2025 Session Speakers

Danyelle Gibson Grant

Danyelle Gibson-Grant, is a Master Certified Professional Coach (MCPC) with over 25 years of corporate Human Resources experience, specializing in talent acquisition and leadership development.

Certified in DISC, Diversity & Inclusion and The Fascinate System, she is dedicated to empowering senior leaders and executives from diverse backgrounds to align their careers with their personal values and purpose.

Danyelle's approach is empathetic yet action-oriented, integrating reflective practices, purpose-driven frameworks, to...

Belle Walker

Belle Walker is the Founder and CEO of Belleview Consulting, a TEDx speaker, and the international bestselling author of Generation Innovation: Business, Family, and the Journey to Success. As the only Organizational Efficiency Engineer she knows, Belle takes her clients from Friction to FunctionTM by aligning structures and processes with strategic goals. She has recaptured lost efficiency and engagement for clients across sectors from tech companies to nonprofits,
professional services, cannabis, and more.

Belle has a...

Kelly Johnson

Kelly is a certified Somatic Coach and Sr. Human Resources professional with over 25 years of experience spanning consulting, government, and private industry. She has led initiatives in talent acquisition, HR management, workforce development, DEI, and community engagement and outreach, bringing a unique blend of strategic insight and human connection to every role she undertakes.

Currently, Kelly serves as the Executive Chair for the Alameda County Workforce Development Board (ACWDB) and is a valued member of the MESA Industry Advisory Board. She...

Sofia Angelina Vita-Casquejo

Sofia (they/them) is a College Advisor at the Rausser College of Natural Resources and advises students pursuing the Genetics & Plant Biology major. They co-supervise the college’s peer advising program and they directly supervise 2 student DeCal facilitators. Their approach with their students and supervisees can be described as holistic, taking into account a student’s background and who they are outside of the classroom. Sofia has a B.A in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz and a M.A. in Counseling, specializing in Higher Education & Student Affairs and Professional...

Rebecca Robles

My name is Rebecca Robles (she/her). I am a first-gen Latina and grew up in the Bay Area. I completed my undergraduate degree at UCLA in Linguistics and Psychology with a minor in Applied Developmental Psychology. I attended graduate school at the University of La Verne and received a masters in Psychology. I previously worked in mental health, providing individual and group therapy. Now, I enjoy working in academic counseling and supporting first-gen students in STEM succeed as they navigate higher education. In my free time, I love spending time with family, snuggling my...

Emilie Mitchell

Emilie Mitchell (she/her) is the Violence Prevention and Education Program Coordinator at the Center for Support and Intervention. At CSI, Emilie oversees Bears that Care, a student-led Active Bystander initiative, and directly supervises nine peer-educators who facilitate discussions on Social Identity and Microaggressions, Mental Health, Alcohol Intervention, and more for the campus community. She comes with over five years of violence prevention education experience. Emilie graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with her Bachelor's of Science in...

Diego Holguin

Diego A. Holguin (he/they) is an alumni of UC Berkeley and a College Advisor for the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS). Diego's journey from student employee to professional staff embodies the transformative power of education and community engagement. Currently, Diego Co-Leads an informal gathering of colleagues that provides a network of support, a toolkit of resources, and an opportunity to build community among supervisors of student employees.

Originally from Compton, Diego has embraced the Bay Area for over 8 years....

Finley Golightly

Finley Golightly (they/them) is the IT Support and Helpdesk Supervisor at UC Berkeley’s D-Lab and directly supervises the Undergraduate Technician (UTech) team. Finley received their BA in Applied Mathematics from UC Berkeley, and their experience as a student employee and first-gen college graduate shapes how they lead their students, prioritizing community and compassion. They are also passionate about leveraging data science and technology to solve real-world problems. Outside of work, Finley enjoys spending time with their cat, reading, and playing Dungeons and Dragons...

Jamie Woolf

Jamie Woolf is a renowned innovation cultivator, speaker, and CEO of Creativity Partners. She was the first Director of Culture at Pixar Animation Studios where she was recruited to be a force for “constructive disruption.”

With 30+ years of experience practicing organizational psychology, Jamie has inspired thousands worldwide to embrace innovation as a catalyst for personal and organizational transformation.

SESSION: Finding Your Authentic Voice...

Dr. Chris Bell

Dr. Christopher Bell is a nationally recognized, award-winning speaker and scholar focused on helping audiences discover the power of storytelling in building healthy relationships, workplace cultures, and organizations. He is the President at Creativity Partners and the Executive in Residence in the College of Media, Communication, and Information at the University of Colorado. Chris is a 1.3+ million views TEDx speaker and a David Letterman Award winning media scholar with a passion for using storytelling and play to unlock creative innovation for organizations.

SESSION:...