Shayla Adams-Stafford for Board of Education District 4

Our Speakers

Bree Newsome

Bree Newsome is an artist who drew national attention in 2015 when she climbed the flagpole in front of the South Carolina Capitol building and lowered the confederate battle flag. The flag was originally raised in 1961 as a statement of opposition to the Civil Rights Movement and lunch counter sit-ins occurring at the time. The massacre of nine black parishioners by a white supremacist at Emanuel AME Zion Church in Charleston reignited controversy over South Carolina’s flag. Bree’s act of defiance against a symbol of hate has been memorialized in photographs and artwork and has become a symbol of resistance and the empowerment of women.

Angel rich

Angel Rich is the founder and CEO of The Wealth Factory, a ‘fintech’ company that designs educational technology games, to enhance financial literacy and workforce development. As a former Global Market Research Analyst for Prudential, Rich led the first African American Financial Experience Study; which still serves as the benchmark study across the national financial services industry for marketing to African Americans. Her research saved the Company $6 Billion, and rose its ranking from #16 to #4 in service in one year.

Through her company, Rich created the world’s first financial literacy gamification app CreditStacker; which is available in 10 languages, in 40 different countries, and has achieved over 25,000 downloads in a year. CreditStacker was deemed “best in the country” by the White House (under the Obama administration), JP Morgan Chase, and the Department of Education; and the recipient of a 2016 People’s Choice Award. The Wealth Factory’s second gamification app CreditStacker Saga released August 2nd, 2017; garnering over 250,000 downloads via Apple iOS and the Google Play store in under 25 days.

A'shanti Gholar

A’shanti F. Gholar serves as the president of Emerge, the only organization dedicated to recruiting and training Democratic women to run for office. A’shanti was recently named as one of She The People’s 20 for 2020, a list of women of color in politics who will play an impactful role in the 2020 elections. She is also the founder of The Brown Girls Guide to Politics, which was named one of the top podcasts to prepare people for the 2020 election by Marie Claire.

Portia Allen Kyle

Portia Allen-Kyle is a civil rights attorney and owner of FuturaBold, a strategic impact consulting firm. Portia gained her policy chops working for both national and state-level organizations, where she led non-litigation advocacy efforts on various civil rights and racial justice issues, including voter disenfranchisement and criminal legal system reform. She recently served as a policy advisor to former presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Other prior professional experiences include speaking, researching, and consulting on social justice, diversity and inclusion, education, and criminal justice issues for various nonprofits and educational entities.

Portia has a track record of serving her community, including presently serving on the board of the civic engagement nonprofit Count Us IN. She earned her B.A. from Wellesley College, an M.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. in Sociology from Rutgers University and a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark.