This entrepreneur has created & been a part of multiple business ventures that have allowed him the privilege to become a pillar in his community & a major influence around the world.

From beginning his accomplished acting career in the early ’80s to now owning various businesses throughout Southern California, he has been actively involved in bringing job opportunities & education to the community.

Through his partnership with organizations like the Los Angeles Urban League, he has created Career Development, Life Application, & Mentoring Programs that have helped cultivate & inspire the talents of the people in various Los Angeles communities.

From this Outreach, he created H.O.P.E. Ministries, a Non-Profit Organization designed to educate & enrich communities that are economically affected by the climate of their environment. To create awareness & bring in contributions to his organization, he developed a series of books entitled “Soul Food,” aimed to help people think & visualize themselves in a more positive & productive lifestyle.

He then partnered H.O.P.E Ministries with other national organizations & has begun an annual “CHRISTMAS IN COMPTON Toy & Clothing drive.” They have provided over 5000+ families in the City of Compton California with a Christmas experience that most of them may have never received. Christian has also expanded his Outreach to homeless people throughout Los Angeles County, creating a “THANKFUL THANKSGIVING” celebration. Held annually around the Thanksgiving Holiday, this event provides homeless people with food & supplies to help them survive & enjoy this great time of year.

With all the things he is actively involved in, Christian has a passion for people. He wants to see everyone have the same equal opportunity to accomplish & grow into the successful & prosperous people he feels they truly are.

Gabriella began her singing career in the family church gospel choir in Seattle, WA at the age of 14 while living with her grandmother, a native of New Orleans, LA, and a member of a legendary New Orleans jazz musical family. She also joined the gospel choir at Garfield High, where greats Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, and Ernestine Anderson also attended.

After graduating as an honor student, Gabriella married her high-school sweetheart and started a family. By 21, she was a single parent and mother of 2 beautiful daughters. At 22, she was approached by a local photographer while walking down the street to do some modeling and a new path arose.

Attending college, modeling, working full-time, and being the sole provider for her children, she honed the skills of hard work, strict discipline, determination, and perseverance. These traits helped her overcome the naysayers that a 22 -year old, single parent could not make as a model. Upon landing a full-page ad in Vogue Magazine, and winning 1st runner-up in Mrs. Washington International pageant, and being told she had been voted the winner, she was content she had proven her doubters wrong.

Modeling led to local and national commercials and films. Eventually faced with the decision to move to larger international markets which would force her to leave her children with family temporarily, she knew it was time to put it down and focus on more stable work in Seattle for her girls.

After working for KIRO Ch. 7 – Third Avenue Productions, Team Models, and creating her own Parent Talent Management Program, she decided to move to Las Vegas, NV in 1993, where her mother and Step-dad lived. Immediately she landed a job at Caesar’s Palace as she stepped into the role of Cleopatra. This role ‘like breathing’ many said quoted as being “the best Cleopatra they’ve ever had” by the Caesar’s Palace Executives. She wowed the tourists, impressed staff, and welcomed everyone from bums to bishops, paupers to princes, with the same genuine loving-kindness and compassion.

After a year, she knew this too, was not her calling. She felt there was still a deeper call from deep within her. Returning to Seattle in real estate/escrow to provide a stable life for her children, modeling and singing opportunities quickly landed in her lap once again. She knew in her heart this was her path. She began singing and collaborating on musical projects with local musicians. Soon she was singing in local karaoke bars to gain her confidence and eventually jazz clubs. Before long she was writing her own material as a recording artist.

With a deep calling still in her heart, she began working with youth to help them in discovering their purpose as a form of youth suicide prevention. This passion eventually led her to create her own nonprofit organization, S.O.A.R. America, in 1997. In 2004, she brought her program to her father’s
nonprofit, The African American Cultural Center in Kent, WA as the youth program. In 2006, the Kent School District adopted that program as an academic coaching program, an after-school program.

After the death of her father in 2011, she discontinued the program and self-published her autobiography in 2012. Gabriella has dedicated over 20 years of her life to helping youth discover their purpose, personal and professional guidance, and suicide prevention through the work of Music & Arts. She continues to strive toward making a positive change in the expression of the performing arts in the music and entertainment industry!

Gabriella has been a Spiritual Adviser & Teacher for over 25 years and continues to inspire and assist people to overcome and prosper in every aspect of life.

www.soar-america.com 

LeRoy Dennis is a 20-year Navy veteran from Miami, FL. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1997 with a B.S in Mechanical Engineering. He is also an MBA candidate at the Kenan-Flagler business school at the University of North Carolina. His most recent assignment was director of the Joint Operations Center and U.S. Southern Command.

His previous assignments include Director of Engineering of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, director of operations of the Navy’s mine countermeasure squadron, commanding and executive officer of the USS Sentry, director of engineering of the USS Stethem, deputy director of engineering of the USS Yorktown, and electrical officer of the USS Samuel Eliot Morison. LeRoy is a decorated military leader with combat action in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and the global war on terrorism.