Deryl McKissack is Chairwoman and CEO of McKissack & McKissack, an architectural, engineering, program and construction firm managing over $15 billion in projects nationwide. During the past 25 years under her leadership, McKissack & McKissack has managed such landmark projects as the new Museum of African-American History and Culture on the National Mall, MGM National Harbor Casino, and the Navy Pier Centennial projects in Chicago; it also served as the architectural firm of record for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.

As a licensed engineer and registered project management professional, Deryl McKissack is part of the fifth generation of her family to work in the design and construction field. McKissack & McKissack is the outgrowth of the nation’s oldest African-American architectural firm and traces its beginnings to Moses McKissack, a master builder who was also a slave.

By the age of six, Deryl was drafting architectural drawings under her father’s tutelage. After graduating from Howard University with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, she worked at Turner Construction and Dames & Moore; while at these firms, she honed her experience in field work, business development, and construction management.

In 1990, with a shoestring budget of $1,000 and a business plan crafted with help from a mentor at her alma mater, Deryl started McKissack & McKissack. Of that formative time, she remembers, “What got me through was a whole lot of passion.”

Through Deryl’s guidance and vision, McKissack & McKissack has grown to 170 employees, with offices in Baltimore; Chicago; Dallas; Los Angeles; Miami; and Washington, D.C. The firm is ranked by Engineering News Record as one of the top Construction Management For-Fee firms in the nation and by the Washington Business Journal as one of the top 25 design firms in the metropolitan Washington area.

Justin Blalock is a 2002 Watkins Award Honoree.  He graduated from the University of Texas Longhorns where he was captain of the football team and won a National Championship in 2005.  Justin was chosen in the 2nd Round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons.  He played on the offensive line for 8 consecutive years before his retirement.  Now he's studying to get his J.D. sometime in the near future.   

Considered the “Teacher of Teachers”, Cyndi Dale is an internationally renowned author, speaker, intuitive energy healer, professor of energy medicine, and author of 27 books about energy medicine, intuition, and spirituality. She has worked with over 70,000 clients and presented hundreds of seminars and workshops across the Americas and in Russia, England, Wales, Amsterdam, Iceland, Costa Rica, Belize, Morocco, Peru, Scotland, and more. She is also a favored teacher and healer for China, leading in-person and on-line classes, and has been published in over 18 languages.

Her books include the bible of Energy Medicine and the winner of four internationally recognized Publisher’s Awards, The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy, and Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Chakras, the largest compendium of chakra knowledge ever produced (2016). Her latest release is Energy Healing for Trauma, Stress & Chronic Illness (Llewellyn, July 2020). Advanced Chakra Healing, a reissue of a popular book first printed fifteen years ago, is slated for release by Llewellyn in November 2021. Along with Dana Childs, Cyndi is also writing a book to be published in 2021 by St. Martin’s Press about making food and health choices through the chakras.

Cyndi graduated summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota with a degree in English and a minor in Philosophy. She also holds a fifth-degree Reiki certificate, the highest of distinctions in this healing arena. Cyndi currently teaches a certificate-level program at Normandale College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through which adult students earn an accredited certificate in Energy Medicine.

Sarah Lipton - Sidibeh, was born in London England. Sara has written three volumes of short stories, three of her stories were broadcast on the radio. Sara has receive an award from 'The Poetry Society' in England for some of her poems. Such as 'Stagnation' that was shortlisted in the National Anthology Poetry competition in 2005, her poem 'Wishful Thinking' was printed in Great Britain. Sarah was the featured Poet in 'Bareback Lit Magazine' in October 2012. She has also written a play, a children's  book, film scripts and song lyrics. And to top it off she was awarded a commended certificate for her song, ' I Wish' from the United Kingdom competition in 2016 this phenomenal women who has written two educational text books. Sarah holds honors of a BA, LLCM, and a FRSA. she is currently completing her first novel please join me  March 16, 2021 at 12 Noon for this extraordinary conversation as I welcome Sarah Lipton-Sidibeh.

In her long and distinguished career, CHARLENE DREW JARVIS has held positions as a neuroscientist, legislator and university president.

Dr. Jarvis’ educational background led to a career as a neuroscientist at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md. (1971-1978). She received a BS from Oberlin College (1962), an MS from Howard University (1964), and a PhD in Neuropsychology (1971) from the University of Maryland, all the while balancing the demands of being a wife and mother of two active young boys.

