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Lisa Hunter Romanelli, Ph.D., is the CEO of The REACH Institute, a nonprofit organization that trains primary care providers, therapists, and health care institutions in evidence-based therapies for child and adult mental health issues. Dr. Romanelli is also a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in cognitive behavioral therapy for children and adults.
Dr. Romanelli earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University in 1998 and completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Child Psychology at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Study Center. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.
During her graduate studies, she recognized that while providing therapy to children and families was profoundly impactful, it limited the number of lives she could touch. Inspired to create a broader, lasting impact on children facing mental health challenges, Dr. Romanelli has dedicated her career to transforming the mental health care landscape. Through her work at The REACH Institute, she continues to fulfill this vision, improving the lives of countless children and families.
David Flink is a leader in the learning rights movement, envisioning a world where all learners are seen, heard, and valued. Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, he dedicated his life to neurodivergent students. As a student at Brown University in 1998, David founded Eye to Eye, a mentoring program that grew into the Neurodiversity Alliance, the only national organization run by and for neurodiverse people.
In 2015, GQ honored David as “Man of the Year” alongside Mark Ruffalo for raising awareness of social issues. In 2021, he was named a CNN Hero. He holds a master’s in disability studies from Columbia University and bachelor’s degrees in education and psychology from Brown. His book, Thinking Differently, provides strategies for supporting students with learning differences. David lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.
A member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, Chef Sean Sherman focuses on the revitalization and evolution of Indigenous food systems throughout North America. Through his activism and advocacy, Sean is helping to reclaim and celebrate the rich culinary heritage of Indigenous communities around the world.
As Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS) and its Indigenous Food Lab, Sean works to make Indigenous foods more accessible to communities across the country. Through this professional Indigenous kitchen and training center, he addresses the economic and health crises affecting Native communities by reestablishing Native foodways. NĀTIFS envisions a new North American food system that generates wealth and improves health in Native communities through food-related enterprises.
Sean’s first book, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, won the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook in 2018, and he received the Foundation’s Leadership Award in 2019. In 2021, he opened Owamni, Minnesota’s first full-service Indigenous restaurant, which earned the 2022 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in America, among many other honors.
Yordanos Eyoel is an Ethiopian-American democracy entrepreneur who is the Founder and CEO of Keseb. Keseb is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization building a transnational civil society ecosystem for learning, collaboration, and innovation to advance inclusive and resilient democracies.
For launching Keseb in 2022, Yordanos was recognized with the “Extraordinary Leader Transforming a Field” award by Unorthodox Philanthropy. Previously, Yordanos was a Managing Partner at New Profit, where she was the first person in the organization’s 22-year history to grow from Portfolio Analyst to Managing Partner.
Yordanos is an Ashoka Fellow, a Civil Society Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and a former Fellow of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Yordanos’ work and writing have been featured in TED, Fast Company, Stanford Social Innovation Review, NPR, and Harvard Business Review, among others.
Yordanos earned a B.A. in Economics and Political Science, Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Florida, where she was inducted into the University’s Hall of Fame. She also holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.
Michèle Traoré is an innovative leader and entrepreneur with extensive experience in education, youth empowerment, and international business. As the Co-founder & CEO of Kabakoo Academies, she spearheads a transformative upskilling platform that empowers young people in West Africa by combining high-tech solutions with indigenous knowledge.
Since its inception in 2019, Kabakoo has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a “School of the Future,” awarded the Zoom EdInnovation Award for its innovative approach to inclusive education, and named one of UNESCO’s Most Innovative and Resilient Learning Organizations in Africa.
Michèle holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business from Groupe ESC Troyes and further strengthened her expertise during a year-long exchange program in Shanghai.
Born in Timbuktu, Michèle identifies as a “desert person” and has also lived in Samoa. When she is not working, she enjoys making pistachio ice cream and other sweet treats!
Fre has worked in fermentation technology for more than 20 years. Fre is passionate about solving critical problems and recently co-founded a new bioscience organization, Essential Impact, which creates breakthrough innovations to transform food systems and tackle malnutrition in East Africa.
Previously, Fre was the Director of Fermentation at Culture Biosciences, a Series C startup valued at $500M, where she led large-scale bioreactor builds and established and oversaw a team of engineers to accelerate bioprocessing using high-throughput bioreactors. Before Culture, she was with Lawrence National Lab, where she led a team of engineers and supported more than 27 alternative protein startup companies in taking their ideas from proof of concept to scale.
Fre has industry experience in process development, optimization, and scale-up. She also has experience in strategy, product development, project management, resource analysis, staffing, scheduling, and data analysis.
Bing Chen is an impact founder, investor, and new world builder. He is the Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-founder of Gold House, the leading cultural ecosystem that unites, invests in, and champions Asia Pacific creators and communities to power tomorrow for all.
He is also Executive Chairman of AU Holdings which incubates and invests in multicultural creators and communities; General Partner and Co-founder of Aum Group, a premier multicultural film fund; and serves as a Board Director and Advisor to several leading digital media companies.
Previously, he was YouTube’s Global Head of Creator Development and Management. He is also a Google Multicultural Champion; Young Presidents’ Organization Member; a Hollywood Reporter Next Gen Leader and Most Influential Agent of Change; Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Asia Society Asia 21 Young Leader; and Asian Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year. His philanthropic work focuses on culture and cross-continental bridges as a board director of Asia Society, the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, the Banff World Media Festival, and VidCon, the largest online video convention that he helped form in the 2010s.
A proud Tennessee Squire which becomes obvious at $11.99 buffets, Chen is a third culture kid across North America and Asia, finally graduating from the University of Pennsylvania.