Violet Palmer
Owner and Director,
Basics Referee School
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Violet Palmer’s entire life has been immersed in basketball, having learned the intricacies of the game since grade school. Because of her drive and competitiveness, she quick made her mark, excelling in all facets of the game.
Violet broke gender barriers by becoming the first female referee in a major professional sport, the National Basketball Association (NBA). In nearly two decades as an NBA official, Violet officiated 930 regular season games, 9 playoff games, and the 2014 All-Star game.
In 2016, after a stellar career and earning the respect of her peers, Violet retired from active officiating. She did not veer off too far, however, as she continues to consult for the NBA and train new referees.
Violet retired from the NBA but not from basketball. In 2009, while officiating in the NBA, she set her eyes on the Collegiate level and soon became the Coordinator of Women’s Basketball Officials for the West Coast Conference (WCC). Her impressive leadership skills attracted the attention of collegiate commissioners and was soon adding to her resume the coordinator role for the Pac-12 Conference, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), Big Sky, and the Big West.
Throughout Violet’s professional career, she has received awards and honors, including from her alma mater, California Polytechnic University at Pomona. The most prestigious being an Honorary Doctorate Degree, 2022; Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, 2024; Gold Whistle Award, 2023; WeCOACH Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021; Intercollegiate Hall of Fame, 2020; and Distinguished Alumni Award, 2016.
Violet’s segue into the NBA came from officiating in the WNBA during the league’s inaugural season, including the 1997 WNBA Championship. In 1999, Violet was honored with the Naismith Award for “Official of The Year”. Additionally, Violet has three years’ experience officiating women’s collegiate games in the CBA and eight years in the Pac-12, Western Athletic, West Coast Conference, Big Sky, and Big West Conferences, as well as five NCAA Final Fours and two NCAA Championship games. She also has five years’ experience officiating high schools in California and seven years in USA basketball.
As a student, Violet was a successful basketball player both at the collegiate and high school levels. She was a four-year letter winner at California Polytechnic University at Pomona, where her team won the NCAA Division II Finals in 1985 and 1986. She played for the varsity girls’ basketball team at Compton High School (CHS) for four years and was captain for her last three years. Violet was named “Team’s Most Valuable Player” her senior year and “All League” her junior and senior years at CHS.
Violet is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Sports Officials and currently sits on the NCAA Mechanics Committee. She is the owner and director of the Basics Referee School, training and developing basketball officials on using the 3-person California Collegiate Association (CCA) Women’s Basketball concept.
Hiram Sims
Founder and Executive Director of Community Literature Initiative, Co-Founder of World Stage Press
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Born and raised in South Los Angeles, Hiram Sims is a poet, essayist, and Creative Writing Professor teaching with the Community Literature Initiative (CLI) and the University of Southern California. CLI is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting writers from all over the world, offering programs that help authors complete their works and connect with audiences. Through his teaching and mentorship with CLI and the Los Angeles Film School, Hiram has helped over 700 writers finish their books. He has also helped host open mics and book releases in states across the country, fostering a nationwide community of literary voices.
Hiram graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in English: Creative Writing and earned a Master of Professional Writing degree in Poetry. As an educator, he teaches essay writing, creative writing, and literature, inspiring his students to find and amplify their voices.
As a writer, he has published three collections of poetry—Poems of a Young, Troubled Mind (2007), Write or Die: An Anthology of Poetry from the Urban Poet’s Workshop (2008), and PHOTOETRY: Poetry and Photography from South Central (2013)—as well as his creative writing textbook, These Pages Speak (2015). In collaboration with the Arts Council for Long Beach, Hiram created the anthology Long Beach Spits Fire (2024), a celebration of the city and its vibrant community of local poets.
Hiram is the co-founder of World Stage Press and the founder of the Sims Library of Poetry, home to the largest poetry collection in California and a vibrant literary hub in South Central Los Angeles. In addition to his contributions to literature and education, Hiram serves as a Commissioner for the Los Angeles Public Library, continuing his mission to uplift voices and create spaces for creativity and learning.
Dr. Cheyenne Bryant
Psychology Expert
Life Coach
Author
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Dr. Bryant’s mission is to spread her message and expertise on how to lead a healthier, happier, balanced and more fulfilling life. For years, she has shared her wisdom, awareness, mastery, and insight through her private practice, book, lectures, workshops, and assisting individuals with life impairments and challenges. Dr. Bryant embarked on a similar journey as the one you are undertaking, assisted by Oprah Winfrey, Iyanla Vanzant, Marianne Williamson, and many more. Dr. Bryant’s passion for healing, encouraging, and empowering others is what led her to become a Doctor of Psychology and a Life Coach.
