Speakers

We are thrilled to present our speakers for the 2024 Women Impact Virginia Summit.

This diverse group of women trailblazers, innovators, and leaders in their fields brings a unique perspective and a wealth of experience, ready to share insights, strategies, and stories that will empower and motivate you to make a difference in your own sphere. 

OPENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Kim B Miller

Kim B Miller is a poet, author, speaker, and facilitator. She is Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park’s poet laureate emerita, making her the first African American poet laureate for that region.

She uses her words to connect people to their strengths. Her poems have been published in African Voices magazine, an international haiku anthology, D.C. newspapers, a hunger anthology, Prince George’s Community College Literary & Arts Magazine, and several books. Her latest poetry book is “My Poetry Is the Beauty You Overlook.”

Miller was recognized as the DMV Renaissance Awards Haikuist of the Year in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In 2021 and 2023, she received the DMV Best Business Award in the category of Arts & Entertainment. She was also awarded the Vivien H. Hansbury Award for Trailblazing a Path for Women in the Field of Creative Arts. She has been featured on Voice of America, the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster, as well as on other Virginia-based stations. She has performed at The National Black Theater (N.Y.), The Atlas Performing Arts Center (D.C.), Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar (N.Y.), the University of Pikeville (Ky.), La Peña Cultural Center (Calif.) and many other venues.

Miller is an alumna of the Rochester Institute of Technology and Northern Virginia Community College. At RIT, she received her Bachelor of Science in business administration with a minor in retail management. At NVCC, she graduated with an Associate of Science degree in information technology. 

CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Torrece "Chef T" Gregoire

With a passion for food that began as a child when she watched her grandmother feed their community from her tiny kitchen on the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Torrece “Chef T” Gregoire has become a decorated and respected chef within the food service industry.

Inspired by her deep connection to her roots and her desire to bridge the gap between the family and farm, Chef T has embarked on a mission to create a dining experience that celebrates the African diaspora’s rich flavors while incorporating Appalachian seasonal ingredients and her professional flair.

As a founder of Chef T Culinary Concepts, she strives to provide her culinary vision and love of food to those that she cooks with as well as those that she serves. Her bestselling cookbook, “Paradigm: A Macro Manifesto to Food,” is a lifestyle cookbook that further honors her vision of food as a celebration of life.

Engage with Chef T’s witty personality and desire to create unique, unforgettable culinary experiences. As a celebrity chef, she has made appearances on “Hell’s Kitchen” Season 14 (runner-up), “Hell’s Kitchen” Season 18 (veteran), and Food Network’s “Big Restaurant Bet” (contestant).

BREAKOUT SESSION 1

Eliza Lamb

Eliza Lamb is a practicing fine artist, researcher, arts administrator, and educator. She studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she earned a BFA in photography, and Columbia University, where she pursued graduate studies. She holds master’s degrees in clinical psychology, art + art education, and arts administration, as well as a doctorate in art + art education. Lamb is a professional performing and visual artist whose work has won numerous awards and accolades, including Columbia’s Myers Art Prize and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Artist Fellowship. Lamb previously served as curator of the Children’s Museum of the Arts in New York, as well as, VCUarts and the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities' first Arts and Health Researcher. Lamb was recently named the RVA Power Woman in Arts and Culture by Richmond BizSense. In 2016, she relocated back to her home state of Virginia to establish the Lamb Center for Arts and Healing (Lamb Arts), where she helps bring creativity and optimism to thousands of the commonwealth’s most underserved community members.

Sheetal Ajmani

Sheetal Ajmani is a physician, bestselling author, host of the “Essential Self-Care” podcast, and founder of Radiant Living Institute, where she specializes in guiding high-achieving women as they navigate major life stressors and transitions. Through her own experiences as a physician and entrepreneur, Ajmani knows firsthand the unique challenges of practicing self-care even with the busiest of schedules. She also knows the cost of not practicing self-care — health, relationships, job performance, and overall life satisfaction. It’s from this space of empathy and understanding that she weaves together her presentations while also incorporating scientific evidence and practical tools and leaving participants feeling empowered, inspired, and armed with tools to build their vision of a radiant life.

Alex Veatch

Alex Veatch serves as the CEO for Letterpress Communications. Based in Southwest Virginia, Veatch has a passion for rural communications and economic development. Over the last 15 years, she has served organizations across Southwest Virginia in a wide range of industries, including higher education, mental health, tourism, community development, and outdoor recreation. Letterpress Communications is a boutique marketing agency based out of Farmville, with offices in Marion and Staunton. Letterpress specializes in rural, community-powered marketing serving a wide range of industries across the commonwealth and into North Carolina. By focusing on community, Letterpress helps clients leverage the power of their teams and their stories to create growth and, ultimately, good for their community.

BREAKOUT SESSION 2

Diana L. Schwartz

Diana L. Schwartz is originally from Clintwood, Virginia, and relocated to Ocala, Florida, in 1990 where she spent more than three decades working professionally in retail management, small-business ownership, advocacy, business retention and creation, and executive nonprofit leadership. She has worked in economic development and downtown revitalization for the past 11 years; she earned the Main Street America Revitalization Professional credential from the Main Street America Organization in May 2017. Schwartz served as the executive director for the Ocala Main Street organization before taking the helm of the River District Association in Danville in August 2017. She worked for a short time at the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development as a community revitalization specialist and returned to her former position as the executive director (now CEO) for Danville’s River District Association in 2019 to continue direct hands-on involvement in the revitalization of the city. 

Rachel Coleman

Rachel Coleman (she/they) is a Texas native who moved in 2019 to Virginia, where she currently resides. She earned her MBA from Texas A&M University Texarkana and held various positions from cashier to chief financial officer in her 20+ years working before pivoting full time to entrepreneurship. Now, she is a writer and author of the book “42 Things to Do Before You Go: Finding a Reason to Stay,” founder and “chief penguin enthusiast” at her startup This Penguin Can Fly, an organization dedicated to promoting mental health and well-being among women and marginalized communities by helping individuals reconnect with themselves, their communities, and nature. Coleman began This Penguin Can Fly in 2023 to help others by sharing her own life experiences and mental health journey. She inspires self-love, forgiveness, and healing with humorous tales of coming into her own and thriving after surviving domestic abuse and trauma.

Aaisha Hamid

Aaisha Hamid is an award-winning and Yale-certified global belonging strategist with over a decade of diversity, equity, and inclusion program management experience in some of the largest and most financially successful legal and financial services firms in the nation, in academic institutions, and on community boards. She serves as the vice president of DE&I at Alliant Insurance Services, where she designed and co-executes the company’s six-pillar DE&I strategy, oversees the management of all projects and initiatives, and acts as a thought leader for Alliant’s leadership and clients. She also served as the initial architect for the Alliant Insurance Foundation Fellows, a first-of-its-kind pipeline program that promotes the inclusion of underrepresented students in the insurance industry. She was recognized as one of the 2023 Top 50 Influential Muslims in the Americas by EqualityX, one of the 2022 and 2024 Top 50 Women Leaders of Washington by Women We Admire.