Speakers
Elisha Rhodes, Interim CEO and COO
Elisha Rhodes is a leader, movement builder, and change maker. Within her new role as YWCA USA’s Interim Chief Executive Officer and during this transition period, Elisha looks forward to leading this incredible storied movement in its work to realize YWCA’s audacious and necessary mission. For the past fifteen years, Elisha has guided the organization’s strategic and operational growth, to ensure that YWCA’s mandate to eliminate racism and empower women, never falters. As YWCA USA’s Chief Operating Officer, Elisha effectively stewards critical resources to support a federated network serving over 2.4 million women and girls each year. She serves as the operations, finance, strategic and people leader of YWCA USA and provides leadership to ensure key initiatives, culture transformation, program regulations, performance outcomes, and operations are managed appropriately. Elisha plays an instrumental role in streamlining operations, while playing a leadership role in strategic enterprise wide initiatives, such as the Strong Foundation Fearless Future Initiative, the Strategic Business Plan, and successful oversight of YWCA USA’s operating budget. She regularly plans regional, national and international events for the network and strategic partners.
Elisha is often called upon to share her subject matter expertise in gender and racial justice, young women’s leadership, operations, people management, and federated networks, within national and international forums, and was recently invited joined the Forbes Nonprofit Council. Her leadership continues to garner recognition from national and international institutions: YWCA South Africa honored Elisha for her leadership during the 29th World Council in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Procter & Gamble invited Elisha to take part in The Georgetown University New Strategies Symposium. Elisha also serves as a Chief Diversity Leader for Leadership 18’s Executive Committee.
An active community member, dedicated to centering the needs of women and girls in underserved and unprotected communities, Elisha continues to lead critical efforts to amplify YWCA USA’s mission within the network and beyond. She played a leadership role in the development of YWCA USA’s inaugural Indigenous and Women of Color Cohort, and guided strategic and operational oversight of the organization’s first North American and Caribbean Young Women’s Conference, hosted in her country of birth, Barbados. Committed to building the infrastructure and foundation necessary to guide YWCA USA’s deepened racial justice work, she co-leads the YWCA USA’s work to develop and implement an internal racial equity framework. Devoted to supporting the advocacy and leadership of young women, Elisha serves as board treasurer for the Black Swan Academy, a non-profit organization in the District of Columbia that concentrates its efforts on empowering Black youth through Civic Leadership and Engagement.
La La Anthony
La La Anthony is an actress, producer, New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur. La La is best known for her role as Lakeisha Grant on the hit show, “Power,” which wrapped its sixth and final season on Starz in 2020. Anthony has since joined the cast of SHOWTIME’s The Chi and announced that she will be starring in indie drama Nine Bullets with Lena Headey and Sam Worthington. Adding to her producing Credits, La La has teamed up with Issa Rae to executive produce the forthcoming horror comedy for Universal Pictures, Juju in addition to executive producing a project about the life of Cyntoia Brown alongside 50 Cent Starz. Additionally, she will also be appearing in the upcoming seasons of “Black Mafia Family” (Starz) “Wu Tang: An American Saga” (Hulu) animated comedy “The Freak Brothers,” (Tubi) and starring opposite Gabrielle Union in the recently announced Netflix feature film, The Perfect Find.
Her other acting credits include The New Edition Story (BET) and Unforgettable (A&E), Reef Break (ABC) and BH 90201 (FOX) as well as feature films including Think Like a Man, Think Like a Man Too, Spike Lee’s critically acclaimed Chi-Raq, Double Play, Baggage Claim and Netflix’s Holiday Rush. La La Anthony is also the host of a Facebook Watch series titled, “La La Anthony: Reclaim Your Life” and is the Producer of a Snap Original docuseries titled, “The Honeybeez of ASU.”
La La produced the BET documentary film, “Killer Curves” and made her Broadway producing debut in 2016 with “Eclipsed,” starring Lupita Nyong’o. “Eclipsed” received a Tony Award nomination and made history as the first all-female, all-black show on Broadway. She and 50 Cent are teaming up on a new drama for STARZ titled “Intercepted,” based on Alexa Martin’s bestselling novel and inspired by her life as an NFL wife.
La La has also written two New York Times best-selling books, “The Love Playbook,” and “The Power Playbook.” She is currently adapting “The Love Playbook” into a TV series.
She began her entertainment career in radio at the age of 16 at Atlanta’s Hot 97 station. Following a brief internship while still in high school, she was given her own show, the wildly popular “Future Flavas,” alongside rapper/actor Ludacris. At 19, she received an offer to co-host “The B-Syde” at 92.3 The Beat in Los Angeles. In 2001, she joined MTV and became the network’s premiere talent, co-hosting the original “TRL” and “Direct Effect.