Her research with co-investigators appeared in scientific publications such as the Annals of Neurology; Neuroscience Abstracts; Brain Research; the Journal of Neurophysiology; and Brain, Behavior and Evolution.

Responding to the need to help rebuild the economy of Washington, DC, after the riots that followed the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., Jarvis ran for public office and was elected 6 times to the Council of the District of Columbia (1979-2000).

Her work as Chair of the Committee on Economic Development for more than 20 years was pioneering. The Washington Convention Center, the Verizon Center, Business Improvement Districts, Tax Increment Financing, and legislative initiatives designed to prevent redlining by commercial banks stand as important and collaborative contributions.

Dr. Jarvis was appointed in 1996 as president of Southeastern University, founded by the YMCA in 1879. True to the mission of the YMCA, her goal was to give students both theoretical and practical applications of knowledge. Thirteen years later, in 2009, she orchestrated a unique merger of the University with the USDA Graduate School in Washington, DC.

The Honorable Charlene Drew Jarvis was named one of the most powerful women in Washington by “Washingtonian Magazine” in 1989, 1994, and 2007 and by “The Washington Business Journal” in 1985.

Jarvis’ legacy as the daughter of Dr. Charles R. Drew, the blood bank pioneer, has given her a special perspective as an advocate for science and health education. In her association with the American Red Cross, Dr. Jarvis has traveled to many Red Cross and Bone Marrow sites around the nation to speak about her father’s accomplishments and to encourage the participation of minority blood and marrow donors. In 2014, Dr. Jarvis was given an award for her service from the Washington, DC, Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Dr. Jarvis is the recipient of more than 100 awards for her leadership, including honorary doctorates from Amherst College, George Washington University, Oberlin College, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Howard University.

Charlene Drew Jarvis is valued for her analytical skills, intellectual rigor, probing questions, and pragmatic approach to problem solving. These traits made her advisory contributions much in demand by dozens of major organizations and commissions.

Describing herself now as the “working” retired, Dr. Jarvis serves:

• on the Executive Committee of the Federal City Council, with its Executive Director, former Mayor Anthony Williams;
• on The Advisory Committee of the Newseum;
• on the Board of Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
• on the Board at Edmund Burke, an Independent School
• as a Senior Advisor to a charter school with high performing students, KIPP DC;
• on the Transition Committee of Mayor Muriel Bowser
• on the board of the University of the District of Columbia
• on the Cross-Sector Task Force on Charter and DC Public Schools led by Deputy Mayor for Education, Jennie Niles

Dr. Jarvis is the mother of the late Peter David, and Ernest Drew Jarvis (Debbi Lockhart Jarvis) and grandmother to EJ and Jacob Jarvis.

In 2013, she married Dr. DeMaurice Moses, a retired pediatrician whose family shared summers with her family in a beach community outside of Annapolis, Md.

Maurice Hall is a 2001 Watkins Award Honoree who graduated from The Ohio State University.  He was a member of the 2002 National Championship Team.  Maurice holds a Bachelors and Master's Degree.  While a student athlete at Brookhaven High School in Columbus, Maurice was a scholar with a 4.6 GPA and was named the Ohio Offensive Player of the Year.  He participated and held leadership positions in numerous organizations which prepared him for his ultimate love and passion for being in front of a camera.  Maurice is currently a rising star in the film industry as both a director and an actor.  He's appeared on several major networks and his IMbD list of credits has grown off the computer screen.     

We are all Unique Walking Stories Just Waiting to be Told

Kez Wickham St George is the driver of her own creativity and her passion is to inspire and nurture others to tell their stories. Her values are simple; when you touch a heart; we can change a life. By encouraging you to write or journal her belief is, it will only add value to your life. Travelling extensively including the width and breath of Australia, she has collecting storeys and experiences. Now with nine novels published, the first three Adventures in the outback published internationally, three nationally. Two children’s books now reside in many different countries and with two Royal families. Beginning of 2019 her first book of poetry, Entwined was published, forming a corridor between the City of Rockingham and Ako, its sister city, in Japan to bring the poets and artists together. Plus an invitation to be a guest speaker at a writer’s retreat at Crom Castle Dublin Ireland late November 2019. And in 2020 Kez novel Metal Mermaid became a number one best seller in her category of adventure caravanning.                                                                                                           Kez is also a popular speaker at many local events; ever the storyteller. However mentoring and consulting  to assist others to tell their stories has become a large part of her life, running  effective creative writing  workshops plus creative journaling workshops for those that have a story to tell. Encouraging people to do what they love has resulted in four of her writing protégés from 2018/19 being published authors.