Jul 13, 2022
Hitha Palepu: Hitha Palepu is a consummate multi-hyphenate. She is an entrepreneur, investor, author, and speaker. She is the CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals and a partner in Adama Ventures, focused on investments in women-founded and women-focused companies. She is the author of We’re Speaking: The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris(Little, Brown Spark) and How To Pack: Travel Smart for Any Trip (Clarkson Potter). #5SmartReads is her Webby-honored news curation that reaches over 82,000 accounts. Her Instagram content uplifts and informs her community of over 57,000 followers. Hitha is a sought-after speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship, investing, parenting-work juggle, and on diversity and inclusion. In 2021, she has delivered the keynote address to the ILPA’s W.E.L.L. Summit and been a panelist at events hosted by Beam Therapeutics, Everywomen in Tech, HelloNeighbor, and The 4th Floor. Hitha’s 2022 speaking engagements include serving as emcee and moderator of three Thread Count Summits hosted for Taco Bell executives & franchisees, delivering a keynote address at WNORTH’s 2022 Summit, and speaking on the closing keynote panel for the Female Founders Collective Summit. Her upcoming engagements include the WIN Summit, and Black Tech Week. Hitha is an experienced moderator for book launches and author events. Events included the book launch for the New York Times Bestseller *HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style* by Elizabeth Holmes, *Meet You In The Middle* by Devon Daniels, *She’s Unlikeable* by Aparna Shewakramani, and *The Modern Loss Handbook* by Rebecca Soffer.
Hollie Harper is a comedy nerd from South Jersey. She is
currently the creator and co-exec producer of Hella Late! with
Hollie Harper on BRIC TV and a co-host of the nationally trending
Twitter Storytelling Chat “BlerdDating.” Hella Late! with Hollie
Harper was recently in the 2021 NYC Web Fest where she was
nominated as Best Actress.
Hollie was a semi-finalist in the 2019 NBC
Standup Competition and has been featured on NY1, and in Black
Enterprise Magazine, Thrive Global, Confessional Magazine and Black
San Diego Magazine. Her popular sketch comedy show AMERICAN CANDY
has played the Comic Strip, Gotham Comedy Club, BAM Café as well as
the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival. Time Out Chicago named them one
of the five groups to watch. Hollie is a regular host for West Side
Comedy Club in NYC and works with Gold Comedy and Stand Up Girls,
two programs that empower young women by teaching them standup
comedy. She was recently the talent coordinator and casting for
“Blood Lassi” on Spotify, written by Pratima Mani, and moderated
the panel for the Emmy Award winning, WOC editing team of Black
Lady Sketch Show for The Black TV and Film Collective. She is also
the Creative Consultant for the very successful Black Women in
Comedy Laff Fest.
Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf