Stefanie Adams

Dr. Tonya Jackman Hampton

Dr. Tonya Jackman Hampton, EdD, is an award-winning executive, speaker, and author with over 30 years of leadership experience spanning Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, she served as Chief Human Resources OJicer and at UC San Diego Health and Chief People and Culture OJicer at Hennepin Healthcare. Dr. Jackman Hampton is the Founder and CEO of Sequel Consulting Group, LLC, and a best-selling author of The Myth of the Fearless Leader. She is also a nationally recognized speaker, consultant and certified executive coach. Dr. Jackman Hampton holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Pre-Law from Clark Atlanta University, an MBA with a concentration in Human Resource Management, and a Doctor of Education in Organization Development from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. A breast cancer survivor, avid runner, and proud mother, Dr. Jackman Hampton is a native of Minnesota and now resides in San Diego.

Alia Aljunied

Alia Aljunied, Founder of AYN Studios is an award-winning strategic thinker who enjoys developing multimedia content, pushing experiential boundaries, sharing ideas, and creating positive experiences with brands that are making a difference. Sha is an “accidental entrepreneur” who transformed her years at The Wall Street Journal and Fortune into a niche that’s reshaping the event industry. She understands the deep value of building out the “so what,” in any events or marketing plan and the importance of building experiences around intentionality. Alia has a B.A from UC Irvine and a M.A, from Christie's Education.

Heather Cox

Heather Cox, President of Certify My Company, specializes in connecting certified diverse businesses with corporations, helping them achieve diversity goals, and securing spots at prestigious organizations like the Billion Dollar Roundtable. Certify My Company has worked with brands like Johnson and Johnson and Zappos and has been featured in outlets like Diversity Professional Magazine. Heather is also a board member of the Women’s Business Enterprise Council and has served with various diversity-focused organizations. Heather’s passion for supporting diversity in business extends beyond her roles at CMC. She currently serves on the national and regional forums for Women’s Business Enterprise Council – West (WBEC-W), and has held past posts with the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO-NY), WBE-National Council, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and the Advisory Board for Super Bowl XLVIII. Heather enjoys not relaxing with her husband and five small children. This former acro-gymnast, tightrope walker and juggler knows just how to balance her hectic life – with yoga, DIY projects and baking. A seasoned traveler and student of the world, Heather earned her BA in Spanish Language from the University of Texas at Austin.

Morgen Alden

Morgen Alden leads an innovative executive learning community and thought leadership accelerator, Pioneering Collective, which empowers business leaders to amplify their influence and impact in their respective industries. With over 15 years of experience spanning community building, healthcare, market research, board placements, and investor relations, Morgen has cultivated the unique ability to guide executives in strategic networking and peer learning – ultimately transforming them into industry leaders who are positioned to make a positive impact in their lives and careers. Morgen co-founded the nonprofit Alliance for Advancement and Diversity in the Sciences (AADS) in 2016, under which she launched and led the Board Placement Initiative, a program designed to help connect life sciences companies with diverse and well-qualified board candidates. Before joining Pioneering Collective, Morgen served as a Founding Partner and Head of Client Services for FirstThought, a life sciences market research firm, where she grew the business from launch to achieve 6x year-over-year revenue growth in 3 years, leading to the successful sale of the company in 2023. Morgen holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. When she’s not at work, she enjoys road trips, Ethiopian cuisine, and pursuing her dream of climbing the highest points in every U.S. state.

Stefanie Adams

Stefanie Adams is a keynote speaker, author, leadership consultant, adjunct university instructor, former elected official, wife, and mother; for those who know her best, she is "Cheerleader Stef", which personifies her personality and leadership style. She has over 20 years experience leading and training in corporate, non-profit, and government settings. Her first book, “CheerLEADERship: Strategies to Build and Support Human-Centric Workplaces for the Future” was released in November of 2024. She earned an M.Ed. in Multicultural Education in 2008 from Eastern University. Stefanie has worked as an organizational consultant for Johns Hopkins University School of Education (Baltimore, MD), served as Director of Customized Training for Cape Fear Community College (Wilmington, NC), and more recently, she led the corporate training function for CastleBranch (Wilmington, NC).