How to Be an Advocate Panel - 2021

Tanya M. Odom, Ed.M. is a global consultant, writer, coach, and diversity, equity, and inclusion and civil rights thought leader. She has worked globally for more than 20 years, in more than 40 countries, as a consultant, coach, storyteller, and facilitator focusing on areas including: Diversity and Inclusion, Inclusive Leadership, Race/Racism, Challenging Conversations, Mindfulness, Coaching, Innovation and Creativity, Educational Equity, and Youth Empowerment/Mentoring. Tanya’s unique portfolio career has allowed her to work in the education, private sector/corporate, not-for-profit/NGO, law enforcement, and university/college arenas. She is the co-author of "Evaluation in the Field of Education for Democracy, Human Rights and Tolerance.” Tanya is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post, where she has written posts about diversity, leadership, self-compassion, and mindfulness. Tanya also writes for cnn.com. Tanya’s work and commentary has also appeared in several publications including Diversity Woman Magazine, Bloomberg News, and The Village Voice. Tanya was named by Diversity Best Practices as “A Diversity Thought Leader to Follow on Twitter. As a mindfulness practitioner, Tanya weaves in mindfulness research and practice in her work with individuals and groups and connects it to leadership, teams, intentional inclusion, and the mitigating of unconscious bias. A recent area of focus has been supporting the United Nations in their gender equity by 2030 pledge. Tanya has worked with 15 UN entities in nine different countries focusing on inclusive leadership, unconscious bias, and women in leadership. Tanya is passionate about working with youth, and engaging them in meaningful, relevant conversations. She has combined her global diversity and inclusion work with her youth development/youth leadership focused work. She has worked with youth in the U.S, and on projects in Northern Ireland, where she worked with Catholic and Protestant Youth; and in Israel, where she worked with Palestinian and Israeli youth on topics including bias, dialogue, community building, and youth leadership. She has also worked with young people from different ethnic groups in Myanmar, where the program focused on women’s empowerment and increased inclusion in the political process. Over the last three years, Tanya has spent a great deal of time globally facilitating sessions, and moderating panels focused on "Challenging Conversations," where she has been creating spaces for honest and courageous dialogues and sharing. Entrepreneur Magazine recently featured Tanya as one of the "3 Women Entrepreneurs Who Unleash Their Energy for the Greater Good." Tanya has a master’s degree in education from Harvard University, where she focused on administration, planning, and social policy. She received her B.A. in anthropology/sociology with a correlate sequence in women’s studies from Vassar College. In addition to the NSHSS Foundation Board, Tanya is a member of the Board of Trustees for Vassar College, and a Board Member of the Institute for Mindful Leadership.

Fabian De Rozario is a business and community leader who has led, coached, and trained thousands of people globally. After 18 years in various leadership roles, Fabian started his training & development practice, GlobalConnect LP in 2005. He also spent 14 years as a contract consultant and master facilitator with Korn Ferry, a global talent and organizational consultancy. Since 2005, Fabian has traveled extensively around the world, delivering an average of 100 workshops and speeches every year. He is a subject expert of diversity & inclusion, unconscious bias, cultural agility, and inclusive leadership. Fabian’s passion is also in community service, and he has served on several boards and previously served as the President & CEO of the National Association of Asian American Professionals. His acknowledgments include the President’s Award from the Georgia Society of Association Executives and he is a member of the 2011 Class of Leadership Atlanta.

Yawei Liu (刘亚伟) is the director of the China Program at The Carter Center. He became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in 2014. He is the associate director of the China Research Center in Atlanta and an adjunct professor of Political Science at Emory University. He co-authored Obama: The Man Who Will Change America (Chinese language, 2008). He is the founding editor of www.chinaelections.org, which went online in 2002. Other websites he founded and oversees include www.uscnpm.org (English) and www.uscnpm.com (Chinese). Since 2012, he has organized an annual forum on U.S.-China relations, which alternates between China and the US. He currently leads a project to examine the impact of the rise of China on developing countries and to promote US-China collaboration in African countries. Yawei earned his B.A in English literature from Xian Foreign Languages Institute (1982), M.A. in recent Chinese history from the University of Hawaii (1989) and Ph.D. in American History from Emory University (1996).

Emily Smith is the current Collegiate Council Executive Board President for the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). She is a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. As a film production major and an intern at the Hawaii Filmmakers Collective, she hopes that one day she can create films that address social justice issues. In addition to this, Emily has founded her own volunteer organization called Lend A Paw which has an educational program that has reached over 70,000 students in both Hawaii and Japan.

Alana Tang is a current member of the NSHSS Student Council, and a senior at Columbia University as part of the Dual BA Program with Sciences Po. She has framed her academic study to explore the multidimensionality of humanity -- from the individual to society -- majoring in Political Science and History in France and is studying Psychology in New York. A native New Yorker and ethnically Chinese, her parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines over two decades ago.