EXCELLENCE FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Kandice Cole is a self-care guide, consultant, writer, and the creator of the Unbothered Black Girl Collective. Kandice attended the University of Chicago, earning a B.A in Psychology and M.A Teaching. Throughout her career and entrepreneurial journey, Kandice has experienced exhaustion and burnout. She has become committed to practicing self-care and now helps women and girls create and maintain their own self-care practices. Learn more about her work at kandicecole.com

Alisha Gupta is a current student at UT Austin’s Business school, pursuing a degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. She is the CEO and Founder of nonprofit Needed but Forgotten, which leverages excess inventories of suitcases to improve the lives of foster children around California.  Her passion to volunteer and give back also brought her into a position as youth lead for Maitri, holding teen conventions about toxic masculinity, gender inequality, partner violence, and healthy relationships. Her journey as a keynote speaker accelerated from there to launching and hosting her current podcast, What Cause Inspires You. Through the What Cause Inspires You podcast, Alisha leverages her personal experience and leadership to empower student organizations with awareness, connections, and financial resources. The podcast now includes a Professional Perspective series that features the CEO and their insight to youth about social entrepreneurship. Her goal is to connect audience members with our speakers while educating on under-represented issues.

After spending 20 years in Corporate Finance and never having a job she liked, Natasha discovered that her passion, purpose, and profession was not only helping busy and motivated professionals reach the highest potential on their health and wellness journey but also helping them break the cycle of emotional eating.

Natasha’s approach for sustainable weight loss is different because it is based on the premise that emotional eating and weight loss do not start in the kitchen, it begins in the mind.

Most weight loss programs apply an external solution of diet and exercise, however, emotional eating is an internal problem and cannot be resolved with external solutions alone, because it is our inner world of emotions, thoughts, and needs that drive our behavior; so her program is designed to help you will lose weight from the inside out in a way that feels more exhilarating and enjoyable.

Natasha is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutritionist. Natasha also received her Master of Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management, Devry University in 2006.

Additional accolades include certification in Life Coaching, and an Energy Leadership Master Practitioner license from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC). She has also been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership, and professional excellence.

Natasha’s diverse background brings profound insight and a creative perspective to her coaching relationships.

Talent, leadership, and culture development leader, Candace D. Washington, helping organizations build tools and inclusive cultures that equip emerging leaders to authentically navigate real-world challenges, accelerate performance, and thrive at their highest potential. As a diverse leader, having learned the hard way from years struggling post-undergrad to succeed in the marketplace, Candace teaches skills beyond book smarts pivotal to leadership success like how to build winning relationships, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, effectively communicate, influence up, and cope with culture shock in non-diverse environments, among others. Organizations partner with Pivotal Impact to accelerate the success of emerging leader’s by building capacity for individual and organizational effectiveness. She has lived the lessons she teaches and is committed to demystify the workplace and build cultures that help future leaders navigate smarter, farther, and faster.

alent, leadership, and culture development leader, Candace D. Washington, helping organizations build tools and inclusive cultures that equip emerging leaders to authentically navigate real-world challenges, accelerate performance, and thrive at their highest potential. As a diverse leader, having learned the hard way from years struggling post-undergrad to succeed in the marketplace, Candace teaches skills beyond book smarts pivotal to leadership success like how to build winning relationships, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, effectively communicate, influence up, and cope with culture shock in non-diverse environments, among others. Organizations partner with Pivotal Impact to accelerate the success of emerging leader’s by building capacity for individual and organizational effectiveness. She has lived the lessons she teaches and is committed to demystify the workplace and build cultures that help future leaders navigate smarter, farther, and faster.

When not immersed in her work, Candace loves spending time traveling with friends/ family, connecting with different cultures, mentoring, dancing (although not good at it), and most importantly, playing with her adorable niece and nephew! She lives in and LOVES Chicago! Go BEARS!

Laticia Holbert has a unique blend of skills and gifts that lend themselves to training, workforce development, diversity, social justice, and change management. She has been coined by her peers as the connector of people and things. Laticia is always looking at the big picture, pulling talents and gifts while championing people to live their authentic selves.  Within her 20 years of experience in corporate training, career and professional development planning, championing diversity and inclusion efforts, leading employee resource groups and business development, Laticia is a powerhouse.

Laticia is currently employed at ComEd. In her role, her main goals are to remove barriers to decrease unemployment and underemployment, and ensure a highly-skilled, diverse workforce for the rapidly transforming industry and region in which we serve. Laticia oversees the ComEd Infrastructure Academy, which includes the CONSTRUCT Program.

Laticia is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BA in Economics and a Master in Business Administration with a concentration in Project Management from Keller Graduate School of Management. Additionally, she has a certificate in Coaching for Employee Engagement.  Servitude is very important to Laticia. She is an active member of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Incorporated, and Million Women Mentors Steering Committee Member. She is also an Emeritus Ambassador Council member for the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. Laticia has previously served on Women in Energy Network (WEN) Chicago New Member Onboarding Chair (2018-2019), and board of directors for Foundation College Prep (2016-2018).

Khalilah Lyons is a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategist and enthusiast devoted to advocating for underrepresented and untapped talent and brilliance in others. Her experience ranges from Fortune 500 corporations and manufacturers to digital start-ups, and she is currently driving diversity, equity, and inclusion at Discover Financial Services. In addition to her corporate role, Khalilah aligns her passion to disrupt exclusive narratives and create opportunities for inclusion and diversity for various groups across Chicagoland. She serves as a DEI I expert for several nonprofits, sharing inspirational and actionable messages as a consultant, keynote speaker, mentor, advisor, thought leader, board member,and volunteer. Her purpose, experience and enthusiasm drive her to present compelling stories, to facilitate workshops, to influence youth and to create spaces for courageous — and often provocative – conversations When not working, she spends time with her two children being inspired by their approach to and perspective on life. She lives life fully as a dedicated mother, sister, friend, change agent and disruptor.