy-nominated actress Lea Michele, Tony-winning composers Jason Robert Brown and Laurence O’Keefe, Grammy-winning artists David Byrne and Kirstin Maldonado, and twelve-time Grammy-nominated artist Ledisi, among many others. Other select favorites from the theatre realm include the Frozen 1st National Tour, Mean Girls, Moulin Rouge! at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, In the Green at Lincoln Center Theatre, Suffragists (by Shaina Taub), and the Broadway-bound musical Lempicka (dir. Rachel Chavkin), which will have its West Coast premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in 2021.
Virgie Tovar
Virgie Tovar holds a Master's degree in Sexuality Studies with a focus on the intersections of body size, race and gender. She is a contributor for Forbes where she covers the plus-size market and how to end weight discrimination at work. She started the hashtag campaign #LoseHateNotWeight and in 2018 gave a TedX talk on the origins of the campaign. Tovar is the author of You Have the Right to Remain Fat (Feminist Press August 2018) and The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color (New Harbinger Publications 2020). She is the host of the podcast, Rebel Eaters Club.
SALLIE KIM
Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim brings a broad range of civil and criminal litigation experience to the bench, with a special emphasis on civil cases in federal court.
Judge Kim graduated from Princeton University in 1986 and from Stanford Law School in 1989. Upon graduation from law school, she served as law clerk to United States District Judge Spencer Williams of this Court. She then entered private civil litigation practice in Palo Alto. From 1995-99, Judge Kim served as Associate and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Stanford Law School, after which she returned to private civil litigation practice and became a partner with the law firm of GCA Law Partners, LLP in 2002. She practiced at GCA Law Partners until she joined the Court in 2015.
Judge Kim’s professional activities outside of regular civil litigation practice have included service in the following capacities: Co-Director of the Trial Advocacy Program and Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School beginning in 2014; the Interim Title IX Coordinator for Stanford University in 2013 and 2014; and Volunteer Deputy District Attorney for Santa Clara County for 14 weeks in 2010.
Deeksha Gulati
Deeksha Gulati, founder of LILAS Wellness, is passionate about promoting women’s health through natural products. She has a Master’s in Public Health and a decade long career in the pharmaceutical industry. Becoming a Mom, gave her the entrepreneurial push she needed to launch LILAS, a women’s wellness company with a for women, by women approach to product development. She is now the third-generation in her family developing plant-based medicinal products.
Lisa Patel
Lisa Patel is a hospital-based pediatrician at Stanford ValleyCare and has devoted most of her career outside of patient care being an advocate for children's health and training others how to use their voice for change. She is the Advocacy and Policy Lead at the Sean N. Parker Center
for Allergy and Asthma Research, teaches pediatric residents about advocacy strategies, andhelped launch the inaugural Advocating for Children Together conference for the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics. She is a faculty mentor to the Stanford Climate and Health group whereshe helped convene the first regional conference on climate change and sustainability forhealthcare systems. She devotes most of her time to climate change, health, and equityadvocacy as the co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Chapter 1 task force onClimate Change and Health and the national Council for Environmental Health for the AAP.She's been interviewed by the Washington Post, STAT News, the National Geographic, andScientific American for her work in climate change advocacy and is a frequent op-ed contributorto regional outlets like the Sacramento Bee and CalMatters on a range of children's healthissues including climate change, gun control, and immigration.
Shafia Zaloom
Shafia Zaloom is a nationally recognized health educator, parent, consultant and author whose work centers on human development, community building, ethics, and social justice. Her approach involves creating opportunities for students and teachers to discuss the complexities of teen culture and decision-making with straight-forward, open and honest dialogue. Shafia has worked with thousands of children and their families in her role as teacher, coach, administrator, board member, and outdoor educator. She has contributed articles to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous parenting blogs. Shafia’s book, Sex, Teens and Everything in Between has been reviewed as “the ultimate relationship guide for teens of all orientations and identities.” It is one that “every teen, and every parent and educator - and every other adult who interacts with teens - should read.” Shafia is currently the health teacher at the Urban School in San Francisco, and develops curricula and trainings for schools across the country. She was honored by the San Francisco Giants Foundation in 2018 for her work with Aim High, a program that expands opportunities for students from low-income neighborhoods and their teachers through tuition-free summer learning enrichment. Her work has been featured by many media outlets including, The New York Times, USA Today, NPR, KQED, and PBS.
Sheryl Davis
Sheryl Evans Davis is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Director Davis previously served as a Commissioner, including a tenure as Vice Chair of the Commission.
Prior to joining the HRC, Director Davis was Executive Director of Collective Impact. During her time at Collective Impact, Director Davis forged private and public sector partnerships to provide critical health and social services to historically underserved communities across San Francisco. Davis is the founding director of Mo’ MAGIC, a collaborative of non-profit organizations, addressing challenges facing low-income children, youth and families in the areas of economic development, community health, and violence prevention.
Davis helped launch the City’s Office of Racial Equity, facilitated community discussions and led the process on the allocation of law enforcement dollars to the Black community. Davis continues to support the build out of an equity framework focused on outreach, engagement and amplifying community voice.