Dr. Rashawn Ray is a David M. Rubenstein Fellow at The Brookings Institution. He is also a Professor of Sociology and Executive Director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research (LASSR) at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is one of the co-editors of Contexts Magazine: Sociology for the Public. Formerly, Ray was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Research Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and he currently serves on the National Advisory Committee for the RWJF Health Policy Research Scholars Program.

Ray regularly testifies at the federal and state levels on racial equity, policing and criminal justice reform, health policy, wealth, and family policy. Ray has published over 50 books, articles, and book chapters, and roughly 50 op-eds. He has written for Washington Post, New York Times, Business Insider, Newsweek, NBC News, The Guardian, The Hill, Huffington Post, The Conversation, and Public Radio International. Ray has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, BBC, CBS, C-Span, PBS, NPR, HLN, and Al Jazeera. His research is cited in Washington Post, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Root, and The Chronicle. Previously, Ray served on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington Planning Committee and the Commission on Racial Justice with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

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Mr. Brian Richardson Jr. is an award-winning diversity officer, who has had the opportunity to
provide trainings and workshops both nationally and internationally on DEI-related content. Mr.
Richardson currently serves as the inaugural Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the
Indianapolis Colts, and as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University. In addition to his
professional titles, Mr. Richardson is also a 4th year doctoral student enrolled at Indiana
University in the School of Education. He is an alumnus of Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville, where he earned a Masters of Science in Education with an emphasis on
kinesiology, and a Bachelors of Science with a concentration on sports management from Culver
Stockton College. Mr. Richardson’s work has been featured on the national stage by way of
TEDx and the Big Ten Network, as well as across the state of Indian through the Bloomington
Magazine, The Harold Times Newspaper, WISH-TV, WRTV, and local radio shows.

Audra is the founder of Reach High Consulting and Therapy an Autism Center, Bridges Early Childhood Center a childcare facility, and AJ Holdings her new real estate project. All of her agencies are currently within the Bloomington Indiana area. Audra is the mother of four incredible children. Jael, Zoey, Naomi, and Silas.

One of the questions she is asked frequently is, “Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?” She first would give you a mini-lesson on the difference between a business owner and an entrepreneur as well as the continued sacrifice one must be willing to commit to. Then she would kindly say, “No” Simply put, Audra’s personal journey as a mother sent her searching for tools and strategies. As a very young mom and wife at that time, she was enrolled in college. Determined to model that anything is possible, she struggled through college with her young son sometimes sitting right next to her in class. She learned the meaning of partnering with your child, with their teachers, and how to seek out resources within the community. Blessed to have found highly skilled teachers who took the time to listen, she was able to work collaboratively with them to develop a plan. During this experience, she had the opportunity to learn about and apply the teaching procedures of applied behavior analysis (ABA). The field at the time primarily served children with Autism. Audra found that good teaching is good teaching and whether you have a diagnosis or not, all children deserve to have a solid foundation. She not only utilized the strategies at home, but she also became an Autism therapist working in homes, schools, residential facilities, and centers. Working directly with children and families lit a fire in Audra’s heart.

Jaelyn is a graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She studied Graphic Communication Systems and currently works at a publishing company in Greensboro, North Carolina. STEM has been a big part of her life and she is always in support of STEM having a presence in underrepresented communities.  Her biggest goal is to pursue freelance design full-time for her freelance business, A Branded Eye, while continuing to form meaningful connections with the people she comes into contact with. Hence, she is looking forward to being a part of the amazing things that are happening with Tribe Consulting, LLC.

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