Maxwell Friedman
Twelve-year-old keyboard phenomenon Maxwell Friedman used to joke with the principal of his elementary school that she shared her office with him since he spent so much “reflection time” there. Discovering music and channeling his energy into the keyboard helped him turn things around. Friedman started playing piano 3-1/2 years ago and quickly took Central Oregon by storm. Friedman has played with musical heavyweights Karl Denson, ALO, and Michael Franti, and local favorites Elektrapod and Mark Ransom. A jazz-funk fusion band with Maxwell at the helm is currently in the works with help from Georges Bouhey, his longtime music teacher and mentor. Music is Friedman’s passion and sharing it with the world is his dream. Through making and sharing music, he serves as an ambassador for continued funding of the arts and inspiring kids to play music.
Fe Fanyi
Local performance troupe, Fe Fanyi, has been enlightening Central Oregon with the music and dance of West Africa since 2007. Since its formation, Fe Fanyi has performed at fundraisers, festivals and events throughout Central Oregon. Under the direction of drum instructor and artistic director, David Visiko, and dance instructor, Shannon Abero, Fe Fanyi performs traditional dance and rhythms from Guinea, Mali and the Cote’ d’Ivoire. Music and dance are powerful ways to unite us. Grand Master Djembefola Mamady Keita said that if world leaders were invited to a room filled with djembes and dununs and were taught the traditional rhythms of West Africa, we would realize world peace.
Lance Canales
Lance Canales is a roots-blues musician from California’s breadbasket. He lived the life that so many songs have been written about since the birth of roots music – hard labor, one room shacks and ghosts whispering of a better life. Canales’ guttural vocals combine a hard-edged storytelling approach with stripped down, foot-stomping, acoustic instrumentation that people readily respond to; Canales and his band, The Flood, were a favorite at the 2015 Sister’s Folk Festival. Canales led the initiative to place a memorial headstone with the names of the plane crash victims of the famous Woody Guthrie song “Deportee,” who were discovered buried nameless in a mass grave in Fresno, California. Now and forever nameless no more.
Molly Winter
Designer, researcher, and illustrator, Molly Winter, thinks a lot about something most of us would rather not dwell on: wastewater treatment and sanitation innovation – or rather the lack thereof. Unique cultural, technical, and historical stories reveal why there has been so little innovation in sanitation. With humor and grace, Molly demonstrates our role in supporting sanitation innovation and why it’s relevant to us. We have yet to solve the issue of proper sanitation in ‘developed’ countries. Molly is director of Recode a nonprofit that works on legalizing innovation beyond just sanitation. They are working to ensure access to and accelerate adoption of sustainable building and development practices.
Roger Seip
Author of the national bestseller Train Your Brain for Success, Roger Seip has a knack for taking the principles of effectiveness that most of us struggle with and crystallizing them into clear strategies and action plans. He’s also passionate about teaching us how to recognize and train the incredible capacity of the human mind. He tells us the bad news: there are three common “default settings” we tend toward, each with negative consequences for perception and relating. Then he tells us the good news: once recognized, there are ways we can counteract this automatic tendency, changing the way we experience ourselves and others.
Omar Samra
Omar Samra is a father, a successful entrepreneur, and the first Egyptian, one of less than 40 people in history, to complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam - an adventurers challenge to reach the north and south pole and climb the Seven Summits. But when tragedy struck, Samra discovered that the mountains he’d climbed were never meant to be his biggest challenge. The answers to life’s most important question – why are we here – exists not in what we do or achieve, but in the depths of loss, resilience, vulnerability and ultimately learning to let go. We discover that we’re all here for one purpose alone: to heal and to help heal each other. Samra reveals humility, hope, and courage and offers a radical re-frame of what it means to be a man, and in fact, a human.
Eric Pickersgill
Artist and change agent, Eric Pickersgill, explores the psychological and social effects that cameras and their artifacts have on individuals and societies as a whole. His viral photography series, Removed, has made visible what so many have tried to explain about the ways personal devices alter human behavior. We live in a time where the line between the real and virtual is nearly invisible. The use of personal devices is so common that the terms in which we use them is no longer discussed. Despite the accelerated proliferation of digital photographs, art still has the power to shape perspectives and alter habits. Eric is represented by Rick Wester Fine Art in NY and is on the Executive Board of Directors at The Light Factory.
