Speaker Reel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckevQD0QC4A

Gravity Speakers Profile -

• https://www.gravityspeakers.com/speakers/courtney-caldwell
• https://www.gravityspeakers.com/speakers/tye-caldwell

Speaker Website - https://bookthecaldwells.com/

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Why Dr. Tye & Courtney Caldwell Are a Fit for Cisco BHM 2026

• Offer a multi-generational, multi-dimensional story that literally threads Black history (Garrett Morgan) into today’s innovation economy.
• Align strongly with “Ignite Your Intelligence” by showcasing entrepreneurial, creative, and wellness intelligence as key leadership assets.
• Bring an uplifting, joyful energy that still sits on a deep foundation of history, resilience, and disciplined work.

‍

Suggested Topic‍

From Survival to Sovereignty: The Entrepreneurial Spirit of Black America

Featuring the Legacy of Garrett A. Morgan Sr.

Overview:‍

‍This talk explores how Black ingenuity has fueled American innovation—from early entrepreneurs and inventors to today’s tech founders, creatives, and corporate leaders. As the great-great-great grandniece of Garrett Augustus Morgan Sr.—the American inventor, businessman, and community leader who created the stoplight, the gas mask, and pioneering haircare products—Courtney Caldwell carries forward a family legacy of invention, resilience, and purpose.

Together, Courtney and Dr. Tye Caldwell trace how creativity born from necessity has always been at the heart of Black entrepreneurship. From navigating systemic barriers to redefining industries, the Caldwells illuminate how the spirit of innovation has transformed communities, built generational wealth, and continues to inspire modern leadership.

Key Takeaways:

• Trace the lineage of innovation from early Black inventors to modern founders and change-makers.
• Learn how adversity cultivates adaptability, creativity, and entrepreneurial foresight.
• Explore how cultural ingenuity drives inclusion, leadership, and business growth.

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Health Is the New Hustle: Reclaiming Wellness as a Leadership Legacy

Grounded in Grit, Discipline, and Family

Overview:

‍Black leaders have long carried the dual weight of excellence and endurance. Before leading in boardrooms, the Caldwells learned discipline on the track and the football field. Courtney—a former sprinter and long jumper—and Dr. Tye—a former football player—bring a lifetime of lessons from sports, faith, and family into their message of holistic leadership. Their son, a current NFL athlete, continues that legacy of excellence and balance, proving that peak performance is as much about recovery as it is about hustle.

Drawing from the intersection of business, neuroscience, and cultural history, their talk reframes wellness as a radical act of self-preservation and leadership strength, and examines how rest, nourishment, and balance have always been quiet revolutions within Black communities—and why they’re now essential to sustainable leadership.

Blending science, storytelling, and personal insight, Courtney and Tye show how optimal health fuels optimal leadership—and how reclaiming wellness can transform both individual lives and organizational cultures.

Key Takeaways:

• Reimagine “grind culture” through the lens of recovery, resilience, and renewal.
• Learn athlete-inspired strategies for leading from wholeness, not depletion.
• Explore how wellness, mindfulness, and balance strengthen creativity, productivity, and purpose.

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Joy as Resistance: Reclaiming the Power of Celebration and Cultural Expression

A Journey from the Everyday to the Extraordinary

Overview:

Amid challenge and change, joy has always been a radical force in Black culture—a strategy for survival, a language of hope, and a bridge to community. In this deeply personal and uplifting talk, Dr. Tye and Courtney Caldwell share how their own journey—culminating in the unforgettable experience of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and feeling pure joy at the summit—became a living metaphor for the Black journey: rising above barriers, honoring ancestors, and finding strength in joy, not just in struggle. Through science, story, and spirit, they remind audiences that joy isn’t the absence of hardship—it’s the energy that propels transformation.

Key Takeaways:

• Discover the neuroscience of joy and how it fuels connection, creativity, and resilience.
• Learn how storytelling, music, and movement preserve culture and empower leadership.
• Be inspired to cultivate joy intentionally—as a practice of resistance, renewal, and belonging.

