Leslie Odom, Jr.

Leslie Odom, Jr. is a multifaceted Tony and Grammy Award-winning performer, best known for his breakout role as Aaron Burr in the Broadway phenomenon “Hamilton.” Odom’s self-titled debut album charted at No. 1 on the Billboard jazz chart and in winter 2017, he topped the charts again with the rerelease of “Simply Christmas” as a deluxe edition with new arrangements and new songs. His extensive acting career includes film and television roles including “Murder on the Orient Express,” “Red Tails,” and “Smash.” In 2018, he added author to his resume with the release of his book, “Failing Up: How to Rise Above, Do Better, and Never Stop Learning.” Recently, he starred alongside Cynthia Erivo and Janelle Monáe in “Harriet,” the biopic about the extraordinary life of Harriet Tubman. Later this year, he will be seen in the highly anticipated film “The Many Saints of Newark,” the prequel to the television series “The Sopranos.” Odom released his third full-length album and first of original material, entitled “Mr,” late last year.

Dr. Mae Jemison

Dr. Mae C. Jemison leads 100 Year Starship (100YSS), a bold, far-reaching nonprofit initiative to assure the capabilities exist for human travel beyond our solar system to another star within the next 100 years. She is building a multi-faceted global community to foster the cultural, scientific, social, and technical commitment, support, and financial framework to accomplish the 100YSS vision—An Inclusive, Audacious Journey (that) Transforms Life Here on Earth and Beyond. Jemison led the team that won the competitive, single-awardee seed funding grant from the premiere research agency DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).

Jemison, the first woman of color in the world to go into space, served six years as a NASA astronaut. Aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-47 Spacelab J mission in September 1992, she performed experiments in material science, life sciences, and human adaptation to weightlessness. Jemison entered Stanford University at 16 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and in African and Afro-American Studies. She earned her medical degree from Cornell University. Before joining NASA, she was the Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia and a general practice physician in Los Angeles.

Jemison is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and is on the boards of directors of Kimberly-Clark, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, and the Texas Medical Center. She is an author, including Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life, was the first real astronaut to appear on the Star Trek television series, and is featured in the LEGO Women of NASA kit.

Shawn Achor

Shawn Achor is the New York Times best-selling author of The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness. He spent 12 years at Harvard University, where he won over a dozen distinguished teaching awards and delivered lectures on positive psychology in the most popular class at the university. Achor graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and earned a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School in Christian and Buddhist ethics.

Achor has since become one of the world's leading experts on the connection between happiness and success. He has worked with over a third of the Fortune 100 companies, and with organizations such as the NFL, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Treasury. Through his work, Achor has traveled to 51 countries, speaking to farmers in Zimbabwe, CEOs in China, doctors in Dubai, and schoolchildren in South Africa. Recently, Oprah Winfrey did a two-hour interview with Achor on the science of happiness and meaning. His research on happiness made the cover of Harvard Business Review, his TED talk is one of the most popular of all time with over 10 million views, and his lecture airing on PBS has been seen by millions of viewers.