Roop Raj is the 5 p.m. anchor at FOX 2 News.

Roop’s career started at age 14 when he produced and hosted his own television program in Troy, Mich. In his first two years at Michigan State University,  he was on the air at the CBS & ABC stations in Lansing, Mich.

Roop was then hired to anchor the news in Flint, Mich. where he did news and weather for four years. That was followed by seven years at NBC in New Orleans. After 24 hurricanes including Katrina, Roop moved to Detroit in ‘09 where an economic storm was brewing.

FOX 2 led the way during the 2020 elections, bringing you more exclusives than any other station in town. He was proud to have nailed down three exclusives, one-on-one interviews with then-candidate Joe Biden. Roop also secured three, one-on-one exclusives with former President Trump. His final interview landed him in the Rose Garden with a one-on-one with Trump for 15 minutes at the White House. Election Day was exciting.  After getting access to candidate Kamala Harris in Detroit, Roop decided to call the White House and ask if former VP Pence would be game for a phone interview.  He called Roop’s cell phone minutes later, capping off an extraordinary political season.

Roop believes getting exclusives is about building relationships with people.  He is committed to continuing this connection with our community so that we can bring you stories you won’t see anywhere else.

Roop is also a public speaking coach and keynote speaker. At TEDxDetroit In 2019, he headlined with his talk highlighting the gifts of rejection.

Rebecca Irby, Director of Transformational Change: Rebecca was on the team winning the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize and opens spaces of peace and cross-cultural communication worldwide. She holds Consulting Status at the United Nations, is on the Financing for Development Committee, and sits on the Working Group on Climate Finance. Rebecca helps develops heart-centered leaders who are empathetic, mindful, and courageous. At New Detroit, she is developing programs and curriculum, through New Detroit’s Just Institute and beyond, that use a multi-pronged approach to addressing the three levels of transformational systems change (policy/practice | resources/power dynamics | mental models), helping groups transform themselves, their relationships, and policies to move their businesses/institutions towards becoming a thriving anti-racist, multicultural organization. Rebecca has spoken at and worked with prominent institutions and governments such as Harvard Law School, the Yale Policy Conference, the University of Michigan, NJ Department of Education, Rutgers University, The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, & Industry; The City of Hiroshima; Nagoya University; New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Det Norske Veritas (DNV), and The PyeongChang Global Peace Forum, to name a few.

With over twenty years in the employee development, consulting, and training industry, Gary has a proven track record of partnering with leaders, looking to understand their business and human capital goals to develop prescriptive solutions. As a member of MMA’s national Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion team, he is charged with setting the direction of MMA’s DE&I initiatives including talent recruitment, awareness, and training. Additionally, as the leader of the Michigan practice, he assists local organizations maximize their DE&I investment. As the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practice lead, he strategically collaborates with clients to help them establish or grow their DE&I plans.

KimArie joined the QL team in 2013 and is the VP of Talent Development. In her current role she is responsible for leading her team to create sustainable and holistic development programs for all team members. This includes the onboarding process, team member development, organizational development, organizational engagement, and leadership development. She has more than 20 years of experience in client service, sales, and corporate education, focused on ensuring organizations were successful. She has an intense passion for the development of people and helping them achieve their true potential. She firmly believes that one’s ability to effectively lead their team members and make an impact rests on their ability to be inclusive, build trust, and create a dynamic and high performing team. She holds a BA in Business from Wayne State University, a MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a MSA from the University of Texas.

Edgar holds the position of Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion for Huntington National Bank. In this role, he provides guidance to leadership and team members; Partner with teams to effectively use data and analytics to identify trends and create solutions to address individual and group behavior and recommends strategies for making needed change. Edgar Vann, the first Diversity and Inclusion manager at TCF Bank (Chemical Bank). He implemented the first-ever Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s) companywide. 8 Ergs’ were created in the East, Central and West regions for a total of 24 ERG’s across TCF Bank’s national footprint (African Ancestry, Asian, Persons with Different Abilities, Women, Hispanic/Latino, Early Career Team Members, Military/Veteran, and LGBTQ+). He has worked closely with TCF’s Mentorship Program through the Mentorcliq platform, facilitated cultural awareness events, created an unconscious bias guideline for managers, and developed TCF’s first Diversity and Inclusion quarterly Newsletter. 2020 has been an exceptional unique year with COVID-19 and the civil unrest of many of our surrounding communities. Edgar immediately adapted to the new normal of virtual interaction and developed safe spaces for team members to express their challenges and seek critical information from professionals. He led a “Candid Conversations” book club series, Mental Health Awareness forum, Juneteenth Forum to name a few that were attended by over 3,500 employees in 2020. Edgar has been very intentional on the importance of helping to give a voice to team members who may have felt voiceless by creating an opportunity and a platform for team members to be heard in a safe space furthering his commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Prior to this he was the District Director of Government Relations for Wayne County Community CollegeDistrict. Honoring a lifelong call to service, Edgar has been a mentor, coach, and youth advocate since high school. He is committed to giving back to the community where he lives. He ​serves on the board of Eastside Community Network as Vice Chairperson, Michigan League for Public Policy, McDowell Preparatory Academy and sits on the Advisory Board for the National Diversity Council to name a few. He was honored by The National Diversity Council as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the Country, Michigan Diversity Council’s DEI and Racial Justice Advocacy award, Crain’s Detroit business Top 40 under 40 and Fifth Third Bank Young History Maker. Edgar L. Vann III is a proud Native Detroiter. He attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit and then went on to complete his higher education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA where he received his Bachelor of Arts, in Business Administration Majoring in Finance. He received his master’s degree in Organizational Management from Walsh College of Business and completed a Fellowship in Public Policy and Social Research from Michigan State University. He also, received his Certified Diversity Professional certification from the National Diversity Council.

