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Briana Garza is an entrepreneur, hospitality professional, and experience curator based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is the founder of Chatt Taste Food Tour, a culinary tourism company showcasing Chattanooga's food and beverage scene through curated walking tours, cocktail classes, and immersive dining events. Since launch, Garza has hosted thousands of guests while supporting local restaurants by driving traffic and sharing their stories. Her cocktail programming alone has served over 4,000 guests, blending education with entertainment through seasonal themes and a signature sense of fun. An active entrepreneurial leader, Garza won a business pitch competition in 2021 and now mentors emerging entrepreneurs as a pitch coach. Her work is grounded in community, creativity, and connection.

Jennifer Holder is the Co-Founder and Operations Director of The Chattery, a learning nonprofit that provides fun, affordable and accessible learning to adults. Over the past 19 years, Jennifer’s career has spanned the entertainment industry in New York, city government in New Zealand, and a variety of nonprofit roles in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She holds a degree in Journalism from MTSU. Outside of The Chattery, Jennifer occasionally flexes her underutilized writing muscles on her Substack, 24 Bakes, where she chronicles her baking adventures. When she’s not at a Chattery class or sipping a martini, you’ll find her spending time with her husband, Walter, and their son, Miles.

Shawanda Mason is an entrepreneur and food writer. In 2010, she created the food-inspired lifestyle site, Eat.Drink.Frolic. where she develops easy food and drink recipes and travel guides for some of her favorite cities. Shawanda has landed coverage in print and digital publications, including Food52, Cityscope Magazine and USA Today. Currently, she serves as the Creative Director and Co-Founder of The Chattery - a Chattanooga-based nonprofit that advocates for lifelong learning and sits on the board of directors for the Chattanooga Ballet. When she’s not working or testing recipes, you can usually find her watching reruns of The Office and hanging out with her husband, John, and daughter, Mason.

Tami is the Program Director for WITS and was previously the Director of Local Experiences for Wanderfest 2022 in New Orleans, where she’s based. She is a consultant, communicator, and connector, working at the intersection of sustainable tourism, culture, and community. With over 20 years of experience in global tourism, media relations, and events, Tami fosters meaningful connections through multicultural and nature-based experiential travel, events, and storytelling that honor local cultures and communities, celebrate diversity, and protect our planet. Her rare blend of creativity, productivity, and heart has made her a trusted advisor to organizations seeking to do more good.

Brian Smith serves as Interim Administrator of Chattanooga's Department of Parks & Outdoors, bringing a wealth of communication and community leadership to the role. As the city's Communications Director for the past three years, Brian played a pivotal role in securing Chattanooga's designation as a National Park City. A passionate advocate for equitable outdoor access, he is committed to creating programs that welcome residents of all ages and abilities. Brian's background in broadcast meteorology gives him a unique appreciation for the natural environment and its impact on everyday life.

Lauren Gay is an adventure travel expert, award-winning storyteller, and the creator of Outdoorsy Diva — a platform dedicated to empowering Black women to embrace outdoor adventure, global exploration, and personal transformation. As a dynamic speaker, Lauren blends humor, relatability, and actionable insight to help audiences understand travel storytelling, community building, content creation, diversity in the outdoors, and solo travel safety with confidence.

Sunshine Loveless is the first-ever Executive Director of SORBA Chattanooga, an organization dedicated to expanding and maintaining trail access for mountain bikers and outdoor enthusiasts in the greater Chattanooga area. Sunshine brings over 20 years of experience in outdoor recreation, advocacy, and organizational leadership. As the founder of Outshine Adventures, Sunshine has demonstrated a remarkable ability to build inclusive programs, forge strong community partnerships, and drive strategic growth. Their work has connected thousands of individuals from diverse backgrounds to outdoor opportunities while promoting environmental stewardship and sustainable recreation.

Ashli Johnson is the visionary founder and dynamic force behind one of the most exceptional hospitality communities in the country, Hospitality Hued. With over two decades of industry experience, Ashli is transforming pathways to both leadership and ownership for Black & Brown hospitality professionals through innovative strategy and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Ashli is a hospitality graduate of the University of West Florida and Florida International University. Her commitment to ensuring equitable and inclusive realities for all, coupled with her keen eye for connecting resources to opportunity has more than earned her the nickname, The Hospitality Sharpshooter.

