PLATFORM

Alex Rivera, Filmmaker, Digital Media Artist Alex Rivera has been telling new, urgent, and visually adventurous Latino stories for the past 15 years. Rivera is a Sundance Fellow, Rockefeller Fellow, and was named one of Variety Magazine’s “10 Directors to Watch.” He was born in 1973 to a native of Peru and a native of New Jersey. He’s professionally based in New York, but lives in Los Angeles.

Group discussion with journalist Harry Allen Harry talks with session speakers about the power to create. He delves into what it takes to put pen to paper to bring to life vivid and inclusive futures that have the potential to impact our current course.

Tananarive Due, Author, Screenwriter, Producer, Educator The winner of an American Book Award and a NAACP Image Award, Tananarive Due is the author of twelve novels and a civil rights memoir. In 2013, Due co-produced a short film, Danger Word, with her husband, Steven Barnes, and director Luchina Fisher. Alongside such luminaries as Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison, Due received the “New Voice in Literature Award” at the Yari Yari Pamberi conference co-sponsored by New York University’s Institute of African-American Affairs and African Studies Program and the Organization of Women Writers of Africa. Due has a B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University and an M.A. in English literature from the University of Leeds, England, where she specialized in Nigerian literature as a Rotary Foundation Scholar.

Group discussion with Van Jones While wealth, power and influence are changing hands, not everyone as joined the struggle. And those that are not engaged in the revolution are at risk of not having a seat at the table when the final treaties are signed.

A Conversation With Jesse Jackson, Founder and President, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. is one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. Over the past 40 years, he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. Currently, Jackson is speaking out about a lack of diversity in Silicon Valley. He talks with Platform founder Hank Williams about what needs to happen to close the gap.

Group discussion with radio and TV journalist Maria Hinojosa The old cliché’ is that leaders are born, not made. But is that true? So, what is required to effectively lead technological revolution? Maria Hinojosa talks to session speakers about what they think.

Janelle Monáe with Chuck Lightning and Nate ‘rocket” Wonder, Wondaland Productions Janelle Monáe is a Grammy Award -nominated singer-songwriter, performer, producer and CoverGirl spokesperson. Monáe is known for her unique style and groundbreaking sound. In 2010, Monáe released the highly anticipated and critically acclaimed album The ArchAndroid, which earned her two Grammy Award nominations. In 2013, her celebrated album The Electric Lady reached No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. The video for the album's first single, “Q.U.E.E.N.,” received a coveted MTV VMA Moonman. In 2013, Monáe received Billboard’s prestigious 2013 Rising Star Award. After moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 2001, she met OutKast's Big Boi, and then founded the Wondaland Arts Society with some like-minded young artists, releasing her first EP The Audition in 2003.

David Ortiz, Founder and CEO, Deuces Digital David Ortiz is a creative business leader with 18 years of experience in the entertainment and digital media industry. His proficiency is in strategy, creative leadership, and business development to deliver industry leading experiences, distribution, and technology. Ortiz’s executive production experience translates well to many genres of media development, be it game development, web development, film development, technology development, or product development. He has taken Deuces Digital from launch to acquisition in three years. This company is pioneering in the real time sports prediction market of fantasy sports and sports betting. Ortiz was named #29 of the top 100 Most Influential People in Gaming. He’s also won multiple “Gaming of the Year” awards.

Ben Jealous, Partner, Kapor Capital, former CEO, NAACP Ben Jealous stepped down from his post at the NAACP at the end of 2013. The youngest president in its history, he began his career at age 18 opening mail at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Jealous has been a leader of successful state and local movements to ban the death penalty, outlaw racial profiling, defend voting rights, secure marriage equality, and free multiple wrongfully incarcerated people. He has been named to the 40 under 40 lists of both Forbes and Time magazines. He is #1 on TheRoot.com’s 2013 list of black leaders under 45. He holds a BA from Columbia University and a MA from the University of Oxford , where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Rodney Sampson, Founder and CEO, Opportunity Hub Rodney Sampson is a social innovator, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, published author, and consecrated bishop. Opportunity Ecosystem includes opportunity.HUB a co-working space, knowledge hub, coding school and accelerator located in downtown Atlanta. opportunity.HUB is home to opportunity.VENTURES, a new seed and early stage fund focused on making investments in early stage consumer facing, technology and disruptive social enterprise based companies that impact culture and beyond. Sampson earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tulane University and a MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management.

