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Dr. Alana Conner is an experimental cultural psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about culture, health, technology, and social change. After careers in academia and publishing, she now works at Google, where she leads research on trust and automation for Google Assistant. Previously, she led research on toxicity and polarization at Twitter and research on bullying at Instagram. She also cofounded and led Stanford SPARQ, a Stanford Psychology Department "do tank" that partners with organizations to reduce disparities in health, education, criminal justice, and economic development. 

In addition to publishing research in top-tier scientific journals, Dr. Conner also writes for diverse audiences. Her most recent book, Clash! How To Thrive in a Multicultural World, diagnoses and offers solutions to a root cause of many cultural conflicts, including ethnic, social class, and gender conflicts. 

Dr. Conner received her bachelor's in psychology from Yale University, her doctorate in social and cultural psychology from Stanford University, and her postdoctoral certificate in psychology and medicine from the University of California, San Francisco. 

Sourakata Diabaté, aka Djely (Musician/Story-teller by birth) is a Kora player who was born to play and has played with national and international musicians.

Sourakata was born in Sedhiou in the Casamance region of southern Sénégal to a griots mandingues family.  His father is a descendant of a long line of griots who along with the Cissokhos accompanied the Great Samory Toure, the freedom fighter of the colonial era.  Sourakata’s father, El Hadji Baba Diabaté was a founding member of L’UCAS Jazz Band of Sedhiou who introduced the traditional Kora in modern African musique before the late Mory Kanté and the Orchestre du Buffet de la Gare’s best single “Yeke Yeke”.

Sourakata inherited his father’s place in the Jazz band before leaving Sedhiou for Saly Portudal, Dakar, then, Europe.  He participated in numerous festivals such as Arcs Celtiques, les Vieilles Charrues en Bretagne, and les Vieilles Pirogues à Saly.  He is currently working on his first single.

Nan Strauss is the Managing Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Grantmaking for Every Mother Counts, where she leads the organization’s efforts to advance policies and programs that expand access to evidence-based, respectful, and equitable care practices for all members of the community. 

Previously, as the Director of Research and Policy at Choices in Childbirth, Nan’s work included research and advocacy framing midwifery and doula care as high value models of care, in alignment with the “Triple Aim” for healthcare improvement. She conducted program evaluation and development for the Healthy Women, Healthy Futures Initiative, a program providing community-based doula support to several hundred women a year in all five boroughs of New York City.

Nan’s work on maternal health began at Amnesty International USA, where as the Director of Maternal Health Research and Policy, she co-authored the groundbreaking report, Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA in 2010.  Her work framed maternal and reproductive health in the context of the right to health, and included campaigning, policy, advocacy, and media efforts regarding maternal health.  She has briefed members of Congress on the U.S. maternal health crisis and worked to develop and strengthen federal and state legislation.