Sophia Hyder Hock is the Chief Impact Officer at Destinations International, where she provides strategic oversight and thought leadership for the association’s social impact, professional development, and advocacy initiatives. She leads the development of policy-relevant resources and leadership tools that support destination decision-makers to advance a more resilient global tourism ecosystem. Sophia serves on the boards of TravelAbility and the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA) and is actively engaged in World Economic Forum tourism initiatives, contributing to global dialogue on tourism’s role in economic resilience, workforce development, placemaking, and long-term value creation.

Eileen Ivette is an Afro-Latina award-winning video producer, journalist, and travel influencer. She produces culture-rich, cinematic content helping travelers connect with the diaspora through history, identity, and adventure. She’s also the creator of Black Latin History—an award-winning travel + history series that uplifts Afro-Latine narratives and confronts anti-Black erasure across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Priyanka Juneja is the founder of Champagne Flight, where she helps travelers create more intentional, elevated trips through food, wine, and points and miles. With an MBA from Wharton and over $150,000 in travel redeemed using points, she combines strategic thinking with real-world execution. Her work focuses on bringing depth and personality back to travel content, advocating for a shift away from algorithm-driven growth toward building trust, community, and more sustainable business models.

Deepa Lakshmin is a writer and editor based in New York City who's covered everything from travel to entertainment to politics. She's currently the director of social media at Lonely Planet, leading social strategy and programming content for an audience of 13 million travelers who follow @lonelyplanet across channels. She was previously the managing editor of Meta (formerly Facebook) and Instagram's B2B content marketing blogs. As a journalist, she’s written for National Geographic, MTV News, Vox, Inverse, and NYLON – plus managed both organic and paid social for The Daily Beast, Atlas Obscura, and Tribeca Film Festival, among others.

Zaakirah Nayyar Muhammad is a TEDx speaker, author of Seeing Life Through a Different Lens, childhood eye cancer survivor, hearing-impaired travel storyteller, and founder of a global digital media platform centering around marginalized creators. A photographer-turned-all-around-storyteller, she has traveled to over a dozen countries across four continents and over 24 United States. When she’s not being creative, she is teaching other creators around the world how to build accessible, inclusive visual stories. With paternal roots from the east Tennessee area, her work merges wellness, creativity, and intersectional representation to help others see the world differently.

With 15 years of journalism experience and 40+ countries under her belt, Eileen Cotter Wright launched Pure Wander in 2013. This hub is dedicated to those who ‘travel in packs’ (from girlfriend getaways to multi-gen adventures), focusing on sustainable advice and global storytelling. Eileen recently developed streamlined systems to conquer content creation chaos after her own ADHD diagnosis. She now helps neurodivergent entrepreneurs thrive by turning organizational challenges into success strategies. She lives near Boston with her British spouse and two young daughters, all of whom travel with passports in hand.

Elaine Rau is a content creator, speaker, and strategist helping creators build profitable, sustainable businesses. After 8+ years building a loyal audience and helping hundreds of creators transition to five- and six-figure incomes, she burned out. Elaine took a two-year break from Instagram—the first year learning to stop equating her worth with productivity, the second year embracing slower, healthier habits. She did more and documented less, went outside more, and had new experiences. Now back creating on her own terms, she shares actionable strategies for growing engaged communities, landing brand deals, and building businesses that don't require treating yourself like a machine.

Radiance Basden is a wellness leader, international speaker, and founder of Rooted in Radiance. She helps creators, entrepreneurs, and organizations thrive through mindfulness, movement, and stress management strategies that prevent burnout and elevate personal growth. A Hall of Fame runner, certified yoga and breathwork instructor, and mindfulness coach, she blends high-performance practices with holistic well-being. Radiance has spoken at conferences and summits worldwide, including the 2024 Women in Travel Summit, and partners with companies to design wellness experiences that inspire resilience, balance, and creativity.

Julie Thorner has spent decades building adventure travel brands, bringing expertise from finance, marketing, retail, and outdoor recreation to help brands grow sustainably. As Founder and President of Liquid Spark, she guides tourism businesses & destinations while leading industry conversations on responsible AI integration and inclusion—ensuring technology amplifies the human connections that make travel transformative. A Vermont native raised in the ski industry, Julie loves skiing, whitewater paddling, biking, and fly-fishing. She holds degrees from Duke University and Washington University's Olin School of Business and splits her time between Western North Carolina and Montana.

Shir Ibgui is the Founder and CEO of Globe Thrivers, a social commerce platform transforming how travel is discovered, planned, and booked. A revenue-driven founder with 7+ years scaling AI startups across partnerships and go-to-market, she brings deep experience building and growing platforms. As a former travel creator, she experienced firsthand the gap between inspiration, intent, and booking. She is now merging her passion with her expertise to build the infrastructure that turns travel content into structured, bookable trips with built-in attribution, helping creators capture the value they drive in travel while shaping the future of travel commerce.

Inemesit “Ine” Williams spent almost two decades advocating for the expansion of global STEM opportunities and underrepresented student participation in study abroad programs. She currently serves on RISE Travel Institute’s board of directors and co-facilitates Carbon Literacy Certification at In Good Company and RISE’s Climate Literacy and Climate Justice Training Workshop for tourism professionals. Her global perspective in science and facilitation has been shaped through living in Mexico as a teenager, studying abroad in Canada and Central America, working in China, and learning various languages at home and on travels throughout Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Dr. Sian Leo Proctor is a visionary poet, artist, explorer, and geoscience educator. In 2021, Dr. Proctor made history as the first artist selected to become an astronaut with the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission. She is also the first woman commercial spaceship pilot and the only African-American woman to be a mission pilot. Her motto is Space2inspire and her mission is to bridge the gap between art and science by encouraging everyone to let their EarthLight shine. She is an international speaker and was the 2024-25 U.S. Department of State Science Envoy for Space. Her SpaceX Inspiration4 spacesuit is currently on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Ana Dominguez is a Latina travel enthusiast and entrepreneur who founded her blog, The City Sidewalks, when she began exploring the world on her own in 2014. In addition to running her own travel blog for a number of years, Ana also worked with the WITS Team as the Sponsorship Chair for four years. Based out of New York City, she now works in hospitality and with her partner, Chef Diego Cerdan, curating bespoke culinary experiences that bring Latin cuisines to the forefront. She also enjoys exploring unique things to do around NYC in order to provide tips to friends and fellow travelers. Ana is thrilled to be joining the WITS Team once again to MC in her home city!

Beth is Founder and CEO of Wanderful and creator of WITS. The idea for a robust community of women travelers came to her while cruising her blue motorcycle through the streets of São Tomé and Príncipe, a small country in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea. Now, she is a thought leader on women's travel, an avid community builder, and a voice for women creators and entrepreneurs. She is the product of an art history major at Wellesley followed by a Kellogg MBA, and lives in Boston with a house full of pets, three kids, and a husband, also known as the founder of MITS (which does not in fact exist yet).

Item descriYoumie Jean Francois is a transformational speaker, a brand strategist, a money trauma expert, a private pilot, Author, and the proud Founder/CEO of Flex-N-Fly, The Flex Bags, and The Flex-N-Fly Foundation. Throughout her career, she's dedicated herself to enhancing the well-being of travelers and helping small business owners scale. She speaks 4 languages fluently and splits her time between New York and Colombia. Flex-N-Fly, her award-winning travel and wellness company, has become a beacon of innovation. They bring wellness studios in airports. Providing stretching, yoga, and relaxation classes to airports, aiming to ease the stress that often accompanies modern travel. They've been featured in Forbes, Travel & Leisure, TripAdvisor, BlackEnterprise, Macy's, Belk, Flying Solo and More. Youmie's best- selling poetry book, “The Sacrifice: When Transition Looks Like Chaos.” Is available everywhere now.ption