Keynote Bios
GALA KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Desirée Rogers
Prior to her move to Washington DC, Desirée joined Allstate Financial as the President of Social Networking in 2008. In this newly-created position, she reinvented Allstate’s consumer engagement for its 12 million consumer households through the establishment of an internet-based social network.
As one of the most high-profile executives in the Midwest, she was regularly cited among the most influential and powerful by business media. Over the past 16 years, she has headed two major organizations with critical impact on the economic viability of the area: The Illinois Lottery and Peoples Gas.
Desirée Rogers is recognized as an innovative leader with a proven track record of developing creative solutions to transition organizations in challenging circumstances. She is also known as an exceptional communicator and committed community advocate.
Rogers earned a master of business administration from Harvard University and a bachelor of arts in political science from Wellesley College. She attended the Center for International and Comparative Programs in Geneva, Switzerland in international politics, business and marketing. She also attended the Harvard Kennedy School Women and Power Program, a curriculum designed for senior women executives interested in public leadership.
LUNCHEON KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Argelia Rodriguez
President & CEO, DC College Access Program (DC-CAP)
Ms. Argelia Rodriguez is the first appointed President and CEO of the DC College Access Program (DC-CAP). DC-CAP is an organization funded by Washington-area companies and foundations dedicated to encouraging and enabling District public high school students to enter and graduate from college.
As President and CEO, Argelia is responsible for operating 34 college information centers in public schools around the city, administering over $2.7 million dollars in scholarship funds each year and providing college and financial counseling to more than 16,000 high school and college students, and their parents. Under her leadership, DC-CAP has helped to send more than 11,500 students to college helping to double the DC public high school student college enrollment rate and as well as establishing DC-CAP as one of the country’s leaders in college retention research and practice. She helped position DC-CAP to support a partnership with Congress for the enactment and implementation of the unprecedented DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DC-TAG) legislation allowing DC students to attend public institutions around the country at in-state tuition rates.
Under her leadership, DC-CAP has been certified as a Four Star nonprofit organization by Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. The four star rating, Charity’s Navigator’s highest rating, indicates DC-CAP is exceptional at managing its finances, exceeds industry standards and outperforms most other charities in its cause category. Argelia is also responsible for marketing, strategic planning, fundraising, community outreach and program development.
Ms. Rodriguez holds a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Stanford University and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
FRIDAY KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Derrick N. Ashong
Host, "The Derrick Ashong Experience" on Oprah Radio
Derrick N. Ashong - or DNA as he is sometimes known - is literally the voice of a new generation.
Whether heard in the eloquent expression of his thoughts on Senator Barack Obama (as seen in one of the most viewed videos of 2008 on YouTube), in his music (as leader of the emerging band Soulfège), in his lyrics (he won Billboard Magazine's 2007 World Song Writing Competition) or in his acting ability, the Harvard educated talent has found myriad ways to inspire, engage and activate young people with positive messages for social change.
DNA is the host of "The Derrick Ashong Experience" on SIRIUS XM's Oprah Radio, a mash-up of politics, pop-culture, social media, music and the arts, informed by Derrick's experiences and travels across the globe.
Dubbed a “YouTube phenom” by the New York Times, the Ghana, West Africa native has dedicated his life to building bridges between the fields of business, media, technology, youth culture, pop culture and politics.
A true Renaissance man, DNA has lived in such locations as Brooklyn, New York, Voorhees, New Jersey and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and currently resides in Los Angeles. Trained in classical piano, he is also a self-taught guitarist, a natural performer and a songwriter who was involved in theater throughout primary and secondary school. Just before completing his studies at Harvard, he was cast in Stephen Spielberg’s 1997 film, Amistad. He returned to Cambridge to finish his degree before pursuing a Ph.D. in African-American Studies and Ethnomusicology, later leaving the doctoral program to pursue his artistry and advocacy full-time.
Ashong has lectured on five continents, including recent talks at the London School of Economics and before UK Parliament on the subject of "The Obama Generation." He is a member of the Next Generation Leadership Forum and a participant in the Arts & Entertainment task force of the U.S.-Islamic World Forum. He is also the founder of Take Back the Mic, a youth-centered cultural movement that encourages young people to take leadership in four key areas of life: art, society, business and politics.