When Black Women Win, We Win

Jessica L. Brown is a nationally recognized financial aid expert. As Founder of College Gurl, President of The College Gurl Foundation, Author of How to Pay for College When You're Broke and the children's book College Girl's First College Tour. Jessica educates students and families on how to make the best-informed decisions around financing a college education. Named the Financial Aid Fairy Godmother, her mission is to ensure students have access to an affordable and quality education. Additionally, she mentors and exposes Washington Metropolitan area high school students to college through her nonprofit, The College Gurl Foundation.

Jessica speaks all over the U.S. at a host of schools, universities, organizations, and news networks. Additionally, Diversity Inc., Strayer University, and The Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation have sponsored her efforts. She has recently been featured on Good Morning America, The Tamron Hall Show, BET News, FOX Business Network, Essence Magazine, and several other news outlets. Also, she is a graduate of Howard University, Strayer University, and is currently seeking her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration.

Moreover, Jessica is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Her philanthropic efforts have awarded her the 2020 Mayor Bowser DC HOPE Award, 2020 HBCU Buzz Top 30 Under 30, 2020 WHUR-96.3 & McDonalds DMV Black Excellence Award, 2019 Outstanding Community Service Award of Excellence from Odyssey International, 2018 Dreamer Award from Dream4It Foundation, and 2018 Power of She Award from Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc.

Attorney Khyla D. Craine's legal work has focused on voting rights/civic engagement, environmental justice, and corporate governance. Recently, Ms. Craine returned home to work for the Michigan Secretary of State as Deputy Legal Director where she provides legal and policy guidance to the Secretary and other business areas within the Department of State, works on risk mitigation, litigation strategies, and serves as the Chief Privacy Officer. In just over a year at the Department, Attorney Craine has worked with the Secretary to eliminate barriers for transgender, previously incarcerated, and youth in foster care to receive a driver's license or state identification. Moreover, she helps to drive the Department's Racial Equity Task Force.

Previously, Ms. Craine served as an attorney for the NAACP, the United States' largest and oldest grassroots civil rights organization. where she worked on several of the Association's corporate legal needs including risk mitigation, contract review and negotiation, and intellectual property/brand management, as well as its civil rights legal work managing and assisting the national organization and local units with litigation and amicus briefs.

The Ann Arbor, Michigan native is a graduate of Howard University School of Law and South Carolina State University. Ms. Craine served as the 2016-2017 Chair of the National Bar Association's (NBA) Young Lawyers Division (YLD). Through her leadership, the YLD was named Division of the Year by the President of the NBA. In 2014, Ms. Craine co-authored an article entitled Returning Citizens: How Shifting Law and Policy in Maryland Will Help Citizens Who Return from Incarceration in the University of Baltimore Law School's Law Forum. She has also written op-eds and columns for The Root Magazine. A frequent speaker across the country, Ms. Craine has spoken on civil rights/social justice before the National Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, HBCU Pre-Law Summit, and others. For her work she has received numerous awards, including the 2019 National Bar Association Equal Justice Award and President's Award; 2016 National Bar Association Top 40 under 40 Nation's Best Advocates Award; 2016 Young Alumni of the Year, Washington, D.C. Chapter, South Carolina State National Alumni Association; 2015 NAACP Youth and College Division Director's Award; and 2014 National Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Chair's Award.

Her work in service to the community continues through membership in the NAACP, National Bar Association; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., where she leads the Sorority's advocacy on the 2021 Redistricting advocacy and outreach as a member on the National Social Action Commission; and the Junior League of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Camiel Irving, MBA is the Director of Marketplace Operations at Uber for US & Canada. As an operator and corporate entrepreneur, she's responsible for driving top line growth for the North American Rides business.

Camiel also serves as the Global Career Development leader for the Black at Uber employee resource group. Prior to joining Uber, Camiel worked as an intrepreneur at Procter & Gamble Ventures (PGV). At PGV, she founded a startup brand called Pepper & Wits (now Kindra), a line of self-care products from people experiencing perimenopause.

Camiel is deeply passionate about seeing Black Women/Femmes in leading organizations of all sizes. As an active alum of Management Leadership for Tomorrow, she volunteers her time to prospective and current MBA students of color to support their career development journeys. She also offers her pricing expertise to BIPOC-led small businesses on a pro bono basis.

Camiel is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. that holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a B.S. from Xavier University of Louisiana.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is an influential and forceful voice in Washington. She is serving her fourteenth term as a member of the United States House of Representatives. She represents the 18th Congressional District of Texas, centered in Houston, which is the energy capital of the world. Considered by many as the "Voice of Reason", she is dedicated to upholding the Constitutional rights of all people.

She sits on three Congressional Committees  — a senior member of the House Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security and appointed by the leadership as a Member of the crucial Budget Committee. 

In the previous Congress, she authored, introduced, and saw the passage of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Additionally, she introduced several bills including the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act, H.R. 71, the Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act of 2015, and H.R. 4660, an Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2015 affirming the authority of the Attorney General to reduce prison overcrowding by developing and implementing lawful policies relating to requests for executive clemency from deserving petitioners.

She is the past Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee for Maritime and Border Security wherein she co-authored HR 1417, a bipartisan bill that has been touted as the best vehicle for accomplishing comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. House of Representatives. Congresswoman Jackson Lee is also the past Chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection under her leadership she passed the Transportation Security Act of 2007 which increased the funding for America's transportation security. As Chairwoman, Congresswoman Jackson Lee supported enhanced technology, better intelligence, increased airplane cargo inspections, increased security for railroads, and implementation of the 9/11 Commission report.

She was named by 'Congressional Quarterly' as one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress and the 'U.S. News and World Report' named her as one of the 10 most influential legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives. Also, the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative between the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, named her the 2nd most effective Democrat in Congress during the 114th Congress, the 15th most effective Democrat in Congress during the 115th Congress, and the most effective Democrat in the Texas delegation during the 115th Congress. She is a founder, member, and co-chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus and authored and introduced H.R. 83, the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2013. She is past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Energy Braintrust, co-chair of the Justice Reform Task Force, and a leadership-appointed member of the International Helsinki Commission. She serves as Chief Deputy Whip for the Democratic Caucus, past Chairperson of the Texas Congressional Democratic Delegation for the 113th Congress, and past Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Board.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee earned a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University with honors in the first graduating class including females, followed by a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. She is married to Dr. Elwyn Lee who is also a Yale Graduate and an Administrator at the University of Houston. She has two children Jason Lee a graduate of Harvard University and Erica Lee a graduate of Duke University who is also a Member of the Harris County School Board in Houston, Texas. She is also the proud grandmother of two grandkids (twins), granddaughter Ellison Bennett Carter and grandson Roy Lee Carter, III.