Our #GHC19 Main-Stage Speakers

Are you excited for #GHC19? Then get ready for even more exciting news! Today, we are announcing our main-stage speakers for our GHC 19 Opening and Closing Keynote sessions. These phenomenal women technologists are sure to inspire our audience with their stories of hard work, innovation, and perseverance.

Kicking off GHC 19 will be Aicha Evans and Ana Roca Castro, our Opening Keynote speakers. Aicha Evans, CEO of Zoox, is reimagining mobility in dense urban environments and redefining the customer experience through the creation of the first purpose-built, fully autonomous electric vehicle. Prior to joining Zoox, Aicha served as Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Intel Corporation, and is also a member of the Supervisory Board of SAP.

Ana Roca Castro is the Founder and CEO of Genius Plaza, a startup dedicated to closing the academic achievement gap, particularly among children of recent immigrants and At-Risk students. She is also the Founder of Latinos in Tech Innovation and Social Media (#LATISM), a nonprofit which empowers the Latino community in the areas of education, health, business, and inclusion through the use of tech innovation and social media. #LATISM currently has 22 chapters in the country and over 150,000 members who volunteer in schools, organize hackathons, mentor students in STEM careers, and give a voice to the voiceless.

For our Closing Keynote session, we’ll hear from Dr. Vivienne Ming and Nonny de la Peña. Dr. Vivienne Ming is a theoretical neuroscientist and Co-founder of Socos Lab, an independent think tank exploring the future of human potential. She sits on boards of numerous companies and nonprofits, and frequently speaks on her research into inclusion and gender in business. Vivienne is also responsible for inventing AI systems to help treat her diabetic son, predict manic episodes in those with bipolar disorder weeks in advance, and reunite orphan refugees with extended family members.

Nonny de la Peña, CEO and Founder of the award-winning innovation company Emblematic Group, is often acknowledged as “The Godmother of Virtual Reality.” She is a pioneer of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, and is widely credited with inventing the genre of immersive journalism. Her newest breakthrough is Emblematic’s WebVR platform REACH which creates scalable distribution in the medium, democratizes content authorship, and empowers new voices to share their stories.

Morgan DeBaun, one of our featured speakers, will also be the emcee for our keynote sessions. Since launching Blavity Inc. in 2014, Morgan has led the company to successfully acquire Travel Noire, a travel platform for Black millennials, and Shadow And Act, a Black entertainment news site. She launched several profitable consumer summits, including Summit 21, the largest influencer conference for Black women, and the Bay Area’s AfroTech, the largest tech conference for Black innovators and founders.

We can’t wait to hear from our main-stage speakers! You can read more about all of our GHC 19 keynote speakers, featured speakers, and award winners here.