Values + Purpose

Ryan Breslow is the founder and executive chairman of Bolt, the technology company that is democratizing commerce by bringing lightning-fast, one-click checkout to the world. Additionally, Ryan is the founder of Eco, a crypto-enabled smart savings app, and The Movement, a nonprofit on a mission to unite the world through dance. Ryan cares deeply about enriching company culture and in partnership with Bolt, helped launch conscious.org, a framework for bridging humanity with execution in the workplace.

Trey Brown is the 16-year-old founder and CEO of SPERGO, a trendsetting lifestyle brand headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. At 12 years old, Trey became increasingly aware of the violence in his community, he chose to start SPERGO to encourage his peers to follow their dreams.

In just 4 years, Trey has sold over 70,000 units, secured wholesale deals, and opened 2 physical stores in King of Prussia Mall and Pentagon City Mall. Celebrities like Meek Mill, Sean Combs, Shaq, Charles Barkley and Lil Durk can be found sporting SPERGO gear and encouraging the young mogul.

Trey is a sought-after youth speaker and entrepreneur. This 10th grader is just getting started! He recently secured a $300,000 partnership deal with Daymond John on the hit show Shark Tank. Trey’s future plans include becoming a prominent voice in fashion and expanding SPERGO internationally.

Neil Blumenthal is a co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a mission-driven lifestyle brand that offers designer eyewear and holistic vision care at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.

Prior to co-founding Warby Parker, Neil served as director of VisionSpring, a nonprofit social enterprise that trains low-income men and women to start their own business selling affordable eyewear to individuals living in developing countries.

Neil was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company. He currently serves on the board of directors of Allbirds, Sweetgreen, and nonprofit organizations Warby Parker Impact Foundation, RxArt, Responsible Innovation Labs, the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, and the Partnership Fund for New York City. Neil also sits on the leadership councils of Robin Hood and Tech:NYC and serves as a General Partner of Good Friends LLC.

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Founder of BrainTrust, is one of fashion and beauty’s most successful digital pioneers, not only for creating the social media footprint for Ralph Lauren’s fashion empire, but also as a co-founder of Digital Brand Architects, the first agency to manage “bloggers” as talent in 2009.

Kendra is one of only 200 Black women ever to have received over $1M in investment for her first company. She has launched three companies herself; most recently her latest endeavor BrainTrust Founders Studio focuses on increasing inclusive economic opportunities for Black beauty and wellness founders providing mentorship, education, community and capital to help them accelerate their businesses and build sustainable growth. She is a long-standing business partner to Halle Berry and rē⋅spin by Halle Berry; a co-founder of BeautyUnited, a non-profit dedicated to driving DE&I in the beauty and wellness industry; and the host of Business of the Beat Beauty and Wellness Podcast.

Kendra graduated from Purdue University with a BA in Communications and then received her MBA in Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University. She has an endowment at her alma mater for a Black female freshman student in the communications school to increase the number of Black students at the University.

Lori Coulter is the Co-Founder and CEO of Summersalt, a generation-defining lifestyle brand known for its data-backed fit and designer quality products without the designer price tag. Lori and her Co-founder Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin launched Summersalt to change the conversation around inclusivity in fashion and address a true market gap by creating designer apparel made from recycled, reclaimed or sustainably sourced materials all at an accessible price. Summersalt’s product is data-backed with 1.5 million measurements taken from 10,000 women’s body scans. Named one of the Top 100 Upstarts in the world by CNBC, the brand has seen exceptional growth and consumer adoption, garnering praise from leading outlets including Vogue, Elle, CNN and Forbes.  In 2020, Lori was named one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Female Founders. Lori holds a Masters of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University.

Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) comprises some of New York’s most beloved and acclaimed restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Maialino, and more. Danny and USHG founded Shake Shack, the modern-day “roadside” burger restaurant, which became a public company in 2015. USHG also offers large-scale event services, foodservice solutions for public and private institutions, industry consulting, and educational programming.

