The Voices. The Vibes. The Village.

 

The Out in Tech Leadership Institute isn’t just about who’s on stage, it’s about who’s in the room with you. Our 2025 speaker lineup is stacked with bold thinkers, boundary-pushers, seasoned career coaches, and C-suite trailblazers ready to pour into this community with real talk, fresh strategies, and the kind of energy that lingers long after the last session ends.

You’ll hear from queer executives who’ve climbed to the top and are holding the door open behind them. Rising innovators building the future of work. Career coaches who know what it takes to get you unstuck and into your next big move. Every speaker is here not just to inspire, but to connect, challenge, and celebrate with you.

This is where conversations become breakthroughs, workshops turn into mentorship, and panels spark partnerships.

Speakers are still being added—but trust us, you’ll want to be in the room.

 

 

Alvin Huntspon is the Global Head of Governance Strategy and Engagement at Uber Technologies, Inc., where he leads governance strategy around disclosures, reporting, corporate governance, and shareholder engagement. He works closely with stewardship investors to address risks and opportunities impacting the company. Previously, he held governance leadership roles at Change Healthcare and McKesson Corporation. A Morehouse College graduate, Mr. Huntspon is a Board Director At-Large for the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, an Advisory Board Member for The Veritas Schools, and an Aspen Institute First Mover Fellow. Based in Atlanta, he was honored with a City Council proclamation in recognition of his advocacy supporting LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness.

Persephone is a CVP of Product Design at New York Life, where they lead teams in bringing digital products from concept to market. A systems thinker with deep expertise in human-centered design, they have delivered innovative solutions for both global and startup brands across agency and in-house environments. Persephone helps shape the future of design through mentorship, having taught at Miami Ad School and continuing to guide emerging talent. Their leadership philosophy centers on creating inclusive spaces where diverse perspectives fuel breakthrough ideas. They believe that when we create environments that champion inclusivity and encourage everyone to bring their whole selves to the table, we spark ideas that could not have emerged otherwise.

Ishan Sharma helps leading brands engage customers in ways that cut through digital noise and win hearts. After starting his career in Customer Success, he now blends strategy consulting, creativity, and culture to inspire top brands with their customer engagement—while representing Braze through community events and social media content. An aviation nerd, performing arts fanatic, and hot yoga ritualist, Ishan brings curiosity, authenticity, and heart to everything he does. Embracing his true identity, he’s passionate about building a career that reflects who you are—not just what you do.

Kathy Tu is the Executive Producer of 99% Invisible. Previously, she was ran operations as Head of Production at Wondery, helped build the Opinion Audio team at The New York Times, and co-hosted/co-created Nancy, a queer podcast from WNYC and New York Public Radio. Kathy has worked for other shows such as Radiolab, The Memory Palace, Masterpiece Studio, etc, and is a proud Transom Story Workshop and law school grad. Outside of work, Kathy is obsessed with backpacks, productivity tools, and the small web.

Llewellyn Gravely (Pronoun: fluid) is the Global Chief of Staff for Grocery & Retail at Uber, bringing deep expertise in strategic planning, operational excellence, and executive communications. They currently serve as Global Co-Chair for the Pride@Uber ERG, passionately leading initiatives that foster inclusive organizational cultures. Llewellyn is an accomplished public speaker, regularly sharing insights on strategic leadership and diversity at conferences and corporate events. They have been instrumental in mentoring professionals, particularly through building Pride@Uber's Global Mentorship Program for LGBTQIA+ employees. Llewellyn's intentional career journey—from Executive Assistant to Chief of Staff—exemplifies their commitment to thoughtful leadership and impactful organizational change.

Elaine Montilla is the Founder of 5xMinority, Inc., a company and social media brand dedicated to empowering women and marginalized communities by advocating for greater representation, and leadership opportunities in technology and beyond. A TEDx speaker and influential thought leader, she is committed to breaking barriers and creating spaces where diverse voices can thrive.

Elaine has an extensive career in technology leadership, having served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Pearson and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she led digital transformation, product innovation, and governance strategies. Her notable career milestones include her tenure as Chief Technology Officer at Pearson’s US School Assessment division, where she successfully managed a $60 million annual budget and led a cross-functional team of 380 members to deliver scalable, high-quality technological solutions. Elaine championed the modernization of infrastructure, including significant migration to AWS cloud services, enhancing scalability, security, and operational efficiency. Previously, as Chief Information Officer (CIO) at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, Elaine directed comprehensive IT strategies, unified eight technology units, managed multimillion-dollar budgets, and introduced advanced governance frameworks.

