Our Panelists
Michael Blake
Michael Blake served as an Assembly Member in the New York State Assembly representing the 79th District in The Bronx, New York for three terms. In addition, Blake was a Vice Chair at Large of the Democratic National Committee, being the first Black man elected to DNC leadership since Ron Brown.
Serving in the Obama-Biden administration as the White House Associate Director of Public Engagement and Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Blake coordinated outreach to the African American, Minority and Women Business Enterprises and state and county elected official communities.
A 2007 Time Magazine article stated: “At just 25 years old, Michael Blake may have more to do with Barack Obama’s chances of becoming President than anyone besides the candidate himself. That may sound like a stretch, but Blake has the all-important job of bringing in new Iowa voters to caucus for the Illinois Senator.”
At present, Michael Blake is the Founder & CEO of Atlas Strategy Group, Inc. which focuses on Economic Empowerment through increasing Access to Capital, Contracting and Opportunities to Minority, Women and Small Businesses along with creating metrics based programs for Social Justice and Civic Engagement for Communities of Color.
Blake is a Five Year Term Member fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow, and a proud alum of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and Brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 100 Black Men and Prince Hall Freemasonry. Blake is a licensed minister in the United Methodist Church and African Methodist Episcopal church as well.
Brandon Micheal Hall
Brandon Micheal Hall was recently named one of Variety’s Top Ten Television Stars to Watch for 2017. Brandon will next be seen starring in the title role of the ABC comedy “The Mayor,” from executive producer Daveed Diggs. Hall is currently in production on the critically acclaimed TBS series “Search Party,” created by Michael Showalter and Lily Burns.
On the feature side, Brandon wrapped one of the leads in “Monster Party,” for Automatik, and will next be seen in the indie “Lez Bomb,” opposite Bruce Dern.
While still a student at Juilliard, Hall landed the lead on the CBS pilot “LFE,” opposite Melissa Leo.
Since graduating, Hall has guest starred on the hit Comedy Central series “Broad City,” Netflix’s “The Characters,” opposite Paul Downs, and A&E’s “Unforgettable.” On stage, he starred in the world premiere production of “Transfers,” directed by Jackson Gay.
Hall has trained at the Juilliard Drama Division, the British American Drama Academy, and the South Carolina Governor School of the Arts and Humanities.
Angel Obergh
My name is Angel Obergh and I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. Currently, I am a sophomore at Bard College doing a joint major in Spanish Literature and Computer Science, and I am also a campus co-head and mentor for Brothers@Bard.
Brothers@ has become an inclusive and vulnerable place for me, it has helped me tremendously in navigating Bard college and bonding with my amazing brothers. My goal at Brothers@Bard is to keep fostering this vulnerable space where students of color feel comfortable and embraced.
When I graduate, my plan is to become a game designer and create cool indie games. I want to also use my Spanish major to create programs that allow native Spanish speakers to improve in their language and understanding of Latinx culture.
Wes Moore
Wes Moore is the Chief Executive Officer of Robin Hood, one of the largest anti-poverty forces in the nation. He is a bestselling author, a combat veteran, and a social entrepreneur.
Wes’ first book, “The Other Wes Moore,” a perennial New York Times bestseller, captured the nation’s attention on the fine line between success and failure in our communities and in ourselves. That story has been optioned by executive producer Oprah Winfrey and HBO to be made into a movie. He is also the author of the bestselling books “The Work,” “Discovering Wes Moore,” “This Way Home” and the recently released, “Five Days.”
Wes grew up in Baltimore and the Bronx, where he was raised by a single mom. Despite childhood challenges, he graduated Phi Theta Kappa from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. He earned an MLitt in International Relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004. Wes then served as a captain and paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, including a combat deployment to Afghanistan. He later served as a White House Fellow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Before becoming CEO at Robin Hood, Wes was the founder and CEO at BridgeEdU, an education platform based in Baltimore addressing the college completion and job placement crisis by reinventing freshman year for underserved students. BridgeEdU was acquired by Edquity, a Brooklyn-based student financial success and emergency aid firm, in June 2019.
Wes has also worked in finance as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank in London and with Citigroup in New York.
Wes lives in Baltimore with his wife and two children.
Shawn Dove
Shawn Dove has four decades of cross-sector leadership in the fields of youth development, community-building, philanthropy, arts education, leadership development and media. He currently serves as the founder of the Corporation for Black Male Achievement, a consulting and multi-media firm that produces engagements and stories of loving, learning and leading by and for Black men and boys.
Most recently, Dove served as the CEO of the Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), a national intermediary membership organization committed to ensuring the growth, impact and sustainability of leaders and organizations committed to improving the life outcomes for Black men and boys. Launched in 2008 at the Open Society Foundations and spinning off into an independent entity in 2015, under Dove’s leadership CBMA leveraged more than $212 million in national and local funds, while connecting thousands of leaders and organizations on behalf of the emerging field of Black Male Achievement.
Among Dove’s key accomplishments during his tenure with CBMA were helping seed the launch of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative; brokering a partnership between OSF, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the City of New York to launch the NYC Young Men’s Initiative; serving as a lead organizer of the Executives’ Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys & Young Men of Color, investing in the launch of Cities United, Echoing Green’s BMA Fellowship, Oakland Unified School District’s Office for African American Male Achievement, as well as numerous additional local and national strategies.
During his career journey Dove served for a decade as Program Director of the Harlem Children Zone’s Countee Cullen Community Center, one of NYC’s first 10 Beacon Schools, where he helped spearhead the launch of HCZ’s Fitness & Nutrition Center. During his career Dove has also served as Executive Director of The DOME Project; Director of Youth Ministries for First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, NJ; Creative Communities Director for the National Guild for Community Schools of the Arts; and Vice President of MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership.
Dove has a long-time commitment to multi-media and narrative change efforts that amplify the voices and stories of Black people and their communities, including launching Harlem Overheard, an award-winning youth-produced newspaper at HCZ, serving as the founding publisher of Proud Poppa, a newsmagazine devoted to elevating asset-based stories about Black fathers; investing in people of color-led media companies and productions, as well as funding and publishing numerous research reports to advance the BMA field.
Dove is the co-author of I Too Am America: On Loving and Leading Black Men & Boys (June 2021), equal parts memoir, historical account of CBMA and a curated manifesto of “where do we go from here” with the Black Male Achievement movement.
As a result of his catalytic leadership, Dove has been recognized with numerous awards, including the key to the City of Louisville, Black Enterprise’s inaugural 2017 “BE Modern Man of the Year,” and Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 in 2016. Dove is also a recipient of the Charles H. Revson Fellowship at Columbia University and was awarded a 2014 Prime Movers Fellowship for social impact leaders.
Dove earned a BA in English from Wesleyan University and is a graduate of Columbia University Business School's Institute for Not-for-Profit Management. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wonderful wife and four amazing children.