Meet our special guest

Leading as the State of Illinois' liaison to the women's entrepreneurial ecosystem through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity's (DCEO) Office of Economic Equity & Empowerment (OE3), Michelle Lura White supports women-owned businesses, future women business owners, aspiring female entrepreneurs, and cross-sector organizations and leaders throughout Illinois as the women's business development manager. In Michelle's statewide role, she strategizes how the state can collaborate with cross-sector ecosystems to advance Illinois women in all parts of the state, and contributes to position Illinois to be one of the top U.S. states for women entrepreneurs. Prior to joining state government, Michelle worked on developing an app prototype for singles, together with a technology cofounder and was accepted into The Founder Institute, which is the world's most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups. Having not been defined by a particular sector, industry, or role throughout her career journey in the Midwest, Michelle has been a behind the scenes intrapreneur, transformational strategist, partnerships creator, organizer, and project manager focused on results.

Tramayne Butler-DeLong, PhD is a cultural anthropologist, wellness expert, consultant, Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach, and an entrepreneur. Recognized as one of the top 100 innovators and entrepreneurs by the Top 100 Magazines, she is the Founder and CEO of AnthroSpa Logic, LLC, a wellness lifestyle brand which offers a signature clean beauty line as well as a digital wellness program and consulting to organizations. Inspired by her travels and research, she developed the sustainable 100% natural skincare line based on the science of anthropology and combines practices from six continents around the globe. Her products have been featured by national media outlets such as ABC News, NBC News, Modern Luxury, Wellness Magazine, Happi Magazine, LNE & Spa Magazine as well as in celebrity gift bags at the GRAMMY Awards. Dr. Butler DeLong is an alumna of University of Chicago Incubators, a member of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago and serves as a Cornerstone Mentor for the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center.

A Phi Beta Kappa member and Summa Cum Laude, she earned her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. As an NSF and Social Science Research Council Fellow, she has conducted ethnographic research on cultural identity in Kenya and the United States. Dr. Butler DeLong has developed and taught courses as adjunct professor across the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, public policy and business on a wide range of topics, including research methods, Latin American cultures, African cultures, Native American cultures, multicultural dimensions, social problems and global cities. As a professor at Case Western University Weatherhead School of Management in the Department of Design and Innovation, she developed and taught a course for the Veale Institute of Entrepreneurship on sustainable entrepreneurship. Dr. Butler DeLong has been a featured speaker at Innovation and Entrepreneurship conferences, Case Western’s Veale Institute of Entrepreneurship, summits, corporate events and more.

Dr. Butler DeLong has worked on interdisciplinary teams with consulting clients such as the University of Illinois Carle College of Medicine leading projects to develop youth wellness initiatives including creating wellness centers in high schools, developing curriculum to train youth as community health workers, publishing scholarly research on interventions and collaborating with university administrators, policymakers and stakeholders. Dedicated to improving public health and access to resources, Dr. Butler DeLong also became Founder and Executive Director of TransformaWell, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health and wellness through community outreach and education about chronic disease prevention.

Lynette Correa-Velez, M.Ed. is the Founder/CEO of Pagame Project, a GenAI and human mediated–powered, economic mobility platform based in Chicago, IL committed to closing the global women’s wage gap and shaping the future of work through our maternal, GenAI Career Coach Agent, RitaAI. She is a trained career coach with over 20 years of professional experience, where she applies an equity-centered lens to co-empower professionals across industries.

Lynette’s leadership and advocacy have earned her 21 awards and honors, including the "2025 Empowering Latinas Award" from United Latinas National. She has earned 7 professional certifications which includes a Certificate of Completion in AI Vibe Coding. She is an alum of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center-Milestone Circles Program, national Colorwave Tech Fellowship, The Ladder and Women’s Mentoring Co-Op at Chicago Innovation, and the WMNTech and LTNTech Founder Accelerators at 1871-Chicago.

She is an active member of the Equal Pay Chicago Coalition at Women Employed, International Coaching Federation (ICF), Latinas in Tech,and on the inaugural Associate Board of Directors at Chicago Innovation.

Lynette holds an M.Ed. in e-Learning for Workplace Learning & Training with a focus in Human Resource Development (HRD) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where she also pursued doctoral studies in DEI in Education with a focus on HRD. She earned her B.S. in Business and HR Management with a minor in Psychology from Lesley University (formerly Lesley College, a Women’s College). Lynette lives and works in Chicago, IL with her family and their Goldendoodle named Lolita.