SPEAKHIRE Summit 2025
Thank you for celebrating 10 years of Speakhire’s success in developing tomorrow’s leaders!
Welcome Networking
Networking Activities With Art plus light lunch and refreshments
Mennatallah Mahmoud
Empowered Art
I am an artist, a reader, and an activist. I’m deeply passionate about advocating not only for myself but for others—especially for those whose voices often go unheard. The SPEAKHIRE Empowering Leadership Course laid the foundation for many of my current achievements and was a truly transformative experience.
Alicia Zhang
Vision Wall
I’m a graphic designer and brand storyteller passionate about helping others share their stories in meaningful ways. I love creating visuals that connect with people and bring ideas to life. Together, we’ll explore your unique strengths, your leadership journey, and how your voice can make an impact. I’m excited to connect and build something great with you!
Entrepreneurship As A Path Forward
Attendees met bold builders and creative problem-solvers who had turned ideas into action. The panel unpacked the real journey of entrepreneurship—from the first spark to real-world impact.
Dr. Ying Zhou
Director of Queens College Tech Incubator
Driving AI adoption and digital transformation for small businesses and startups. Dr. Ying Zhou advise and mentor founders, entrepreneurs, and students on leveraging emerging technologies to fuel innovation, growth, and operational excellence. Passionate about building adaptive, future-ready ecosystems through cross-sector collaboration, human-centered design, and creativity-powered community engagement.
Dr. Ying Zhou
Director of Queens College Tech Incubator
Maxwell Tawiah
Queens College International individual and Winner of Pitch Competitions
Carla Cordova Farfan
Queens college Program Coordinator of the Immigrant Student Support
Inspiring Leadership Pitch Presentations Winning Team
We celebrated the creativity and courage of our Inspiring Leadership Pitch winners—teams who had turned challenges into opportunities and presented bold solutions with clarity and heart. Their ideas represented the future of leadership in action.
At STEMY EATS, we’re tackling global trash pollution with eco-friendly robots that clean waste efficiently and safely—starting in New York and expanding worldwide. Our technology offers a sustainable, scalable solution to one of the planet’s most urgent challenges. We’re not just building a company; we’re building a cleaner future. We need your support to grow, innovate, and make a lasting impact. Join us—let’s fight trash pollution together.
Steven Chen
I am Steven and I got the Ambassador of the Year award! Currently, I am 11 years old and I go to the wonderful school called I.S. 125 Thom J. McCann Woodside and I’m in sixth grade! I am also the CEL of the company STEMY EATS. I started this company because there is a lot of trash in New York, and little to no people are helping to fix it, and I can’t imagine how much more there is in other parts of the world!
Daniel Celio
Hey! I'm Daniel Martinez Celio. I am 12 years old and go to IS125. I am very excited to be a part of our company STEMY EATS. My team members and I have been working hard on our project and we will like to make it come to reality. People should care about STEMY EATS because we want to keep our planet clean for our environment and we need people's help for our company to come to life. People should care about STEMY EATS because we want to keep our planet clean for our environment and we need people's help for our company to come to life.
Ashik Irfan
Hello, my name is Ashik E Irfan and I am 12 years old in I.S 125. I won the SPEAKHIRE Inspiring Leadership Course Pitch Presentations with my team, STEMT EATS. The reason why I am in STEMY EATS is because of the trash pollution around New York and all around the world! It’s horrible, and I want to fix this problem and STEMY EATS will help that by using pollution free robots which is great! Investors should invest in our company because this company STEMY EATS makes pollution free robots that clean the earth! If we don’t clean the planet, both us and the earth will get affected greatly! This is why people should invest in our company, “STEMY EATS”.
Finding Your Career Path Panel with 2025 Soiree Heroes
Weren’t sure what you wanted to do in the future? You heard from our 2025 Soiree Heroes—real people who had been where you were, figured it out, and were thriving in careers they loved. You got inspired, received real advice, and started building your path.
Wendy Ebanks
Soiree Hero
Mentorship changed my life. I serve as a Career Pathways Champion to give back, pay forward the support I once received, and show that success is possible for people from all backgrounds—including mine.
Wendy Ebanks
Soiree Hero
Erycka Montoya
Soiree Hero
Bindu Krishna
Soiree Hero
Hubs And Jobs
Hubs And Jobs
We returned to the QC Tech Incubator for snacks and the SPEAKHIRE Hub! Participants explored what the SPEAKHIRE Hub offered, worked through their resumes, and learned how to make themselves more competitive for jobs.
Past Summits
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