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Highlights

• Pioneered ShearShare, serving 71,000+ small businesses in 1,000+ cities
• Among the 1% of Black Americans with US patents
• Family legacy of inventor Garrett A. Morgan Sr. (traffic light, safety hood)
• Only Texas startup to win Google Demo Day
• Courtney: Named to Inc. Female Founders 100, EY Women in Innovation, and multiple tech/innovation honors
• Dr. Tye: Best-selling author of Mentored by Failure and leader on the Professional Beauty Association’s Advisory Council

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^{"My team and I are beyond happy that we chose Courtney as our speaker for our Black HERstory month event! From the second we jumped onto our pre-event call, Courtney was so friendly and truly eager to help us achieve our goals. She really took the time to get to know our organization and ensure she had the impact we were looking for. On the day of, Courtney arrived early to ensure that everything was setup properly to deliver a great experience. Her content was informative, and our team truly enjoyed listening to all her stories. We received incredible feedback about our event and how grateful our team was to welcome Courtney for that time. We really appreciated Courtney’s willingness to answer all our questions, her bright and bubbly personality, her incredible insight, and the advice she left our team with at the end of our call. I would highly recommend choosing Courtney as your next speaker!" -- Jay Bloch, DEIB Program Specialist, Charthop}

^{"Honestly, she was one of the best speakers I have seen in my career. -- Her story was inspiring, engaging, relevant, and just brought so much joy to me. After hearing her talk, I took to heart some of the things she does and even took a few of them and implemented them in my daily routine. -- I had a banana for breakfast too! Anyhow, this was a fantastic speaker -- Incredible." -- Code42}‍

Speaker Reel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO9u-ueQQgg

Gravity Speakers Profile - https://www.gravityspeakers.com/speakers/natalie-nixon

Speaker Website - https://www.figure8thinking.com/

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Why Natalie Nixon Is a Fit for Cisco BHM 2026

• Speaks directly to “Ignite Your Intelligence” through a holistic view of intelligence: not just computational, but creative and cultural.
• Honors Black history and creativity by highlighting how Black ingenuity has long been a driver of innovation and the future of work.
• Ideal for a cross-disciplinary audience (engineering, product, HR, ERGs) wanting a hopeful, actionable view of AI and human potential.

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Suggested Topic

‍The New I in AI: Imagination, Inquiry & Intuition as Your Competitive Edge

While your competitors rush to implement AI solutions, a sobering reality is emerging: organizations are investing millions in technology while neglecting the distinctly human capabilities that truly drive innovation. Your teams are caught in a paralyzing contradiction—frantically adopting AI tools while simultaneously fearing these same technologies will make their skills obsolete. Leadership struggles to articulate a clear vision for how humans and machines will collaborate, leaving your workforce anxious about their future and uncertain about where to focus their development.

This paradigm-shifting keynote, grounded in the Move. Think. Rest. philosophy reveals why the organizations thriving in the AI revolution aren't those with the most advanced algorithms—they're the ones systematically cultivating human capacities that machines cannot replicate: imagination, inquiry, and intuition. Through the MTR framework, discover how these uniquely human "3 I's" become your sustainable competitive advantage in an increasingly automated world.

Learn why traditional work environments actively suppress these critical capabilities and how simple MTR interventions can transform your organization's creative capacity. Through evidence-based case studies, see how intentional movement shifts perspective, deep thought cultivates imaginative possibilities, and strategic rest activates the intuitive connections that AI simply cannot make.

Renowned creativity strategist Natalie Nixon demonstrates why creativity isn't an innate talent limited to a select few but a trainable capability that thrives when properly nurtured. Gain practical strategies for all roles in your organization—from executives to frontline workers—that make these "3 I's" accessible regardless of job description or workstyle.

Walk away with a concrete implementation plan for redesigning work to leverage AI as an amplifier of human creativity rather than a replacement for it. In the Imagination Era, your sustainable advantage isn't just implementing AI—it's unleashing the infinite creative potential of your people through a science-backed approach that amplifies what makes us uniquely human while harnessing the power of technology as a partner, not a replacement.

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Highlights

• CEO & Founder, Figure 8 Thinking
• Author of The Creativity Leap (award-winning)
• Named to Thinkers50 Radar & Top 50 Keynote Speakers in the World
• Clients include Microsoft, Salesforce, Comcast, VaynerMedia, and more
• Dynamic, interactive virtual presence with strong frameworks teams can apply immediately

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^{"Natalie Nixon can help you get unstuck and unlock the work you were born to do" - Seth Godin}

TED Talk - Is Technology our Savior - or our Slayer? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO3nY_u6hos

Ruha Benjamin on AI and the Freedom Struggle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI6jXdl5HUg

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Why Ruha Benjamin Is a Fit for Cisco BHM 2026

• Bridges history and the future: Connects 100 years of Black history to emerging AI and technology systems that shape the world today.
• Perfect alignment with “Ignite Your Intelligence”: Expands intelligence beyond computation to include imagination, ethics, and design literacy.
• Ideal for a tech-centered audience: Offers sociological insight that challenges engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity teams, and leaders to think more critically about the systems they build.
• Provides practical frameworks for identifying algorithmic bias, designing equitable tools, and cultivating organizational responsibility.
• One of the most respected global scholars on tech equity, AI governance, and racial justice—ensuring high credibility and strong internal engagement.

