Virtual Anima Conference 2025

Loretta J. Ross is recipient of a MacArthur Fellow for her work as an advocate of Reproductive Justice and Human Rights. She works as aProfessor at Smith College in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender where she teaches courses on white supremacy, human rights, and Calling In the Call Out culture. 

Loretta was the National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective (2005-2012) and co-created the theory of Reproductive Justice. Loretta was National Co-Director of April 25, 2004, March for Women’s Lives in Washington D.C., the largest protest march in U.S. history at that time. She founded the National Center for Human Rights Education (NCHRE) in Atlanta, Georgia,  launched the Women of Color Program for the National Organization for Women (NOW), and was the national program director of the National Black Women’s Health Project. 

Her newest book, Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel is available now for pre-order! She is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and divides her time between Massachusetts and Atlanta.

Tim Wise, Senior Fellow at the African American Policy Forum is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. Named one of the “25 Visionaries Who are Changing the World,” Wise is a staunch activist who has dedicated the past 25 years to speaking about issues related to race, racism, and privilege to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1500 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the country. He has trained corporate, government, entertainment, media, law enforcement, military, and medical industry professionals on methods for dismantling racial inequity in their institutions, and has provided anti-racism training to educators and administrators nationwide and internationally. 

He is also the author of several groundbreaking books including Dispatches from the Race War, Under the Affluence and White Like Me.  Tim has also been featured in several documentaries, including two from the Media Education Foundation and alongside legendary scholar and activist, Angela Davis in “Vocabulary of Change.” He appears regularly on CNN and MSNBC to discuss race issues and was featured in a 2007 segment on 20/20. He is a father of two children and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Nick Davis, Nick has had a dynamic 33-year career in media, spanning radio, television, and print. Over the years, he has worked as a reporter, TV and radio host, covering a broad spectrum of topics including current affairs, culture, and the arts. His journalism has earned him multiple accolades, such as the prestigious 2006 Gabriel Award for his reporting on the Holly Jones case. Nick has also received the Reelworld Film Festival Visionary Award in recognition of his efforts to advance diversity within the media industry.

Throughout his career, Nick has had the opportunity to cover two Olympic Games and has contributed to the professional development of emerging journalists across Canada. He was Senior Producer of Metro Morning, Toronto’s flagship morning program and later transitioned into program development, where he was instrumental in shaping local programming across the country. After twenty five years at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Nick is now the Executive Director of Equity and Inclusion where he continues to champion diversity and inclusion at all levels of the organization. 

Julie Diamond, Julie Diamond is an executive coach, leadership consultant, and creator of the Diamond Power Index, a Myers-Briggs-type assessment of a leader’s use of power. She has worked in the field of human and organizational change for 30 years, at the forefront of creating transformational learning and development opportunities across a range of sectors and disciplines, from graduate degree programs to leader development programs for business, government, NGOs and not-for-profit organizations. Her work centers on the problems of leadership, learning, and change in individuals, groups and organizations. 

For the last 20 years, She has taught seminars and workshops on leadership, collaboration, and the use of power to professionals around the world, across sectors and industries. She is a co-founder of the Power² Leaderlab, a leadership program for women leaders, as well as one of the original founders of the Process Work Institute (PWI), a not-for-profit graduate school dedicated to research and training in process-oriented facilitation.  Her book, Power: A User’s Guide, is a leading handbook for using power effectively and ethically, no matter what role you’re in.

Annahid Dashtgard is CEO of Anima Leadership, a socially innovative company offering a compassionate approach to racial justice efforts.  She’s an international inclusion leader, author and speaker with over 25 years’ experience working in the trenches toward social change in public, private and non-profit sectors. She has coached thousands of individuals and hundreds of organizations and knows the heartbeat of DEIB change patterns like the back of her hand.

Annahid started out organizing national campaigns scaling out widespread change but now focuses on shifting consciousness, one conversation, one compelling story at a time.  She’s the author of bestselling inclusion books Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World and memoir Breaking the Ocean: Race, Rebellion and Reconciliation.A leading voice on race, trauma, and immigration, she also hosts her own podcast Soundwaves of Belonging featuring intimate and irreverent conversations with fellow bridge builders. Having grown up in three different countries—Iran, England and Canada—on three different continents, Annahid is a citizen of the world, a lover of stories and a truth speaker for a more just future.

Shakil Choudhury is the CVO of Anima Leadership, a socially innovative company offering a compassionate approach to racial justice efforts. He is an award-winning educator, consultant and author with over 25 years of experience in the field of racial justice, diversity and inclusion. He coaches executive teams and has worked with thousands of leaders across sectors in Canada and the United States to help improve their equity outcomes. Shakil also facilitates dialogue processes to resolve inter-group conflict, having led projects internationally as well as with organizations locally. He is the author of the foundational DEI book  Deep Diversity: A Compassionate, Scientific Approach to Achieving Racial Justice. Written in an accessible, storytelling manner, many have called it a “breakthrough” book on issues of systemic racial discrimination due to its non- judgmental approach that integrates human psychology with critical race perspectives. Shakil’s most challenging and rewarding management experience, however, involves his two high-spirited children repeatedly teaching him the humble lessons of fatherhood. To clear his head during the week, Shakil loves to run the beautiful ravine trails near his home in Toronto.