TEDxThird Ward

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Adriane Simpson

  "Adriane Simpson is the founder and CEO of The LinkedIn Pros, a professional development consultancy helping executives, business owners, and organizations grow their visibility, influence, and income. With more than two decades of experience in corporate leadership and strategy, Adriane has helped clients generate over $4 million in salary increases, business contracts, and boardroom opportunities by transforming how they show up and connect on LinkedIn. She is the creator of The Warm Handshake, a human-centered networking method that replaces cold outreach with trust-based introductions that spark meaningful, lasting relationships. Her TEDx talk, “The Warm Handshake: How One Connection Can Change Everything,” explores the power of intentional relationships to shift careers, communities, and legacies. Adriane’s impact extends across sectors. She’s trained Fortune 500 teams, coached rising leaders, and empowered hundreds of professionals, especially women and leaders of color, to step into greater visibility and economic opportunity. Her signature programs, including the V.E.G.A. Framework and Executive Professional Makeover, blend mindset and mastery to help clients turn professional presence into real-world results. With authenticity, strategy, and a bold commitment to human connection, Adriane is reshaping how we build our futures – one warm handshake at a time."

• Adriane Simpson

  Adriane Simpson is the founder and CEO of The LinkedIn Pros, a professional development consultancy helping executives, business owners, and organizations grow their visibility, influence, and income. With more than two decades of experience in corporate leadership and strategy, Adriane has helped clients generate over $4 million in salary increases, business contracts, and boardroom opportunities by transforming how they show up and connect on LinkedIn. She is the creator of The Warm Handshake, a human-centered networking method that replaces cold outreach with trust-based introductions that spark meaningful, lasting relationships. Her TEDx talk, “The Warm Handshake: How One Connection Can Change Everything,” explores the power of intentional relationships to shift careers, communities, and legacies. Adriane’s impact extends across sectors. She’s trained Fortune 500 teams, coached rising leaders, and empowered hundreds of professionals, especially women and leaders of color, to step into greater visibility and economic opportunity. Her signature programs, including the V.E.G.A. Framework and Executive Professional Makeover, blend mindset and mastery to help clients turn professional presence into real-world results. With authenticity, strategy, and a bold commitment to human connection, Adriane is reshaping how we build our futures – one warm handshake at a time.

• Baba Abiono Ogunrinde

  Baba Cedrick (Abiono Ogunrinde) is a master West African drummer, educator, and cultural bearer whose work explores rhythm as a pathway to connection, healing, and community. A Djembefola with over three decades of study, he trained under renowned masters including Lindi Yeni, Barago Johnny Hayes, Famadou Konaté, Mamady Keita, Laurent Camara, and the late Bernard Woma. His musical lineage spans Guinea, Mali, Ghana, and Nigeria, and his artistry has appeared on global stages, from professional dance companies and theater productions to the film Coming 2 America, where he both performed and helped craft authentic African music. As a teaching artist, Baba Cedrick works with people of all ages through schools, cultural organizations, and experiential workshops, including with the Association of Black Psychologists. Grounded in ancestral tradition and academic study, his work uses West African drumming and dance as a conduit for emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual healing, reminding us that community, like rhythm, is something we choose to build together.

• D’Shonda Brown

  D’Shonda Brown is a multidisciplinary creative director and storyteller who blends editorial vision, cultural strategy, and human-centered narratives to elevate brands across beauty, wellness, tech, and social impact. With a passion for shaping stories that feel lived-in and soul-forward, her work has appeared in top publications including ESSENCE, Teen Vogue, Byrdie, and Bustle. She brings a signature blend of intuition, strategy, and creative clarity to every project, transforming ideas into compelling visual and editorial experiences.

• Dan Roth

  Dan Roth is a dad on a mission, a mission to create a better world for his wife and daughters through his work as a Strategic Operations Leader, Speaker, Author, Neurodiversity, Disability, Maternity, eating disorder, Menopause and anti-racism advocacy. Using storytelling to relate to his clients and audience, Dan has been lauded for his work locally and internationally. Dan currently volunteers as the Co Chair for his school districts advisory committee on Special Education where he successfully created an initiative to put adaptive swings in all 26 elementary schools.

