Dr. Janina M. Jeff, Ph.D., M.S., is a human geneticist, educator, and minority science technology engineering math (STEM) activist. She received her Ph.D. in human genetics, a masters in applied statistics from Vanderbilt University and her B.S. in biology from Spelman College. Dr. Jeff finished her postdoctoral training with Dr. Eimear Kenny and Erwin Bottinger at Mount Sinai hospital genetics and pharmacogenetics and now works at Illumina, a company at the intersection of biology and technology, as a global bioinformatics specialist. Dr. Jeff is the host and executive producer of In Those Genes, described as “a hip-hop inspired podcast that uses genetics to uncover the lost identities of African descended Americans through the lens of Black Culture.” Janina is an educator, motivational speaker, and STEAM-activist that is deeply rooted in the community.

Mei-Li Hey is a Mechanical Design Engineer on the James Webb Space Telescope. She works in as Floor Support Lead for the Mechanical Ground Systems Engineering team for Northrop Grumman. Mei-Li received her B.S at the University of San Diego, and her Master’s in Engineering Management from UCLA. Aside from her work on JWST, Mei-Li is also the Co-Founder and President of a non-profit called Atwero that designs and fabricates assistive devices for handicapped individuals. Mei-Li is an advocate for inclusivity in globally implemented sanitation solutions, and believes that engineering and technology can be used as a lever for change.

Dr. Louis Tse is a Spacecraft Thermal Engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Co-Founder of Students 4 Students, a nonprofit that establishes student-run shelters for college students experiencing hunger and homelessness, ultimately to ensure this generation of students can fully harness their brilliance to build a better, fairer, wiser society. Louis became inspired to start Students 4 Students (formerly known as Bruin Shelter) while a graduate student at UCLA, studying mechanical engineering. Dr. Tse received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at UCLA, studying next-generation concentrating solar power tech. His scientific research interests focus on the food-energy-water nexus, and improving our understanding of society and the environment. He was awarded the Peace Fellowship by the Rotary World Peace Conference, the UCLA Charles E. Young Humanitarian Award, the UCLA Eudaemonia Award, the Rising Advocate by OCA-LA, and was a Local Hero nominee by PBS SoCal.

Jacques Agbobly is a Fashion Activist who is passionate about the importance of sustainable fashion, making change through design inclusivity, social justice, and equitable fashion systems. Jacques is a graduate of Parsons School of Design and recipient of the 2019 Council of Fashion Designers of America Design Scholar Award. As a fashion activist, Agbobly is also an advocate within the HIV community in Chicago.

A rising star in STEM education and advocacy, Justin “Mr. Fascinate” Shaifer is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Technology with a talent for inspiring Generation Z. Far from camera shy, Justin has hosted science TV shows with WGBH, Travel Channel and Al Roker Entertainment.

Justin’s goal “to be for STEM what ESPN is for sports” and to inspire young people to “embrace their inner nerd despite their surroundings,” springs from his own life experience. Growing up in a single parent home on the South Side of Chicago, he had little awareness of the potential of a STEM career. Self-taught and fascinated by science, Justin earned scholarships from NASA and NOAA that covered 100% of his tuition and room and board at Hampton University.

Justin graduated with a degree in marine and environmental science, earning the department’s highest GPA while also serving as student body president. Inspired to pay his success forward, Justin co-founded the STEM Success Summit, a large scale recruiting conference for diverse STEM students that secured sponsorship from Best Buy and General Motors.

Kickstarting his professional speaking career with a popular TEDx Talk How to Speak Generation Z, Justin continues to reach millions with his content, keynotes and workshops. Justin’s work has been featured in ABC, Forbes, Essence and other media. Justin regularly speaks to corporate stakeholders, educators and students around the world about innovative technology, Gen Z and recruiting diverse STEM professionals. From “Innovative Tech and The Future of Society” to “How to Speak Gen Z” his keynotes earn rave reviews while changing the way we see science, STEM and innovators.

Sophia Nimphius is the Professor of Human Performance at Edith Cowan University (ECU) and High Performance Women’s Sport Science Coordinator for Softball Australia. She was previously Sports Science Manager for the Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre, High Performance Manager for Softball Western Australia and has been involved in elite sport for over 20 years. She is an accomplished keynote speaker, coach and researcher with an ability to convey a message to a variety of audiences, driven by the constant desire to improve and positively influence the industry and as a larger whole, our society.

