Session 3: Badass
Gwen Tolbart
Emmy Award Winning TV Broadcaster
Gwen Tolbart is an Emmy award winning, television broadcaster, and philanthropist whose life of giving back, making a difference for others, earned her President Obama’s Lifetime Community Service Award. A trailblazer of Canada and the USA she is the first Canadian and first meteorologist inducted into the National Association of Black Journalist (NABJ) Hall of Fame (2023), first Canadian to receive the NABJ Community Service Award, first Black weather anchor on both Canada’s, “The Weather Network” (English division) and Montreal’s CTV CFCF-12 and only Black host of "Travel, Travel”. A weather anchor and feature reporter at WTTG Fox5 Washington, DC, for 21 years she produces “Because Of You;” positive life-changing stories. She founded mentorship programs, and championed countless causes while inspiring, encouraging and instilling growth and empowerment. Gwen is CEO of “Tolbart Talks" and co-founder of “4EveryGoodReason”, a film company focusing on stories of underserved communities.
Website: https://gwentolbartspeaks.com/
Tasia Grant
Actor
Washington, DC native, Tasia Grant is a successful Human Resources Professional turned Actress. From elementary school through college, Tasia has performed as an actress in community and university theatre. Now living in Atlanta, GA, she began to explore acting opportunities there as a hobby. Her reintroduction to theatre was the gateway to broadening her interest in the TV and Film industries. As her acting “hobby” progressed from theatre to commercials to tv show appearances, she realized that acting was more than a hobby but indeed still a passion. Her acting career has also flourished, working with Angela Bassett, Sterling K. Brown, Robin Givens, Kevin Spacey, and Gary Owen. She has also had the pleasure of working opposite T.C. Carson as a leading lady in the film “Bricked” and with Vanessa Bell Calloway and Clifton Powell in her recurring role as Samantha Pearson in the hit TV drama, “Saints and Sinners”.
YouTube: @thetasiagrant Website: tasiagrant.com
Instagram: thetasiagrant Facebook: tasiagrant
TikTok: tasiagauthentically
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tasiagrant
Desiree Coleman-Fry
DEI Executive
Desiree Coleman-Fry is an internationally recognized speaker, award-winning DEI executive, and best-selling author who empowers women and advances equity. She’s been featured in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Business Insider and PBS, and was named to Hive’s 2020 Top D&I Leaders of North America list. Desiree is studying racial and gender inequities in a multidisciplinary doctoral program at Saint Louis University. She’s also a working mama of four and leads DEI for a national organization. As a graduate of LinkedIn’s prestigious Creator Accelerator Program, Desiree centers the voices of working moms and helps women work well with curated content and an engaged following of 35K on the platform. She received Career Mastered’s 2022 D&I Champions Award and Investment News’ 2019 Rising Star in D&I Award. Desiree holds a Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University, is a Danforth Plant Science Center trustee and lives in St. Louis, MO, with her husband and kids.
Website: desireescoleman.com YouTube: @desireescoleman
LinkedIn: desireescoleman TikTok: @desireescoleman
Facebook: desireescoleman Instagram: @desireescoleman
Twitter: twitter.com/desireescoleman
Wayna Wondwossen
Grammy Nominated Singer
Wayna is an Ethiopian-born, GRAMMY-nominated singer, former White House writer, and actress, who celebrates the cultural influences of her background through her performances on screen and on stage. She is a 2X All Africa Music Awards Nominee, an elected National Trustee of the GRAMMYs, and the co-creator of the GRAMMY Award for Best Song for Social Change. Wayna has performed around the world at renown venues including the White House, the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Essence Fest, the Apollo Theatre, and the Marriott and Sheraton in Ethiopia. In addition to her solo career, she joined music icon Stevie Wonder as a vocalist on the Songs in the Key of Life Tour and in other performances internationally.
Wayna has also shared the stage with Dave Chapelle, Common, the Legendary Roots, Janelle Monae, Chuck Brown, India.Arie, Jazmine Sullivan, Frankie Beverly and Maze, Raheem DeVaughn, and Eric Roberson to name a few. Her music has been featured in publications such as USA Today, Billboard, BBC News, the UK Daily Mail, Essence Magazine, Complex, the Baltimore Sun, the Toronto Star, and the Washington Post.
Website: www.wayna.net
Facebook/Instagram : @waynamusic
