Dr. Heather Wathington has dedicated her career to the belief that high school graduation is a pivotal moment where opportunity can radically change a student’s life—and that all students, especially first-generation college students and students of color, can achieve their ambitions through higher education. Her background spans education, research, and philanthropy, all focused on advancing equity for students from underserved communities.

She currently serves as CEO of iMentor, a national leader in 1:1 mentoring that helps students build long-term, personal relationships to navigate postsecondary education and career. Prior to this role, Dr. Wathington was CEO of Maya Angelou Schools, a network of schools serving students involved in the juvenile justice system and those who have struggled in traditional settings.

Karen Gordon is a Senior Advisor to L Catterton, the world’s leading consumer growth investor, where she previously was a Managing Partner, leading Portfolio Operations. Prior to joining L Catterton, she was a Managing Director at Providence Equity Partners, where she worked closely with portfolio companies to drive topline growth and operational improvement.

Until 2013, Ms. Gordon was a Senior Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group and a leader in both the Consumer and Sales & Marketing Practices, helping clients identify new growth opportunities and execute large-scale transformations. Before BCG, she began her career in brand management at Procter & Gamble.

Ms. Gordon holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar, and a BA with honors in History from Yale University.

Jim Koshland served as a partner at DLA Piper US LLP law firm from 1983-2020, focusing on corporate law matters. He currently sits on the Boards of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, American Jewish World Service, Jewish Senior Living Group, Jewish Vocational Services of San Francisco, the Koshland Foundation, Opportunity Fund, Reboot, San Francisco Jewish Community Federation and the Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life and is a Trustee of the UC Berkeley Foundation.

Adriana Harrington is the Managing Director of Policy at ExcelinEd, where she leads the organization’s national work on college and career pathways. She partners with state leaders to develop policies that expand high-quality pathways connecting K–12 education, postsecondary learning and the workforce. Previously, Adriana served at the Tennessee Department of Education, where she led school turnaround initiatives and helped advance policies strengthening college, career and technical education. She began her career as a high school social studies teacher in Memphis as a Teach For America corps member. Adriana earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Public Policy from Duke University.

Sophie Levy is the Founder & CEO of The Magnet Collective, an in-house workplace fellowship that equips employees with conflict mediation, communication, and collaboration skills. To graduate, Fellows "show off" their newfound skills by designing & leading an experience for their colleagues, creating lasting value for themselves and their teams, organization, and broader community.

At the national venture philanthropy firm New Profit, she served as what she likes to call a “translator” between investors, nonprofit leaders, community partners, and internal stakeholders, successfully stewarding over $25M in philanthropic capital. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of American University's Class of 2020, she led a high-performing national fundraising team at DialogueDirect, connecting citizens across twelve US cities with philanthropic initiatives aligned to their values during a time of widespread isolation and disconnection. Earlier in her career, Sophie conducted foundational research for Beit Hagefen, an Arab-Jewish cultural center’s inaugural “Third Space": a place in Haifa where people can encounter differences without relinquishing their own identities.

In her offline life, she completed the 400-mile Jordan Trail at age twenty-one, and later hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, experiences that demanded cross-cultural communication, bilingual logistical planning, and deep resilience that further sharpened the grit and adaptability that define her leadership today.