Past Keynote Speakers 2019

Dr. Cheek is a student-centered higher education administrator who brings committed and lasting change to colleges using a situational leadership style that has proven effective in increasing enrollment, improving organizational efficiency, and advancing efforts to achieve more equitable student learning outcomes. Over time, she honed her knowledge of administrative leadership roles at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio, a large multi-campus college serving more than 30,000 students each year across eight counties.

Prior to college administration, Dr. Cheek excelled in fundraising and business/community relations with the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Cheek earned a Doctorate of Education from The University of Texas at Austin, an MBA from the University of Dayton, and a BA in Business Management from Tennessee State University

She is a 2016-17 Aspen Presidential Fellow and a recipient of the Dayton Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” Award. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Jack and Jill of America. Annesa is the mother of two incipient little scholars – 11-year old Avery and 9-year old Austin – who daily reaffirm for her the value of lifelong learning and keep her grounded and ever hopeful of right effort.

Hodan Nalayeh is the Founder of Integration TV, which reaches millions of viewers on YouTube. Nalayeh has changed society with refreshing positive content from Africa. As a trained Journalist, Nalayeh is captivated by the power of stories to change lives.

She is a social media powerhouse who has built the largest online platform sharing pioneering stories of Somali communities.

Integration TV is an independent media channel that only shares positive stories from communities that are under-represented in media. It has over 50,000 Subscribers and five million views on YouTube!

A popular Speaker at conferences, Nalayeh shares her journey from hardship to success as an African growing up outside Africa. Nalayeh believes change starts with the media for many Black communities across the globe.

Joe Nayquonabe, Jr. is an American Indian business professional that has spent his career reimagining and reinventing how American Indian tribal economies grow and prosper.

He spent over a decade as a marketing executive growing the Grand Casino brand before ascending to CEO of the Mille Lacs Band’s Corporate Commission where he created several companies including Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, which manages the entire business portfolio of the Mille Lacs Band; 2020 Casino Solutions; Maadaadizi Holdings; and Wewinabi Inc. He has also kept Grand Casino at the forefront as one of the most valuable brands in Indian Gaming.

In addition to his work, Nayquonabe is a member of YPO (formerly Young Presidents' Organization) and serves on the National Diversity Advisory Board for the University of Minnesota, the American Indian Advisory Board for St. Cloud State University, the American Red Cross Minneapolis Region, Visit St. Paul, Friends of Como Zoo, the Initiative Foundation, Minnesota Historical Society, Great River Passage Conservancy Board and the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance Board. 

Nayquonabe has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from St. Cloud State University, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and a master of tribal administration and governance degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

He and his wife, Chris, live in Onamia with their daughters, Bella, Phoenix-Rose, and Xiana. In his spare time, Joe enjoys running marathons, studying the Ojibwe language, and reading.

Tamrat Tademe, Ph.D. is a statewide-, nationally- and internationally-known speaker on racism and the “toxic isms,” xenophobia, imperialism, Pan Africanism and emancipator multicultural education.  He has been recognized multiple times as “Professor of the Year” at St. Cloud State University, most recently in 2010 and 2011.  Tademe serves as advisor to several student organizations on campus and was called up to serve as a keynote speaker for the Pan African Student Leadership Conference and the Ethnic Studies Conference hosted by Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2011.  He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Relations and Multicultural Education at St. Cloud State University and co-founder of the Faculty and Staff of Color Caucus.

Miriam Yeung is a social justice leader who has successfully fought for and improved the lives of young people, women, LGBT people, immigrants, and people of color in the United States.  Currently she runs a consulting practice that focuses on helping leaders and organizations spend their resources most meaningfully to improve the world we live in. Her work includes leadership development, community organizing, strategic direction setting and institutional transformation toward conscious inclusion.

From 2008 – 2016, she led the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), the nation's only national multi-issue organization dedicated to building power and winning reproductive justice, economic justice and immigrant rights for Asian American and Pacific Islander women and girls. During her time at NAPAWF, Miriam became an expert on so-called Prenatal Nondiscrimination laws - racist and sexist anti-abortion laws which target Black and Asian women, and testified in Congress against these measures twice. She also co-founded We Belong Together, a campaign that organizes women for immigrant rights.

Prior to that Miriam spent 10 years at NYC LGBT Community Center doing youth organizing, policy and government relations work where she built the Causes in Common coalition, a crossmovement initiative to more closely align the LGBT liberation movement with the reproductive rights, health and justice movements; developed the NYS and NYC Dignity for All Students laws; and successfully advocated for the inclusion of LGB youth in statewide data collection efforts.

Miriam received the Ms. Foundation’s Gloria Steinem Woman of Vision award in 2016. Miriam has a MPA from Baruch College and a BA from NYU. Miriam also serves on the board of the MomsRising Education Fund.

Raised in the projects of Brooklyn, Miriam Yeung is a proud, queer, immigrant, woman, activist parent to two amazing young daughters.