Brian Paulsen is the President and Co-Founder of rareESSENCE Aromatherapy. Over the past twenty-two years, he has studied aromatherapy and has traveled worldwide sourcing essential oils. He is an active member of the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy and the Natural Products Association.
Along with Sherri Jobelius, his business partner and wife, and the co-founder and CEO of rareESSENCE Aromatherapy, Brian is passionate about essential oils and the Organic movement in agriculture. Together, Brian and Sherri have over fifty years of experience in working with essential oils and aromatherapy.
Betsy Opyt is the founder of Betsy’s Best, a gourmet and all-natural nut and seed butter company specializing in creating an all-natural fancy food line of products with a playful elegance and refined taste. She lives in Naples with her husband, Dan, who is happy to be her guinea pig for sampling her new concoctions, and 8-year-old daughter, Peyton, who inspired her first nut butter creation.
Virali is the Communications Director at the Center for Environmental Health, where she leads communications and digital strategy to protect vulnerable communities from toxic chemicals. She has led communications and media work on climate change for Rainforest Action Network, consulted for Fortune 500 companies like Walmart and Hewlett Packard, and led backpacking trips for urban youth with Outward Bound. Virali is passionate about connecting human rights and the green movement, venturing with her three-year-old, and making lots of noise with her urban street drumming crew, BoomShake.
Husband, father, Griot. Tshaka Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of the non-profit organization, Digital Shepherds. Their mission is to teach digital literacy to parents, children and educators and to be change agents, equipping America’s under served youths with the computer science education and entrepreneurial experiences necessary to be competitive today and in the future. Tshaka is also a tech nerd and reviewer talking technology and diversity in media for Rotten Tomatoes, and FOX11 in Los Angeles on foxla.com. He is also a board member of one of Los Angeles’ most innovative children’s technology/Maker organizations, L.A. Makerspace.
Sally Ekus joined The Lisa Ekus Group in 2009. She represents a wide range of culinary talent, from first-time cookbook authors to seasoned chefs, professional food writers to bloggers, and internet and television personalities. Sally loves being the liaison between an author and their publisher, and takes great pride in guiding authors towards their dreams of publication. From concept to contract, she has brokered more than 100 book deals with many of the top US publishers.
Nneka joined the science team at Environmental Working Group in 2006 and has become an expert in a wide range of issues, including the safety of ingredients in cosmetics and other consumer products, and drinking water quality. She currently leads the EWG’s Healthy Living Science team to translate complicated scientific topics, particularly ones dealing with the effects of everyday chemical exposures on our health, into easily accessible tips and advice.
Margie Kelly is a Media Relations Manager based in Chicago for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Her portfolio includes NRDC’s Safe Water Initiative, including litigation in Flint, Michigan, the campaign to protect Canada’s boreal forest, and flood insurance reform.Margie has more than two decades experience in high-profile media, marketing, and brand building for environmental health and human rights organizations. She has been the Communications Director for a number of non-profit organizations including the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition of groups across the country working to overhaul the nation’s toxic chemicals law.
Kelly Olexa is CEO and Founder of FitFluential. FitFluential is a nationwide network of fitness, health and wellness fanatics sharing their journey and their passion online via social media. FitFluential creates customized social media marketing campaigns for brands interested in partnering with these professional fitness influencers to reach their audience. Kelly and FitFluential, represents over 7K fitness, health, nutrition and wellness influencers, who, combined with the FitFluential platforms, collectively reach more than 300 Million people every month. FitFluential has executed over 600 successful marketing campaigns in its first 6 years and in 2017 is branching out and growing in a big way.
Haile Thomas is 16 years old, the youngest Certified Integrative Health Coach in the United States, an international speaker, vegan chef,and the founder/CEO of the nonprofit HAPPY (Healthy Active Positive Purposeful Youth). Haile founded HAPPY when she was 12 years old to address the need for free/affordable plant-based nutrition and culinary education in under served/at-risk communities, as well as in schools and through annual summer camps.
Aaronica Cole is the mom behind The Crunchy Mommy.com–the practically green guide for on-the-go moms. She’s been a blogger for just about 10 years now and decided to become a full time blogger after having her second baby.