Originally from Salisbury, NC, Deseré Cross Ward, M.Ed. is a communications strategist, Black storyteller and community builder. She has a bachelors degree in journalism and a masters in higher education leadership, as well as seven years of experience working in university communications and marketing. Deseré started her career in sales at Black Network Television and then joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s inaugural social media team. She later spent five years at the University of Texas at Austin, leading the school’s social media marketing efforts as well as its Black employee resource group. 

Michael Ward Jr. is a social entrepreneur from Miami Florida with a background in technology, start-ups, and economic development. Michael started his career at Oracle as a sales and marketing business development representative and led Oracle’s black employee resource group. He later worked at ADP where he gained knowledge in human capital management. Additionally, Michael has served as a VP of Operations at an exercise fitness startup and is currently the President and CEO of Austin Urban Technology Movement, a nonprofit tech startup.