🚨FOR SPEAKERS🚨

The Anteater to AntLEADER speaker series invites experts to talk with students about various professional development topics. This helps to give aspiring entrepreneurs insight on the skills they need to increase their chances of start-up success. 

The Call for Speakers open, and we encourage you to consider applying to speak to our students. 

Anteater to AntLEADER Series

Anteater to AntLEADER is a speaker series where we invite local business leaders to present professional development topics to UCI students. 

 Topics could include but are not limited to the following:

  • Building Your LinkedIn Profile
  • Teamwork and Resilience
  • Personal Branding
  • Professional Email Etiquette
  • Networking and Community Building
  • Conflict Resolution and Humility
  • Integrity and Ethics
  • Financial Literacy

If you have a professional development topic that you can speak on with authority, please fill out the Winter Call For Speakers form below.

Past Speakers

Marcelle Hayashida

Marcelle Hayashida

In her role as associate vice chancellor for UCI Wellness, Health & Counseling Services, Dr. Marcelle Hayashida oversees Campus Recreation, the Office of Campus Social Work, CARE, Child Care Services, the Counseling Center, the Disability Services Center, the Student Health Center, and the Center for Student Wellness & Health Promotion. She supports the health of the campus as the point-person and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs’ representative on student wellness issues, and works to contribute constructive advocacy around issues that affect the mental and physical health and wellbeing of the campus community. She also chairs the Consultation Team, which is the campus’ threat assessment team.

Theresa Nguyen

Theresa Nguyen

As MHA’s Chief Program Officer and Vice President of Research and Innovation, Theresa works to improve access to mental health care through data and digital-based innovations. Her areas of special interest include prevention, early intervention, education, and building a full recovery-oriented mental health system of care. Theresa manages MHA’s programs including MHA Screening, The State of Mental Health in America, and Workplace Wellness. She oversees MHA’s research which explores the integration of peers into research, the use of technology to support people in the earliest stages of recovery, and how large scale data provides insight into gaps in supports systems across the country. 

Josh Gold

Josh Gold

Josh Gold has 30 years of aikido experience and is one of the most visible leaders in the global Aikido community, which now spans 140 countries. Josh is Executive Editor of Aikido Journal, the world’s leading Aikido media publication and digital community and is Executive Director of Ikazuchi Dojo. In 2019, Josh founded Budo Accelerator with a goal of using Aikido for social good. Budo Accelerator is a growing educational nonprofit that empowers low-opportunity youth to become the leaders of tomorrow. Its programs for high-school and first-generation college students build resilience, leadership capacity, and a powerful network of peers and mentors.

Berké Brown

Berké Brown

Berké is a leading expert in motivation and behavior change. He has worked with numerous companies, leaders, organizations, and municipal governments to create mission-driven and sustainable changes in culture, performance, and service.

He is a managing partner and Executive Coach at Fogbreak Justice, a values-based DEI educational & consulting firm. He is also the founder of iGYM Enterprises, a mindset coaching and consulting company that equips individuals and organizations with research-backed tools to increase performance, resilience, and purpose.

Metta World Peace

Metta World Peace

Metta World Peace (born Ronald William Artest Jr.) is a former NBA player and champion who played for the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, and Chicago Bulls. 

World Peace is a staunch mental health advocate, who has made several trips to Capitol Hill to speak with congressional members about the importance of supporting mental health and has participated in numerous PSA campaigns on behalf of mental health awareness. World Peace continues to speak with school, community, and incarcerated groups of youth and adults on the importance of mental health and seeking help when one needs it.

In 2019, World Peace founded XvsX Sports, a global sports, media and technology company focused on empowering athletes, creating compelling, purpose-driven content, and connecting sports enthusiasts throughout the world. In 2022, World Peace was named the new Chief Impact Director of OOTify, a clinically data-driven mental health hub that uses educational content, predictive triage analytics, and enhanced telehealth to empower clients to efficiently get high-quality therapy and find inexpensive sub-clinical resources that address their mental well-being needs.

Ektha Aggarwal

Ektha Aggarwal

Ektha Aggarwal is the Chief Clinical Officer of OOTify and the founder of Shakti Therapy & Healing Services. She is a licensed Clinical Social Worker driving the clinical architecture and transforming health services with psychedelic-assisted therapy. Ektha is a leader in the mental health space who is dedicated to co-creating the next generation of healing systems.

Meeshu Agnihotri

Meeshu Agnihotri

Meeshu Agnihotri is a graduate researcher earning her Ph.D. in Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. Currently, she is designing mobile health technologies to support people with physical, emotional, social, and other aspects of their holistic well-being. She graduated from Georgia Tech’s MSHCI program with an interest in understanding user needs and building technologies to support them. She was also a UX/ Product Designer for consultancies and startups in Chicago, Atlanta, and Bangalore, India. Outside of work, she volunteers for community and career-focused non-profits such as Women Making News.

Ravi Sharma

Ravi Sharma

Ravi Sharma built a venture capital studio for active investment of personal and syndicated capital in underrepresented founders of tech-enabled businesses via iBOS Ventures. Supported industries include, but are not limited to: fintech, digital health, B2B, and web3 (crypto). He incubated and founded OOTify because he believes it will have an outsized impact on society as a proof-of-care, mental health web3 platform.

Shilpa Vadodaria

Shilpa Vadodaria

Shilpa Vadodaria believes healthcare is a human right. Shilpa is Amazon’s Global Lead for Digital Innovation, specializing in healthcare and digital equity. She previously led Amazon’s COVID-19 equity agenda, coming off driving national reform (the Affordable Care Act and US Medicaid redesign), tackling the spread of HIV/STIs in South Asia, and building sanitation systems in Ghana with Engineers without Borders. Shilpa holds an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Columbia University.

Top reasons to speak to students

  • Give back to next generation of entrepreneurs
  • Share your past experiences to help students succeed 
  • Inspire students with your entrepreneurial journey
  • Make an impact on early-stage start-ups
  • Connect and network with some of UCI’s best and brightest
  • Gain exposure for your brand and the great work that you do
  • Meet and make new friends 
  • Flex your innovative muscles

“Our guest speakers have a significant impact on our student entrepreneurs, both for their businesses and their professional development. It’s important for students to learn about the reality of starting and scaling a business. ”

Ryan Foland, Director of the ANTrepreneur Center

What happens after the talk?

Most of our speaker presentations are recorded through a multi-camera setup. For live presentations (both in-person and Zoom), there will be a live audience. When possible, talks and workshops will be livestreamed to YouTube. We are also working towards turning video recordings into YouTube videos, audio recordings into podcast episodes, and transcriptions into articles. This way, students have many opportunities to experience the content. 

How are the events promoted?

Speaker events are  promoted through our social media channels, including LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We also promote our Anteater to AntLEADER series through CampusGroups, newsletters, and emails to all UCI undergraduate students. Each event offers free food provided by our amazing sponsor Sigma Computing. Â