In this moment, women’s leadership is more important than ever.

This is an uncertain time. And yet, amid the environmental, political, and economic challenges confronting us at every level, now is the time to engage.

Join TEDxFSCJWomen for Fearless, a virtual event featuring prerecorded talks from TEDWomen 2020 as well as a live and locally organized line-up of speakers. This year’s TEDWomen conference will showcase venues from around the world, including Lagos, Nigeria, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Montreal, Canada, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Sydney, Australia.

After screening select talks from TEDWomen 2020, our live speakers will take the virtual stage. Hosted by Action News Jax anchor and reporter, Lorena Inclán, our speakers include:

Ms. Shawana Brooks, Founder of 6 Ft Away: Public Art Agency
Dr. Diana L. Greene, Superintendent, Duval County Public Schools
Dr. C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D., President and CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Dr. Claire Thomas, Desk Officer for Botswana and Namibia, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Southern Africa Affairs

Join us as we explore how women are leading us into the future at the crossroads of the local and the global, the national and international.

This virtual event is free and open to the public, but all attendees must register

TEDxFSCJWomen 2020 will be held Saturday, November 14, 7-9 p.m. Online check-in will begin at 6:50 p.m.

Shawana Brooks

Shawana Brooks is a literary artist and avid public speaker for her various roles as a curator focused on the relationship between artists and their communities. Her art revolves around personal storytelling infused with issues of social justice. She is the founder of a public arts agency that strives to amplify Black artists through representation and storytelling. Brooks’ work has been highlighted in the national media (“Morning Edition: NPR”), and she was selected as the first official curator for the Jacksonville Public Library. Recognized by her peers, she received the 2018 Robert Arleigh White Award for Artist Advocacy from the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville as the first Black person to win the award. Two years later, Shawana made history again winning the council's highest honor, the Helen Lane Founder Award.

Diana L. Greene

Dr. Diana L. Greene began her tenure as Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools (DCPS), the 20th largest school district in the nation, on July 1, 2018. Prior to becoming a superintendent in Duval County, Dr. Greene served as Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of Instructional Services in Manatee County. During her 33-year career as an educator, she has spent time as a teacher, assistant principal and principal as well as in curriculum development, staff development and senior executive leadership. On a personal note, Dr. Greene’s father served in the Air Force, and she grew up living in locations all over the United States and abroad. She is married to James Greene, an independent financial advisor and retired Navy veteran; they have two sons, Aldon and Joshua.

C. Nicole Mason

As one of the nation’s foremost intersectional researchers and scholars, Dr. C. Nicole Mason brings a fresh perspective and a wealth of experience to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). For the past two decades, Dr. Mason has spearheaded research on issues relating to economic security, poverty, women’s issues and entitlement reforms; policy formation and political participation among women, communities of color and youth; and racial equity. Prior to IWPR, Dr. Mason was the executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the nation’s only research and policy center focused on women of color at a nationally ranked school of public administration. She is also an inaugural Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C.

Claire Thomas

Claire Thomas is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, and she is currently Desk Officer in the Africa Bureau, Office of Southern African Affairs covering Botswana and Namibia. Previously, Claire served as Vice Consul in Chennai, India and as Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Before becoming a diplomat, Claire was a Product Manager in the software and analytics sector in Silicon Valley. She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics and a B.A. in Russian and Linguistics from the University of Lund in Sweden. Originally from the suburbs of Boston, Claire went to high school in Brooklyn, NY and is married with two grown daughters and a teenage son.

Host

Lorena Inclán

Lorena Inclán, reporter and weekend anchor of Action News Jax This Morning, joined the Action News Jax team in 2012. Before moving to Jacksonville, Lorena was a multimedia journalist for Univision Orlando. Lorena began her broadcast journalism career in the Texas Panhandle. While there, she was the only bilingual anchor, reporter and producer for KFDA NewsChannel10 and its sister station, Telemundo Amarillo. She got her start in the TV industry by working behind the scenes as a camera operator and studio technician at WTVJ NBC6 in South Florida. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Lorena was born and raised in Miami where she attended the University of Miami and earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication.

TEDxFSCJWomen: Showing up – TEDWomen2018 Simulcast + Panel

Women the world over are challenging the status quo—they’re rising up, breaking out, and pushing boundaries.

Join TEDxFSCJWomen for a simulcast event—featuring such luminaries as Tarana Burke and Dolores Huerta direct from the TEDWomen2018 conference in Palm Springs! 97.9 KISSFM’s Catalina Alers-Alers will emcee this simulcast event.

