Keynote Speakers Highlighted: #NicheMommy12

We are really fortunate to have  had great success with all of our speakers for the inaugural conference.  We think this shows the real value in a conference dedicated to the diverse and multicultural mom active in social media.  With that said, these keynote speakers require no introduction.   They are inspiring, savvy, understand social media, and most of all, value you.   Please give them a hearty welcome by tweeting:  Welcome @TedRubin @Chookooloonks @JenniferJames @DrDaisy @mochamanual as keynote speakers @NicheMommy! #nichemommy12 http://su.pr/1CU6Vu

Keynote Speaker: Karen Walrond

Karen is also the author of Chookooloonks, an award-winning photoblog. Her fine art photography pieces and projects have been included in exhibits around the country. She is a contributor to the book Expressive Photography: A Shutter Sisters’ Guide to Shooting from the Heart, a guide for beginning and intermediate photographers for adding heart and soul to their imagery. Karen’s writing, images and other projects have been featured on CNN.com, USA Today, Good Housekeeping and Wondertime magazines, among others.  She is a sought-after keynote speaker, including having covered topics as varied as parenthood, diversity, social media and women in leadership. She has appeared on both local & national television shows and other news media, including PBS, Huffington Post, CNN.com and an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Karen is originally from Trinidad & Tobago, but currently lives in Houston, Texas with Marcus (her English husband), Alex (her American daughter), and Rufus the Wonderdog. She’s a former engineer and an attorney, holding a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston.  She’s also wildly convinced you’re uncommonly beautiful.

Connect with Karen on  Twitter @Chookooloonks

Keynote Name: Ted Rubin

Session Name: It’s All About Relationships! 

Ted Rubin is a leading social marketing strategist and in March 2009 started using and evangelizing the term ROR, Return on Relationship™…  a concept he believes is the cornerstone for building an engaged multi-million member database, many of whom are vocal advocates for the brand, like the one he built for e.l.f. Cosmetics (EyesLipsFace.com) as the Chief Marketing Officer between 2008 and 2010, and the one built for OpenSky where Ted, was the Chief Social Marketing Officer. His book, Return on Relationship™, is due to be released in August.

On May 1, 2011, Ted announced leaving OpenSky and accepting the position of Chief Social Marketing Officer at Collective Bias (whose Advisory Board he joined in January 2011), a company he has worked closely with since it was founded by John Andrews who Ted met through the blogging community when he was leading Emerging Media at Walmart. Ted is also on the Advisory Boards of Blue Calypso, OpenSky, SheSpeaks, Zuberance, Taptank, Crowdsourcing Week and the Chinoki Board of Directors.

Many people in the social media world know Ted for his enthusiastic, energetic and undeniably personal connection to people. Ted is the most followed CMO on Twitter and has one of the deepest networks of any marketer in the social arena. ROR is the basis of his philosophy…It’s All About Relationships!

Connect with Ted on Twitter @TedRubin

SPEAKER: Kimberly Seals Allers

Session Title-  The State of the Mother’s Union Address: Discussing Issues that Affect Moms of Color

Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, a leading authority on motherhood and breastfeeding issues in the African American community, author of The Mocha Manual™ series of books and founder of MochaManual.com, a daily parenting and lifestyle destination and blog for African American moms and moms-to-be.

A former senior editor at Essence magazine, Kimberly’s thoughtful and provocative online commentaries on motherhood, breastfeeding disparities and infant health and the intersection of race, class and culture, received over 10 million page views last year.  In 2011, Kimberly was named an IATP Food and Community Fellow, funded by the Kellogg Foundation, with a mandate to increase awareness and engagement around “the first food”—breast milk, in vulnerable communities. She was also recently selected by the United States Breastfeeding Committee as a lead commentator for the nationwide “Break Time for Nursing Mothers” federal campaign.

In addition to her work as a consultant, writer and public speaker on African American motherhood, Kimberly is also a fiercely committed and highly respected advocate in the fight to reduce the high infant and maternal mortality rates and increase the low breastfeeding rates in the African American community. In March 2012, she launched Black Breastfeeding 360°, a first of its-kind online multi-media content library for media professionals and the black community featuring resources, news, voices and analysis on the black breastfeeding experience.