As the CEO of Spectrum Knowledge & Chair of Elevate, Vu H. Pham, Ph.D., works with hundreds of organizations from the Fortune 500 to major federal government and international non-profit agencies. Elevate is a multi-university partnership with the UC Office of the President—MESA. He heads several communities of practice with ERGs and Executive-level mastermind groups and has taught Executive Education and leadership at UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine.

Dr. Pham's work has been featured on national and international multimedia, such as CNN, MSNBC, the Associated Press, Forbes, Voice of America, Los Angeles Times, KSCI International Television, Strategic Innovators, Asian Week and Radio Free Asia. He has given numerous keynote speeches internationally and has written many publications. He has helped generate over a million dollars for non-profit groups and donates many hours to them.

Dr. Katie Brown has spent nearly three decades leveraging the science behind high-impact language instruction to create scalable, sustainable English learning solutions for immigrants, refugees, and speakers of other languages. As founder and chief education officer of EnGen, a Certified B Corporation, she is pioneering a personalized, career-aligned, mobile-first approach to English upskilling and is engaging cross-sector partners – Fortune 500 companies, regional employers, higher education institutions, apprenticeship programs, and government institutions – to advance economic mobility, workforce inclusion, and talent pipeline development across the U.S.  An expert in adult learning, education technology, and instructional design, Katie has crafted numerous award-winning language courses and authored multiple technology patents to deliver empowering, effective language training to millions of learners. Katie holds a PhD in second language acquisition from the University of Maryland, and is a frequent speaker, author, and panel moderator.

Aleta Howell currently leads Global Inclusive Recruiting and Business Strategy for Cisco Systems.  In this role she works to align corporate diversity, equity and inclusion strategies that drive diverse and inclusive hiring.   

Prior to her current role, Aleta led Inclusive Recruiting Strategy for University recruiting, where she worked with leaders and HR Partners to drive hiring strategies and program development to attract diverse university talent.  She also served as a Program Manager with Cisco’s Office of Inclusion and Collaboration where she helped to create new processes to drive diversity metrics review discussions with senior leaders.

Before joining Cisco, Aleta spent more than a decade as a senior branding consultant, working with senior leaders and executives to develop and guide branding and business strategy.   Her experience includes leading brand marketing teams, strategic consulting, education recruiting and talent acquisition strategy for numerous Fortune 500 companies.

Aleta began her career as a brand manager with Nabisco Foods.  Upon leaving Nabisco, she returned to Kenan-Flagler Business School as Assoc. Director of Admissions for Minority Recruitment and later became MBA Admissions director, where she led all recruiting and admissions for the full-time MBA program. 

Aleta is an alumnus of NC State University where she earned a BA in Economics and Business Management.  She also earned an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at UNC Chapel Hill.  Aleta resides in Raleigh, NC with her husband Kevin.  She is the mother of two college-aged daughters.  In her spare time she loves to sing, cook, write and travel.

Zina Daché Merritt is the Chief Diversity Management Officer at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). She is responsible for providing expert senior advisory services that helps GAO promote an environment that is fair and unbiased and that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. In 2022, she was elected as a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow and received the Association of Government Accountants Eleanor Clark Diversity Leadership Award. She received a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Tuskegee University and a M.S. degree in Information Systems from Texas A&M University Central TX.

Alaysia Black Hackett is the Chief Diversity and Equity Officer in the Office of the Secretary at the United States Department of Labor. Appointed in the summer of 2022, she leads and provides strategic insight for the Department’s internal and external initiatives for interagency diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs. She serves as the principal advisor and subject matter expert on promoting DEIA into systems that guide the labor market, diversifying the workforce, dismantling historically exclusive systems that perpetuate discrimination in the workplace and embedding equity in the labor field so that all people may feel seen, heard and included.   

Prior to joining the Department of Labor, Chief Hackett provided executive-level diversity leadership in both the public and private sectors, and she dedicated her career to effectively building diverse and equitable infrastructures. She served as the inaugural Deputy Chief Diversity Officer, a cabinet level role, to Governor Ralph S. Northam in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In this historic position, she managed the overall operations of the Governor’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) office.  Most notably, she co-created the ONE Virginia plan, a DEI strategic plan for inclusive excellence across 100+ state agencies in Virginia, working with leaders to champion the most robust equity agenda in Virginia.  Before her gubernatorial appointment, Chief Hackett served as the DEI consultant for the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management where she oversaw the reviewing and removal of bias policies and inequitable hiring practices and was an Equal Employment Opportunity investigator. Prior to her tenure in government, Chief Hackett spent 18 years in administration and diversity officer roles in higher education, including: University of North Carolina-Asheville (a state institution), Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (a large community college), Virginia Union University (a historically black college/university), and Mars Hill University (a private institution), where she established the diversity office and advocated for inclusive excellence.

Chief Hackett received the 2020 Governor’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Outreach Award for leadership in prioritizing equity in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s COVID-19 pandemic response by helping improve access to historically marginalized communities.  Those efforts led the multi-agency Unified Command response and recovery, which leveraged the Equity Leadership Taskforce to integrate equity into each decision made on behalf of the Commonwealth.

Hackett earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology with a concentration in Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Relations and has a master’s degree in Public Affairs with a concentration in Organizational Development from Western Carolina University. She received her Juris Doctor from Concord Law School.   

Desireé Navarro is a seasoned human resources executive and dedicated community advocate, whose remarkable journey is defined by her unwavering commitment to leadership, both in the corporate world and within various volunteer organizations. With a diverse range of experiences, Desireé has emerged as an influential force in the field of human resource management, change management, and employee development.

Desireé is the Chief Human Resource Officer for Shodair Children’s Hospital, a non-profit hospital in Montana specializing in psychiatric care for children and adolescents along with a nationally recognized genetics program providing care for all ages. Desireé has a Master of Business Administration from The University of Liverpool, a Bachelor’s from the University of Montana Western, and is both SHRM-SCP and SPHR certified.  Desiree’ was recently recognized as the 2023 Montana Human Resource Leader of the Year.  She currently serves as the Membership Advisory Council Representative for SHRM representing the Pacific West Region.

Dawn N. Stone is owner of The Conflict Chick LLC, a consulting company that provides training and development for organizations, corporations, teams and individuals that specializes in conflict management, communication, storytelling and diversity, equity and inclusion. Dawn’s 28 years of corporate experience coupled with her MBA in Marketing and MA in Conflict Management has afforded her the opportunity to touch thousands of lives across the US through education and leadership training she provides. She has two years of a Doctorate of Education from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University in Leadership and Learning In Organizations where she plans to enhance the organizations and the leaders she serves through curricula, research and development.  

Dawn's passion to develop and train others resulted in several entrepreneurial ventures since the age of 19 and this diversified skill set is leveraged daily. She has 12 years of adjunct professor experience at the college and community college level in business, entrepreneurship, communications and general education.  

Dawn is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and Lipscomb University’s Institute for Conflict Management. She has served as a certified Rule 31 Mediator in the State of Tennessee and a certified Circle Facilitator through The Circle Center Inc. These certifications make it easier for her to bring peace to communities across industries and organizations.  

In her spare time she enjoys family outings and volunteering in the community. Current and former employers include Center for Nonprofit Management, People3, Inc, Dismas House Nashville, Tennessee Prison Outreach Ministry, The Higher Education Initiative of TN, Nashville State Community College, National College, Austin Peay State University, YMCA of Middle Tennessee, Dell, Home Depot, Alive Hospice, Nabisco, Coca-Cola, Nortel Networks and several start-ups.