Then join Melissa Ross, host of WJCT’s First Coast Connect, as she moderates a local panel of experts, who will address the theme, “Speak out!,” and explore issues of fear, sexual violence, and survival. Panelists include:

Vicky Basra, Senior Vice President, Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center

Robin Graber, Rape Recovery Team Programs Director, Women’s Center of Jacksonville

Kristin Keen, Founder and President, Rethreaded

Paige Mahogany Parks, Founder, T.A.P. Transgender Awareness Project

Emily Rokosch, Director of Operations, JASMYN

Tickets are free and open to the public, but all attendees must register.

Program

3:30-4 p.m.: Check-in & Networking

4-5:30 p.m.: Simulcast – Showing up

5:30-6 p.m.: Refreshments & Networking

6-7:30 p.m.: Live local panel – Speak out!

Inside our welcome and registration atrium, speak with representatives from local nonprofits and women-centered organizations, including the Women’s Center of Jacksonville; Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center; Babes Who Hustle; FSCJ Student Engagement – Diversity & Social Change; Hubbard House; Jewish Family & Community Services; Sulzbacher Center; Women Empowering Women; and Women Writing for a Change.

Arrive early so you can meet new people, share ideas, and sample our food and refreshments!

Speakers

Vicky Basra

Vicky manages the development and implementation of model programs and community organizing for the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center. Assisting with the development and support of new and innovative programs and community engagement, Vicky brings with her more than 18 years’ experience working with girls and young women impacted by trauma. Vicky helped to develop and implement a violence against women prevention program at Vanderbilt University. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, a degree in Social Work from Ryerson Polytechnic University and her master’s degree from the University of Tennessee.

Robin Graber

Robin is the Rape Recovery Team Program Director at the Women's Center of Jacksonville (WCJ). After beginning his career at the WCJ as an intern in 2012, Robin quickly rose through the ranks. Robin has worked with over 300 survivors of sexual violence and provided more than 400 training sessions on topics ranging from trauma-informed care, to consent, to self-care and burnout. In his current position, he spends most of his time managing grants, providing training to the community and supervising a team of advocates and prevention staff. Robin received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Corrections from the University of North Florida.

Kristin Keen

Kristin lived for five years in Kolkata, India, where she co-founded Sari Bari, a thriving business that gives survivors of human trafficking a way out of exploitation through employment. Sari Bari now employs more than 120 women. Upon her return to Jacksonville, Kristin started forming relationships with women on the street; it was then that she realized the problem of human trafficking was flourishing in her own city. In response, Kirstin founded Rethreaded. Rethreaded is a safe, supportive work environment where women can start a new career while experiencing continued healing through community. When not at Rethreaded, Kristin is biking or swimming in the ocean at sunrise.

Paige Mahogany Parks

Paige Mahogany-Parks is from Oklahoma City. She has been a transgender activist in the LGBT community for 36 years. She received the Dean Mckeller outstanding transgender of the year award in 2005 for her work with the hurricane Katrina LGBT community. She has been featured on NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, Houston Chronicle, Houston Voice, and OutSmart magazine. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where she continues her work as the Director of the Transgender Awareness Project and writer. Check out her book Lady Paradox: Flawless Imperfection.

Emily Rokosch

Emily Rokosch has been working with, supporting and advocating for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community for 15 years. Emily earned her Master of Education with a focus on mental health counseling from the University of North Florida. After graduating in 2006, she served as the founding Coordinator of UNF’s LGBT Resource Center where she worked to create a safe space and welcoming learning environment for all students. Emily currently serves as the Director of Operations at JASMYN, Jacksonville’s LGBT non-profit center serving youth 13-29.

Hosts

Catalina Alers-Alers

Catalina Alers-Alers is the afternoon host on 97.9 KISSFM, host of the “But First, Brunch” podcast and TV correspondent for JTA's Around Town series on Making Moves. Growing up in Orange Park and graduating from the University of North Florida, Catalina has lived in Jacksonville for more than 20 years. A conversation with Catalina is a healthy dose of real talk on social equality, pop culture and laughs till you cry.

Melissa Ross

Melissa Ross is the host and producer of WJCT’s “First Coast Connect,” the Jacksonville NPR/PBS station’s flagship local call-in public affairs radio program. The show has won five national awards from Public Radio News Directors Inc. and has been honored multiple times as Best Local Radio Show by Folio Weekly’s “Best of Jax” readers’ poll. Melissa recently started co-hosting the new, statewide call-in show, “The Florida Roundup,” that airs each Friday. With over 20 years of experience in broadcasting, Melissa has won four Emmys for news, feature and documentary reporting. Married with two children, Melissa is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism/Communications.

Musical Curator

Adrian Kennedy

Adrian is a singer/songwriter from Jacksonville. She will be debuting her first video, “Woodland Coffin,” in December. Her music can be best described as, “music to sing by the light of a bonfire.” In addition to her professional work, Adrian is always looking for fulfilling volunteer opportunities. She has been involved with local organization SongBook and most recently began working with Women Empowering Women.

TEDxFSCJ Women: Fearless