• Dana L. Cox

  Dana L. Cox is a leadership strategist, executive coach, speaker, and Vice President of Product Management and Development at DreamFi, where she leads high-stakes product strategy at the intersection of access, equity, compliance, and scale. With over 30 years across financial services, technology, and consulting, Dana has held senior leadership roles at Mastercard, FIS, and Fiserv, helping drive more than $150B in business impact. She has built and led global teams across fintech, product innovation, and operational excellence, translating complex systems into outcomes that shape real lives and long-term opportunity. Dana is the creator of the Positioned to Paid™ framework and founder of FIX Coaching & Consulting, where she equips high-achieving professionals to reclaim their voice, visibility, and value without burnout. She is also an active business acquirer, using ownership as a pathway to legacy and generational impact. Dana has spoken at Yale University and appeared on national media platforms. She rose from administrative assistant to global executive while raising seven children and navigating profound personal loss. Her leadership is grounded in lived experience and a single conviction: success should never require self-abandonment.

• Divakar Vijayasarathy

  Divakar Vijayasarathy is a global entrepreneur, tax strategist, author, and professor of tax, with over two decades of experience across 40+ countries. As the founder of DVS Global Advisors, he lives through the same cross-border tax and regulatory challenges faced by the entrepreneurs he advises. His philosophy, Tax as Profit, emerged from lived failures and reframes tax from a punishment into a possibility for alignment with societal priorities. His thinking sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship, political economy, and human behavior. Recognized as a New Champion by the World Economic Forum, he contributes to global conversations on the future of enterprise and governance. Through teaching, writing, and speaking, he challenges leaders to stop fighting systems—and start understanding them.

• Dr. Darrian Dawson

  Dr. Darrian Dawson, a father, licensed clinical social worker, professor, and the clinical director of Darrian Dawson & Associates, LLC. My work is driven by a deep commitment to mental health advocacy, trauma recovery, and the promotion of self-care as an essential part of overall well-being. I believe that access to quality mental health care is not a privilege but a fundamental human right one that should be available to every individual, regardless of background or circumstance. Through my research and clinical practice, I aim to break down barriers that prevent individuals and families from receiving the support they need. My approach integrates compassion, evidence-based practices, and a strong focus on empowerment. I am especially passionate about helping people heal from trauma, rediscover their strengths, and develop resilience in the face of life’s challenges. Beyond my professional work, I’m committed to educating and inspiring others, creating spaces where conversations about mental health are normalized and encouraged. Whether through teaching, therapy, or community engagement, my mission is to help individuals transform pain into purpose and foster healthier, more resilient communities

• Dr. Emily Jamea

  Dr. Emily Jamea is an award-winning sex and relationship therapist and the USA Today best-selling author of Anatomy of Desire: Five Secrets to Create Connection and Cultivate Passion. Emily is a sought-after keynote speaker who presents nationally and internationally to diverse audiences, including educators, health and mental health professionals, corporate leaders, and the general public. Her expertise has been featured in Oprah Magazine, CNN, USA Today, NBC, and more. She offers online workshops as part of her mission to make her knowledge accessible to everyone. Dr. Jamea is a multi-award-winning columnist for Healthy Women and was named as a 2025 Outstanding Woman in Medicine by The Arts of Healing Foundation. She posts across all the social media channels @dremilyjamea. In her free time, Emily enjoys spending time with her husband and children, traveling as much as possible, and salsa dancing and painting when she gets the chance.

• Dr. Ginny Baro

  From immigrating to the U.S. at 14 to becoming a Top 100 Global Thought Leader, award-winning keynote speaker, and #1 bestselling author, Dr. Ginny Baro’s work is grounded in purposeful, human-centered leadership. With more than 25 years in technology and financial services, including over two decades in leadership roles, Dr. Ginny is a keynote speaker, executive coach, and executive leadership advisor to C-suite leaders and executive teams navigating complexity, disruption, and high-stakes decision-making. She is known for helping leaders cut through noise, strengthen alignment, and lead with confidence when it matters most. In 2017, she founded ExecutiveBound, where she advises executive teams, coaches senior leaders, and speaks globally on leadership, influence, and alignment at the top. Her work helps organizations resolve leadership breakdowns that stall execution and dilute impact, translating misalignment into clear operating roadmaps for results. Since 2021, Dr. Ginny has served as an external leadership coach for McKinsey & Company’s Hispanic/Latino Executive Leadership Program, supporting senior leaders as they navigate complex transformation and enterprise-wide change.