Danny’s groundbreaking business book, Setting the Table (HarperCollins, 2006), a New York Times Bestseller, articulates a set of signature business and life principles that translate to a wide range of industries. A celebrated speaker and educator, Danny has set industry standards in areas such as hiring practices, innovative leadership, and corporate responsibility and addresses a wide range of audiences on such topics around the country.

Shekar Natarajan is a transformative leader with a record of progressive, positive disruption and industry-standard-setting innovation for top Fortune 100 companies.

In his nearly 20-year career, Shekar has created an industry-standard last-mile beverage delivery system; re-engineered a grocery home delivery/ pick-up operating model; built and scaled grocery-shopping operations; created and piloted a distribution center drone program; built an automated direct-store delivery system; developed methodologies followed by the White House & FEMA; and enhanced visitor theme park experience through wearable RFID technology.

As AEO’s Chief Global Supply Chain Officer, Shekar has brought transformation to the specialty retailer to create a robust ecosystem of operations rooted in operational excellence, strategy, data analytics and partnership. Shekar’s role was expanded in November 2021 to include CEO of newly acquired AirTerra and Quiet Logistics.

Debra G. Perelman is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Revlon, Inc. (NYSE: REV) and a member of its Board of Directors. At the time of her appointment, she became the first female CEO of a publicly traded global beauty company as well as the first female CEO to lead Revlon. As CEO, she has led the revitalization of Revlon’s iconic brands, driven the company’s ecommerce and digital expansion, and delivered consistent profitable growth. As one of her early initiatives, she developed the company’s sustainability strategy and, more recently, she launched Revlon’s Diversity and Inclusion Council. She has worked closely with Revlon for 20 years, beginning her career in its management training program, and rejoined as COO in 2017 from MacAndrews & Forbes. Ms. Perelman is a co-founder and board member of the Child Mind Institute, serves on the President’s Advisory Council at Princeton University, the Board of Overseers at Columbia Business School, the Executive Committee for the Partnership for New York City, and Mastercard’s CPG Innovate Steering Committee. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA cum laude from Princeton University.

As Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Harry’s Inc., Jeff Raider aims to build brands that people like more. The ambition of Harry’s Inc. is to create a family of disruptive omnichannel CPG brands, including Harry’s, a shaving and personal care brand that encourages guys to rethink their routines. Furthering its mission, Harry’s Inc. has launched Flamingo, a body care brand for women, Cat Person, holistic cat care, and Headquarters, a haircare brand promoting healthier hair. Before Harry’s, Jeff co-founded Warby Parker, the transformative brand that offers eyewear at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses. Jeff started his career at Charlesbank Capital Partners and Bain & Company. He graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a BA in International Studies and a Masters in International Affairs from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He also earned an MBA from Wharton Business School. Jeff resides in Manhattan with his wife and three children.

Mr. Reichenbach is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur with a robust track record over the last 25 years, founding, investing, and building multiple businesses in the consumer goods (Flow, SimplyProtein), social media (Rabbit), internet/mobile technology (Magmic Games, Bplay), entertainment and hospitality space (GuestDriven).

Mr. Reichenbach’s latest venture, where he holds the role of Executive Chairman and previously held the role of CEO, is Flow Water Inc. Flow is a sustainably packaged, alkaline spring water built on the power of mindful positivity. Flow holds a B-Corp certification and has partnered with Tetra Pak to disrupt the water category and build a brand that aligns with consumer values for sustainability, quality, health and wellness.

James is the cofounder and CEO of thredUP, one of the largest online resale platforms for women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes, and accessories. thredUP is transforming resale with technology and a mission to inspire a new generation of consumers to think secondhand first. By making it easy to buy and sell secondhand, thredUP is helping to make used clothes the new normal and ushering in a more sustainable future for fashion.

