Featured Guests of the Evening

 Angela Poe Russell - Emcee

Co-Host of King TV's 'Evening Magazine' 

 Whether it's interviewing a sitting president, co-hosting a daily television talk show, or writing for CEOs, Angela has a remarkable ability to connect with people through the screen, face-to-face, on stage, or via the written word. She's proven that ability through her twenty years as a multimedia journalist. Angela recently co-hosted the show "Take 5", on KING-TV (NBC). She was involved in developing all aspects of this collaboration, and was honored fo her work with a prestigious Gracie Award in 2019, given by the Alliance for Women in Media for excellence in programming. She currently co-hosts King TV's 'Evening Magazine'. 

Colson Whitehead - 2021 Keynote Speaker

Author

Colson Whitehead is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Underground Railroad (an Oprah’s Book Club selection and winner of the 2016 National Book Award and 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), The Noble Hustle, Zone One, Sag Harbor, The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and one collection of essays, The Colossus of New York. He was named New York’s 11th State Author in 2018. His most recent book, New York Times bestseller The NickelBoys, won the 2020 Pultizer Prize for Fiction (making him only the fourth writer to win two Pulitzers in the Fiction category), the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Fiction, and the 2020 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.

Melinda Gates- Introduction

Author

Melinda French Gates is a philanthropist, businesswoman, and global advocate for women and girls. As the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda sets the direction and priorities of the world’s largest philanthropy. She is also the founder of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company working to drive social progress for women and families in the United States, and the author of the bestselling book The Moment of Lift. 

Melinda grew up in Dallas, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Duke University and an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School. Melinda spent the first decade of her career developing multimedia products at Microsoft before leaving the company to focus on her family and philanthropic work. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband, Bill. They have three children, Jenn, Rory, and Phoebe.