IIrene Walker is a catalyst for creating programs that leverage the power of equity, education, and technology. Her keen ability to launch innovative programs came from her early experiences in supporting her father’s business and invention. Since then, Irene has brought a unique commitment that inspires organizations and communities around the world through her leadership, empathy and creativity. In 2018, Irene founded Meta Elevate, which supports Black and Latinx-owned businesses (for- and non-profit) and creators to grow their brands and increase revenue. She leads this bold company-wide program as Program Director and has touched over 2 million Black, LatinX + Hispanic businesses worldwide.
Irene’s devotion to empowering and advocating for communities of color was enhanced through her Economic studies at the University of California Berkeley. She gained further expertise in digital marketing and social media through her leadership roles as senior director at Yahoo!, Pandora Media and other major Fortune 500 companies. In 2016, she joined Facebook as the Head of Ads Education, building learning strategies for teams in engineering, user experience, research and product marketing. Taking these combined experiences, Irene built Meta Elevate, a business development program to support the online growth of minority small business communities in the US, Caribbean, and the UK. She continues to promote awareness of economic inequities through media and speaking engagements, authors articles on changing inequitable outcomes and continues to serve as a business consultant, advisor, strategist, and technology startup investor. Irene serves on the Board of OneGoal, a college access and success organization. Born in the US Virgin Islands, Irene currently lives in Los Angeles, California with her family.
Michael Balaoing, Esq. is a trained civil rights attorney, a global expert in strategic communications and leadership development, and past adjunct faculty at NYU and Johns Hopkins. He is an entrepreneur and founder/CEO of Candlelion LLC, a boutique consulting firm that advises the world's biggest businesses, most iconic brands and hottest startups and investors. He has personally coached and trained more than 30,000 people, from Sheryl Sandberg to Jessica Alba, across 50 countries, 6 continents and 100 companies, including Meta, Google, Amazon and Uber. He's based in Manhattan and Los Angeles.
Ronethea Williams works in Strategic Partnerships on the Communities Team at Meta. In this role, she leads the North American Facebook Community Accelerator which provides funding, coaching, and development to some of the world’s most impactful digital communities. Additionally, she leads work around supporting the Communities content ecosystem, including short form video like Reels. Prior to joining Meta, Ronethea led startups in the social networking, social impact, and HR tech spaces. Outside of work, she serves on several boards including her University’s Former Student (Alumni) Leadership Board and Visible Hands – a VC firm supporting under-represented founders. Originally from Houston, TX, Ronethea is a graduate of Texas A&M University and resides in Miami, FL.
Founder CEO Aleisbel Vázquez Sheppard of all things CurlPop: is the owner and Founder of Social platforms CurlPop ® , CurlPop ® Salon , CurlPop® University —an educational space and based in South Florida. She has popularized the infamous #CurlPopCut . “I realized early in my career that people who weren’t naturally curly or carried our texture were making money off us. I felt it was time for us to fill that space by celebrating our own and creating opportunities for our own growth in our personal lives and providing tools to create business spaces so that we can bank on what’s naturally ours.”
The CurlPop educational space is designed to learn the tools on how to take what’s naturally theirs and turn it into a successful business while growing and learning and celebrating their own and each other's natural hair . The love of natural hair and embracing her curls along her skill for business has allowed her to travel the world. Her work has been seen in all natural curly hair textures , celebrities, editorial sets , launching products and beauty brand consulting. Dubbed as the go-to curl ambassador, brand educator, and trendsetter known as the "Curl Innovator", Aleisbel Vázquez is known to embody her brand tagline and culture : CurlPop is a vibe!
Class Description:
Want to create better videos on Instagram? Feel like you are missing something in your digital presence? Join us in this event where we help you to find and create a strong brand story to promote your brand or business on Instagram and Facebook. You’ll learn how to tell and translate your story using Reels, Stories and Facebook and then how to use online creative tools to attract others to your brand and grow your business. This session will be led by Meta Elevate coaches, industry experts and creators who will share their best practices, tips and tricks!
You’ll learn how to:
Craft a compelling story about your business with Facebook and Instagram
Use Reels, Stories and Canva to translate your story into a visual ad
