Pay It Forward Summit Speakers

James “Jim” Larimore is the co-founder and chairperson of the EdSAFE AI Alliance, a global consortium that brings together educators, researchers, education organizations, ed tech innovators, standards bodies, policy and advocacy experts, and non-profit leaders to create the frameworks and standards we need to ensure the safe, equitable and trusted use of artificial intelligence in education. Mr. Larimore has served as a student affairs leader at campuses across the country and served as deputy director for student success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation before launching the Center for Equity in Learning at ACT, a non-profit research and assessment organization. He has also served as the Chief Officer for Equity in Learning at Riiid Labs, a startup company founded to use artificial intelligence to improve learning and close gaps in equity and opportunity. 

Allyson L. Watson, PhD., is a senior academic executive and institutional strategist recognized for building high-performing university systems where access, research growth, and operational excellence scale together.

With more than two decades of progressive leadership experience, Dr. Watson has overseen comprehensive academic enterprises, secured more than $20 million in federal, state, and private funding, led multi-million-dollar federal partnerships, strengthened performance-based funding metrics, and advanced AI and STEM workforce initiatives aligned with regional and national priorities.

Her leadership portfolio spans enrollment strategy, faculty advancement, accreditation integrity, research competitiveness, student success infrastructure, and board governance alignment. She is known for integrating disciplined financial stewardship with innovation-driven growth models that position institutions for long-term resilience.

Dr. Watson's work centers on designing systems that endure beyond individual leadership tenures. She builds institutions where excellence and opportunity are not competing priorities, but reinforcing commitments.

Chandra Gill, PhD is an award-winning educator, scholar-activist, and motivational speaker regarded as one of America's most compelling orators on educational equity. She is the founder, president, and CEO of Blackademically Speaking, an educational consulting practice and theoretical framework she developed to bridge the gap between academic theory and lived practice for urban youth. Most recently, she founded and serves as president and architect of the Digital Campus of Healing, an initiative centered on “education that heals, technology that serves, and leadership that transforms,” advancing AI literacy, ethics, and trauma-informed, healing-centered learning.

Raised in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood, Dr. Gill was a member of the inaugural class of the Bill Gates Millennium Scholars Program and one of Chicago's first African-American public-school recipients at the graduate level. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was inducted into Phi Delta Kappa with high honors. She has taught at Northeastern Illinois University's Center for Inner City Studies.

A lifelong youth advocate, Dr. Gill has connected more than 1,000 young people to college opportunities, founded Chicago's first book club for youth-detention inmates, and served as a radio personality on WVON and Chicago Public Radio.

Corey Hardiman is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Operations at the Herrendorf Family Foundation, where he leads philanthropic initiatives that expand college access and affordability for students of color. A proud Gates Millennium Scholar, Hardiman brings a deeply personal lens to his work in education equity, having navigated the college pathway himself as a first-generation scholarship recipient.

Hardiman earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, with a concentration in American Government, from Morehouse College in 2014, and went on to complete a Master's in Urban Education Curriculum and Policy from Concordia University. His career spans public education and philanthropy: he previously served as Director of Special Projects at Truman College, where he also teaches as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Education.

At the Herrendorf Family Foundation, Hardiman spearheaded the “It's the Little Things” campaign, which annually clears outstanding balances for financially struggling Morehouse students — removing barriers that too often derail degree completion. In 2026, he was named to Morehouse College's inaugural “50 Under 50” class, recognizing distinguished young alumni whose leadership, civic impact, and service embody the College's values. He is a sought-after voice on scholarships, college access, and closing equity gaps in higher education.

Find Your Idea Worth Spreading: A TED-Ed Workshop for Scholars

Athena Lao is a Senior Program Manager at TED-Ed, where she designs and launches programs that amplify the voices of students and educators worldwide. A Gates Millennium Scholar (2008), Athena holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, a master’s in international educational development from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology in Washington, D.C. Before TED-Ed, she spent nearly a decade at the Institute of International Education managing global education exchange programs. She also co-founded a youth civic education nonprofit in Bulgaria. Athena is passionate about using the power of ideas to create more equitable access to education and opportunity.

