There Will Be Fruit 2025 Speakers

Susana Alba-Briscoe

Susana Briscoe-Alba is a passionate Leadership Mentor and Career Consultant with a mission: to empower women of color to reach new heights in their careers. With over a decade of experience in various leadership roles within higher education and sales Susana has honed her skills and expertise to guide others toward success.

Her journey from higher education leadership to career coaching and consulting is a testament to her resilience and dedication to helping others maximize their potential. With a heartwarming smile and a dedication to creating opportunities, Susana is a true advocate for those she serves, making her an inspiring figure in the world of leadership and career development.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Susana's personal life reveals her warmth and vibrancy. She currently resides in New York with her husband and their son, a LEGO enthusiast. In her downtime, she delights in building LEGO forts with her son and sharing Marvel movie nights with her husband. Her infectious smile and her genuine commitment to ensuring everyone feels seen, valued, and heard define her character.

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Pastor David Ham

Pastor David attended Elim Bible Institute and then later graduated from Roberts Wesleyan College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion & Philosophy. Since arriving in NYC in 1999, David Ham has preached and ministered through creative arts in partnership with ministries all throughout the tri-state area.

He has directed outreach programs in Nigeria, Haiti, London, Norway and throughout the United States. In 2001, Pastor David Ham served as Director of Evangelism for Nicky Cruz Outreach. It was an impactful time discipling and training young adults for ongoing opportunities in music ministry, evangelism and missions projects with Nicky Cruz.

In 2010, David came on board full time at Times Square Church. In 2014, he became associate pastor at TSC, walking closely under Pastor Carter Conlon. Over the years at TSC he wore many hats developing ministry for the Bible school, preaching regularly for the 6pm Sunday service, overseeing outreach, discipleship, directing plays and producing films for Times Square Church.

David Ham is currently pioneering SoulCry Church in Long Island City, Queens. This is the launch of a growing church community committed to reaching the lost, discipling believers and creatively telling the story of God’s love.

Pastor David is married to Tara Ham. They have three children Zion, Zéna and Zoe. He passionately acknowledges that his family is his greatest joy in ministry.

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Gia Lowe

Bio coming soon!

Allie Joy

Allie Joy Tsahey is a Ghanaian-American entrepreneur, career strategist and diversity, equity, and inclusion advocate. She is the Founder and CEO of Baddies in Tech, a professional development organization dedicated to creating safe spaces for underrepresented women of color to thrive in technology. Allie’s impact on diversity and inclusion in the tech industry has been featured in global publications such as Ebony Magazine, Yahoo News, AfroTech and Blavity, and she continues to strive to create initiatives that ensure Black and brown women are represented in tech spaces.

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Esteban Shedd

Esteban Shedd is one of the founders of STREETLIGHTS ministry and serves as Executive and Chief Creative Communications Director. The communication of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this generation is his passion and focus; especially to the large, global, urban cities and sub-cultures of the world. As a Chicago native, he wants to see his own city know and love Christ, but this vision goes beyond Chicago as he sees the opportunities internationally for Gospel mission through the creative arts and the proclamation of God's Word in every heart language. He is a husband to his amazing wife Iris and a father to their 4 children, as well as an active member of his local church in Chicago, IL.

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Ashley Smith

Ashley Smith is a trailblazer in the sports and entertainment industry, currently serving as Manager of Player Engagement at the NFL. She leads mission-driven programs that support the personal and professional development of current and former players, helping them build fulfilling lives beyond the game.

With over a decade of experience, Ashley has worked at every level of sports, from intercollegiate athletics to the NFL League Office. Her career highlights include working with legendary coach Pat Summitt, hosting NCAA national championships, and contributing to the Kansas City Chiefs' player personnel department.

A graduate of the University of Florida and the University of Tennessee, Ashley was honored with UT Knoxville’s 40 Under 40 Award. She also serves as Vice President of Professional Development and Outreach for the UF Gotham Gators Alumni Board.

Ashley’s journey is one of resilience, faith, and service. After the unexpected loss of her mother, she turned adversity into strength, using her platform to inspire others. Alongside her brother, Trey Smith, a two-time Super Bowl Champion, she leads initiatives in their hometown of Jackson, Tennessee, empowering youth through education, mentorship, and sports.

A passionate advocate for community and women in sports, Ashley continues to break barriers, redefining the intersection of sports, business, and philanthropy.

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Lauren Devera

Lauren DeVera is your go-to multi-passionate hype girl! Lauren is a Certified Life & Somatic Coach, Positive Psychology Practitioner, Movement/Mindfulness artist and daughter to Filipino immigrant parents. Born in San Diego, raised in Virginia, Lauren is well-known for her down-to-earth warmth and infectious energy. Her facilitation, curation & performance credits include National Geographic, Kennedy Center, NPR, Yoga Alliance, BET, CW Network, Amazon and various universities. She is also the founder of The Lion’s Den DMV, a welcoming dance and wellness community, providing in-person & online classes, events, & performance opportunities. Be sure to take a listen to her top 25% wellness podcast, Thrive and Thread, a show centering wellness and creative entrepreneurship. You can typically find her snuggled up in a good book with a vanilla cappuccino, a bumping Spotify playlist and cuddling with her pup, Titan.