James’ passion for circularity and the role that education plays in our communities is what drives his vision of reducing the fashion industry’s negative impact on the planet. These values are reflected in his work prior to thredUP, in which he helped develop one of the nation’s premier public schools, Pacific Collegiate School. James is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School where he earned a joint degree in public policy and business.

Walter Robb is an investor, mentor, and advisor to the next generation of American food companies. Robb has dedicated his career to bringing healthier, more sustainable food to more people, and striving to bring purpose and values to business. As former co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, Robb has a long and varied entrepreneurial history, ranging from natural food retailer to farmer to consultant.

Robb joined Whole Foods Market in 1991 and in 2010 was named co-CEO along with John Mackey, at which time he joined the Whole Foods Market Board of Directors. In 2017, Robb transitioned his leadership focus to mentoring and supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs through the creation of Stonewall Robb Advisors. Robb is Executive-in-Residence at S2G Ventures and serves on the Board of Directors for Union Square Hospitality Group, Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY), LIVEKINDLY Collective, Apeel Sciences and Hungry.

Raj Seshadri leads Mastercard’s global Data & Services team. She is responsible globally for a unique range of data-driven capabilities that help customers make smarter decisions with better outcomes. These include analytics, insights, consulting, loyalty, marketing, innovation and test & learn services and platforms that enhance the value of payments, improve business performance, and elevate consumer engagement.

Raj serves on the company’s management committee. She joined Mastercard as president of U.S. issuers, where she led the growth of payments and services with banks and credit unions in a very competitive market. Previously, at BlackRock she led the iShares U.S. retail ETF business and was the global chief marketing officer for iShares. Earlier in her career, Raj led Citigroup’s global strategy team and small business banking. She also held leadership roles at U.S. Trust, McKinsey & Company and AT&T Bell Laboratories.

She serves on the board of directors of Raymond James Financial Inc., the board of trustees of Mount Holyoke College and the global board of the American India Foundation. Raj received a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College in physics and mathematics, an MBA from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University.

Rob Smith, the CEO and Founder of The Phluid Project, GET Phluid and The Phluid Phoundation, has created a brand, combining his profession, which is retail, along with his passion, a commitment to social justice.

After graduating from Michigan State University, Rob began a long retail career, spanning over 30 years, working his way through Macys for over two decades, Victoria’s Secret, and Haddad brands as the Global Chief Product Officer for Nike, Levi’s Jordan, Hurley, and Converse Children’s apparel and accessories.

Rob leads the CSR committee as a Board of Director for Steve Madden Ltd., and raises critical funds for LGBTQIA+ organizations.

He’s the former Board Chair for The Hetrick-Martin Institute and has also served on the board of directors for Athlete Ally, eliminating homophobia and transphobia in sports.

Rob lives in NYC with his husband, Rod Grozier, and his dog, Jackson

Trina Spear is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of FIGS, the digitally native, DTC healthcare apparel and lifestyle brand creating technically advanced products for the modern healthcare professional. FIGS has revolutionized healthcare apparel by branding a previously unbranded industry, de-commoditizing a previously commoditized product, and building a community around a profession.

Trina was named in Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs (2018 & 2019), Endeavor Entrepreneur (Endeavor, 2015), and Entrepreneur of the Year (Ernst & Young, Los Angeles Region, 2018). FIGS was also ranked Number 21 on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 ranking of the nation’s fastest growing companies in 2018.

Prior to launching FIGS, Trina was in Blackstone’s hedge fund group and in Citigroup’s investment banking and private equity divisions. Trina is a member of the 2018 Class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute. Trina received her BA in Economics from Tufts University, graduating magna cum laude, and she completed her MBA at Harvard Business School

As Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Sally Susman leads engagement with all of Pfizer’s external stakeholders overseeing communications, corporate responsibility, global policy, government relations, investor relations and patient advocacy. She also serves as vice chair of The Pfizer Foundation.

