We brought together more than two hundred visionary speakers for this summit - and the topics they spoke about were equally ambitious. The overall event was divided into central themes based on the topics we covered.

About This Session:

Join us for the opening session of the Non-Obvious Beyond Diversity Summit to get a taste of what to expect over the next four days. Our host Rohit Bhargava will be joined by comedian and disability advocate Maysoon Zayid for this eye opening conversation about what it really takes to create a more inclusive world.

Maysoon Zayid

COMEDIAN, ACTRESS & DISABILITY ADVOCATE

About the Speakers:

• Maysoon Zayid - Comedian, disability advocate, tap dancer Co-founder #NYAACF​ #1 #TEDTalk​ '14 #FindAnotherDream​ on Audible
• Rohit Bhargava - Founder of the Non-Obvious Company , #1 WSJ Bestselling Author of Non-Obvious Megatrends and Host of the Non-Obvious Beyond Diversity Summit. He has dedicated his career to helping leaders and professionals learn to see what others miss. Rohit also co-founded Ideapress Publishing with his wife Chhavi and previously spent 15 years as a marketing strategist for Ogilvy and Leo Burnett. He also occasionally teaches marketing, innovation and storytelling at Georgetown University.

About This Session:

How do we work toward a realistic portrayal of Muslim people in media and entertainment sans tropes? Join a fascinating discussion on how the modern era has come to wrongly associate Muslim people with hijabs and beards, and what can be done to correct and expand the narrative. [CT1]

Panel was produced in partnership with Pass the Mic and SRC Partners

Sue Obeidi

MPAC's HOLLYWOOD BUREAU

Sami Khan

FILMMAKER

Sahar Jahani

SCREENWRITER

Amir Sulaiman

WRITER + POET

About the Speakers:

• Zaheer Ali, Senior Fellow, Pillars Fund - Zaheer Ali is Senior Fellow at the Pillars Fund, co-leading Pillars' Muslim Narrative Change Cohort of Muslim artists, practitioners, academics, and thinkers focused on leveraging the power of American Muslim storytelling for social and cultural change.
• Sue Obeidi, Director, MPAC’s Hollywood Bureau - Sue Obeidi is the Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council's Hollywood Bureau. Amir Sulaiman is a poet, recording artist, Harvard Fellow, actor, screenwriter and producer born in Rochester, New York. His poems cross subjects of love, tragedy as well as what it means to reconcile humanity with the unprecedented trials of modernity.
• Sahar Jahani, Screenwriter - Sahar is a television writer who's worked on RAMY, 13 REASONS WHY and is currently on a Freeform series.
• Amir Sulaiman, Writer & Poet - Amir Sulaiman is a poet, recording artist, Harvard Fellow, actor, screenwriter, producer and actor, known for Ramy (2019), American Sharia (2017) and Takin' It to the Streets (2010). Born in Rochester, New York, his poems cross subjects of love, tragedy as well as what it means to reconcile humanity with the unprecedented trials of modernity.
• Sami Khan, Filmmaker - Sami Khan is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker. His latest film, THE LAST OUT, won a Special Jury Prize at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. He's currently a consulting producer on NBC's TRANSPLANT.
  

About This Session:

For the past three years, pop group Now United has been touring the world. The group has 16 members, each from a different country, who all earned a spot in the group through a worldwide reality show competition. Since the pandemic, the group has been hosting virtual dance parties and bringing their worldwide audience together online. In this engaging interview, we'll go behind the scenes of the global pop phenomenon known to fans as "NU" and uncover how music can truly be a force for bringing the world together. {CT2}

Rohit Bhargava

NON-OBVIOUS COMPANY

Yonta Taiwo

NOW UNITED

About the Speakers:

• Now United: For the past three years, pop group Now United has been touring the world. The group has 16 members, each from a different country, who all earned a spot in the group through a worldwide reality show competition. Since the pandemic, the group has been hosting virtual dance parties and bringing their worldwide audience together online. In this engaging interview, we'll go behind the scenes of the global pop phenomenon known to fans as "NU" and uncover how music can truly be a force for bringing the world together.
• Rohit Bhargava: Rohit is the founder of Non-Obvious Company and the #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Non-Obvious Megatrends. He has dedicated his career to helping leaders and professionals learn to see what others miss. Rohit also co-founded Ideapress Publishing with his wife Chhavi and previously spent 15 years as a marketing strategist for Ogilvy and Leo Burnett. He also occasionally teaches marketing, innovation and storytelling at Georgetown University.
• Yonta Taiwo: Yonta is Vice President of Artist Management, XIX Entertainment and an executive producer with a global career in fashion and entertainment. She has worked with luxury brands and companies such as Next Model Management, Harper's Bazaar, and now XIX Entertainment where she manages Now United, an international pop music group by American Idol creator Simon Fuller. The group consists of 17 members, each representing a different country and nationality from around the world.