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Suggested Topics

VIRAL JUSTICE: HOW WE GROW THE WORLD WE WANT

If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that something almost undetectable can be deadly, and that we can transmit it without even knowing. Doesn’t this imply that small things, seemingly minor actions, decisions, and habits could have exponential effects in the other direction, tipping the scales toward justice: affirming life, fostering well-being, and invigorating society? In this talk, Ruha Benjamin introduces a micro-vision of change—a way of looking at the everyday ways people are working to combat unjust systems and build alternatives to the oppressive status quo. Born of a stubborn hopefulness and grounded in social analysis, she offers a pragmatic and poetic approach to fostering a more just and joyful world.

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UTOPIA, DYSTOPIA, OR... USTOPIA? RECKONING WITH THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY

From automated decision systems in healthcare, policing, education and more, technologies have the potential to deepen discrimination while appearing neutral and even benevolent when compared to harmful practices of a previous era. In this talk, Ruha Benjamin takes us into the world of biased bots, altruistic algorithms, and their many entanglements, and provides conceptual tools to decode tech predictions with historical and sociological insight. When it comes to AI, Ruha shifts our focus from the dystopian and utopian narratives we are sold, to a sober reckoning with the way these tools are already a part of our lives. Whereas dystopias are the stuff of nightmares, and utopias the stuff of dreams… ustopias are what we create together when we are wide awake.

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RACE AFTER TECHNOLOGY: ABOLITIONIST TOOLS FOR THE NEW JIM CODE

From everyday apps to complex algorithms, technology has the potential to hide, speed, and even deepen discrimination, while appearing neutral and even benevolent when compared to racist practices of a previous era. In this talk, Ruha presents the concept of the “New Jim Code" to explore a range of discriminatory designs that encode inequity: by explicitly amplifying racial hierarchies, by ignoring but thereby replicating social divisions, or by aiming to fix racial bias but ultimately doing quite the opposite. Ruha will help the audience consider how race itself is a kind of tool designed to stratify and sanctify social injustice and discuss how technology is and can be used toward liberatory ends. This presentation takes us into the world of biased bots, altruistic algorithms, and their many entanglements, and provides conceptual tools to decode tech promises with sociologically informed skepticism. In doing so, it challenges us to question not only the technologies we are sold, but also the ones we manufacture ourselves.

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Highlights

• 2024 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow
• Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University
• Founder & Director, Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab
• Author of Race After Technology, Viral Justice, and Imagination: A Manifesto
• Recipient of the Stowe Prize and numerous national research awards
• Featured in WIRED, Fast Company, The Guardian, National Geographic, NBC News, Nature, and more
• Expert on AI ethics, algorithmic bias, race & technology, and equity in innovation
• Popular speaker for global tech conferences, DEI events, and academic institutions

Gravity Speakers Profile: https://www.gravityspeakers.com/speakers/sheena-allen

Speaker Website: https://www.sheenaallen.com/

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Why Sheena Allen Is a Fit for Cisco BHM 2026

• Seamlessly combines Black economic history with future-facing technology and AI, aligning both event themes.
• Speaks directly to infrastructure, security, and trust—core to Cisco’s business and their internal culture.
• Brings an energetic, relatable founder story that resonates with early-career talent as well as senior leaders.

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Suggested Topic

From Redlined to Reimagined: Financial Inclusion, Black History, and the Future of Intelligent Finance

‍Sheena connects the history of economic exclusion in Black communities—redlining, banking deserts, and generational mistrust of institutions—with the new tools of fintech and AI. Drawing from her upbringing in Mississippi and her leadership at CapWay, she explores how technology can either repeat inequities or rewrite the rules of access. For Cisco, she highlights how data, intelligent systems, and responsible design can expand opportunity rather than reinforce bias, and why Black founders and technologists must be at the table as the next generation of financial infrastructure is built.

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Highlights

• Youngest woman in the US to own and operate a digital bank (CapWay)
• Founder of Sheena Allen Apps (millions of app downloads globally)
• Featured in Google’s Black Women in Tech, She Started It, and major outlets like Forbes and Inc.
• Honored with Forbes 30 Under 30, Inc. 30 Under 30, and PayPal’s Maggie Lena Walker Award
• Excellent fit for a moderated fireside that connects history, innovation, and AI

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^{“Sheena Allen was the perfect speaker to kick-off our two-day conference! Her energy, speech, and engagement really set the tone for our conference attendees.” - Matilda Johnson, The Sadie Collective}

Speaker Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CQ-otMy1Og

Gravity Speakers Profile: https://www.gravityspeakers.com/speakers/ugwem-eneyo

Speaker Website - https://www.ugwem.com/

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Why Ugwem Eneyo Is a Fit for Cisco BHM 2026

• Perfectly aligns with an Infrastructure & Security audience through energy systems, resilience, and intelligent infrastructure.
• Bridges Black environmental history and justice with the future of AI-enabled climate solutions.
• Speaks to “Ignite Your Intelligence” by showing how technical expertise, lived experience, and ethical leadership come together in high-stakes systems.

