More Than Just Another Keynote Speaker...Dr. Adolph Brown is “Delightfully Different!”

Dr. Adolph Brown aka "The World's Greatest Edu-tainer" (the name given to him by friend Doug E. Fresh - "The World's Greatest Entertainer,") is an internationally renowned credentialed master teacher, character education leader, servant leadership consultant, educational & clinical psychologist, author, researcher, entrepreneur, and an influential thinker/practitioner in the fields of education, human behavior, and neuroscience. He was once the youngest tenured full professor in our nation even after his extremely humble beginnings and being the first in his family of 5 to graduate from high school.

Head Start gave Dr. Brown his aptitude for learning and he continues to grow and learn to this very day. Dr. Brown is a graduate of the College of William & Mary with degrees in Psychology, Anthropology, and a minor in Education. He completed his graduate studies in clinical psychology at the College of William and Mary extension of the Virginia Consortium for Professional Psychology (Child & Family and Education tracks). He completed his residency at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.

He writes and teaches from a unique perspective of an experienced passionate & award-winning educator & research scientist, an innovative & effective business leader, and an engaging consultant. Dr. Brown has devoted his life’s mission to positive human development. Adolph loves to receive invitations to present any number of his vast array of master classes. He is not your typical “motivational speaker” or self-proclaimed “guru.” He educates, informs, challenges, and delights with some amusement and a little "show and tell.” Adolph customizes each masterclass or workshop for the audience with lots of audience participation, profound challenges, multiple takeaways, and BIG FUN!

Catch Dr. Brown and Ali Wentworth on their new television show “The Parent Test” on ABC primetime.

Two-time NY Times best-selling Author, Civil Rights Activist, Attorney, Entrepreneur, Legislator, and overall Prolific voice of the Culture, Bakari Sellers continues to build upon the strong legacy he inherited as the son of Gwendolyn Sellers and civil rights leader Cleveland Sellers. While his dad helped shape movements working alongside Stokely Carmichael, Bayard Rustin, and Malcolm X, Bakari has come into his own helping to write the blueprint for today's movements with the likes of Rep. James Clyburn, Attorney Benjamin Crump, and President Barack Obama.

Bakari forged his own path from very early on. He entered Morehouse College at the age of 16. He went on to become a graduate of the University of South Carolina Law School and he became the youngest legislator in the South Carolina state legislature at 22. He carries this mantle of success with the right balance of gravitas, style, generosity, and humility-a nod to his humble beginnings in Denmark, SC where "please and thank you" are the chief currency in town. In penning both his memoir My Vanishing Country and a children's book entitled "Who Are Your People?," Bakari pays homage to the working-class values that encouraged him to "dream with his eyes wide open" and that are the predicate for his persistent fight for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the US and abroad.

A CNN analyst, Bakari also brings an ability to elevate discourse such that people always feel one step closer to a solution or resolution after he speaks. He combines these and many other talents in his new podcast, The Bakari Sellers Podcast which airs two times a week on the Ringer Podcast Network. Sellers has also been an attorney with the Strom Law Firm, L.L.C. in Columbia, South Carolina since 2007, where he heads up the firm's Strategic Communication and Public Affairs team and the DEI Consulting practice.

He is married to Dr. Ellen Rucker-Sellers and they are the proud parents of three children.

Dr. Edward Louis Hill Jr. serves as Vice President of Strategic Initiative and Associate Provost at Talladega College.  He has previously served as the Dean of the College of Education and Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Texas A&M University-Central Texas and Fort Valley State University.   

An accomplished administrator, scholar, and teacher, Dr. Edward Hill brings to the provostship a deep-rooted commitment to academic excellence, student success, access and inclusion, and a keen awareness of how to create effective cross-divisional collaborations between academic affairs and student affairs that will positively impact the lives of students and change society. He has developed and executed a five-year strategic plan that focused on: Quality and Distinctiveness of Student Success, Academic Reputation, Flagship Programs and Community Outreach, and Technology for 21^st-Century University.   Dr. Hill has a long administrative career in both K-12 and higher education.  During his career, he has served as an administrator in both public and private universities, overseeing professional programs and liberal arts in environments serving undergraduates, graduates, and traditional and non-traditional students.  He has worked with active-duty military and veteran students. He has previously served as coordinator of a Troops to Teachers Initiative.  

Dr. Hill’s proven strategies for increasing academic achievement for African American males have been featured in the 2008 Publication State of Black South Carolina.  Hill has served as chair of several state and national committees that have examined and identified effective strategies and best practices for increasing male student enrollment and retention at minority-serving institutions.

Dr. Hill is a servant leader committed to serving the community.  Dr. Hill has been an active member of numerous organizations including Rotary Club, Toastmasters, local Chamber of Commerce and Community Development Corporations, Boys and Girls Club, and is the founder of the school-based fatherhood engagement initiative D.A.D.S. (Developing a Demonstrating Society).    He serves as the Director of Community Outreach and Education Chair within his chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.  

Wanda L. Everson-Gross is the Director of the University System of Georgia’s (USG) African American Male Initiative (AAMI). AAMI is a system-wide initiative that provides an integrated program model of academic, leadership, and life skills that support students in successfully completing each academic level and graduating. Of the 26 system institutions, AAMI operates on 24 campuses managed by approximately 42 directors and serving over 1000 young men.

Ms. Everson-Gross has a combined 40+ years of experience in corporate management, entrepreneurship, and higher education. Her experience in higher education includes work at Wayne County Community College (Detroit, MI), as a Program Consultant to Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved a division of Morehouse School of Medicine, and the University System of Georgia.

She has always had a heart for young people. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University (EMU), she is a founding member of the EMU Black Alumni Association which recently celebrated 38 years of granting scholarships and mentoring opportunities to minority students at the University. In 1991, she founded the Richard B. Gross Scholarship (named after her late husband) at Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Roswell, GA to support high school seniors pursuing their post-secondary education.

Ms. Everson-Gross holds a certificate in International Education Diversity & Inclusion, is a Certified Nonprofit Professional and Certified Suicide Prevention Trainer. She is a recipient of multiple awards including the Spirit of Detroit Award for outstanding achievement and service to the citizens of Detroit, the National Association of Professional Women’s Woman of the Year Award, and the Woman of Impact Award in Education from the Northwest Georgia Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. She has also served on several boards of directors. Ms. Everson-Gross has an extensive background in identifying operational gaps, developing and implementing strategic solutions, managing projects and people, as well as grant writing and training. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. where she serves as a National Arts & Letters Commissioner.

Dr. Rik L. Stevenson, Jr., is an Assistant Instructional Professor of African American Studies at the University of Florida. He holds, two Master’s Degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary, a Doctorate in Divinity from the Southern California School of Ministry and a Ph.D., from Michigan State University, in African American and African Studies. His research engages maritime studies, marine archaeology and the recovery, and the site mapping of sunken slave vessels. Dr. Stevenson is the CEO of RLSII Consulting, Cultural Competency and Diversity Training Business. Dr. Stevenson is also the co-editor of several recently published books.