Before joining Pfizer in 2007, Susman held several senior communications and government relations roles at Estée Lauder and American Express. Earlier in her career, she spent eight years on Capitol Hill focused on international trade issues and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs in the Clinton Administration.

Currently, Susman serves as co-chair of The International Rescue Committee, one of the world’s largest humanitarian aid organizations, and on the board of WPP, the U.K.-based global advertising and marketing company. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2021, Forbes named Susman one of the World’s Most Influential CMOs for leading Pfizer’s brand refresh and shaping the narrative around the company’s Covid-19 vaccine.

Cami Téllez is the Founder & CEO of Parade—a community-first underwear brand that’s writing a new underwear story. Parade makes Creative Basics, expressive and sustainable skin-contact clothes that celebrate who you are today. Since its launch in 2020, Parade has sold more than 2M pairs of underwear, built a team of 60 diverse individuals and raised more than $40M from investors such as Stripes, Maveron, Lerer Hippeau, Greycroft, and the founders of Away, Casper, Bonobos, and Warby Parker. Cami founded Parade after dropping out of Columbia University to provide an alternative to brands that were pushing a one-body narrative and male-dominated idea of sexiness. Selected press- Forbes 30U30, Business Insider, Fortune Magazine, and Bloomberg.

Steven Bertoni is an award-winning journalist who has spent the last decade chronicling the world’s top leaders and entrepreneurs. He currently heads Forbes’ dynamic Founders team managing the 30 Under 30 community, ForbesWomen, and the new Forbes Creator franchise. Bertoni is an expert at cross-platform storytelling through print, digital, video, social media, live events, communities, and podcasts. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, C-Span, and CNBC, where he has served as guest host on Squawk Box. As host of the Forbes Interview podcast, he created and moderated more than 50 episodes starring some of the biggest names in business and technology.

Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne is the President and CEO, Americas at eShopWorld, the world’s leading cross-border e-commerce company. He has over 30 years of operating experience in the global FMCG and retail industries and most recently served as CEO of EMAAR Malls, owner of The Dubai Mall. Prior to that, he was Chief Marketing and Digital Officer for Marks & Spencer PLC and a Group President at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., where he oversaw the global P&L and affairs of some of the company’s largest brands, including Estée Lauder and MAC, as well as the Designer Fragrances division. He is an Independent Director of Brown-Forman Corporation, one of the largest American spirits companies.

Sheena Butler-Young is a senior correspondent at The Business of Fashion and former deputy editor of Footwear News. During the past seven years, she has broken some of the fashion industry’s biggest business stories — including Adidas’ diversity and inclusion uprising and the Payless bankruptcy. She interviews top retail executives from Nike to Nordstrom as well as designers and celebrities.

Sona Jones is the VP of Growth & Impact at WW. Sona oversees strategic growth through community, content and coaching, as well as WW’s global social impact practice. In addition to leading WW Good, a 501(c)3 dedicated to bridging the wellness gap in underserved communities, Sona launched the Health Living Coalition, a cross-sector alliance of companies and organizations dedicated to tackling nutrition insecurity.

Sona joined WW from Chicago Ideas, a nonprofit platform aimed at making ideas accessible to everyone–most notably through their annual signature festival, Chicago Ideas Week–where she was Chief Operating Officer.

Prior to joining Chicago Ideas, Sona led marketing, experiences and business development across a number of entertainment and media entities, including BucketFeet, a footwear startup with a focus on social responsibility through storytelling; The Onion / A.V. Club; Rand McNally; and Sony Pictures. Sona is a graduate of The University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Viterbi School of Engineering.

Samir Nurmohamed is an Assistant Professor of Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His research examines how people endure, respond, and persist when experiencing adversity at work. He has two primary streams of research related to adversity: one on motivation, primarily focusing on underdogs and the impact of low expectations, and another on behavioral ethics, investigating how employees respond to the adversity of unethical behavior in their organizations.

