As an active athlete in the international wrestling community and Group leader for Rainbow youth alliance Akil is unlike many of his counter parts. His focus in life is making a change in the way LGBT youth are seen and the life that athletes are sometimes seen to be forced into to make. Akil works as a youth advocate when he is not on the wrestling mats trainning for the Olympics.
A 30-year community, human rights and HIV/AIDS activist/advocate in the metropolitan DC area, certified as an HIV/AIDS Peer Counselor & Educator and HIV Treatment Education Specialist; an award-winning writer and performance artist and a highly sought after lecturer and program facilitator for cultural diversity issues and concerns. Native of
Montrella is on a mission for underrepresented populations to have Prosperity,
Protection, and Peace. She is the CEO of Affinity Health Affairs and CowanLife, a
financial planning and risk advisory company with a special focus on empowering
minority and underrepresented populations with respect to the wealth gap,
including LGBTQ communities and Black communities.
Montrella has been helping the most vulnerable individuals and families for over 18
years as a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and now a Licensed
Insurance Agent. Her clients truly appreciate her wisdom-from-experience. Not only
did her HIV-positive mother die in 2018, but, just four months later, she lost her
first-born daughter to Lupus. With her holistic approach, Montrella is committed to
helping you and your family have “Peace of Mind and Peace of Money.” Montrella is
passionate about revealing the secrets of wealth so that her clients can start to
break the chains of generational curses of poverty and start creating family legacies
of wealth and protection. Montrella’s talks include topics on Getting Out of Debt in
9 Years or Less; Financial Planning for People with Chronic Health Conditions; Don’t
Wait to Die: Live with the Benefits of Your Insurance Policy Now; Create Your Own
Family Bank and; How to Have a Tax-Free Retirement as a Member of the LGBTQ
Community.
Montrella has served as a mentor to young adults for more than a decade, helping
them to become effective change agents. She is a Field Instructor for several
universities around the country, including Howard University, Morgan State, VCU,
George Mason University, Western New Mexico University, and others.
Montrella is a USA Today bestselling author and renowned thought leader whose
expertise has been featured in Inspired Living TV, The Washington Post, Essence
Magazine, Radio One, Fox, NPR, NBC, ABC, and dozens of other local, regional, and
national media outlets. As a keynote speaker, Montrella has shared the stage with
some of the greatest motivational speakers of all time to include Les Brown and Dr.
George Fraser.
Montrella earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and social Work
from Catholic University of America and a master’s degree in social work from
Howard University. She also has a Nonprofit Management and Executive
Leadership Certificate from Georgetown University. She is a proud mother and a
member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
If YOU are READY to smash your past and co-create your future, book Montrella as
your next guest speaker by calling 202-421-3617 or emailing cmontrella@msn.com
Rev. Jason Carson Wilson is an authorized United Church of Christ minister. Wilson serves as Justice & Peace Policy Fellow in United Church of Christ, Justice & Witness Ministries’ D.C. office, where he lobbies for just domestic policies. He also serves as adjunct minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C. Wilson is also a member of Dignity Washington. He’s a graduate of Chicago Theological Seminary, where he founded the Bayard Rustin Society. Wilson is a former newspaper reporter.
Sapna Pandya, MPH is former Director of Programs for the South Asian Health Initiative (SAHI) at Center for Immigrant Health (CIH) of the New York University School of Medicine, which serves to help South Asian immigrants navigate barriers to health care in New York City through community-based participatory research and outreach programs. She recently relocated to Washington DC, where she is furthering her work by expanding to advocacy and capacity-building activities, including trainings and talks in the area of immigrant health. Sapna is also a co-Founder of two unique initiatives: 1) Jeena Circle, a giving circle-style foundation dedicated to raising funds for under-served South Asian immigrant communities in the United States; and 2) Humsafar International, a collective of trainers on sexual health, sexual identity and health access issues. She is actively involved in several of the area’s API LGBT communities and is passionate about addressing socio-political and economic determinants of health, particularly for marginalized communities globally. Her research and programmatic work on HIV/AIDS and gender, done over the last 10 years in India and Pakistan is ground-breaking and is something she remains firmly connected to. Sapna has a M.P.H. from the George Washington University and is an Alumni of the CORO Immigrant Leadership Training Program.
Hello, my name is Sara Cahanin. I am a licensed therapist in Maryland and currently, I work at Cheltenham Youth Facility in the school as a therapist. I also have a private practice. In addition to my work as a therapist, I have been a high school English teacher and also, have taught writing at a community college and private college in New York State. In 2006, I started a non-profit organization called, Martin Lyon Lesbian Support Services in Ithaca, New York. It was very successful and met the unmet needs of the lesbian community. We had planned to open it up to all GLBT people, but due to the economy the organization ceased operations. I feel that I have a lot to offer the GLBT community as a speaker and look forward to speaking soon to our community. Thanks for reading!
For more information, please visit my website at http://www.saracahanin.com.
Dr. Sean Robinson is a Graduate Program Director and Professor in the Dept. of Advanced Studies, Leadership & Policy in the School of Education at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. His primary teaching and research areas include leadership and teaching for social justice, youth identity development, leadership development, organizational behavior, leadership in colleges and universities, and research methods. Sean has over 25 years experience in a multitude of educational settings at both the high school and university level. He has published over two dozen articles and book chapters, and presented over 50 presentations (locally, nationally, and internationally) focusing on LGBTQ identity development, media/pop culture’s impact on youth, and mentoring youth and young adults. In addition to his faculty role, Sean maintains a private coaching and consulting practice, which focuses on organizational development, strategic planning, human resource initiatives, and developing leaders. His clients are primarily entrepreneurs, non-profits organizations, and small businesses. Sean received his PhD in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies and his MBA in Management & Human Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, he holds a Masters of Education in Counseling Psychology from the College of William & Mary. Sean’s BA is in Psychology from the University of Virginia.
Star Peterson (ze/zir) is a non-binary, pansexual diversity trainer who is multiply neurodivergent. Star is passionate about helping healthcare workers, mental health professionals, and allies be more welcoming to the LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent communities. Star gives talks on pronouns, gender-neutral language, avoiding microaggressions, and unpacking cishet privilege.