Trauma-Informed Finance: Where Embodiment Meets Economics

Najaah Yasmine Daniels (she/her/ella), also known as Priestess Ifaleri Osunnike Osawmimo, is a 2011 Gates Millennium Scholar, 2026 Influential Women Award recipient, and creator of Trauma-Informed Finance. As Founder & CEO of Twice As Good LLC and founder of the Inclusive Capital Collective, she helps philanthropies, businesses, and communities strengthen economic opportunity by integrating healing into leadership, strategy, and capital. Over the past decade, she has designed funding strategies, built cross-sector partnerships, and helped direct millions of dollars toward initiatives that expand access to capital, community, and civic engagement. 

From Idea to Entity: Business Formation and Federal Contracting for Minority-Owned Businesses with Alex Rodriguez

Naomie Drollis a 2012 Gates Millennium Scholar and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. An attorney by trade, her practice focuses on federal Indian law and economic development. She has been involved with Scholars Equity Network since 2024 and is deeply committed to its mission of empowering GMS alumni to give back to the communities they come from. Naomie earned her J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law and her B.A. in international relations from Rollins College.

From Idea to Entity: Business Formation and Federal Contracting for Minority-Owned Businesses with Naomie Droll

Alex Rodriguez brings decades of experience in the federal government. He has worked across multiple federal agencies and brings firsthand knowledge of how federal procurement works from both sides of the table. His consulting practice focuses on helping businesses navigate federal contacting, from eligibility and application through contract performance. He works directly with businesses at every stage of the federal contracting process.

Main Character Energy: Building your Personal Brand on Social Media

Tiffani Knowles-Senatus is a PR consultant and professor at the University of Miami. Her career endeavors span multiple industries. An inaugural Gates scholar, she began her career as a newspaper journalist, became a TV producer, a radio personality and then a voiceover artist for clients like CNN, Merriam-Webster, Subway, CROCS, and Discovery Channel. Settling in NYC for over a decade, her career pursuits expanded to PR for clients like The United Palace Theatre, Toyota Scion, Fashion Fete and Kevin Harrington, the original shark of ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Tiffani is also a leader in instructional design. She is the co-author of the book HOLA AMERICA: Guts, Grit, Grind and Further Traits in the Successful American Immigrant and the author of the textbook, Fashion PR in the Digital Age.

Stop Being the Best Kept Secret: How to Get Seen and Promoted

Lani Shaw is an ICF-certified executive coach and federal attorney with over 20 years of experience in high-stakes regulatory environments. She helps professionals get seen, get selected, and get promoted using clear, practical career strategies. A Gates Millennium Scholar, Lani understands what it means to excel without always having access to the playbook and now teaches that playbook to others. Through her coaching practice, she has helped clients secure multiple job offers and advance into higher-level roles. She is also the creator of the “Ask Coach Lani” career column and a trusted voice on leadership and career growth.

Investing Basics: Make Your Money Work Harder Than You Do

Kayode O. Aje is a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager with over two decades of experience in financial services. He is also the Co-Founder of Cedar Bosk, a values-driven enterprise dedicated to advancing education, innovation, and strengthening communities. Kayode earned his MBA from the Yale School of Management, holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is a CFA charter holder. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Kayode is involved in his community having served on various boards and his undergraduate advisory council.

Build, Protect, Belong: A Practical Workshop on AI for Scholars Who Are Here to Lead with Sikander Khan and Elizabeth Mendoza

Chau Dang is a dyslexic thinker and a Gates Millennium Scholar, Class of 2002, who works on AI Security and Trust at NVIDIA. She came to the United States as a Vietnamese refugee, the daughter of a machinist and a manicurist. Before entering the tech industry, Chau was a solar physicist at NASA. She later launched two products at NVIDIA, one in open-source software and another in AI cybersecurity. She currently serves as Board Chair of the Scholars Equity Network, where she is passionate about building systems and leveraging technology, partnerships, and leadership to turn ambitious ideas into lasting impact.

