RISE Urban Nation: Amplifying Black & Pan-African Voices Worldwide

Bio: Alex is the President and Sr. Loan officer at Stronger Lending, a family owned, and operated mortgage brokerage based in San Diego. He has been in the financial services industry for over 14 years and has worked in retail banking, management and currently services clients mortgage needs. He graduated from SDSU in 2009 with a degree in Political Science and Afrikana Studies. Alex is Eritrean-A...

Bio: Jarvis is a success coach who helps entrepreneurs turbocharge their productivity by winning the morning and hacking their goals so that they can achieve them faster. He is also the founder of the accelerated growth club, bringing together like-minded individuals who are all pursuing the best version of themselves. Connect with Jarvis! Instagram: Jarvis🔥🚀 (@the.morninghero) • Instagram photo...

BIO Kia is a proud wife and mom of two boys, ages six and three. After growing up in a home where her mother birthed an in-home licensed daycare, she found her second career in education after graduating from HBCU - Clark Atlanta University. While she has served in diverse roles in K-16, Kia has been in adult education leadership for over the past ten years, where she served as an Instructional De...

Bio: Antonio graduated from the University of Dayton School of Law in 2008, with a focus in Business Law. He passed the Maryland Bar in 2010 and Texas Bar in 2016. Antonio was also selected and licensed to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States in 2017.  While in law school, Antonio held law clerk positions at several law firms as well as the Maryland Public Defender’s office.  In...

Bio: Dr. Anton Dormer was born to immigrant parents within the City of New York. His mother is from the Caribbean Islands of Guadeloupe FWI and his father is from Jamaica. Both of them where very influential in Dr. Dormer entering the healthcare field.  Dr. Dormer grew up in a household where education was valued. Both his parents were in school throughout his educational experience from elementar...

Bio Ed Norwood is President of ERN/The National Council of Reimbursement Advocacy. He has been recognized as a unique and distinctive authority in transitional leadership and administrative laws that govern the healthcare delivery process. Ed has done hundreds of media interviews and lectures worldwide, focusing on public policy, healthcare advocacy, leadership development, and the lessons of the...

Bio: Tyus Sheppard is a Digital Coordinator and Political Activist who is currently pursuing a master's degree in Political Management at Gorge Washington University with a focus on digital politics. Tyus was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, one of the hottest cities in the country. The goal of Tyus's work is to bring some of that heat to the frontlines of digital media by inspiring others to...

Bios:  Dr. Keith M. Daniel Rev. Dr. M. Keith Daniel is the Co-Founder and Managing Director for Resilient Ventures, LLC a committed capital fund investing in African American-led high-growth companies. He is also the owner of Madison Consulting Group, LLC (MCG), a company committed to serving individuals and institutions striving for the greatest good where all may enjoy flourishing work and life...

Bio: Making good, great, and great exceptional is what Cheddy Matthews does for individuals and organizations alike. This is not only his passion, but it is his gift, calling, and profession. As an inspired, conscious-raising, eternally optimistic and faithful lover of people and life, Cheddy believes his work at HED Space Coaching is fulfillment of his life’s purpose. He is a John C. Maxwell Team...

BIO As the owner of Aroara global I have an intense passion to challenge myself and push the imagination to captivate, educate and excite. In my design work I continue to help others bring their inner vision to the surface by creating commissioned custom apparel/ costumes. During the pandemic I leaned into developing my writing skills and published several books and started a children’s book serie...

Bio -  N. Chloé Nwangwu is a Brand Scientist and Digital Diplomacy (like actual diplomacy!) advisor who believes brands not built with power dynamics and biases in mind need a good old Thanos snap. She is in the business of making brands in pursuit of social progress impossible to ignore and it is her personal mission to get you better seen, heard and respected in the rooms that matter to you and...

Bio:  Carl is a problem solver at heart. Born to entrepreneurial parents, he's always had an eye for business and creating solutions that help people. When Carl moved from his home country, Haiti, to the US for his MBA, he found the search for housing as an international student extremely difficult. To solve that, he created HUGS, the future of international student housing.  Connect with Carl Dum...