Susana Meléndez, RD LDN, is a bilingual Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist and is currently the Head of Sports Nutrition for athletics at Sam Houston State University. She is passionate about health, nutrition, and sports. Susana was a Division 1 athlete and captain at The University of Arizona, she also formed part of the Mexican National Team Pool. Susana has experience working with hundreds of successful athletes in all age ranges, as well as the collegiate, professional and Olympic level. Her expertise has been developed by interning at the University of Arizona and Tucson Medical Center and working in nutrition programs at WIC (Women, Infants and Children), Liberty University Sports Nutrition, Mercy Elite Sports Performance, and in assistance to the Director of Nutrition for the New York Mets. Her business has grown but her focus has always remained consistent; Susana’s main goal is to help athletes identify how nutrition can enhance their performance.

In his STEAM Academy Tech Talk, Kyle shares his journey with First Star and talks about the common ground between sports and social justice. Kyle Alexander Kuzma is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and was named first-team all-conference in the Pac-12 as a junior in 2016–17. Kuzma was selected with the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Brooklyn Nets. In a draft-day trade, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers and signed his rookie scale contract with the Lakers where in his first year he was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in October/November. Kyle went on to win an NBA championship with the Lakers in 2020. He founded the Kyle Kuzma Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization focused on impacting the lives of children, young adults, and families though sports, education, and important life lessons.

Dr. Leeja Carter is a scholar, feminist changemaker, and expert on inclusive and equity-focused practice in sport and health. Dr. Carter’s work has been featured on CNN’s Connect the World, Black News Channel, Salon.com, Self Magazine, Livestrong, Bustle, Women’s Health, Pride Magazine, Beauty INC, and Psychology Today. An Associate Professor of Exercise Psychology at the intersection of racial and gender equity at Temple University, she is also Founder and Executive Director at the Coalition for Food and Health Equity, and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP)’s Diversity and Inclusion Executive Board Division Head. Dr. Carter shared her journey and talked about exercise and sport psychology.

Jeff Stibel is a founding partner of Bryant Stibel and serves on the boards of the Consortium for Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Tufts University and the Natural History Museum. He has served on the boards of a number of non-profit, private, and public companies. Stibel was previously President & CEO of Web.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW) and The Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corporation, and later served as D&B’s (NYSE: DNB) Vice Chairman. Stibel is a USA Today columnist and author of The New York Times bestseller “Breakpoint” and “Wired for Thought.” Stibel received his undergraduate degree in psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science from Tufts University, and his graduate degree from Brown University, where he was the recipient of a Brain and Behavior Fellowship while studying for a PhD. Stibel also spent time as a visiting fellow at MIT and received an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University.

Dr. Morgan Mitchell is an associate product manager at Sciex. She received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Houston, a Masters in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Houston, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Spelman College. Her doctoral research focused on using mass spectrometry and proteomics to discover novel proteins in tuberculosis and pancreatic cancer. Dr. Mitchell is also a breast cancer survivor and is a passionate advocate of breast cancer awareness in young African American women. Some breast cancer organizations she is a member of include Tigerlily Foundation, Angels Surviving Cancer, and Susan G. Komen. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and involved in many community service organizations including the Association of Women in Science, SuperGirls SHINE Foundation, and The Mademoiselles.

Ramon Pitter is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Investment Officer (CIO), and Co-Founder of Flowtrack. Ramon has an 18-year career in asset management, investment banking, M&A and business development. He has led M&A initiatives across major international financial services & logistics companies. He has been trading digital assets since 2017 and has been running Flowtrack’s portfolio since 2020. Ramon received his MBA from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.

Warren Rickards is the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Co-Founder of Flowtrack. He is responsible for all branding, marketing, and sales as well as human resources. Warren has a 7-year career in enterprise sales and building sales organizations within the Web 2.0 ecosystem. He has led sales efforts, exceeding targets at both Facebook and Cloudflare. He is also a cofounder of startup Soul Career, which is a professional development and coaching company. Warren received his MBA from the Ross School of Business at University of Michigan.

Mika Ohiorhenuan is the Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Co-Founder of Flowtrack and is responsible for all operations and administration as well as trading cost management. Mika has an 18‑year career spanning operations, corporate and investment banking as well as prop trading. He is a seasoned operations executive who has led teams, scaled startups and tackled complex initiatives in operations, logistics and technology. Mika received his MBA from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Jaye Gardiner is currently a post doctoral fellow researching pancreatic cancer at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. Outside of the lab she is also an illustrator making comics about #Uniquescientists. Growing up she loved watching cartoons and anime and became self taught in telling comic stories. She co-founded JKX Comics, a PhD student initiative to increase scientific literacy, exposure, and access through comics to make communicating science fun. She hopes to show how collaborative STEM is and show that scientists are humans and that there is no one way a scientist looks.