Dr. Bryant attended Cal State University of Northridge at the age of 17. While there, she obtained a double degree in Psychology and Pan African studies. During her first two years, she was undecided as to what field she should pursue as a career. Organically, she ended up choosing psychology. She still wasn’t quite sure why, however. She didn’t realize what had triggered her interest until she entered the Master’s Program at University of Phoenix. She was about halfway through the Master’s program and boom! It hit her! She had A LOT of healing within herself that needed to be done. Dr. Bryant’s desire for self-fulfillment, healing, peace, and balance within herself and others drew her to the field of psychology. Being the overachiever that she is, Dr. Bryant decided to pursue her Doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology from Argosy University.
Dr. Bryant is a pro-active community activist. She sits on many community and collegiate boards such as Los Angeles Harbor College. She volunteers her time providing community care, inspirational speeches, lectures, mentoring, and resources to youth state facilities and at-risk youth programs. In 2014, Dr. Bryant founded the “Dr. Bryant Team” which created and provided employment opportunities. The “Dr. Bryant Team” focused on providing food, hygiene, clothing, programs, and resources to the disadvantaged communities in Los Angeles County all of which Dr. Bryant solely funded. As a result, of her impact on the community, Dr. Bryant founded the Dr. Bryant Foundation; a 501c3 non-profit that provides school supplies, clothing, computers, and exposure to the underprivileged, and implements needs and resolutions to the community to advance the inner-city youth, and families.
Warryn Campbell
CEO, My Block, Inc.
Record Producer, Songwriter
Pastor California Worship Center
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Warryn Campbell, the inimitable music producer, described with words like authentic, creative, generous, wise, empathetic, charismatic and innovative.
The son of Warryn Campbell, Sr., and Ernest Paul Campbell’s grandson, is an established multi-instrumentalist, record producer, performer, singer-songwriter, TV and film composer, and owner of MyBlock Inc Records, who is driven by the work ethic he inherited from them.
From a boy who grew up in south central Los Angeles, to a multi-award-winning music producer, he creates chart-topping hits with a multitude of genres and is in constant demand. Proficient in many skills—A triple threat would be an understatement because there is no limit to what Campbell can do.
A visionary before his time with boundless talent, Campbell got his start as a session musician and producer under the tutelage of DJ Quik on his third album, Safe + Sound.
As a producer, his productions have moved tons of records. Some of his credits include Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Jill Scott, Erica Campbell, and Music Soulchild to name a few. He has likewise received multiple Grammy® nominations and awards for his work with Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Mary Mary, and Missy Elliott.
He’s released a plethora of music over the years, however, in 2021, despite a few hiccups—Covid-19 pandemic, unknowingly choosing the same release date as Kanye West—Campbell would deliver a long-awaited compilation representing the label he worked tirelessly to build—Warryn Campbell Presents My Block Inc. A 10-song diverse collection of his musical family to include songs from The Walls Group, Lena Byrd Miles, Jason McGee & The Choir, Jason Champion, Mc Lyte, Toni Estes, and Joi Starr.
After, he formed a distribution partnership with Claude Villani’s SRG/ILS Group to release more hits.
His creativity is limitless. As a TV and film composer, he has composed music for the romantic comedy-drama film “Jumping the Broom”, Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” the popular film, “The Best Man”,
BET’s “Kingdom Business”, and six seasons of WeTv’s reality show “Mary Mary”.
The man whose smile lights up a room. The man who will pray for you at the drop of a dime and the man who will give you the shirt off his back with no questions asked, is the same man, who, at 10 years old, knew he wanted to be in the music industry. And he thanks his sister Joi for being his Guinea pig to help him try out new equipment his father would buy him.
Campbell’s work-life balance continues to stretch over the years and multi-tasking has become second nature. A husband, father, producer, son, brother, record label owner, and the pastor of his church California Worship Center is enough to leave him empty. However, he adheres to the pecking order—God, family, and then everything else — and says if he doesn’t put God first, nothing else will fall into place.
Warryn Campbell is a true Renaissance man who continues to pour into lives of all walks. He does it effortlessly and generously and is enriched by doing so.
“My reality and what has happened to me and for me has superseded anything I could ever imagine. It’s wild.”