• Dr. Marie Alcazar

  Dr. Marie Alcazar is a leadership strategist who works at the intersection of leadership, systems, and lived experience. She supports leaders and organizations navigating complexity, pressure, and transformation by helping them design cultures and systems that align how people work with how they actually experience work. Her work is grounded in ecosystem thinking—recognizing that leadership effectiveness emerges from the interaction between people, culture, and systems. She blends executive coaching, strategic advisory, and change leadership to support environments where traditional models no longer fit. With more than four decades of experience across corporate, government, education, nonprofit, and technology sectors, Dr. Marie has guided enterprise transformation, coached senior leaders, and supported cultural shifts where burnout, misalignment, and complexity were undermining performance. Her practice integrates systems thinking, cultural intelligence, and trauma-informed insight to strengthen both outcomes and the people inside the system.

• Evan Marks

  Evan Marks is a high-performance mental coach and founder of M1 Performance Group, where he helps elite performers master the psychology of pressure, decision-making, and resilience. A Wall Street veteran with over 25 years of experience, Evan has coached top traders, hedge fund managers, and institutional investors to develop the emotional control and cognitive precision required to perform at the highest levels of finance. Expanding beyond Wall Street, Evan works with professional athletes, startup founders, and C-suite executives, guiding them to rewire mental patterns, overcome hesitation, and execute with clarity under intense pressure. His methodology blends neuroscience, psychology, and performance coaching, driving measurable breakthroughs in focus, adaptability, and sustained excellence. As a sought-after keynote speaker, Evan delivers powerful talks on mental toughness, risk intelligence, and high-performance leadership. Having personally navigated the challenges of burnout and high-stakes stress, he now helps high achievers transform pressure into performance and uncertainty into opportunity. His guiding philosophy: “Pressure is a privilege.”

• Evangeline Fabia

  Evangeline Fabia is a storyteller, seafarer, and brain tumor survivor whose life spans television studios, cruise ships, and global stages. A former journalist and reality TV producer in Los Angeles, she spent over a decade casting hit shows for NBC, TLC, FOX, Food Network, and more. She also co-hosted the outdoor adventure series Let’s Go LA! before answering a calling to the sea. For ten years, Evangeline lived and worked aboard cruise ships as a brand ambassador and future cruise specialist, traveling to 62 countries and 44 U.S. states. Along the way, she discovered that regardless of culture or geography, human connection is universal. In her TEDx talk, Evangeline shares her journey through resilience, faith, and recovery after brain surgery, inviting audiences to rethink how preparation can turn fear into strength and uncertainty into purpose. Offering her experience as a guide for hope and what’s possible.

• Jeff Hecklinski

  Jeff “Coach Heck” Hecklinski is a high-performance coach, speaker, and builder of resilience-first leadership systems. For more than 25 years, Jeff coached college football, leading athletes through pressure, uncertainty, and the relentless demand to perform. But his deepest work didn’t come from the scoreboard, it came from the moments where identity gets tested: setbacks, doubt, fear, and the quiet questions no one wants to say out loud. Today, Jeff is President of Signing Day Sports and founder of Heck Communications & Consulting, where he helps teams, leaders, parents, and athletes develop emotional toughness, clear purpose, and disciplined execution, tools that translate from the locker room to the boardroom to the living room. He’s also a father of three college athletes, and his message is grounded in real family stakes, not motivational slogans. Jeff’s approach is direct, human, and practical: face the truth, take ownership, and build the habits that create lasting change. In his TEDxThirdWard talk, he challenges audiences to stop performing for approval and start living with integrity, because the mirror doesn’t ask for perfection. It asks for honesty. And from that honesty, the rise begins.

• Jessica Wright

  Jessica Wright is a strategist, speaker, and philanthropic architect with over two decades of experience helping leaders and organizations turn vision into sustainable impact. Her work spans fundraising, systems design, and community-driven initiatives, with a consistent focus on aligning values, resources, and long-term outcomes. Known for her clarity and grounded approach, Jessica works at the intersection of strategy and humanity, challenging the idea that strength requires self-silencing. Her professional journey is shaped by both leadership and lived experience, informing her perspective on power, responsibility, and what it truly means to build something that lasts. Through her speaking and advisory work, Jessica invites audiences to rethink legacy not as reputation, but as what remains when performance is stripped away and presence becomes the work.

