Carolina Acosta is the founder and CEO of Tragos, the party game for Latinos by Latinos. She spearheads the Tragos product development and partnership initiatives, while wearing many other hats alongside her all-female and Latinx remote team. Carolina started her career immediately after graduating from Parsons, The New School, with a BFA in Communication Design in 2015. She worked at Lumenary, a design agency that helped startups with pitch decks, web design, and branding. In 2019, Carolina temporarily moved to South America for a change in pace and to reconnect with her Latin roots. It was there that she transitioned to freelance graphic design and met her business associate, John Lim. Bonding over their similarities within their ethnic backgrounds, Carolina and John worked together to launch Tragos and Azn Flush, the Asian party game equivalent to Tragos. Carolina launched Tragos mainly to build a product that spoke to her own interests and her identity as a US-born Latina. What started off as a fun game she wanted to play with her friends became a nationally recognized brand that many others like Carolina relate to and love. In 2021, Carolina was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 for the creation of Tragos and the social impact it was able to provide since inception. Tragos impact initiatives have helped raise over $20,000 for community driven organizations such as Black Lives Matter, Helping Hands of Puerto Rico, The Immigrant Worker Safety Net Fund, and more. Carolina continues to work on Tragos products while expanding new avenues for her business such as hosting events, collaborations, and speaking opportunities.

Executive Director of Cool Culture since 2007, Candice has devoted her career to improving the wellbeing educational opportunities and life outcomes for children and families from historically marginalized communities. Previously, she served as Director of Child Care and Head Start Collaboration at the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, and as Senior Policy Associate for Child Care, Education and Youth Development at Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, NYC’s premier child advocacy organization. Candice has received the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Extraordinary Women award, has an MS in Urban Planning from the New School for Social Research, received her B.A. from Oberlin College and in 2010 became a graduate of the Executive Level Program at Columbia Business School’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Management. In October of 2015, she was appointed by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio as a member of the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission and also sits on the NYC Department of Education’s Arts Committee to the Panel of Educational Policy.

Ms. King serves as the chief executive officer for Leadership Newark, Inc., a non-profit organization in the State of New Jersey. Her responsibilities include the overall management and oversight of numerous leadership development programs, which has an emphasis on public policy enrichment and civic engagement for both adults and youth. Celia is responsible for ensuring each program is of high quality & relevant based on the state of affairs nationally, regionally and statewide. In her role, she strives to expand and improve the network of civic and community leaders in the greater Newark area. As an advocate of civic participation, Celia takes her role seriously in engaging the public to be informed and involved. Ms. King feels community building as well as a commitment to social and civic responsibility requires the development of servant leaders through community leadership programs. Prior to assuming her current position, Celia worked in the field of healthcare as an administrator for more than 10 years, as a senior level executive with oversight in behavioral health services, substance abuse and ambulatory care. Celia M. King is a former Councilwoman from Maplewood, New Jersey, serving for 8 years. During her tenure she served in the capacity of Deputy Mayor 4 years. 

In February 2020, Francisco Tezén became President and CEO of A Better Chance, a national nonprofit that places talented young people of color into the leadership pipeline through increased access to academically rigorous secondary schools. Throughout his career, Francisco has created and managed growth, visibility and partnership strategies for educational and social service organizations with community-based, national, and global reach. Tezén, a first-generation Peruvian-American, leads the nonprofit when racial equity, educational opportunity, diversity, access and inclusion are at the forefront of our nation’s collective conscience. “My parents, an immigrant father and a black mother from rural North Carolina, stressed the importance of education to climb out of poverty and realize our American dream,” Tezén said. “As an alumnus of a college preparatory program, I have experienced firsthand the transformative effect of efforts that open pathways of opportunity for people like me. I am honored to lead A Better Chance in writing the next chapter in its venerable legacy.”

He joined A Better Chance from the Food Bank For New York City where he served as the Chief Development Officer.  Prior to the Food Bank, he held positions at Year Up, The New School, and Columbia Business School. Francisco earned his B.A. in History and Latin-American Studies at Wesleyan University and his M.S. in Nonprofit Management at The New School.