The 36th Annual Wharton Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Conference

Bonnie St. John

Author & Motivational Speaker, Live Your Joy

Despite having her right leg amputated at age five, Bonnie became the first African-American to win Olympic medals in ski racing at the 1984 Paralympics. She has been honored for this achievement at Nike Headquarters, at the Essence Awards, at the White House Black History Month celebration, and with a featured quote on millions of Starbucks Cups.

After the Olympics, Bonnie went on to graduate with honors from Harvard, win a Rhodes Scholarship, and earn her Masters in economics from Oxford. In 1992, she worked in the White House as a director of the National Economic Council.

As a highly sought after international keynote speaker, Bonnie St. John has inspired and entertained executives at Pepsi, Pfizer, AT&T, American Express, IBM, the Wits Business School in South Africa, Oxford University, and over 500 more companies and associations. Bonnie has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Good Morning America, People, Essence, Ebony, O Magazine, The New York Times, and many other national media outlets.

A best-selling author, Bonnie’s fifth and most recent book, Live Your Joy, features a series of inspirational parables designed to guide you through tips and tools for finding and maintaining joy in a hectic, 21st Century world.

R. Donahue Peebles

Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, The Peebles Corporation

Recognized as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the nation, R. Donahue Peebles is the country’s largest African American real estate developer with a $4 billion portfolio of luxury hotels and high-rise residential and Class A commercial properties and developments underway in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami Beach and the Florida Keys.

His first book, The Peebles Principles, Tales and Tactics from an Entrepreneur’s Life of Winning Deals, Succeeding in Business and Creating a Fortune from Scratch (Wiley), distills the lessons Peebles learned on the road to building his successful company and personal fortune. His entertaining first-person accounts of his most intriguing deals illustrate the principles that guide Peebles in all his transactions, principles that will benefit entrepreneurs in any industry.

In addition to serving as CEO of his billion-dollar real estate development firm, Peebles is highly sought after nationwide as a speaker. Viewed as a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs, he has addressed numerous educational, business and professional associations across the nation, including the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, The Wharton School, University of Miami, Florida International University, Johnson & Wales University, 100 Black Men of America, and the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association among others.

Peebles was awarded an honorary doctorate from Johnson & Wales University. Raised in Washington, D.C., in a single-parent household he has a soft spot for at-risk inner-city children. Consequently, the multimillionaire real estate developer makes frequent forays into Miami’s poorest neighborhoods to urge and inspire teens to pursue careers in business.

He served as a U.S. House of Representatives page while in high school, sparking a lifelong interest in politics. Peebles has supported politicians on both sides of the aisle and has raised campaign funds for local, state and federal candidates.

Peebles places a premium on enjoying quality time with his family and currently lives in Miami with his wife Katrina, their son and young daughter.

Ali Velshi

Chief Business Correspondent, CNN

Ali Velshi is CNN's chief business correspondent and host of Your $$$$$, CNN's weekend business roundtable program, as well as a regular contributor and anchor for Issue #1, the network’s in-depth coverage initiative on the single issue that matters most to CNN's audience.

Velshi also hosts The Ali Velshi Show, a weekly call-in radio program on both CNN Radio and CNN.com Live and fields viewer calls three times a week for the "Help Line" segment for HLN. Online users can also listen to Velshi's podcast, "The Ali V Podcast," available at www.CNN.com/podcasting and on iTunes.

Based in New York, Velshi has covered the U.S. government's bailout plan; the financial collapses of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG and Lehman Brothers; and Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, reporting on the impact of the storms on oil refineries. He covered the Enron story at every step since it hit the national spotlight in 2001, including the guilty verdicts of Enron Corp.'s founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling on conspiracy and fraud charges. He reported live from Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., as the company announced the layoff of 30,000 workers. He was reporting live from an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico amid evacuation calls for Hurricane Katrina.

A veteran of financial news, Velshi recently hosted The Turnaround, CNN's small business improvement show. The Turnaround traveled across America, introducing troubled small business owners to high-profile mentors and then helped them develop a plan for success. Before The Turnaround, Velshi was an anchor with CNNfn, where he hosted various interactive shows, including Your Money, Business Unusual, Insights, Street Sweep and The Money Gang. Before joining CNNfn in 2001, he hosted The Business News, Canada's first and only prime-time business news hour, airing nightly on Report on Business Television.

In 1996, Velshi was awarded a fellowship to the U.S. Congress by the American Political Sciences Association, and worked with now-retired U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, (D-Ind.).

Born in Kenya and raised in Toronto, Velshi graduated from Queens University in Canada with a degree in religion. Velshi's first book, Gimme My Money Back: Your Guide to Beating the Financial Crisis, was released in January 2009.

Marc H. Morial

Chief Executive Officer, National Urban League

In a distinguished professional career that has spanned 25 years, Marc Morial has served as an entrepreneur, lawyer, professor, legislator, mayor and CEO of the nation’s largest civil rights organization. At the age of 26, Mr. Morial was one of the youngest lawyers to argue and win a major case before the Louisiana Supreme Court. Mr. Morial also served on the adjunct faculty of Xavier University in Louisiana and was a Louisiana State Senator from 1992 to 1994.

As Mayor of New Orleans, Mr. Morial was a popular chief executive with a broad multi-racial coalition who led New Orleans’ 1990’s renaissance, and left office with a 70% approval rating. With vigor and creativity he passionately attacked his city’s vast urban problems. Violent crimes and murders dropped by 60%, the unemployment rate was cut in half, and New Orleans’ poverty rate fell according to the 2000 Census. During his tenure, the city’s economy experienced its most dramatic growth in over 20 years.

As President of the National Urban League since 2003, Mr. Morial has been the primary catalyst for an era of change - a transformation for the nearly 100 year old civil rights organization. His energetic and skilled leadership has expanded the League’s work around an Empowerment agenda, which is redefining civil rights in the 21st century with a renewed emphasis on closing the economic gaps between Whites and Blacks as well as rich and poor Americans. Under his stewardship the League has had record fundraising success towards a $250 million, five-year fundraising goal, which has established the NUL as a leading national nonprofit. Mr. Morial also created the National Urban League Empowerment Fund, which has pumped almost $200 million into urban impact businesses, including minority business, through both debt and equity investments.

Mr. Morial is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics and African American Studies. He also holds a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., as well as honorary degrees from Xavier University, Wilberforce University, and the University of South Carolina Upstate.

Mr. Morial currently serves as an Executive Committee member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Black Leadership Forum, and Leadership 18, and is a Board Member of the Muhammad Ali Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.