Dr. Karin Kimbrough is the Chief Economist for LinkedIn where she leads a team devoted to surfacing thought leadership on the world of work. Prior to joining LinkedIn in 2020, she served as the Assistant Treasurer for Google and the Head of Macroeconomic Policy at Bank of America. In addition, Kimbrough worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the Markets Group for nearly a decade and as an Economist and FX Strategist at Morgan Stanley in London and NY. She serves on the board of directors for Fannie Mae, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She holds a Bachelor’s from Stanford University, a Master’s from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oxford.

Shellye Archambeau is an experienced CEO and Board Director with a track record of accomplishments building brands, high-performance teams, and organizations. Ms. Archambeau currently serves on the boards of Verizon, Roper Technologies, Okta and Lineage. She is also a CEO mentor with the EXCO Group and serves on the board of two national nonprofits, Catalyst and Braven.

Ms. Archambeau has over 30 years of experience in technology. She is the former CEO of MetricStream, a Silicon Valley-based, governance, risk, and compliance software company. During her tenure MetricStream grew from a fledgling startup into a global market leader. She is the author of Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers and Create Success on Your Own Terms, a book that will inspire you and provide the tools to enable you to fight the battles, make the tradeoffs and create the life you want. She is also a Forbes contributor and the protagonist of the Harvard Business School Case Study: Becoming a CEO.

Ms. Archambeau is the founder of Ignite Ambition, a community focused on the professional development of people in the early to mid-stages of their career. The mission is to provide professionals with the knowledge, inspiration, perspective, and tools that they need to overcome their challenges, achieve their aspirations, and excel in their professional careers. Ms. Archambeau enjoys the performing arts, traveling, cooking and writing a blog that provides career advice, insights and other musings.

Mary Ann Bates is Executive Director of the California Cradle-to-Career Data System. This statewide data system provides tools to help students reach their goals and delivers information on education and workforce outcomes. Its vision is to foster evidence-based decision-making to help Californians build more equitable futures and empower individuals to reach their full potential.

Mary Ann previously served as a senior fellow at the White House Office of Management and Budget and as the Executive Director of J-PAL North America at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She began her life in Ohio’s Amish community and started her college experience via dual enrollment at Kent State University Tuscarawas. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Anu Bharadwaj is the President of Atlassian and is focused on uniting the Product, Business, Design, and Engineering teams to deliver innovative products that customers love while supercharging the growth of Atlassian’s businesses.

With nearly 20 years of experience in transforming and building billion-dollar businesses, Anu brings deep expertise in Product, Design, Engineering, Operations and Corpdev & Partnerships for customer-focused growth. As former Atlassian COO, she scaled a distributed workforce across 13 countries, led Atlassian’s SaaS transformation, and built the Cloud enterprise business. Previously, she held leadership roles at Microsoft, launching products for the Visual Studio and Devops business.

Anu is deeply passionate about growing diverse teams and making the world a better place combining technology and philanthropy, and enjoys advising emerging software and service companies.

Mr. Chavez currently serves on the Board of Directors of Alphabet Inc. In addition, he serves on the fiduciary or advisory boards of Abacus.AI, Datavant, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Stanford Medicine. He previously served as President of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University.

Prior to joining Sixth Street, Mr. Chavez served in a variety of senior roles at Goldman Sachs, including Chief Information Officer, where he oversaw the firm’s 9,000 engineers; Chief Financial Officer, and global co-head of the firm’s Securities (now Global Markets) Division. Mr. Chavez was also a partner and member of the Goldman Sachs Management Committee. Mr. Chavez was one of the first developers of SecDB, an early platform that transformed the trading business into a software business. He retired from the firm in 2019. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Chavez was the CEO and co-founder of Kiodex, and Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Quorum Software Systems.

He holds an A.B. magna cum laude in Biochemical Sciences and an S.M. in Computer Science from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in Medical Information Sciences from Stanford.

Vincent J Del Casino Jr is Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at San José State University where he oversees the academic and enrollment enterprise for the university. An accomplished academic geographer, Del Casino’s interdisciplinary research explores topics such as health geographies, robotics and labor, political ecology, and the sociocultural dimensions of space and place. Del Casino is also a public voice on higher education innovation, contributing essays to Inside Higher Ed and The EvoLLLution on topics like machine learning, digital equity, and student success strategies. He hosts The Accidental Geographer, a podcast that spotlights SJSU faculty whose research and teaching shape the university’s broader social impact. He earned his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Kentucky, an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a B.A. in International Relations and East Asian Studies from Bucknell University.

Dr. Ashley Finley is the Vice President of Research and Senior Advisor to the President for the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). She oversees AAC&U’s Office of Research and Public Purpose which develops integrative approaches to linking students’ career preparation, civic engagement, and well-being. Through research, campus-based projects, and partnerships, this work advances higher education’s commitments to supporting economic, community, and individual thriving. Her publications include: The Career-Ready Graduate: What Employers Say About the Difference College Makes; A Comprehensive Approach to Assessment of High-Impact Practices; and The Effects of Community-Based and Civic Engagement in Higher Education. She also currently serves as a commissioner for the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).