• Kenneth Morris

  Kenneth Morris is a decorated United States Navy Veteran, Commercial Pilot, U.S. Navy Blue Angels Key Influencer and Community Leader. In the U.S. Navy he flew aboard the P3-C Orion and P-8 Poseidon aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. As a Second Class Petty Officer he worked as an Anti-Submarine Warfare Systems Operator - Acoustic Operator and qualified Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist. As an Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran the awards and medals Kenneth have received are: Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medal, NATO medal, Kosovo Air Campaign medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary medal, Sea Service Deployment medal and more. Kenneth was born and raised in Houston, Texas and is the oldest sibling to seven younger sisters. After separating with an Honorable discharge, he graduated from Seward County College in Liberal, Kansas with a 3.5 GPA and a degree in Computer Information Systems. He is currently completing a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management with a Minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Prairie View A&M University. Upon returning to Houston, he founded Universal Elite Aerospace in November 2013, an Aviation S.T.E.M. Outreach program that works with youth and teens, motivating and inspiring them to exceed expectations in the aviation and aerospace sector. December 2016 he was awarded the role of Director of Education and Outreach for the new $40M Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas creating aviation education, S.T.E.M. curriculum, field trips and more for the 1.2 million youth throughout the Greater Houston and Harris County area. December 2018 Kenneth made a successful career change as he was selected as 1 of 7 U.S. Military Veterans from a pool of thousands of decorated candidates, for a new national flying initiative, powered by the U.S. Department of Transportation called 'Forces to Flyers'. Kenneth is the only African American and minority chosen to fly in Texas with this new initiative. This program is designed to address the country-wide pilot shortage while working to provide veterans with the skills and training needed to become commercial airline pilots. Kenneth continues his work inspiring, motivating, training and introducing young people to the aviation industry. Beginning in 2020, Kenneth was awarded the role of Executive Director of the Aviation Community Foundation, and continues to provide access, internship opportunities, scholarships and more to students around the country to become next generation of great aviation professionals. His focus is increasing awareness in Leadership Accountability throughout the entire aviation and aerospace industry.

• Kim Topps

  Kim Topps is a Christian influencer, author, servant leader, coach, public speaker, entrepreneur, and engineer. She was educated in the Galena Park Independent School District. Upon graduating, Kim attended Lamar University, where she was a member of the Women's Track Team. She later transferred to the University of Houston to complete her studies. Kim holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston and a Master of Business Administration from LeTourneau University. Professionally, Kim has worked on the International Space Station (ISS) Space Training Facility, Command and Control Software, and the Orion Shuttle project as a Senior Software Engineer for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She has also contributed to various automation projects for Dow Chemical Company and Mbroh Engineering, Inc. Additionally, Kim has served as an Engineering Consultant for Pro Welder, LLC, Vice President of T. R. Grace Company, and owner of Top Event Planners, Top Resume Coaches & STAR Coaching.

• Kimberly Bady

  Kimberly Bady is a speaker, author, and women’s wellness guide with over 30 years of experience creating spaces for women to explore healing, identity, and life transitions. Her work centers on reframing menopause as a rite of passage—a meaningful threshold that invites deeper listening, embodied wisdom, and coming home to oneself. Drawing from her background in holistic health coaching, yoga and breathwork, and rites-of-passage work with women and girls, Kimberly blends storytelling, cultural insight, and lived experience to challenge how society understands women’s bodies and midlife change. Through her work, she invites women—and the people who love and lead them—to see menopause not as a breakdown, but as a powerful transition that impacts families, workplaces, and the future of our culture.

• Letitia Plummer

  "As the CEO of Harro Consulting, Maxwello Dental, and former At-Large Council Member for the City of Houston, I represent the epitome of entrepreneurial success and civic leadership. My journey as a successful small business owner is characterized by an exceptional ability to scale businesses and drive strategic solutions across diverse industries, including healthcare, ports, busi- ness acquisitions, and educational programs. This versatility and comprehensive approach align perfectly with Harro Management Consulting’s mission to offer broad and ef- fective support to our clients. I lead a team of experts in regulatory com- pliance, governmental affairs, and imple- mentation. Under my guidance, we excel at navigating complex regulatory landscapes to achieve our clients’ objectives efficiently and effectively. My commitment to my roles across different sectors showcases my ability to adapt and thrive in challenging environ- ments, making me a respected figure in both the business and civic communities. In my capacity as a General dentist with the specialty in Obstructive Sleep Apnea, I have been able to treat patients beginning at 6 years old that are having challenges with sleeping effectively. My certificate in BreathWork has allowed me to combine the practice of dentistry with Breath. My memoir "" WaterProof"" will be released late summer of 2026 discussing my journey of loss and being able to rewrite my life's trajectory after entering menopause 15 years to early. "

