Keynote

Derith Cass

Derith Cass (Coach D.) Bio

Derith Cass, aka Coach D., is a powerful presenter, mindset shifter, habit change specialist, women’s wellness coach, and a lover of the human connection. Her work centers around banding women together as a fierce tribe and transforming perspectives of what is possible so we can fully step into the life that is waiting for us.

Through Coach D’s presentations, women’s retreats, habit coaching programs (both group and individual), and fitness classes, countless stories have emerged about women breaking through what’s been holding them back by embracing lasting change, choosing to show up for themselves, getting back up when they fall, and celebrating the palpable power of community.

Her motto is: “All women. All ages. All stories. All destinations.”

This is what she built FIERCE by Choice, LLC (her passion-project-turned-business) on and the root of everything she teaches.

Living FIERCE is choosing to start where you are in this moment, creating the path that best fits you, and pushing yourself past where you thought you could go!

For over 20 years, Coach D. has shared her passion for empowering women to fiercely love the skin they’re in. From young girls to grandmothers and every age in between, Coach D. teaches you how to tap into that deep inner wisdom we all have, the place where all the answers are, so you have the tools to architect a life you love!

To learn more about habit coaching, group programs, women’s retreats or fitness classes, please visit her website at https://www.fiercebychoice.com

You can also connect with Coach D. on Instagram and Facebook,

Keynote

Sedruola Maruska

Sedruola Maruska is a social justice, equity, inclusion and diversity consultant and coach, host of the award-winning podcast Diversity Dish, speaker and aspiring author. She’s a graduate of Andrews University with a BA in Graphic Arts, a former Conversational English teacher, Corporate Trainer, and Executive Assistant. Her passion is helping business leaders cultivate cultures of equity and inclusion, to attract the diverse partnerships they desire and mitigating their risk of seeming out of touch.

Sedruola Maruska founded her consulting agency of the same name in January of 2017 after realizing it was time to embark on an intentional life journey to help educate and empower others on issues of social justice. Sedruola is a second generation Haitian-American, wife and mother who prides herself on having an amazing extended family network and being a citizen of the world born in Queens, New York.

Emcee

Erica Ayisi

Erica Ayisi is a freelance multimedia journalist focusing on human feature stories and documentaries around the world. Her work has appeared in numerous digital outlets, including NBCNews.com, The Root, Essence, Afroelle Magazine, and xoNecole. 

Her work includes online stories pertaining to the African diaspora, reporting on the surfing community in Ghana, Black atheism in London, natural beauty remedies with Rastafarian women in Jamaica, the legacy of activist Recy Taylor, the opening of Juices for Life juice bar in Brooklyn, as well as several other long-form articles capturing the global Black experience.

She has filed reports as an on-air reporter for Rhode Island PBS Weekly, Charter TV3 in central Massachusetts, as well as for ETV Ghana, in West Africa. 

Her passion for telling international stories has earned her a Distinguished Alumni & Friends of the Worcester Public Schools Achievement Award and a Ceremonial Key to the City of Worcester, Massachusetts. She is a two-time Pulitzer Center Reporting Grantee publishing ‘Swallowed by Sea’ an investigative project exploring coastal erosion livelihood in Ghana for MongaBay in 2022. In 2019, with the Pulitzer Center’s support Erica published ‘If This Hair Could Talk’ which examines how women in some of the most impoverished areas of Cambodia sell their hair as a means of survival for NBC News.  She is also receipt of the National Association of Black Journalists 2021 Ethel Payne Reporting project. 

A graduate of New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), she holds a master’s and bachelor’s in Communication Arts with a focus on broadcast journalism. She also teaches digital media and journalism production classes to high school and middle students outside Boston. Erica also founder and chief executive office of Akosua’s Closet-an African sourced online boutique shop featuring women’s clothing, jewelry, and home décor curated by Erica.  https://www.ericaayisi.com

Comedian

Carolyn Plummer

Carolyn Plummer. God help us.  Some comics rely on the monumental events of the day or the faux pas of the rich and famous. Not Carolyn. Carolyn pulls material from the hum-drum, day-today monotony of the life of everyman. And she does it well.

 To Carolyn the monumental is easy…it’s our existence that’s so hard, yet so ridiculous.  Some women look in the mirror and complain because they aren’t pretty enough, not rich enough, not young enough. Carolyn gives her reflection the finger.

The third child of a Congregational Minister and an “aloof” home maker mother; “aloof”? She’s clueless; her favorite band is Blootie and the Hoefish.” C.P. Carolyn learned early on that she could lament or she could make fun. See her once and you’ll quickly figure out which path she chose. And you’ll laugh.

Possessing an uncanny ability to introspectively pull from places most of us hide, Carolyn puts a nail through the heart of whiners, self-loathers and the self-sorry of the world and makes the average seem hilarious and larger than life.

 Most of all, Carolyn’s twisted perception of our common existence leaves audiences hysterically shaking heads in agreement with her assessment that the world is indeed a very funny place.

2022 Goddess Award Recipient

Dr. Milagros Abru

President/CEO and Founder, The Latino Health Insurance Program, Inc. www.lhiprogram.org

Dr. Milagros Abreu is the President – CEO and Founder of the Latino Health Insurance Program, Inc. (LHIP).  After obtaining her Medical Degree and residency in Pediatrics, Dr. Abreu worked for BMC and Boston University, where she obtained her master’s degree in Epidemiology at BU School of Public Health. She worked as an Assistant Professor for BUSPH, Epidemiology Department until 2012.  In 2006, she founded LHIP.  LHIP has assisted 86,000 individuals and families on health care access, chronic disease prevention, federal nutritional programs, and disease management in MA. Dr. Abreu has been an award recipient for her tremendous efforts to reduce health care disparities and contributions to public health. She was presented the Latinx Excellence on the Hill Award in 2019 by the Black and Latino Caucus after being nominated by the Senate President for this distinction. The Framingham Medical Reserve Corps, City of Boston, Massachusetts State Senate, Massachusetts Medical Society with its Ingersoll Bowditch Award for Excellent in Public Health, the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, and the 1^st Kate Lorig Innovator award, among others.  Her research studies include increase access to preventive medicine, how to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, the benefits of Diabetes Self-Management Education in the control of diabetes, the benefits of partnering with community-based organization in the management and control of chronic conditions, cross-culture medicine, cultural competency in the medical settings, workforce diversity and the impact of language in health care. She is also a Master Trainer of “Tomando Control de su salud”, the Spanish version of CDSMP and a volunteer SHINE counselor.