Bertice Berry

Sociologist, and award winning lecturer Bertice Berry, Ph.D., is one of the most sought after lecturers in the country. She combines her skills as a sociologist and researcher, and with her ability to make her audiences think and laugh at the same time. She is the best selling author of the inspirational memoir, I'm On My Way, But Your Foot Is On My Head, four novels and two humor books.

Berry who believes that no one is fulfilled doing only one thing, combines her love of art and her spirit for community activism into an art gallery she Co-owns. All proceeds from the gallery go to families in need. Her newest book, “The Ties That Bind” is a remarkable story of abolition, freedom and redemption.

Berry is most proud of becoming an instant mother to her five adopted children. "They really are my blessing in disguise," Berry says, "I'm just waiting for them to take the costumes off."
   
You’ll laugh, you’ll feel, you’ll be inspired, and one thing is for certain--- you’ll leave much differently than you came.

Dawn Jackson Blatner

Dawn Jackson Blatner is a registered and licensed dietitian in Chicago IL. She is a national media spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association with over 1,000 media impressions in outlets such as The Dr. Oz Show, USA Today, Dateline, Newsweek, Cooking Light and WebMD. Dawn is a food and nutrition blogger with USA Today and a nutrition expert on the advisory board of Fitness magazine. She has a healthy eating television segment on NBC Chicago called “Take a Bite” and is an instructor at the Chopping Block where she teaches flexitarian cooking classes. As a freelance writer, she contributes health and wellness articles to magazines such as Health, Fitness and Ladies Home Journal. She is a co-author of Counseling Overweight Adults (American Dietetic Association, 2009) and author of The Flexitarian Diet (McGraw Hill, 2009.) She is currently working on a new diet book for Health magazine.
She has worked as a dietitian with a national healthfood chain, exclusive spas, DePaul University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital Wellness Institute. Dawn has over 10 years experience working with clients to improve health outcomes such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.

What People Are Saying about Dawn:

• "Chicago's Most Quoted Dietitian," Crain’s Chicago Business
• "One of Chicago's Elite Females," Chicago Sun-Times
• "One of the Best Nutritionists in the Country," Fitness Magazine

Gina Marotta

Gina Marotta opened Step Up Women’s Network’s Chicago offices in July 2006 and serves as its Managing Director. Overseeing all staff and operations, she directs the organization's objectives of raising awareness and strengthening community resources for professional women and underserved teen girls in the Chicago area. Under Gina’s local leadership and in partnership with Step Up’s national executive team, fundraising initiatives and membership numbers have doubled each year and the organization has become one of the most sought after women's groups in the country.

Kiki Vale

Maverick Chicago radio personality and Master Interviewer Kiki Vale is celebrating her 20th year in broadcasting. Her experience is a culmination of having worked in the Kansas City and Chicago markets on just about every format and shift in radio. Kiki’s pipes have propelled her to numerous other multimedia jobs from award winning voice-over work to radio and television commercials, and motivational speaking.  Kiki formed her own company, KUKLA PRODUCTIONS in 2000, which produces the weekly radio program THE KIKI VALE SHOW.  In 2007 Kiki participated in her first Triathlon, and has been hooked ever since.  Even more rewarding than that is her role as of wife and mother of four children.  In honor of her mother, Katina, Kiki has been fundraising for the American Diabetes since 2001, raising over 65,000 dollars.  

Judith Wright

Judith Wright is the Co-founder/Director of the Wright Institute and a best-selling author. A trailblazer in human development and helping people and companies get more out of everything they do, Judith Wright is a nationally acclaimed educator, coach, lifestyles expert, inspirational speaker, best-selling author, and corporate consultant.  Dedicated to exploring optimum ways of living and being in today’s busy world, Ms. Wright co-founded and currently serves as Director for the Wright Institute, authored The Soft Addition Solution and The One Decision, and regularly appears on television, radio, and in print in outlets such as 20/20, Oprah, the Today show, Good Morning America, Marie Claire, Fitness Magazine, and the Chicago Tribune.