This is the time to grab some breakfast, sign-in, and network.

After acknowledgement and introduction of our principal sponsors, Executive Director of the LGBTQ+ Institute, Tim’m West will introduce our keynote speaker, J. Christopher Johnson, B.A., who will clarify our purpose and set the tone for our time together.

In the current political landscape, accusations political partisanship increasingly weaponize DEI and LGBTQ inclusion as “woke” concepts. For many Human Resources professionals, legal advisors, and other executive leaders, DEI doesn’t represent political positions but instead, foundational commitments to advance equity in our institutions. In this panel, we will explore how leaders have responded to policies and legislation that threaten their commitments to LGBTQ+ inclusion. For many advocates in the LGBTQ+ community, the call to identify strong, resilient institutional allies has never been greater.

The panel will be moderated by Kama Pierce, Cheif Programs Officer at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Panelists include: DeRetta Rhodes, Ph.D. (Executive Vice President and Chief Culture Officer for the Atlanta Braves), Jeff Graham (Executive Director, Georgia Equality), Brandi Hoyos (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager at Southern Company), and Joshua R. Newton (Senior Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement at Emory University)

In this panel, moderated by DEI Leader, Model, and Human Rights Advocate Attallah Pamoja, we will discuss the strengths and limitations of tools like Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to LGBTQ+ employees. Join us as we talk with several members of workplace Employee Resource and Affinity groups on how they hold their organizations and institutions accountable for measurable and sustainable change.

Panelists include: Mitchell Bowling (Keller Williams Rainbow Network), Naima Eggleston (Afrekete at Spelman College), LaQuita Phillips (Co-Chair of PRIDE Business Resource Group at Bennett Thrasher), and DeWayne Queen (President, EQUAL ERG at Delta Airlines)

In recent years, the anti-woke and anti-DEI boogeymen have created compromises in organizational commitments to DEI that have impacted everything from affinity spaces to entire race, gender, sexuality, and disability-based protections. For many Millennials and GenZrs for whom values alignment, inclusion, and belonging are non-negotiables, working outside of the system to forge entrepreneurial opportunities is the path less taken, but incredibly rewarding. Hear from Alex Audate, LGBTQ+ Institute Advisory Board member and Director of Operations at Programs at KMG Consulting Firm, as she talks about her own personal journey, alongside other LGBTQ+ leaders to maintain an uncompromised commitment to DEIB.

Enjoy lunch and a continued dialogue about the panels of the day guided by the Institute’s Board members and the Center’s DEI team.

Our Fireside chat will be moderated by Amazin LeThi, Inclusion Advocate, Consultant, and Advisor to the LGBTQ+ Institute.

It will feature NBA Player and philanthropist, Reggie Bullock, whose RemarkaBULL Foundation was created in memory of his sister Mia Henderson, who was murdered in Baltimore in 2014.

IGNYTE kicks off a new direction for The Institute's annual business forum that centers cross-generational learning between some of top business minds in Metro Atlanta and beyond. The Future Looks Bright will provide an opportunity to hear from emerging and young business leaders. A new 2024 Gallup poll suggests that 28.5% of Gen Z women identify as LGBTQ+, compared to 10.6% of Gen Z men, which is still monumentally greater than previous generations. Additionally, young people increasingly self-identify as non-binary and transgender, forging new challenges to integration and institutional culture across business sectors. What can we learn from the generations who'll become our next executive leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs? What challenges and opportunities emerge since Millennials and Gen Zrs are positioned to represent the majority of the U.S. workforce as early as 2025? Come prepared to ignyte your learning sparked by some of our most hopeful leaders of tomorrow.

This panel will be moderated by Institute Board Co-Chair Jad-Evangelo Nasser, and feature students Clarence Sanders (Morehouse Class of 2027, YOU(th) Advance Georgia Together Advocacy Academy, and Goldman Sachs Emerging Leader), Sydney Foster (Creative Director + Image Maker for SAF Studios), Willow Ozburn (Georgia State University Robinson College of Business Class of 2026, DEI Advocate, and Peer Advisor), and Malik Khalid (Founder, AmadorLife Community Yoga)

Our goal is to pair students and young professionals with professionals for 1:1 conversations about professional aspirations and goals. Students are encouraged to bring resumes and seek guidance and support from our young adults. Professional should come prepared to learn from young adults about their integration and transformation of "business as usual."

The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which opened in 2014, is a museum and human rights organization in Atlanta that inspires people to tap their own power to change the world around them. The Center’s iconic exhibitions feature the history of the civil rights movement in the United States; and stories from the struggle for human rights around the world today.