Elaine's impact has been widely recognized—she was honored as a Top 100 Outstanding LGBTQ+ Executive Role Model by Yahoo Finance (2021), named one of the Top 100 Women in Tech by Technology Magazine (2023), a top 100 Chief in Tech Leaders to Watch in 2025, recognized among the Top 100 Latinas of 2024, and awarded HITEC 100 Hispanic Technology Leader for 2024. As a trailblazing Latina in tech, she continues to break barriers in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

Avantha Arachchi is the Chief Operating Officer & General Manager of A-Frame Brands, a tech-enabled brand-building portfolio and platform launching trend-driven brands concept-to-shelf within a year. She has been an operator, swiss army knife, and founder whisperer for 15+ years of growing, scaling, and turning around startups across tech, beauty, and CPG.
As a trans woman of color, she is passionate about innovating the way organizations think, build, create, and grow – placing DEI at the forefront of every business decision. Notably, Avantha was named (and given the cover of) San Francisco's Voices of Pride 2024, the Henry Maso Award by the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Fast Company’s 2022 Queer 50 List, is a former Human Behavioral Fellow, a finalist for Most Indispensable Organization Organizer in the Bay, named Rising Thought Leader in Talent in 2016, and led people operations for Inc Magazine’s Fastest-Growing Private Company in San Francisco in 2015.

Alex Gabriel is co-founder of Rally AI, the PR co-pilot for startups. Rally uses artificial intelligence to replace bloated retainers and outdated media tools, helping lean teams launch smarter strategies, build visibility fast, and break into the headlines.

Alex has advised dozens of elected officials, early-stage ventures, and Fortune 500 brands across the country. He served as Senior Advisor for LGBTQ+ and Youth Voter Engagement on Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, where he chaired Out for Biden—the largest constituent engagement effort in U.S. history. He was also an early hire at Airbnb and the Rework America Task Force, helping tech leaders navigate complex political environments. As Deputy Senior Advisor to the Mayor for Stonewall 50, he helped lead the largest event in New York City history.

A Clinton Fellow and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute alum, Alex earned his degree from the University of Michigan and serves on the campaign board of Victory Fund and the Harvard-incubated Future Society. He splits his time between New York City and Washington, DC.

Bringing 15 years of experience in Strategy & Operations, I am passionate about making teams more effective, and leaders more impactful. As a Strategy & Operations Lead for the Central & Corporate Communications teams at Google, I help Comms executives and their teams stay focused on the right priorities, and build healthy relationships internally and externally.

Mohan Ram is the Director of Field Marketing at Vercel, leading integrated campaigns and go-to-market programs across global regions. Previously, he was Head of Global Field & Partner Marketing at DigitalOcean, where he drove regional expansion and launched the company’s global startup program. With experience spanning Fortune 500 companies and startup accelerators, Mohan has built go-to-market strategies, ecosystem partnerships, and innovation programs across APAC, EMEA, and the US. An international speaker and mentor, he actively supports the tech community through Techstars and Out in Tech.

Mia Kralowetz is a security leader at Upside, guiding the company through the growing pains of architecture, scale, and shifting risk. As Director of Information Security, she builds programs rooted in transparency, empathy, and enablement—not fear—and champions a culture where authenticity is expected. Known for blending security expertise with storytelling, Mia translates complex risk into strategy across engineers and execs alike. A mentor to emerging queer tech leaders and allies, she believes inclusion is the ultimate risk reducer—and that authenticity belongs in the boardroom, not just the ERG.

Simone Nili she/her Simone Nili is a Product leader at the intersection of media and commerce. Currently, she's the Director of Product for Commerce at CNN Digital, leading the Product team for the fastest growing department at the company behind beloved shopping review site CNN Underscored. Previously, she led a team at Discovery Inc. to build digital shopping and lifestyle experiences for 60 million users across Food Network, Discovery, and HGTV. In the past, she's conceived and launched dozens of apps for brands like Warner Bros, People, Sports Illustrated, and Sundance Now across the web, mobile, connected TV, and VR devices, and co-founded the viral video streaming service Moodica. Simone proudly reps the B in LGBTQ+ and is passionate about providing mentorship and opportunities to newcomers in tech.

Merilou Salazar is a product deigner, musician and writer working in music creation technology. Through her platform Growth by Design, she shares letters, creative frameworks and spoken word reflections to help others design a life to that reflect their truth. Her work blends soulful storytelling with structured insight - where embodiment meets clarity. 