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Suggested Topic

^{(BHM + AI Tailored)}

‍‍AI, Climate, and Black Futures: Designing an Equitable, Intelligent Energy Transition

‍Ugwem explores how AI and intelligent systems are reshaping energy infrastructure—from virtual power plants to grid optimization—and what that means for communities historically left out of modern infrastructure. She connects the environmental and economic history of Black and African communities, including the Niger Delta, to emerging opportunities in climate tech and AI. For Cisco, she offers a framework for thinking about infrastructure, intelligence, and inclusion together: how data and AI can strengthen resilience, but only if Black engineers, founders, policymakers, and ethicists are part of the design.

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Highlights

• Founder & former CEO, Shyft Power Solutions (acquired by Steama Company)
• Board Director & Head of Product & Innovation at Steama
• Recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30 (Energy)
• Early Black female founder in climate tech to raise >$1M in VC capital
• Experienced, professional virtual speaker with strong Q&A engagement

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^{“All we hoped for and more!” - Rachel Burch, Maxeon Solar Technologies}‍

Speaker Video - Embrace Ambition Summit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kadPN-VZGF4

18 Years in Solitary Confinement & Befriending the Woman He Shot - Ian Manuel | The Daily Show - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLGxZAYdLls

Penguin Random House Profile - https://www.prhspeakers.com/speaker/ian-manuel

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Why Ian Manuel Is a Fit for Cisco BHM 2026

• His story powerfully aligns with Black historical memory, justice reform, and the ongoing struggle for dignity.
• Brings a human-centered, emotionally resonant lens to “Ignite Your Intelligence,” emphasizing resilience, empathy, and creativity as forms of intelligence as vital as technical skill.
• Offers a compelling narrative for a virtual fireside or hybrid storytelling + poetry format, making the audience feel deeply connected even through the screen.
• Bridges past injustices with present-day conversations about equity, belonging, and healing inside communities and workplaces.

‍

Suggested Topic

My Time Will Come: A Story of Childhood Incarceration, Redemption, and the Intelligence of Hope

Ian Manuel’s life embodies one of the most urgent chapters of Black American history: the criminalization of Black children and the rise of extreme sentencing practices that have disproportionately devastated Black communities. In this moving session, Ian weaves together personal narrative, poetry, and hard-earned insight to explore what happens when society gives up on a child—and what can happen when hope, accountability, and human connection take root instead.

Framed through the lens of Black History Month’s 2026 theme, “A Century of Black History Commemorations,” Ian draws parallels between the historical struggles for justice and the modern fight to reform systems that still fail Black youth. Aligned with Cisco’s “Ignite Your Intelligence” theme, he expands the concept of intelligence to include emotional, moral, and creative intelligence—the kind that sustained him through 26 years of incarceration and fuels his advocacy today.

Key themes he can address:

• The historical criminalization of Black youth and the legacy of mass incarceration
• Solitary confinement, trauma, and mental health
• Forgiveness and restorative justice
• How art, language, and poetry can sustain the human spirit under impossible conditions
• Re-entry, resilience, and redefining what redemption looks like in modern America
• The power of connection and courageous compassion in transforming lives

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Highlights

• Author of My Time Will Come, with foreword by Bryan Stevenson
• Featured in Just Mercy (memoir), Nicholas Kristof’s Tightrope, and the Starbucks Upstanders series
• Performs spoken word poetry; 2017 MacDowell Fellow for nonfiction
• Advocate for criminal justice and juvenile sentencing reform
• Story featured across major national media and social justice conversations

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^{"Ian was fantastic and was received very well. Students enjoyed his story and his poetry". -- Mercersburg Academy}                                              

^{"Ian was wonderful. He was engaging with the audience and told his powerful story through a variety of mediums (e.g., poetry, speech, video) that proved helpful." — Riverdale Country School}                                                

^{"Ian’s session was absolutely amazing! He brought me to tears a couple of times with his story. Ultimately, having Ian was just a really beautiful opportunity for our students. His story is amazing, his poetry is epic, and his presence is just flooring. We cannot wait to see what he will be coming up with next!"  — Porterville College}                                                

^{"We can’t thank you enough for helping us secure Ian today. He was absolutely amazing. His story, presence and energy really made our event come to life". — The Ad Council}