Bio:  Amie Thompson is an executive, investor, mentor, and leader and the current President & CEO of Creative Allies, a minority-certified marketing firm for entrepreneurs. We offer a wide range of marketing services to grow our client's brand. We create best practices from the lessons learned over our 10-year history to connect our clients with buyers, fans, and followers to enhance the brand sto...

Bio: Poet, Author Lyricist, (P.A.L) born to teach and write revelatory insight to the masses of broken and traumatized individuals touched by the darkness we see in the world. They say, “there’s light at the end of the tunnel”. I pray this book will shed more than light but hope and redemption. I’ve walked through the “Valleys of Shadows of Death” only to reveal that there's life after trials and...

Bio: Adesola Akindele is a 20-year international serial entrepreneur and novice angel investor who believes that entrepreneurship is the key to economic prosperity, especially for underestimated and under-represented economic groups. As an economist, she is never shy of looking ahead or at the bigger picture, examining key metrics that differentiate success and failure in business ownership and le...

Marya Wright Consulting  provides innovative, high-value, and culturally responsive training content for professionals. Marya offers continuing education training (CEUs) for agencies who service system-involved youth, foster youth, children and families. Marya is a registered Associate Clinical Social Worker with the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Marya is a Child Welfare Worker II with County Chil...

BIO Irvin Spencer attended the US Naval Academy where he had a successful career playing defense on the varsity football team for 3 years. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 2008, and served 8 years active duty as a Surface Warfare Officer – he drove ships and led sailors. In 2015, while here in San Diego, CA he transitioned to the Naval Reserves and continued to serve in a new capacity as a F...

BIO: Vera Oyé Yaa-Anna, affectionately known as Auntie Oyé, is a Liberian-born acclaimed master storyteller who transports her audience to West Africa through “imaginary” interactive storytelling. She is the Founder/Executive Director of Oyé Palaver Hut, a twenty-five-year-old established cultural arts organization that integrates storytelling performances with the culinary arts to focus on physic...

Bio: Seneca Hampton is a Wed Designer who has also dabbled in the Real Estate Investing Industry. He currently lives in sunny San Diego, where he runs a successful Sports Medicine Company. Seneca loves learning but, even more so, he loves doing and likes getting things done. Making Hampton Adams the official sports tape in sports & Real Estate investing is his passion and life's goal.   Connect wi...

BIO:  A mathematics graduate of King's College London, Ego always dreamt of starting her own business. Following graduation, she joined Ford Motor Company's graduate recruitment   program (her one and only corporate job) where she spent a few years before "escaping" to start her first beauty business on London's busy Oxford Street. Developing the then new concept of easy, open-plan nail bars locat...

Bio: “Our conditions are NOT our conclusions.” Jordan Harrison is a professional speaker, DEI consultant and international youth development specialist born in Chicago, IL. He earned his BS from San Diego State and his Masters in Education from Harvard University. Most importantly, he is a disruptor to make a difference. He lives a mission driven life focused on eradicating inequality with the con...

In this Rise Urban Nation Episode, my brothas Ronald Preston Clark, Jordan Harrison, Eric Morison Smith, Michael Love, and I reflect on how our nation celebrates Black History Month, also called African American History Month. This annual observance commemorates African Americans’ achievements and honors their central role in shaping U.S. history. Join us as we discuss African American contributio...

Bio: Jayton Harps is the President & Chair of the NSBE Professionals - San Diego Chapter. In his role, he oversees activities related to providing services, programs, mentorship, funding, and goals for the Professionals Chapter. Jayton helps establish multiple workshops, sessions, and specialized-knowledge topic discussions for hundreds of engineers in the San Diego community and beyond. Jayton ha...

BIO  Rachel Wyley is the Founder and CEO of Culture Kinesis, a coaching firm that does the work of cultural reimagination by creating containers in which individuals and organizations can: (re)build intentional community, engage in critical unlearning, embrace radical re-education, and reimagine a racially equitable future. Rachel began her career in the nonprofit sector as an educator in East Oak...

Bio -  Eric Morrison-Smith, Policy Associate, manages California policy work for PolicyLink and the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color (ABMoC), a national network of community and advocacy organizations coming together to advance race and gender justice by transforming policies that are failing boys and men of color and their families. He is also the Creator of Borrowed Knowledge, a space that bri...