Build, Protect, Belong: A Practical Workshop on AI for Scholars Who Are Here to Lead Chau Deng and Elizabeth Mendoza

Nonprofit Leader, Paani · AI Practitioner, Together AI · GMS Alumnus

Sikander “Sonny” Khan is a nonprofit leader and hands-on AI practitioner, and a Gates Millennium Scholar. A marketer at an AI startup by day, while also running a mission-driven nonprofit with a lean team. He uses AI to stretch limited resources and stay focused on what matters. Through trial and error, he has built a practical playbook for AI adoption in resource-constrained organizations: which tools work, what they cost, what they break, and where the human touch must stay human. He brings the operational reality of leading with AI to scholars running teams and organizations of every size.

Build, Protect, Belong: A Practical Workshop on AI for Scholars Who Are Here to Lead Chau Deng and Sikander Khan

AI Law · Lawyer · Co-founder, Mocel

Elizabeth Mendoza works where AI meets the law at Ashurst Perkins Coie, LLC, a field being written in real time, often without the communities most affected having a seat at the table. As a lawyer and co-founder of Mocel, she focuses on what rights exist around AI, where the gaps remain, and what underserved communities need to know to protect themselves in an AI-driven world. Elizabeth makes a fast-moving, often opaque regulatory landscape legible and actionable, helping people read an AI policy, push back on an algorithm, and advocate for equitable AI in their industry and community.

Flourish & Sustain: Positive Psychology Tools for Long-Term Well-Being with Ana Quiñones

Lillian C. Martz, Ph.D., PSC, PCLC is an Assistant Professor in Counselor Education at Portland State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from The University of Montana. She has served students P-20 as a school counselor and clinical clients across the lifespan. Dr. Martz’s research interests focus on promoting wellbeing and positive psychology, crisis response and antiracist school counseling. She has presented on these topics at regional, state, national, and international conferences and co-developed and taught a course on evidence-based practices to improve educator wellbeing. She serves on numerous professional counseling organization boards and committees.

Flourish & Sustain: Positive Psychology Tools for Long-Term Well-Being with Lillian Martz, Ph.D., PSC, PCLC

Ana Quiñones is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with experience in pediatric behavioral health, trauma-informed care, child welfare, and community health. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University and a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing her doctorate. Ana has worked across hospital, outpatient, school, and child welfare settings, specializing in anxiety, trauma, depression, body image, and family systems. Her work integrates attachment theory, culturally responsive care, and practical, relationship-centered approaches to leadership, mental health, and organizational well-being.

You Were Never Empty-Handed: The Mentoring Session Nobody Gave Us

Cinthia Manuel is a Gates Millennium Scholar alumna, TEDx speaker, and CEO and Founder of Autentica Consulting. A proud first-generation, bilingual, bicultural Latinapreneur, she has spent years designing mentoring programs and leadership development experiences across Fortune 500 companies, startups, nonprofits, healthcare systems, higher education institutions, and community organizations. Her TEDx talk Why Is Mentoring Backwards? forms the foundation of her Mentee Mastery framework, a first-of-its-kind approach to preparing mentees, not just mentors, for effective mentoring relationships. She brings the same belief to every room she enters: that the people told they come with a deficit are actually the ones showing up richest.

When Career & Caregiving Collide: From Invisible to Integral

Jessica C. Guthrie, M.Ed is the founder and CEO of Jessica C. Guthrie Caregiving Consultancy and a caregiving strategist, speaker, and advocate. For more than eleven years she has been the primary caregiver for her mother, who lives with early-onset Alzheimer's — a journey she began at 26 while building her career. A Dartmouth graduate, Jessica draws on lived experience and a decade of education and nonprofit leadership to help organizations move family caregivers from invisible to integral. Her advocacy has been featured by PBS, ABC News, and the United Nations, and she has built a community of 60,000+ caregivers.

Beyond Good Intentions: Building Organizations That Scale

Robert Lee is the Founder & CEO of Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, a nonprofit focused on reducing food waste and food insecurity through surplus food redistribution. A Gates Millennium Scholar and NYU graduate, Robert began his work in food recovery while leading a campus initiative that redirected leftover dining hall food to shelters across New York City. After working at J.P. Morgan, he co-founded RLC in 2013. Under his leadership, RLC has expanded nationally and redirected more than 23 million pounds of food to communities in need through a technology-enabled, operationally efficient model.

From Individual to Collective: Community Organizing and Movement Building for Change with Jalisa Evans

Tilifayea L. Griffin, MAT is an educator, policy advocate, and consultant at the intersection of curriculum justice, Black educator advocacy, and leadership development. She is a PhD Candidate in Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University, where her dissertation examines literacy as resistance to curriculum violence. Tilifayea was a 2025–2026 Leadership for Educational Equity Public Policy Fellow, completing her placement with the Black Educator Advocates Network, where she co-organized a statewide advocacy day at the California State Capitol mobilizing Black educators to advance education funding and policy priorities. A 2009 Gates Millennium Scholar, she has presented her research at the American Educational Research Association and brings both scholarly grounding and practitioner experience to her facilitation work.

From Individual to Collective: Community Organizing and Movement Building for Change with Tilifayea Griffin, MAT

Jalisa Evans is the founder and CEO of the Black Educator Advocates Network (BEAN). Over a decade, she has worked at the intersection of classroom teaching, grassroots organizing, and policy advocacy — from securing $132 million in school funding in Charlotte to leading a campaign that directed resources to over 14,000 Black students in Los Angeles Unified School District. BEAN advances collective action among Black educators and partners with school systems to build anti-racist schools and workforces. Jalisa holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California and a B.A. from North Carolina A&T State University.

Pay It Forward Accelerator Unpacked: the application, the strategy, and the people behind it with Krista Schnell and Changemakers

James Lovell is a civic leader, community developer, and elected official dedicated to advancing Native equity, affordable housing, and youth and family services in the Puget Sound region. He serves as Chief Community Development Officer at Chief Seattle Club, a nonprofit serving Native people experiencing homelessness, where he leads fundraising, grant writing, policy, and advocacy. In 2023 he was elected to the SeaTac City Council, where he chairs the Planning & Economic Development Committee. An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, James holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Washington and is fluent in Vietnamese.

Pay It Forward Accelerator Unpacked: the application, the strategy, and the people behind it with James Lovell and Changemakers

Krista Schnell is the Program Manager for the Pay It Forward Accelerator at Scholars Equity Network (SEN). She brings an engineer’s precision, a consultant’s professionalism, and a sociologist’s systems perspective to program management. Over the course of her career, she has brought clarity and structure to technology thought leadership and research programs at Accenture, helping her team operationalize new ways of working, streamline processes, and deliver measurable outcomes. She holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, where her academic work focused on gender and work, inequality, and the social dimensions of technology. This interdisciplinary foundation shapes her approach to program design, storytelling, and impact measurement. Through her work with SEN, Krista is passionate about building the operations and infrastructure that enables scholars and alumni to turn their commitment to service into sustained, collective impact. She is especially motivated by initiatives that help individuals give back to their communities, support one another, and create lasting pathways for equity and opportunity.

Pay It Forward Accelerator Unpacked: the application, the strategy, and the people behind it

Changemaker 2025-26

Karen Isabel Perez, PhD is a radio astronomer and the inaugural William J. Welch Postdoctoral Fellow at the SETI Institute, where she develops real-time, machine-learning-enabled and GPU-accelerated pipelines to detect single-pulse transients and technosignatures using the Allen Telescope Array in Hat Creek, California. As a Gates Millennium Scholar, she earned her B.A. in Astronomy with a concentration in Astrophysics from Cornell University in 2019 and her Ph.D. in Astronomy from Columbia University in 2025. A first-generation Mexican-American scientist, Dr. Perez is committed to making science accessible to historically underrepresented communities. She founded Caminos Científicos, a bilingual outreach initiative that inspires Hispanic students to pursue STEM careers while equipping parents with the knowledge and resources to support their children's educational and career success.