Danny is the Vice President of Emerging Technology Engineering at IBM Research where he looks after the information technology needs of the research division. His team has a broad remit dealing with researchers’ special requirements: advanced infrastructure and middleware needs, applications to manage the researcher’s day to day work, the introduction of AI into the division’s workflows and the oversight of cybersecurity and compliance across 800 different compute environments. His current focus is building out the infrastructure needed to train large language models – both on cloud and on premises. Before coming to Research, Danny reported to IBM’s CIO where he was responsible, most recently, for the development and implementation of IBM’s sales and marketing systems, including one of the largest and fastest deployments of Salesforce in the world. He joined IBM through the acquisition of Lotus and held roles in IBM Software after acquisition. Before that, he worked for Eurotunnel and was based in France and Britain. Danny moved to New York from London in 2015. He now lives in Brooklyn with his husband Yemi, a fashion designer. In addition to being the executive sponsor for the IBM LGBTQ+ Northeast region, Danny is one of the IBM faces of #workingpositively. workingpositively is a global initiative whose goal is to end workplace stigma for employees living with HIV. It is spearheaded by IBM and SAP on the corporate side, and NGOs HRC (USA), AidsHilfe (Europe) and Fundación Huésped (South and Latin America). The working positively pledge has 400 signatories worldwide. Please ask Danny about how your company can sign up.

Dr. Bree McDaniel serves as the Principal Psychologist at Fairground, a mental health and wellness collective, and is the founder of Integrative Consulting & Psych Services, her Los Angeles-based practice for organizational consulting and executive coaching. What sets Bree’s transformative work apart is her rare, multidimensional perspective, honed over nearly 20 years in psychology and the corporate sector, and shaped by her lived experience as a Black Queer Woman. Integrating somatic, embodiment, and psychodynamic theories, she empowers individuals and organizations to reach their full potential by prioritizing joy, and offers tailored solutions designed to drive innovation, creativity, and effective leadership.

Mel is the CEO & Cofounder of Fairground, a mental health & wellness collective helping creative leaders speak and lead with joy and confidence. A queer Filipine American born in Nigeria and former undocumented immigrant, Mel centers the transformative power of queer joy and trauma-informed leadership. With 20+ years of experience—from co-running a youth activist nonprofit in Seattle to serving as COO of a VC-backed startup in London. They’ve inspired leaders at Google, The New York Times, and Lesbians Who Tech through heart-opening interactive keynotes. Mel is also a yoga and sound healing teacher and is completing a master’s in Clinical Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy at CIIS.

I am the SVP of Operations at Zitara, a San Francisco-based battery management software company, and a passionate advocate for operational excellence and organizational design in tech. My career spans leadership roles at ChargeLab, Particle, and Apple, where I drove global strategy, supply chain, and product launches. A Duke MBA and UC Berkeley grad, I’m committed to building inclusive teams and scaling innovation. Outside of work, I serve on the board of Home for a Home and express my creativity as a musician and sci-fi/fantasy writer. Originally from Compton, I now call San Francisco home.

Cass Cooper (she/her) is a leadership strategist, speaker, and writer specializing in conflict resolution, people-centered skills, and organizational culture. With over 20 years of experience in tech, sales, and change management, Cass helps teams navigate complex dynamics with clarity and confidence. She’s known for translating research into real-world strategies that build trust, reduce friction, and strengthen performance. Cass is the creator of “The Soft Skills Myth” keynote and podcast host of Right There With You. Her work empowers professionals to lead with agility, especially in high-pressure environments. When she’s not speaking, she’s building systems for sustainable success—with heart and strategy.

Renita Joyce Smith is an executive coach, culture shifter, and founder of Leap Forward Coaching and Consulting. With over 20 years in management consulting across technology, strategy, project management, and leadership development, she brings a grounded, human-centered approach to helping leaders thrive in fast-changing environments. Renita works at the intersection of identity, leadership, and culture—especially with those navigating complexity and growth. She’s an AI enthusiast, a storyteller at heart, and a firm believer in authentic leadership. Her mission: make work suck less—starting with how we lead.

Dr. Kyle Elliott (he/him/his) is the founder and tech career coach behind CaffeinatedKyle.com. His trauma-informed career coaching has empowered senior managers and executives to land jobs at top tech companies like Meta, Amazon, Google, and many more. When he’s not helping Silicon Valley’s top talent find jobs they truly love, you will likely catch him at Starbucks or Disneyland.

Mita Mallick is a dynamic corporate change-maker renowned for her expertise in diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and multicultural marketing. With a career spanning leadership roles in major corporations, she has been instrumental in transforming business cultures and championing inclusive practices.