"Leveraging 'Personal Diversity' to Succeed in Leadership AND Life"

Randal Pinkett, Ph.D., has established himself as a speaker, author, scholar, self-described "serial entrepreneur," and community servant. Active in numerous community service organizations and ventures, Pinkett serves as national spokesperson for Autism Speaks, the National Black MBA Association (Gold Key Access events), New Jersey Reads ("Change a Life Through Literacy" campaign) and Junior Achievement of New York (Groundhog Job Shadow Day program). He is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of BCT Partners, a multimillion dollar management, technology, and policy consulting firm whose clients include Johnson & Johnson, Ford Foundation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Microsoft. BCT Partners also does considerable work with community-based organizations. Before founding BCT, Pinkett launched four socially responsible business ventures, including Access One Corporation-whose mission is to ensure that affordable housing is equipped for the 21st century by implementing innovative, sustainable, broadband network and telecommunications solutions.

Pinkett is often remembered as the Season 4 winner of reality TV's The Apprentice, as well as from appearances on The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, and CNN. An academic scholar with five degrees, Pinkett made history as the first African American ever to receive a Rhodes Scholarship at Rutgers University. His first book, Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business, was released in February 2007, the same year he also released the audio book The No-Money Down CEO: How to Start Your Dream Business with Little or No Cash.

Active at the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in New Jersey, Pinkett firmly believes that "for those to whom much is given, much is expected."

"Changing Lives One Dinner at a Time"

Elizabeth Howard is the interim director of Dining for Women, an international organization that empowers women living in extreme poverty by funding programs fostering good health, education, and economic self-sufficiency through educational dinner circles that inspire individuals to make a difference through the power of collective giving. Howard also founded Broadbridge International Group, Ltd., an international corporate communications and marketing consulting firm that has represented American and European-based multinational corporations, universities, international not-for-profit organizations and professional service firms, including high-profile architectural, design, law and accounting firms, most with international practices and offices. From 2007 to 2009, Elizabeth Howard was the Chief Executive Officer of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Howard has lectured and written extensively about issues related to communication and marketing. She has also traveled to Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia to visit educational projects designed to take children out of child labor. Howard holds an M.A. from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., through the Graduate School of Political Management, as well as an M.S. in communications design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

John D. Trasviña is the assistant secretary of the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Previously, he was president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF). From 1997 to 2001, he was special counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices at the U.S. Department of Justice. He has focused his work at the local and federal levels on civil rights, voting rights, immigration policy, worker rights, and education.

About the Company: Rooted in the African-American experience, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company is a culturally diverse contemporary dance company committed to reaching the broadest audience through exceptional performance and arts-integrated education. Founded in Dayton, Ohio, in 1968 by the late dancer, teacher, choreographer, and visionary leader Jeraldyne Blunden, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company is one of very few American dance companies of international reputation among those located outside a large U.S. metropolitan city.

Magdalen Hsu-Li is an internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, painter, and cultural activist who is redefining the female musician and smashing the ceiling in the American music industry. She has been called a "...one-woman dynamo of talent," her music described as "...exquisitely furious, beautiful, & exciting" by Performing Songwriter, "...sweet, melodic, & real" by the New York Times, "...an achingly gorgeous collection of piano based rock recalling the finest moments of Tori Amos or Ben Folds Five" by Yolk magazine, and "...a sumptuous feast for the ears" by Curve magazine.

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