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.

Our differences matter—and the time to unite is now.

United we stand. E pluribus unum. From many, one. These affirmations of unity and difference are fundamental to any vibrant democracy. But in 2020, racial animus and discrimination have been reawakened. Across the U.S., COVID-19 has become a pretext for anti-Asian sentiment, while police killings of African Americans have sparked nationwide protests, bringing renewed urgency to the Black Lives Matter movement. At this critical juncture, how can we unite for the common good while affirming the value of our differences?

Join TEDxFSCJ for Not the Enemy, an adventure event featuring artists, activists, and academics from across the country who have dedicated their lives to exploring the rich diversity of racial identity. Our speakers will address how racism is and remains a defining element of contemporary America, but they will also place this issue in a wider context and conversation about the ambiguities of racial categories and the importance of multiple cultural traditions.

Hosted by visual artist and FSCJ student, Maiya Elaine, and Dr. Paul Hendrickson, FSCJ Professor of Communication and Philosophy, our speakers will include:

Speakers include:

GeeXella, rapper, DJ, and program coordinator at JASMYN, a Jacksonville LGBTQI+ youth center
Malcolm Jackson, artist and photographer based in Jacksonville
Dr. Russell Jeung, Chair and Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University
Diana King, Chinese-American photographer currently based in Nashville
Christina Kittle, activist and cofounder, Jacksonville Community Action Committee
Elena Øhlander, visual artist working in mixed media illustration and mural-making, based in Jacksonville

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

Check in early so you can join the pre-event viewing experience, which will feature video shorts by videographer Marc Mangra, including a newly created piece highlighting the Frisch Family Holocaust Memorial Gallery in Jacksonville.

This event will be held September 24, 7-9 p.m. Online check-in and pre-event will begin at 6:30 p.m.

GeeXella

GeeXella (they/them) is a singer, rapper, DJ and community organizer. Their passion for music served as the catalyst to create and organize DuvalFolx—the only intentional dance party/space for marginalized communities in Northeast Florida. Catering to LGBTQI+ youths isn’t exclusive to events but also carries over into their daily work as the Program Coordinator at JASMYN (LGBTQI+ youth center).

Malcolm Jackson

Malcolm Jackson is an award-winning artist and photographer currently based in Jacksonville, Florida. Malcolm uses photography as a bridge to connect the viewer to the realities of life for the common person in the 21st century. Using street photography to focus on race, class, identity and community, his photos have been commissioned by The New York Times and ESPN. The 2018 recipient of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Visual Artist of the Year, Malcolm’s work can be seen at malcjax.com

Russell Jeung

Dr. Russell Jeung is chair and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University as well as the author of several books and articles on race and religion, including Family Sacrifices: The Worldviews and Ethics of Chinese Americans and Moving Movers: Student Activism and the Emergence of Asian American Studies. In 2020, Dr. Jeung launched Stop AAPI Hate, a project of Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and the SF State Asian American Studies that tracks Covid-19 related discrimination in order to develop community resources and policy interventions to fight racism.

Christina Kittle

Christina Kittle is a community organizer, activist, public school teacher and artist. After Christina and four other activists, who would later become known as the Jax5, were beaten and unlawfully arrested while protesting in 2017, Christina co-founded the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), a grassroots organization fighting for police accountability and self-determination in the Black Belt South. Since its foundation, JCAC launched the Jacksonville Police Accountability Council, organizes some of the largest civil rights demonstrations in Jacksonville’s history and works with and provides legal aid for families who have been the victims of police crime. At present, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee is pushing for the repeal of Fla. Stat. Ann. §§ 112.532, the Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights, a Jim Crow remnant that gives police extra due process protections.

Diana King

Diana King is a Chinese-American portrait, lifestyle, fashion and commercial photographer. She is known for her ability to draw an emotive and expressive quality in her subjects and uses color and lighting to reflect the mood and tone of her images. Originally from the Bay Area, California, King moved to Los Angeles to study film and cinematography at Chapman University. After years of working on big-budget commercial shoots, she transitioned to photography and used her background in film production to hone her skills as a photographer. King’s diverse portfolio includes work with many well-known brands such as Samsung and H&M. She is currently on the American Photographic Artists Diversity Committee to help create change in the photography community.

Elena Øhlander

Elena Øhlander is a visual artist working in the medium of mixed media illustration and mural-making. Currently residing in Jacksonville, she earned her B.F.A. in photography from The Art Institute in 2014 and began exhibiting her work at national galleries and museums. Influenced by Taiyo Matsumoto, Hayao Miyazaki, Yayoi Kusama and Yoshitomo Nara, Elena focuses on illustration that explores identity, gender issues, space, individuality and pop culture. The protagonist of Elena’s work takes viewers on a journey into her imagination through gesture, expression and environment to reveal the many facets of her inner life with the hope of inspiring the viewer to breakdown stereotypes and to look beyond the boundaries of culture and identity.

Hosts

Maiya Elaine

Maiya Elaine is a classically trained visual artist, technical theatre major and graduate from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Currently enrolled in Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Bachelor’s Digital Media program, she utilizes the various tools and techniques in scenic painting and prop making in her work today. Her first solo show, “Breach,” explored themes and techniques for a new series in her studio at CoRK Art Studios where she combines her background in traditional techniques with digital in hopes to inspire others through the power of artistic expression. She is also the cultural correspondent for First Coast Living’s monthly segment, “The Artist’s Corner with Maiya Elaine,” where she discusses arts and cultural events happening in Northeast Florida.

Paul Hendrickson

Dr. Paul Hendrickson is the organizer of TEDxFSCJ and Professor of Speech Communication and Philosophy at Florida State College at Jacksonville. A student of political discourse and global human rights, Paul was a doctoral fellow at the Frankfurt School in Germany and his publications include a book translation published in the MIT Press series on Contemporary German Social Thought. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Chicago, an M.A. in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. An avid jazz collector, Paul’s favorite TED talks include Chimamanda Adichie’s “The danger of a single story” and Ron Finley’s “A guerilla gardener in South Central LA.”

TEDxFSCJ Women: Fearless