Kelli Masters is an attorney, sports agent, business owner, author and speaker. As a lifelong Oklahoman, Kelli fulfilled a childhood dream by becoming one of OU's Feature Twirlers in the early ’90s, along with her twin sister, Kim. In 1997, she was crowned Miss Oklahoma and used her scholarship money from the Miss America pageant to obtain her Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Oklahoma. In 2005, Kelli became a certified sports agent and founded KMM Sports, a full-service sports agency representing athletes in the NFL and other professional sports. Bleacher Report named her one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Sports Business based on her trailblazing success in athlete representation. Kelli made history in 2010 as the first woman to represent a Top 5 pick in the NFL Draft. In addition, she continues to practice law, having argued and won cases before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Her first book, “High-Impact Life: A Sports Agent's Secrets to Finding and Fulfilling a Purpose You Can't Lose,” was released in August 2021. She continues to serve as president of KMM Sports, an adjunct professor, and owner of The Branch, a coworking community in Oklahoma City.
Speaker & Panelists
Keynote Speaker
Opening Remarks
Ashley Harroz serves as Chief Executive Officer of HPI, Oklahoma’s premier physician owned, physician driven specialty hospital system. Harroz joined HPI in 2010 as Vice President and General Counsel, later served as Chief Operating Officer, and moved into her current role as CEO in 2021. As CEO, Harroz is responsible for leading all aspects of HPI, from its 3 specialty hospitals to the physician practices it manages at over 30 locations throughout the greater metro area and beyond. Harroz brings unique institutional knowledge and experience in managing physician owned enterprises after having served in various leadership roles throughout her tenure at HPI. As General Counsel, Harroz provided strategic legal and regulatory guidance to the company and was responsible for overseeing complex healthcare transactions, managing HPI’s real estate portfolio, and supervising various departments to include human resources, employee health and welfare programs, insurance and risk management, contract management and compliance programs. As COO, Harroz assumed the role of managing relationships with HPI’s joint venture partners, USPI and INTEGRIS, as well as relationships with HPI’s physician investors.
Prior to joining HPI, Harroz served as in house counsel at various healthcare entities and as Assistant District Attorney for Cleveland County. She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and prior to that, graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in Letters. Harroz currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Community Hospital and Northwest Surgical Hospital. Harroz also serves on the Board of HBC Champions Foundation.
Panelists & Moderators
Sarah Eltell graduated from the University of Oklahoma in May 2022 with a B.B.A in entrepreneurship & venture management with a minor in finance. After graduation, she began working with the Ronnie K. Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth (I-CCEW) at OU working as a fellow and strategy analyst. On a day to day basis, her role allows her to work with businesses/ start-ups on complex strategy problems while guiding student teams through their consulting work with clients.
This role allows her the opportunity to explore Oklahoma's entrepreneurial ecosystem while working with students across all majors at OU. The current scope of projects center around software development, product design, and energy development.
As a student at the University of Oklahoma, Sarah was involved with Price College Ambassadors, Multicultural Business Program, Crimson Club, I-CCEW and the JCPenney Leadership Program. Within JCPLP, she served as the eirector of conferences and co-director of associate development on the Student Advisory Board. Some of her favorite memories at OU were with JCPLP, including the trip to Costa Rica.
Kaitlyn Gilliam is a vice president and corporate banking relationship manager for Bank of Oklahoma. She provides financing solutions to business owners and management teams across Oklahoma and south-central Kansas, including treasury services, lending solutions, equipment financing, and more.
Prior to joining Bank of Oklahoma, Gilliam spent six years with JPMorgan Chase in Oklahoma City, most recently serving as a commercial banker to middle market clients in the commercial & industrial space. She also completed the Commercial Bank analyst program and served as an underwriter in her time at JPMorgan.
Gilliam graduated with special distinction from the University of Oklahoma with a B.B.A. in finance and a minor in Spanish. She is also an alumna of the JCPenney Leadership Program at the Price College of Business, and she served on the 2015-2016 JCPLP Student Advisory Board.