About This Session:

Can food offer a gateway to help all of us become more open minded and accepting of other cultures? Join this eclectic combination of chefs, restauranteurs and others working at the frontiers of food to learn how the way to a more inclusive world might start with our taste buds. [CT3]

Isabel Bradbury

PRET FOUNDATION

Tracy Stuckrath

THRIVE! MEETINGS & EVENTS

Anupy Singla

AUTHOR, INDIAN AS APPLE PIE

About the Speakers:

• Angela Chee, Founder & CEO, Zen Media Inc.- Angela Chee is a media/communication coach, keynote speaker, creator of YOU, Amplified!®, and host of “The Power Of The Only” podcast. An award-winning TV news anchor/reporter and host, she now helps visionary business leaders own their voice and power and be clear, confident, and connected on-camera and off.
• Isabel Bradbury, Pret Foundation Coordinator - Isabel Bradbury is an environmentalist and a food sustainability & security champion. She works for the Pret Foundation managing their food donations programme and has experience at the frontline of food redistribution, volunteering at Fareshare, Trussell Trust and Food Action.
• Tracy Stuckrath, President & Chief Connecting Officer - Tracy Stuckrath, dietary needs expert, food safety trainer, certified special events professional, and founder of thrive! meetings & events, works with organizations worldwide to create safe, sustainable, and inclusive F&B events that deliver experiences where everyone feels valued.
• Anupy Singla, Author & Founder of Indian As Apple Pie - Anupy Singla is the author of three best-selling Indian cookbooks, including her first book, 'The Indian Slow Cooker'. Her housewares brand, Indian As Apple Pie, offers authentic single-source Indian spice blends, legumes, and sauces and can be found on store shelves including Whole Foods Market.

About This Session:

If we laugh together, we can better understand each other. In this entertaining panel, join several comedians and actors for a candid conversation about how to find the lighter side of a heavy topic. {ET3}
Panel was produced in partnership with Pass the Mic and SRC Partners

Joey Clift

WRITER, NETFLIX

Zahra Noorbakhsh

COMEDIAN, WRITER, ACTOR
GOOD MUSLIM BAD MUSLIM PODCAST

Elsa Waithe

COMEDIAN, ACTIVIST

Mike Brown

COMEDIAN, WRITER

About the Speakers:

• Mamoudou N’Diaye - @MamoudouNDiaye ... is a Mauritanian-American writer, performer, and dj, and former educator based in Brooklyn who imbues all of his art with his activism, centering the pan-African diaspora in narrative and documentary stories about mental health, racial justice, and the climate crisis.
• Joey Clift - @joeytainment ... is a writer, performer, and enrolled Cowlitz Indian Tribal Member currently living in Los Angeles. He has written on shows for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Nerdist, DreamWorks, and a TON of other places. Joey's award winning animated short film Telling People You’re Native American When You’re Not Native Is A Lot Like Telling A Bear You’re A Bear When You’re Not A Bear was even screened at the Smithsonian Museum.
• Zahra Noorbakhsh - @ZahraComedy ... is a writer, actor and comedian based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The New Yorker Magazine dubbed her one woman show "All Atheists Are Muslim" a highlight of the Int'l New York City Fringe Theater Festival, the largest multi-arts festival in North America. Her most recent one woman show "Hijab and Hammerpants" is playing in theaters around the Bay Area. She is a member of the SF Writer's Grotto where she currently teaches courses in comedy writing and storytelling.
• Elsa Waithe - @elsajustelsa ...is a comedian, activist, and educator - Elsa Eli Waithe's comedy is a mix of critical but lighthearted jabs at race and sexuality but mostly they like to talk about themselves and weed.
• Mike Brown - @yomikebrown ... is a hilarious, truly original New York comedian. “Brown’s commentary is smart, sharp and hilarious,” with material ranging from the complexities of mental health, pop-culture, and understanding America. Mike is a correspondent on the Emmy Nominated Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS, where he explores sociopolitical topics with polarizing figures.

About This Session:

How do museums shape perceptions of culture and tradition, and how can that unique role drive conversations about diversity? Hear from frontline innovators working to revolutionize how museums approach diversity and inclusion and what you can do to support their efforts. [EX1]
Panel was produced in partnership with Pass the Mic and SRC Partners

Marisa Brown

BROWN UNIVERSITY

Ayana Flewellen

SOCIETY FOR BLACK ARCHAEOLOGISTS

Lylliam Posadas

AUTRY MUSEUM

About the Speakers:

• Sanchita Balachandran, Founder/Director, Untold Stories - Sanchita Balachandran, founder and director of Untold Stories, is an art conservator and museum professional with two decades of experience preserving objects and sites of cultural heritage.
• Marisa Brown, Assistant Director, John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Brown University - Marisa Angell Brown is a cultural historian and curator with interests in architecture, preservation, public art, and spatial justice.
• Ayana Flewellen, President-Elect of the Society of Black Archaeologists, Assistant Professor, University of California, Riverside - Ayana Omilade Flewellen Ph.D. is the co-founder of the Society of Black Archaeologists and a Board Member of Diving With A Purpose who is dedicated to centering Black and Brown communities in the unearthing and dissemination of their histories.
• Lylliam Posadas, NAGPRA Coordinator at The Autry Museum of the American West

About This Session:

For the past two decades, singer Stacy Campbell has performed on tour with some of the biggest musical artists in the world: P!nk, Demi Lovato, Janet Jackson and Tina Turner. In this revealing interview, you’ll learn how these world-class artists think about creating their own diverse sound … and what you can learn from them. EX4

Stacy Campbell

PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN

About the Speakers:

• Rohit Bhargava, Rohit is the founder of Non-Obvious Company and the #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Non-Obvious Megatrends. He has dedicated his career to helping leaders and professionals learn to see what others miss. Rohit also co-founded Ideapress Publishing with his wife Chhavi and previously spent 15 years as a marketing strategist for Ogilvy and Leo Burnett. He also occasionally teaches marketing, innovation and storytelling at Georgetown University.
• Stacy Campbell, Backup Dancer for Pink! Demi Lovato Janet Jackson & Tina Turner