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Charlotte Crabbe

Charlotte is the Founder and President of Cultivate Vibrance. Her leadership is been visionary, strategic, relational and results oriented. Her experience is diverse; from leading a nonprofit in New York City to conference and event planning to creating a DEI program that successfully created pathways for emerging leaders of color. Most importantly she is a daughter, an auntie, a runner, community builder and women of faith.

Follow Cultivate Vibrance here.

Alicia Lee

Alicia Lee is the founder of Faithly (www.faithly.co), an online community for Christian ministry leaders. She serves as an Elder at Lower Manhattan Community Church. And she’s a regular speaker at faith-driven organizations on topics including faith, tech, and entrepreneurship. Before founding Faithly, Alicia spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as Head of Asset Manager Sales for the firm's Equities Franchise in New York. She also held roles in Alternative Capital Markets and the Investment Banking Division, gaining deep expertise in global markets and capital distribution. Alicia lives in New York City with her husband, Jason, and their three children. She holds a degree in Economics from Penn State University.

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Steven Stack

Steven Stack is a financial coach that is 100% debt free which includes paying off a six-figure mortgage in only 3 years. He also became a millionaire by age 31. That said, it's a sincere love for God, family & others that defines him. His approach to wealth building is holistic. He believes wealth is not only what is in your bank account but also the person you are becoming. Finally, he's a husband of over 11 years & father of 3.

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Nia Taylor

Nia Taylor-Benn is a seasoned graphic designer + freelance consultant with 14 years of experience tailoring impactful experiences/content for organizations and individuals of influence. Her name means 'purpose', symbolizing her commitment to helping others bring their boldest visions to life. She is born and raised in New York City with Caribbean roots stemming from both Trinidad & Guyana. More importantly, she credits Yahweh (God) as the source of all her skill and creative inspiration

Her entrepreneurial journey began in high school with the curation of YouTube interview series, 'NY.Coming' and since then she has honed her skills in digital storytelling, event production, and strategy supporting various brands and leaders. This year (2025) will mark 10 years of graphic design experience for Nia who has a wide range of design expertise, including brand identity development, large-scale ad-mat and billboard designs, book design, store branding, and innovative social media campaigns.

In addition to her design work, Nia is passionate about fostering spaces where faith and work intersect. In 2024, she founded "Worthy" - a monthly revival gathering for leaders who are committed to serving Jesus Christ in both the church and marketplace. Nia continually strives to make a meaningful impact through her creativity and dedication to the excellence of her community.

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Joey Price

Joey Price is the author of The Power of HR: How to Make an Organizational Impact as a People-Professional and CEO of Jumpstart HR. At Jumpstart HR, he works with companies to accomplish their strategic business aims and enhance employee experience. He leads a team of HR professionals and support staff who provide award-winning HR, Recruiting, Payroll and Learning & Development Solutions to local businesses and multinational firms. Based in Maryland, USA, he is an international HR keynote speaker, advisory board member, thought leader and TEDx speaker.

Link to His Book.

Nagela Dales

Meet Nagela Dales , founder of OPENHOUSE, a business designer, researcher, and speaker who shows daily that business can drive meaningful change.

Her work spans boundaries and sectors, from co-ideating products like an indigenous-centered DNA platform centered around data sovereignty to creating inclusive design strategies for tech companies, leading service design for healthcare nonprofits, helping activists build operating models for their organizations, and facilitating workshops for global brands like Nike, ServiceNow, and more.

She is proudest of her role as a designer and agitator, using tools like human-centered design and design justice to help leaders unlearn limiting beliefs, activate the imagination to move beyond extractive business models, and unlock their inner changemakers.

 She also draws from her own business journey as a first-generation entrepreneur to bring strategic tools to those traditionally excluded from innovation spaces, changing who gets the title of innovator.

 In her hands, business design becomes an opportunity to reduce harm, build better business cultures, and build power.

Follow OPENHOUSE here.

W. Ryan Gutierrez

W. Ryan Gutierrez works as the Director of Operations for the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary. His primary responsibilities include budget management, project management, account management, and backend operational workflows. His vision is to build organizational systems and processes that have people in mind and steward the mission of the De Pree Center.

Ryan earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies from Point Loma Nazarene University (2011), a Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Seminary (2016), and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in New Testament at Fuller under Dr. Joel B. Green (exp. 2025). His dissertation explores the relationship between people and land in the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.