Pay It Forward Accelerator Unpacked: the application, the strategy, and the people behind it

Changemaker 2025-26

Nathaniel Ramos Jr., PhD is a lifelong lover of libraries and learning and has dedicated his career to connecting communities through technology and literacy. As Assistant Library Administrator for the Beaumont Public Library System, Dr. Ramos is passionate about building spaces where people of all ages can learn and grow. His current work focuses on multi-generational literacy, using sensory-inclusive programming, hands-on learning, and financial literacy initiatives to strengthen literacy skills across entire families. When he's not working, you can find Nate voyaging where no one has gone before, exploring strange new topics, and boldly pursuing the next generation of library innovation.

Pay It Forward Accelerator Unpacked: the application, the strategy, and the people behind it

Changemaker 2025-26

Aubrey Skeeter / zOdAê aKAê A-zAtE, yUdjEha KAdû. yUdjEhalA dEwAdA. My name is Aubrey Skeeter. My Yuchi name is zoday-en ahkay-en which means “bright like the sun”. I am a member of the Yuchi and Mvskoke tribes and come from European ancestry as well. Everyday I have the opportunity to speak the Yuchi language with my son and our language community at the Yuchi Language Project. This  project is about creating illustrations, and then books, based on four Yuchi legends. These legends hold a lot of weight in our culture because of their lessons and the elder audio recordings that help us to grow our language.

Pay It Forward Accelerator Unpacked: the application, the strategy, and the people behind it

Changemaker 2025-26

Rod Bravo is an MD Candidate at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson in association with the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, a graduate of Harvard and Yale Universities, and a 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Millennium Scholar. As the first-place winner of SEN’s inaugural Pay It Forward Accelerator, he funded the development of a free community diabetes clinic for underserved patients in Arizona. Passionate about expanding access to care by connecting disparate silos across healthcare, Rod is Co-Founder of Raphi and Bravo Conscious Health, organizations advancing the responsible integration of globally sourced healing modalities into modern medicine.

The ADAPT Narrative: Promoting student achievement through counter narratives (This session is extended for an addition 30 minutes to include a documentary viewing) with KrisTiana Dove and Miles Hall

Quan Neloms is an educator and counselor with 23 years of experience across K–12 and higher education. He is the creator of the Lyricist Society, a nationally recognized program that uses hip hop, storytelling and digital media to promote literacy, cultural awareness, and student voice. Neloms is also the founder of I Am In Demand, an initiative focused on increasing the presence of Black men as educators, mentors and volunteers. He is the producer of The ADAPT Narrative, a documentary exploring identity, media narratives, and postsecondary aspirations among Detroit youth.

The ADAPT Narrative: Promoting student achievement through counter narrativesvwith Quan Neloms and Miles Hall

KrisTiana Dove is a first-generation college student and emerging STEM leader from Detroit, Michigan. A 2025 graduate of Southeastern High School, she earned a 4.18 GPA and was accepted to every one of the 15–20 colleges she applied to before choosing Johns Hopkins University, drawn by its support for first-generation students and students of color and its strengths in the sciences. At Hopkins, KrisTiana plans to double major in Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Studies, designing a custom degree that blends her scientific ambitions with her passion for photography and film. Her long-term goal is to become a medicinal chemist working on non-opioid pain treatments — potentially with the FDA — while continuing creative work as a freelance photographer and videographer. KrisTiana's story reflects the promise of investing in high-achieving students from under-resourced communities, and she speaks to the power of perseverance, representation, and refusing to let circumstances define one's ceiling. As she reflected on her college acceptance: “Everything I worked for was finally paying off.” She represents the next generation of equity-driven scholars and creators.

The ADAPT Narrative: Promoting student achievement through counter narratives with Quan Neloms and KrisTiana Dove