Dr. Finley was previously the senior director of assessment and research at AAC&U and also national evaluator for Bringing Theory to Practice. She also served as the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Dominican Experience at Dominican University of California, where she implemented a comprehensive framework for student learning and success centered around high-impact practices. Dr. Finley began her career as a faculty member at Dickinson College. She received a BA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an MA and PhD, both in sociology, from the University of Iowa.

John N. Friedman is the Inaugural Vascellaro Family Dean at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. He is also the Briger Family Distinguished Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs, as well as a founding co-Director of Opportunity Insights. His work uses big data to study the causes and consequences of inequality for kids, as well as policies to improve opportunity for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. His work has appeared in top academic journals as well as in major media outlets, has been cited by President Obama in his 2012 State of the Union Address, and has shaped policies at the federal, state, and local level. He worked as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council in the White House during the Obama Administration. He is also a Research Associate at NBER and Co-Editor at the flagship journal in the profession, the American Economic Review.

Michael Itzkowitz is Founder and President of The HEA Group, a national policy organization focused on college access, value, and economic mobility. He previously served as the Director of the College Scorecard and as a Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Education.

Michael’s work includes innovative ways of evaluating college outcomes, including the creation of the “Price-to-Earnings Premium” and “Economic Mobility Index.” His expertise is often cited by news outlets across the U.S., such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times.

As the oldest son of a low-income, first-generation Vietnamese family, Quoc Nguyen has built an impressive career. As a Sales Account Executive at Cisco, he specializes in providing critical infrastructure that drives business and technology outcomes for his clients. In just five years, Quoc has consistently been a top performer, recognized among the top 10% of Global Sellers for his quota overachievement, and honored with “Hustler” and “Care Deeply” awards for his cultural contributions. Inspired by his fiancée, family, and friends, Quoc is passionate about mentoring the next generation.

Dr. Kimberly Sluis currently serves as Vice President and Chief of Staff for Postsecondary Education at Strada Education Foundation where she focuses on ensuring stronger connections between education and opportunity. 

Dr. Sluis spent most of her career in campus-based higher education roles. She served as dean of students, vice president for student affairs, and held executive-level responsibility for strategy and strategic planning. Prior to moving to Strada, Sluis also worked in higher education consulting where she supported institutions on projects ranging from organizational redesign and technology transformation to mergers and acquisitions. 

Dr. Sluis earned her doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, her master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University, and  her bachelor’s in sociology from North Central College. She is a member of the board of trustees as Adelphi University; an alumna of the 2014 Harvard University Institute for Educational Management; served as chair of the alumni board for the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Program; and served as a member of the Board of Directors for the non-profit 360 Youth Services. Kimberly is also a returned Peace Corps Volunteer having served for three years as a health and water sanitation volunteer in Ghana, West Africa. 

Jason Sobel joined The New York Times Company as chief technology officer in August 2021. In this role, Mr. Sobel leads our Product Engineering team to build quality software, evolve our technical standards and empower our teams to achieve engineering excellence. He reports to Meredith Kopit Levien, chief executive officer of The Times Company.

Previously Mr. Sobel was at Airbnb serving as head of infrastructure from April 2019 until March 2021. From April 2016 to April 2019, he was Airbnb’s engineering director and global head of trust and safety operations, leading the team that developed the technology Airbnb uses to combat fraud that keeps hosts and guests safe. Mr. Sobel was vice president of engineering at Quantifind from September 2013 to November 2015. Prior to that, he spent six years at Facebook, where he worked on its backend platform to help steer the company through a massive growth phase.

Mr. Sobel earned an undergraduate and master’s degree in Computer Science from Brown University.

Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson serves as the 31st president of San José State University (SJSU), assuming the role in January ‘23. As an internationally recognized Latina leader with extensive executive experience across multiple state university systems, President Teniente-Matson is a champion for student success, institutional innovation, and industry partnerships that drive economic mobility. Her leadership at SJSU has been marked by strategic growth, national recognition, and facilities initiatives, repositioning the University as a premier public urban research institution.

Dr. Harry L. Williams serves as President & CEO of Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), the nation’s foremost organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. Leading TMCF, Dr. Williams oversees its 55 member schools, comprising America’s publicly supported Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), collectively educating 80% of students attending HBCUs.

Under his visionary leadership, TMCF has experienced unparalleled growth, witnessing a remarkable revenue expansion exceeding 250%. His strategic direction has elevated TMCF to not only serve as the premier representative of the HBCU community but also as a thought leader in equity, access, and inclusion.

Dr. Williams has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades for his contributions to higher education. His illustrious career includes senior positions at the University of North Carolina General Administration, Appalachian State University, and North Carolina A&T State University.

Dr. Williams earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Appalachian State University and a Doctorate from East Tennessee State University. Named President Emeritus of Delaware State University, he is also a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Dr. Williams is a devoted family man. Married to Dr. Robin S. Williams, they take pride in their two accomplished sons, Austin, and Gavin, both Howard University graduates. Gavin, now a third-year law student at Southern University Law Center, carries on the family’s legacy of academic excellence. Dr. Williams is also a doting grandfather to Porter Rae, and Bloom Leigh the daughters of Austin and his wife Reagan.