2025 Speakers

​Jaki Shelton Green is the first African American and third woman to be appointed as the North Carolina Poet Laureate. When he appointed her in 2018, Governor Cooper stated that “Jaki Shelton Green brings a deep appreciation of our state’s diverse communities to her role as an ambassador of North Carolina literature. Jaki’s appointment is a wonderful new chapter in North Carolina’s rich literary history.”

Senator Woodson Gardner Bradley (NC State Senate District 42) is a longtime business owner, a dedicated volunteer, an educator, and a passionate advocate for community building. Just a few of the initiatives she has participated in are the Rotary Club, the YMCA, NC Special Olympics for 10 years, the Charlotte Rescue Mission, and the North Carolina State Games. She is one of 10 Certified Speakers for the Mecklenburg County Domestic Violence Speakers Bureau, and is a classroom instructor for the Love Speaks Out program educating teens about domestic violence. Her advocacy is deeply informed by her own experiences as a mother and survivor of domestic violence.

Dr. Mariah Prince-Allen is a board-certified nurse practitioner and a passionate advocate for women's health. She is the founder of Telehealth for HER. Her mission is to empower high-achieving women to reclaim their energy, vitality, and confidence, providing healthcare services to them in a way that they feel seen, heard, and empowered to thrive.

Madison Levine is a Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist  and the Founder of Levine Hearing located in South Charlotte. Madison is a second-generation professional in hearing healthcare following her mother’s legacy and has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Georgia. She is on the board of the Levine Senior Center and is dedicated to providing hearing loss and hearing aid education in many local eldercare facilities.

Nia Luckey is a cybersecurity expert and CISO advisor, recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice. Among many accolades, Nia was recently named one of the Top 10 Cybersecurity Women Leaders Shaping The Future of Digital Safety in 2025. She is a keynote speaker and author, renowned for her leadership innovations. 

Photo Credit: Ebony Stubbs

​Christine Edwards Pitkin is a Civic Innovator. She is the founder and Principal Consultant for Civility Localized, a community engagement consulting agency and the Civic Impact Academy, a civic advocacy training cohort. Christine's mission is to help communities grow with dignity. Christine was recently named a 2025 Charlotte Business Journal Women in Business Honoree and her work has been featured in numerous publications including Fast Company's 2023 World Changing Ideas Issue. 

Sarah is the Co-Founder and CEO of LUMO Leadership, the first and only of its kind: a partner to help progressive organizations support their employees in the transition to working parenthood. Trained by world-renowned leaders including Dr. Brené Brown and Mark Hunter, MCC, Sarah has over 10,000 hours of coaching and facilitation experience, is credentialed by the International Coach Federation (ICF), and is certified by Accomplishment Coaching. She has coached leaders with the United Nations, Verizon, the NBA, Google, Duke Energy, Calvin Klein, J. Crew, and Bloomberg among others. Sarah is more than a leader — she’s a connector, a champion, and the mother of all motivators.

Shefalee V. Patel is Charlotte’s own super cultural connector. She is an artist, dancer, and food science engineer passionately dedicated to showcasing her family’s rich Indian heritage in America. Guided by her mother’s inspiring initiative, Shefalee actively engages with the vibrant performing arts scene in Charlotte, NC, including dance and visual arts. Through her efforts, she plays a pivotal role in fostering meaningful cultural connections.

Kathleen McIntyre is a nature-based somatic therapist, international retreat leader, forest ecologist, and author of The Nature Reset. She co-founded The Davidson Green School, a nature-focused Pre-K-8 school in Davidson, NC, and is also the co-founder of NatureSoma—an online platform that connects individuals with vetted nature-based therapists and therapeutic nature events. 

Carolina Aponte is an award-winning author and business owner who was inducted into the North Carolina Women Business Owners Hall of Fame in 2024.  She is a fractional CFO and the founder of Caja Holdings providing outsourced accounting services to multi-million-dollar companies, law firms, and diverse small businesses including local CPA firms and Non-profit organizations. 

Corey Hurley is a social media strategist and content marketing expert with over a decade of experience helping entrepreneurs create a social media presence that invites real connections. As the founder of Seven Willows Media, Corey serves a diverse clientele and believes social media should be more than just a highlight reel, but a space for meaningful conversations and genuine community-building. She was named one of Charlotte's 50 most dynamic women in 2023.

Jess Ekstrom is a Forbes Top Rated Speaker, entrepreneur, investor in women, 2x best selling author, and new mom.  Jess and her companies have been featured on Today and Good Morning America and in Seventeen, Vanity Fair, Forbes, and People. More importantly, they've helped millions of women and girls around the world. Jess’ company, Headbands of Hope, donates a headband to a child with cancer for every headband sold.  She is the host of the Amplify podcast and she founded Mic Drop Workshop to help women learn how to become paid public speakers and find connection in a community of speaker sisters. 

Megghan Thompson is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor and the founder of Megghan Thompson Coaching. She is a leading expert in Sensory Processing Sensitivity (aka The Highly Sensitive Personality Trait). Her work has been featured in Healthcare Business Today, Fox 40 News, New York Weekly, and various medical publications and television programs. She is on a mission to eliminate suicidality in the Highly Sensitive Population and has hundreds of thriving families in her community. Megghan has a YouTube channel and podcast with 250 episodes called Parent Your Highly Sensitive Child Like a Ninja and her book is coming out this year.

​Kathryn is the CEO of Worthmore Strategies, where she helps organizations advance female talent. A top-rated speaker, her clients include companies like JP Morgan, KPMG, and Bain, and her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company. Kathryn started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she became one of their youngest industry advisors.  She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two sons, who put her leadership skills to the test every day.