Tiffany Norwood, Founder and CEO, Tribetan Tiffany Norwood is a serial entrepreneur, former investment banker, accomplished painter, a patented inventor and a competitive athlete. She is one of the pioneers of digital satellite radio; responsible for a Series A raise of nearly one billion dollars to launch WorldSpace/XM Radio; as well as, an early investor and collaborator in MPEG technology, later to be known as MP3 and MP4. Her company, Tribetan, is a start-up developing a universal platform for collaborative intelligence, with the vision of enabling millions of minds to create, invent, innovate or problem solve as one. Norwood has a MBA from Harvard and a Bachelor’s in Economics with a concentration in statistics and electrical engineering from Cornell University.

Paul Judge, Vice President, Chief Research Officer, Barracuda Networks Paul Judge is a serial entrepreneur, noted scholar and active investor. He has founded multiple companies that grew and resulted in successful acquisitions. Tech Square Labs is a company-building studio. In 2009, Barracuda Networks acquired Purewire Inc, a leading Web security-as-a-service company that Judge cofounded. He is an inventor of about 30 patented and patent-pending computer security technologies. Judge has spearheaded multiple research initiatives and founded the Internet Research Task Force’s Anti-Spam Research Group. Judge holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Morehouse College, and received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Network Security from Georgia Tech.

A Conversation with James Shelton, III For more than five years, James Shelton, III has been with the U.S. Department of Education. Currently as Deputy Secretary, he oversees a broad range of management, policy and program functions. He is a 1989 Graduate of Morehouse College.

Leading the Revolution Shellye Archambeau, CEO Metricstream Shellye Archambeau is a guest lecturer at her alma mater, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a writer, co-authoring the book Marketing That Works and a regular contributor for Xconomy. At Metricstream, she oversees the Silicon Valley-based Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) and Quality Management software company that helps companies around the world improve their business performance. Archambeau has proven global business expertise combined with public policy passion. In April 2013, she was named the “#2 Most Influential African American in Technology” by Business Insider.

Mike Blake, former Deputy Associate Director, Office of Public Engagement, The White House Michael Blake often humbly refers to the words of his mother who remarked that the family had gone, “from no house to the White House.” His family emigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica seeking new opportunities. Blake is the director of Public Policy & External Affairs for Green For All, a national organization working to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. He also is the senior advisor for Operation Hope. Michael served as the Senior Advisor for the Office of Public Engagement for President Obama’s 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee. Blake is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Pamela Thomas-Graham, Chief Marketing and Talent Officer, Credit Suisse At Credit Suisse, Pamela Thomas-Graham has global responsibility for overseeing human resources, corporate marketing, and branding and advertising. She also is responsible for designing and developing market segment strategies to attract and grow client relationships in key communities, including women, African-Americans and the LGBT community. Thomas-Graham is the first woman to be appointed to the Executive Board of Credit Suisse in the bank’s history. Thomas-Graham graduated with an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School, where she was a member of the Harvard Law Review. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard University with a B.A. in Economics.

Carmen Rojas, Founding Executive Director, The Future of Work Action Center The Future of Work Action Center is an innovation lab for worker justice. As founding executive director, Carmen Rojas partners with social movement leaders, philanthropic institutions, technology entrepreneurs, and high road employers to support projects that significantly improve worker’s economic conditions and that have the promise to scale throughout entire sectors and geographies. Previously, Rojas was the Director of Strategic Programs at the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, where she oversaw the Foundation’s Green Access and Civic Engagement programs. Rojas holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley and was a Fulbright Scholar in 2007.

Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions Platform Summit 2014 opens with a candid conversation between Platform founder Hank Williams and Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions and Morehouse College Trustee. de la Vega has been with AT&T Mobility since Oct. 2007. Under his leadership, AT&T Mobility has become one of the world's leading smartphone and mobile Internet providers. He has received numerous awards recognizing his leadership, including inductions into the Atlanta Business Hall of Fame and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund's Alumni Hall of Fame. He also is featured in the HBO original documentary, "The Latino List," which profiles notable and influential Latinos in America. He is the author of the best-selling book Obstacles Welcome: Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life (Thomas Nelson, 2009).

10,000 Innovators announcement with Hank Williams, Mitchell Kapor, Freada Kapor Klein and Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr. Platform, Morehouse College and the Level Playing Institute announce the formation of 10,000 Innovators. The program is focused on bringing more underrepresented minorities into the tech industry.

Deldelp Medina, Founder, Avion Ventures Deldelp Medina is the founder of Avión Ventures, a Latina focused accelerator for mobile platforms. This unique program is for U.S. born Latinas and Latin Americans. It’s a combination of in-person & virtual curriculum designed to grow the opportunities of Latinas in tech. Medina also is president of the Latino Startup Alliance where she is working to make tech entrepreneurship a priority in the Latino community. Medina’s family is originally from Barranquilla, Colombia. She has lived in the San Francisco Bay area since the age of eight.