Sheila Johnson is Founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts. As Vice Chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Ms. Johnson is the only African American woman to have ownership in three professional sports teams. In 2016, she lead the formation of WE Capital, a venture capital consortium to support and invest in female-led enterprises. She served on the board of the Greater Washington Partnership (GWP), which seeks to strengthen the region’s position as a center for commerce and innovation. Currently, she is Co-Chair of GWP’s Inclusive Growth Council. Ms. Johnson serves as chairman of the College of Performing Arts and Board member of The New School in New York. The Sheila Johnson Fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School supported 50 fellows. She is a board member of the Metropolitan Opera, Jackie Robinson Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the NeuroArts Blueprint: Advancing the Science of Arts, Health, and Well-Being Advisory Board. Ms. Johnson has long been influential in the entertainment industry, starting with her work as co-founder of Black Entertainment Television. She has served as executive producer of documentary and feature films and is founder and chair of the Middleburg Film Festival.
Michele C. Meyer-Shipp leads Dress for Success Worldwide’s 144 affiliates in 23 countries on its mission to help women achieve economic independence. She previously served as Chief People & Culture Officer for Major League Baseball, and a senior advisor to the Commissioner and leaders across 30 major league baseball teams and multiple Minor League teams. Ms. Meyer-Shipp was Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at KPMG LLP, Global Chief Diversity Officer for Prudential Financial, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. She spent the first decade of her career practicing employment law in both the private and public sectors, where she advised clients on optimizing talent and implementing equitable workplace initiatives. Ms. Meyer-Shipp served as a Yahoo! Finance News Contributor and been featured in top media outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Business Insider, and more. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Network Journal’s “25 Influential Black Women in Business” (2021), Core Magazine’s “100 Most Influential Blacks Today” (2021), Black Enterprise’s “Portraits of Power” (2020) and Business Insider’s “38 Power Players of Consulting” (2020).
Shawna Thomas is the Executive Producer of CBS Mornings. Before this position, she was a Content Development Executive for Quibi. Ms. Thomas also spent time as an on-air political contributor for MSNBC and NBC News. Previously she served as Washington, DC Bureau Chief for VICE News and oversaw politics and DC-based policy coverage for VICE News Tonight on HBO, winning an Emmy for the show’s coverage of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing where Christine Blasey Ford testified. Ms. Thomas was also a senior producer on VICE News Tonight’s “Charlottesville: Race and Terror.” As a correspondent for VICE News Tonight, Ms. Thomas covered President Trump and Kim Jong Un’s summit in Singapore and the Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki. She has interviewed a number of the biggest newsmakers of the day, including South Carolina Senator Tim Scott after the unrest in Charlottesville. Before opening VICE News’ DC Bureau, Ms. Thomas served as senior producer and senior digital editor of NBC’s Meet the Press. While at NBC, she also covered the White House, Capitol Hill, helped plan NBC’s Decision 2008 coverage and reported on the detainee trials in Guantanamo Bay. Ms. Thomas’ work has been widely celebrated with four Emmy wins, a Peabody Award, a Gracie Award, two Scripps Howard Awards and more.