• Mary Ann Hughes

  Mary Ann Hughes is a Special Needs Divorce Coach, speaker, and author, focused on supporting parents of children with disabilities facing divorce and family transitions. She is the proud mother of sons on the autism spectrum, and her personal experience advocating for their needs led to her work at the intersection of divorce and special needs. With a blend of business expertise, years of special needs parenting and advocacy, and training as a Certified Divorce Coach, Mediator, Pre-Mediation Divorce Coach, Co-Parenting Specialist, and Leadership Education in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Mary Ann is honored to support families of children with complex needs, as well as the professionals who serve them, through her work at Special Family Transitions. In addition to her work supporting parents, Mary Ann co-authored “My Parents’ Divorce Through My Eyes: Helping Children With Autism Understand Divorce”, a book thoughtfully designed to help autistic children understand and cope with the changes in their world. More information about Mary Ann can be found at www.specialfamilytransitions.com

• Michael Scarano

  Michael Scarano has served in healthcare since the early 1990s, building a rare and accomplished career as a physical therapy assistant, chiropractor, and medical doctor. After decades of clinical practice and treating thousands of patients, he made a pivotal decision in 2015 to step away from traditional medicine to pursue a deeper calling—as a speaker, coach, and guide focused on meaning, leadership, and emotional health. Michael’s work has always extended beyond medicine. He founded the nonprofit organization Rockin the Rage, Inc., dedicated to improving school culture through a social-emotional framework he developed. The organization was recognized as Montgomery County, Maryland’s Most Outstanding Nonprofit for two consecutive years and reached thousands of students and educators. His commitment to youth development also includes nearly 30 years of coaching youth sports, where he emphasized discipline, resilience, perseverance, and teamwork. Today, Michael’s mission is centered on helping individuals and leaders live more aligned, meaningful, and emotionally balanced lives. His work is anchored in a concept he developed called Toxic Perseverance, which challenges the cultural glorification of relentless endurance at the expense of inner well-being. Through this lens, Michael helps people distinguish between perseverance that sustains life and perseverance that slowly erodes it. Michael has delivered leadership keynotes and presented this work publicly, including a TEDx talk in Houston, Texas (Third Ward). He continues to bring this message to organizations, communities, and audiences seeking a deeper, healthier understanding of strength, resilience, and meaning.

• Nathan Haymer

  Nathan Haymer is a dynamic leader and speaker known for challenging conventional thinking around leadership, power, and success. With a career spanning education, organizational leadership, and high-visibility cultural spaces, he brings practical insight, lived experience, and sharp storytelling to every room he enters. Haymer’s work centers on the idea that unauthorized success often creates more resistance than failure—and that true leadership requires vision not only to pursue success, but to manage its consequences. He is widely recognized for his ability to connect with diverse audiences, translate complex leadership dynamics into plain language, and motivate people to move with intention rather than permission. Through talks, coaching, and public platforms, he continues to push conversations about leadership, visibility, and institutional change forward.

• Nikquan Lewis

  Nikquan Lewis is a Licensed Relationship and Sex Therapist, keynote speaker, bestselling author of When Trauma Is Your Author, and Professional Wellness Consultant whose work focuses on disrupting shame and restoring connection, pleasure, and emotional safety. A woman who understands what it means to be accomplished while quietly disconnected, Nikquan blends lived experience with clinical expertise. She specializes in helping high-achieving Black women and professionals unlearn shame, stop settling, and reclaim pleasure as a vital part of mental, relational, and emotional wellness. Through her private practice, Intimate Connections PLLC, Nikquan has supported hundreds of women, couples, and clinicians in dismantling generational dysfunction and building lives that feel as good as they look. Her trauma-informed frameworks—including the S.A.D.™ Model (Suppress, Abandon, Disappear)—have been featured on national news outlets, major media platforms, and in publications such as Essence, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. Nikquan is a sought-after speaker and media expert who has delivered several keynotes and trainings including Essence Festival, corporate wellness spaces such as Microsoft, and appears as a psychological expert on TV One. Her work helps organizations and communities interrupt burnout, strengthen emotional safety, and build cultures rooted in connection rather than performance.