His work has been published in academic journals such as the Academy of Management Journal and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes and featured in outlets such as the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Athletic, and NPR’s Hidden Brain.

Samir completed his Ph.D. in Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and earned a BA in Economics and Philosophy from The University of Western Ontario

Rachel Shechtman is a fourth-generation retail entrepreneur and founder of STORY, a concept store known for its editorial, ever-changing approach to retail. Prior to opening STORY, Rachel built a career in consulting, founding Cube Ventures in 2002 – an independent firm known for its skill of strategically combining business models.

When Rachel launched STORY in 2011, she held the belief that retail held the potential to be about more than the transaction – it could serve as a channel for branded, community-based storytelling – Retail Media. STORY offered the point of a magazine, changed like a gallery, and sold things like a store. After seven years and 44 different ‘themes’, in April 2018, Rachel sold STORY to Macy’s Inc. where she served as Brand Experience Officer until July 2020. During her time at Macy’s, Rachel successfully launched two new businesses for the brand and built a 150+ person cross-functional team specifically and strategically designed to operate, and generate effective results efficiently and nimbly within the larger, traditional operation.

Rachel has been recognized as Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40, Crain’s Under 40 and Ad Age’s 50 Most Creative. The AAF inducted Rachel into its Advertising Hall of Achievement and in 2018 Shechtman was named a Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute.

Rachel sits on the Board of Directors of the National Retail Federation (NRF) and CAMP, an experiential family retail concept and media company. Currently Rachel is consulting for brands ranging from Lululemon to Sonos while figuring out her next chapter…to be continued.

Brian Sullivan is anchor of CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange”, and also Senior National Correspondent for the network, covering some of the nation’s biggest stories.

Most recently, Sullivan was co-anchor of CNBC’s “Power Lunch”.

In his 25 years of financial journalism and television experience, Sullivan has reported from five continents. He has been twice nominated for the prestigious Loeb Award; one for being recognized as among the first financial journalists to highlight the risks of the housing bubble in 2007, and the other for the 2013 CNBC documentary “America’s Gun: The Rise of the AR-15.”

Prior to CNBC, Sullivan served as an anchor at Fox Business News as well as a producer, reporter and anchor for Bloomberg Television.

Sullivan has a B.A. in political science from Virginia Tech, where he serves on the Alumni Board, as well as a law degree from Brooklyn Law School. In his free time, he is an avid race car driver with two SCCA divisional championships.

Lauren Thomas is a reporter for CNBC in New York covering retail and retail real estate. She joined in January 2017 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied Business Journalism and Spanish. Thomas previously held internships at CNBC in San Francisco, Bloomberg and TheStreet. She was born in South Carolina and is the oldest of five kids.

Stacey Widlitz is President & Chief International Store Hunter of SW Retail Advisors and a leading retail expert with more than 20 years’ experience analyzing global brands and retailers. SW advises financial institutions in the US and Europe as well as corporates. Stacey has also been a CNBC TV Retail Analyst since 2011.

Splitting her time between London and NYC, Stacey is known as the International Store Hunter. After more than a decade as a senior equity analyst covering retail on the sell side at several investment banks, Stacey founded SW Retail Advisors in 2011. The firm, with offices in London and New York City, provides retail market intelligence and analysis to investment institutions and corporations as they seek to understand the competitive dynamics of brands/retailers expanding outside their home borders. SW provides a unique, on-the-ground perspective using proprietary data from the US and Europe. Stacey is also an active angel investor in the Consumer and Fintech space. She is on the Board of Secret Spa, a leading in-home spa service provider in the UK.

Prior to 2011, Stacey held senior equity research positions for more than a decade at several Wall Street firms including UBS, Cowen, Fulcrum Partners and Pali Capital. Stacey started her career as a buyer for a major department store.

Stacey was voted top 15 Retail Influencer on Twitter for the past 4 years.