As director of government and community affairs for Paycom, AJ Griffin manages interactions between one of the nation’s fastest-growing technology companies, government officials and community groups across the country. AJ served six years in the Oklahoma Senate, where she was a member of Senate leadership and gained recognition for improving policy around juvenile justice, child welfare, health care, disabilities and substance abuse. Before her election, she was a nonprofit executive with a background in education and the hospitality industry. She is a proud graduate of Oklahoma State University (OSU), earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Central Oklahoma and is pursuing a doctorate from Baylor University.
AJ and her husband of 30 years, Trey, love traveling and all things OSU. They share those loves with their daughters, Alex, a second-year law student at the University of Missouri, and Reagan, a senior at OSU.
Dr. Belinda Higgs Hyppolite is the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Higgs Hyppolite has worked as a professional in Higher Education for 24 years. She recently served as the Assistant Vice President at the University of Central Florida, in Orlando, Florida, before coming to OU. She has served in a variety of leadership roles and responsibilities. Dr. Hyppolite started in Student Affairs working on retention efforts for at-risk students and working with the residential student within Housing and Residential Life. Dr. Hyppolite has supported and advocated for several student populations such as fraternity and sorority students, multicultural, low-income, first generation, foster care, religious and non-religious, DACA/TPS, and Undocumented students. Dr. Hyppolite has worked in Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Greek Life, and Multicultural Affairs and has and continues to support and confront social justice issues plaguing student success.
Sharina Perry is CEO of Utopia Genetics LLC and Eden Grow LLC; managing partner of Utopia Solutions LLC and Utopia Wellness LLC; and founder/inventor of Utopia Plastix, a patented plastic alternative formulated into compounded plant-based resins using crops. This resin allows manufacturers to use their existing equipment to produce sustainable, alternative plastic products. She is the creator/developer of the Utopia Model, a sustainable ecosystem business model.
Sharina is known for her strategic business structure and keen ability to execute effectively. At age 24, as operations director, she fast-tracked her company to become the nation’s largest retailer of satellite systems. Three years later, she started her own company with a $30,000 investment, repaid that investment in two months and her company ended the year with over $2.5 million in gross revenue.
She became the industry’s only African American female-owned company and was in the Top 5 MDU (multi-dwelling unit)/FTG (free-to-guest) providers and a Top 10 Public/Private providers. She launched her business into large corporate and government contracting as a prime contractor. She was the first to introduce the concept of suite-type services (cable, internet, phone, etc.) to California’s largest multi-dwelling unit property management company.
Over the past six years, she has focused on economic development for minority and small-business owners. Born and raised in a diverse community in Hobbs, New Mexico, she moved to Oklahoma when her father received a job transfer in the oil and gas industry. She has three amazingly brilliant and spirited children.
Special Agent Jessi Rice entered on duty with the FBI in 2010 after spending nine years as an operations consultant in the healthcare industry. Following graduation from the FBI Academy, SA Rice was assigned to the Baltimore Division where she worked national security matters, including international terrorism financing investigations and undercover counterintelligence operations. She also became specialized in Weapons of Mass Destruction and acted as one of Baltimore’s four Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordinators. In 2013 SA Rice was named the Domestic Terrorism Program Coordinator and received a Director’s Award nomination for leading a state wide law enforcement initiative targeted at identifying and countering violent extremists. SA Rice was also selected as a member of Baltimore’s hostage negotiation team. In 2016, she transferred to the Oklahoma City Division where she continued her work in counterterrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction. A year later SA Rice was asked to help enhance recruiting initiatives and public engagement in Oklahoma City, which led her to take the job of Recruiter and Media Coordinator. During her four year tenure as Recruiter, SA Rice was recognized for developing and hosting a yearly Women in Law Enforcement Symposium and Diversity Agent Recruitment event, making Oklahoma City a model field office for diversity and inclusion initiatives. In 2021, SA Rice transferred to the white collar crime squad and currently works Public Corruption matters. She continues her role as a hostage negotiator by serving as the team leader for Oklahoma City and an instructor for the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation program.
Saba Sandhu graduated from the University of Oklahoma in May of 2021 with a major in management Information mystems and minors in Spanish and accounting. After graduation, she began her career with Paycom in Oklahoma City where she took on a role as a software analyst and works on an app support team. Within this role, she works closely with client data and other teams to resolve any internal software issues and data requests.