• Pam Rivet

  Pam Rivet is a speaker and transformation coach committed to helping people reconnect with who they are beyond the titles, roles, and responsibilities they carry. After more than fourteen years as a top producing mortgage lender, Pam’s life took an unexpected turn that led her to confront a deeper question. Who am I without the roles I perform? That moment of reckoning became the catalyst for her own transformation and ultimately the foundation of her life’s work. Pam is the founder of MBS | The Woman Beyond The Cape, a faith based lifestyle brand and movement rooted in identity led living. Through her work, she empowers women to reconnect with themselves before burnout, perfectionism, or people pleasing cause them to lose sight of who they are. Her message invites people to slow down, take off the cape, and remember their worth apart from productivity or performance. Featured in major publications for both her story and her brand, Pam has built a community centered on awareness, restoration, and personal identity. She reminds others that transformation does not require rock bottom. It begins with the courage to pause and pay attention. A wife, mother of three, bonus mom of three, and grandmother of two, Pam lives the truth she teaches. Rediscovering yourself is not a comeback. It is a homecoming.

• Sherhara Burrell

  Sherhara Burrell is a keynote speaker and communication advisor who helps leaders turn inner clarity into outer presence. With over 17 years of experience, she equips executives and emerging leaders to speak with conviction, lead authentically, and influence rooms without relying on performative confidence

• Steve Spiro

  Steve Spiro is an inspirational keynote speaker and author who hosts a weekly live broadcast on multiple platforms, and is known today as The Master Connector. Though he started out as a shy introvert and art school kid who never imagined himself in business, he went on to launch his own advertising company in NYC, earn a black belt in Karate and Jujitsu, and ultimately become a top sales performer. Now considered one of LinkedIn’s top influencers with over 30,000 connections, he uses that journey to help audiences build genuine, meaningful human connections.

• Terry Williams

  Terry Williams is an executive neuroscience coach based in Houston, TX. He serves NBA and NFL franchises, as well as Fortune 500 companies, as a mindset coaching consultant.

• Thanh Nguyen

  Thanh Nguyen is an author, leadership coach, and Professor in the Practice at Rice University. Her bestselling books, "Unshrink Yourself: 12 Mini-Shifts to Ditch Self-Doubt and Own Your Life" and "Calm in Chaos: Mindfulness and Meditation for Busy Professionals," reflect her dual expertise in high-stakes engineering and mindfulness. After arriving in the United States at sixteen with no money and no English, Thanh navigated a path from survival to becoming a patented inventor and engineering executive. Today, she helps leaders and students move through uncertainty and self-doubt.

• Tiffani Robinson

  Tiffani Robinson

• Toni Harris Taylor

  Toni Harris Taylor is a marketing and sales coach, franchise expert, and sought-after speaker known for helping people grow their income through relationships, community presence, and consistent follow-up. She is the founder of Drastic Franchise Matchmakers and serves as the Executive Director and President of Multicultural Franchise Connectors (MFC), an organization focused on expanding access to franchising and business ownership. As a speaker and trainer, Toni brings a strong business foundation to the stage and the coaching room. She is also an author of multiple books, including The Road to Entrepreneurship Leads to Why. Toni’s message is equal parts motivation and methodology, giving audiences clear next steps to move from stuck to strategic and from interested to in motion.

• Una Stevenson

  Una Stevenson is a speaker and leader shaped by lived experience, legacy, and the quiet resilience formed in life’s early complexities. Raised by her grandparents after time in foster care, she learned early that what begins as limitation can quietly become strength. Her perspective has been forged through navigating uncertainty, carrying expectations placed on her long before she understood them, and discovering how underestimation can shape, but not define, a life. Today, Una brings that lens into the spaces she leads and the stories she shares, helping others see their own fractures not as disqualifiers, but as places where clarity, purpose, and growth can begin. At the heart of her work and voice is a deep commitment to legacy, honoring what was given, and intentionally passing forward what matters most.