Judith currently serves as Vice President of Community Engagement for Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan. At Gleaners she leads teams responsible for community engagement, government relations and advocacy, school partnerships, nutrition and wellness education, internal communications, and DEI initiatives. Judith served as Vice President of Corporate and Community Partnerships for Beaumont Health and Oakwood Healthcare, director of External Relations for NextEnergy, director of Education Partnerships for Detroit Public Schools and Director of Intergovernmental Relations for the City of Detroit during the administration of Mayor Dennis W. Archer.

Community service for Judith includes serving on the board of directors for Starfish Family Services. She has served as a board member with the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority, Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Center, and the Eastern Market Partnership.

Judith is a graduate of Wayne State University, and she was an Urban Affairs fellow with the American Council on Germany. Judith is an alum of Leadership Detroit, class XXXVI.

Owner/Principal of Ovell Rome & Associates, Ovell Barbee Jr., is a renowned, visionary human resources leader, consultant and speaker with a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He’s held executive leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies in an array of industries including Motorola, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, General Motors/OnStar, Spectrum Health (now Corewell Health) and Indiana University Health. In these roles, he drove sustained cultural change and reduced barriers for diverse populations with a “human-centered” approach that encouraged team members to use their voices as a catalyst for understanding and change. He implemented policies and practices addressing systemic and unconscious barriers and bias to allow everyone opportunities to thrive within a corporate culture. With his rare blend of experience and expertise in Human Resources and DEI, Ovell is an accomplished and sought-after speaker who chaired the National HR Healthcare Conference in 2022. He’s presented at the Healthcare HR Management Institute’s National Forum, the Becker’s Healthcare Annual Meeting, the National Diversity Council’s National Black Men in Leadership Summit and many other local, state and national meetings. He’s been featured in webinars, podcasts, and news articles on Human Resources and DEI topics. He offers guidance and advice on HR and DEI topics through his website, AskOvell.com. Background Growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan in a single-parent family that instilled the importance of hard work and education, Ovell began working as a newspaper carrier at age 12. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications, and a master’s in social work from the University of Michigan, then attended Michigan State University for a second master’s degree in HR and labor relations. He shares his life story, and lessons learned as an African American C-suite executive, in a best-selling book titled, “The Big House: A Human-Centered & Progressive Approach to DEI and Positive Workplace Engagement.” Awards and Affiliations Ovell has been honored as a Top 100 Chief Diversity Officer by the National Diversity Council; as a Top 50 Under 50 Executive by the National Black MBA Association; and as a Top 100 Human Resources Professionals by OnCon. He was the 2020 recipient of the City of Grand Rapids, Walter Coe Public Service GIANT award. He has served on the board of the National Diversity Council’s National Coalition for Racial Justice and Equity and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA), the National Association of Corporate Directors, and a decades-long member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Scott Alan Davis is a native Detroiter who attended Detroit Public Schools and later went on and graduated from Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in Communications Arts and Science focused on Public Relations/Marketing and Business. Scott furthered his education at Marygrove College in Detroit, Michigan earning his master’s degree in Administrative Education. Scott also received national certifications from the National Training Institute as a trainer in Conflict Resolution, Diversity, Multiculturalism, and Facilitation. Mr. Davis also received certification in real estate development from the National Development Institute.

His career has span throughout community development specifically focuses on holistic community planning and development as well as capacity building. Starting his work in community development as an AmeriCorps member and staffer. With the combination of the hands-on grassroots work that Scott experienced as an AmeriCorps member and the programmatic, faith-based, and grant work performed at Michigan Neighborhood Partnership, he has a unique talent and understanding of comprehensive development.

For the 13 years, Scott worked for Vanguard Community Development Corporation with several different roles and responsibilities strengthening his gifts and talents. He served as Community Organizing Director, Real Estate Director, Community Economic Development Director and lastly as Executive Director for 5 years. Under Scott’s leadership over 280 units of housing was developed, 1500 people have found housing, orchestrated several community events reaching over 56,000 residents and raised over 30 million dollars for community work. Scott has spoken nationally on holistic community development and served on dozens of community change groups and advisory councils.

In 2013, Scott joined Solutions for Energy Efficient Logistics (SEEL), LLC as Outreach and Marketing Manager. This year marked a courageous time as he changed careers thus, proving that his skills are highly transferrable. While at SEEL, Scott has moved into operations by managing multiple energy optimization programs in various states. In 2018 Scott was promoted to Portfolio Director at SEEL, LLC and in this role his main responsibility is to manage operations for the DTE Energy Waste Reduction Programs within the SEEL Portfolio. In August 2021 he was promoted to Director of Energy Access and Equity and in May of 2022, Scott was promoted once again to Vice President of Inclusion and Economic Development.

Scott has won several awards and been recognized numerous times for his work. In 2015, he was honored with the Michigan Chronicle Men of Excellence Award and in 2016 MCL Jasco (SEEL’s parent company) Chairman’s Award for outstanding service. He has served on several boards, currently the Association of Energy Service Professionals and the National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition. He also serves on several work force development and DEI committees. Scott is a mentor to several young professionals, youth, and returning citizens. He also started his consulting firm in 2012, the Robert Carrie Group. Named after his parents, the services offered are financial planning, for profit and not for profit business planning and development (this includes boards), strategic planning, event planning, urban and community planning, fund development and training in any of the afore mentioned areas. He is committed to supporting all communities and does it through a diversity, equity and inclusion lens and serves on various national committees in this capacity. In 2021 Scott officially became a certified DEI Professional and Leader by the National DEI Council. Scott is committed to using all his gifts to support and build strong communities.