Outside of work, Sandhu is involved with her local Muslim community. She serves as a girls youth group leader. She also loves to spend time with her family, enjoys trying new restaurants, and working out.
Angela Skinner is an innovative and results-oriented energy professional with advanced skills in business development, negotiation, customer relationship management, market analytics, strategy development, team leadership, and cross-functional collaboration. She has 15 years of proven success in the oil & gas industry in a wide variety of functions including B2B sales, commodity trading, digital transformation, finance, recruitment, and customer service.
Skinner earned a dual bachelor’s degrees in international business and marketing from the Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma in 2008. After graduating, she joined of the Marketing Leadership Development Program at ConocoPhillips in Bartlesville, OK. There she served in various developmental and strategic roles within the General Aviation and Customer Service teams. During this time, she also earned her Six Sigma green belt for business process improvement. Skinner returned to Price College to persue a professional MBA and graduated degree with a certificate in digital technologies and data analytics in August 2020.
Outside of work, she is also passionate about building relationships and giving back to her community. She has served on multiple non-profit boards and continues to volunteer through several local and national organization with a focus on helping women, children, and families in difficult situations.
Keyana Simmons is an oil and gas consultant at EAG Services in Houston, Texas. Within her career, she has worked in a variety of roles in the oil and gas industry, including but not limited to landman, DO analyst and systems analyst. She has led and participated in system implementation projects and software migration; led change management initiatives; and handled data mining, computer programming and contract management.
A 2016 graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Keyana holds a bachelor's degree in management information systems and energy management. While at OU, she was a member of the JCPenney Leadership Program, Price College Ambassadors, Energy Management Student Association, Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity; president of the Student Business Association; and a participant on the 2016 OU Homecoming Court.
Keyana lives in Dallas, Texas, where she enjoys trying new recipes, traveling, volunteering with local nonprofit organizations, and working on her entrepreneurial pursuits.
Rachel Smith is a May 2021 graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a major in business administration and minors in marketing and nonprofit organizational studies. Upon graduating, she began her career in Dallas as a business systems analyst in the retail vertical at Epsilon, a marketing technology company. She was a member of Epsilon’s New Grad Program, an eight-week career growth program. After 10 wonderful months as a business systems analyst, Rachel pivoted her career and joined Epsilon’s Leadership and Organizational Development Team. She thoroughly enjoys her new role as the company’s technical training coordinator, working to equip technical employees with the training and skills they need to be successful at Epsilon and in the broader martech industry.
Rachel is enthusiastic about the martech, adtech and data industries and constantly learns new skills and technologies. She is also passionate about personal and organizational development and loves being part of an organization that views people as its No. 1 asset.
As a formal mentor through Epsilon’s New Grad Program, she enjoys guiding university students through the often-overwhelming interview and recruitment process. If you are interested in the martech industry, she welcomes the opportunity to connect via LinkedIn.
Outside of work, Rachel is married to her college sweetheart, Ethan, whom she met through the JCPenney Leadership Program. She enjoys taking Pure Barre classes, serving at Watermark Community Church and watching OU Football.
Katy Tipton Battiest, IT Manager of Commercial Applications at ONE Gas, is a Tulsa native and a third-generation OU graduate. Katy's role at ONE Gas includes managing strategic projects with cross-functional teams, building customer relationships, and mentoring a team of Developers and Business Analysts. Katy graduated from OU in 2012 with her Bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems and a minor in Chinese. Upon graduation, Katy joined ONEOK as a Developer for Financial Applications and grew in her career by working as a Developer for several business areas. Katy enjoys volunteering on community boards and is an Advisory Board member and former President of Oklahoma Women in Technology, a statewide nonprofit of 2,000 members with a goal to bridge the gender gap in STEM fields. Katy has also participated in developing social entrepreneurship efforts in Tulsa, participating in the first cohort of The Mine (run by OU's ICCEW) and later serving as a Team Leader and then Board Member. Katy has been honored with Oklahoma Magazine's 40 Under 40 award, The Journal Record Achievers Under 40 award, and Ion Oklahoma's 30 under 30 award. In her spare time, Katy enjoys attending local festivals, hiking, and fostering dogs with her husband.