Tina Meier
From the day Tina Meier’s 13-year-old daughter, Megan, killed herself following a brutal cyberbullying attack, she has passionately shared Megan’s story on the national stage. It has served as a springboard to transform awareness into action, to educate and to create systemic change. Youth, parents and educators need to know the signs of bullying and cyberbullying. We can help prevent suicide among youth who are exposed to such attacks. Individually and collectively, we can be empowered to make a difference in the lives of young people.
Roger Love
The single most important yet overlooked communication tool you have is your voice. The words you say hardly matter at all. The sound of your voice and the way you make people feel are infinitely more important. Roger Love is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on voice. He’s coached actors, musicians and speakers from Jeff Bridges, for his Academy Award-winning role in Crazy Heart, to Gwen Stefani to Anthony Robbins and Brendon Burchard.
Franco Lodato
Franco Lodato is a provocateur and a visionary. Pioneer of “Bionics,” the theory and practice of nature-inspired design, Lodato is an expert in the interplay between design & technology. He holds 76 patents and is one of the world’s leading designers. In nature, function and aesthetics are in constant communication; bionic design philosophy applies design elements found in nature, making design functional, efficient and aesthetic. Nature has spent millions of years evolving and solving problems. We don’t need to be better problem solvers; we need to be better observers of the world around us. By so doing, we help ensure the survival of younger generations.
Kerri Kelly
Kerri Kelly was on the fast track in the marketing world until 9/11 hit, when she lost her stepdad, a NYC fireman. That wake up call got Kelly off the “should” path and into purpose. On the healing journey, Kelly discovered a national crisis of disconnection - from our bodies, one another, critical social issues, and even from democracy itself. Simultaneously, there’s an inner revolution happening on yoga mats, meditation cushions and in creative living spaces anchored in values of interconnection and empathy. But as long as well-being remains a privilege for those who have resources, our potential for transformative collective change is limited. This is the privilege of well-being.
Angela Hucles
As a two-time Olympic gold medalist and president of the Women’s Sport Foundation, Angela Hucles knows first-hand about the hidden power of introverts. In the world of sports, athletes train to be their best by tapping into their “inner-introvert” and finding moments to lead. The same tactic can be applied off the field. Teams in all segments of life need the special leadership qualities introverts contribute. By identifying and celebrating the hidden power of introverts, we can translate these elements into greater success in our schools, the workplace, and at home for people of all ages.
Stefanie Garber
Through her dual role as the Culver School District superintendent and its elementary principal, Stefanie Garber is bringing big changes to a little school district. Garber has established a partnership with Oregon State University Cascades Campus to move the district to becoming a K-12 STEM district. STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) education combined with community partners has transformed education in the Culver School District. In the two years since its implementation, this unique partnership has positively impacted the community and increased real world learning opportunities for Culver students. Best yet, this high rigor model is replicable for other districts.
Luca Badetti
In a culture that prizes “ability,” we have learned to hide and push aside our inabilities. Luca Badetti, PhD in Disability Studies, is Director of Community Life at L’Arche Chicago, a community in which people both with and without intellectual disabilities share life. From his background and experience, he shares revealing stories that invite us to know and befriend both our abilities and inabilities, so that we can become more complete and connected human beings.
Paul Zientarski
With more than 40 years in the field of education, Zientarski has created a highly successful program called the Learning Readiness Physical Education (LRPE) program at Naperville Central High School. The program has produced such dramatic improvements in test scores, behavior and childhood obesity that it has inspired adoption in school districts from across the country and around the world, including Denmark, China, South Korea and Canada. His program has been highlighted on major TV networks and featured in documentary films. Zientarski shares his educational philosophy and programs with audiences nationwide, including the President’s Council on Health, Fitness and Nutrition in Washington, D.C.
Emilie Wapnick
Author, entrepreneur and artist, Wapnick was blessed with so many interests that she was unable to pick just one. She studied music, visual arts, film production and law, and graduated from the Law Faculty at McGill University. After years of feeling anxious about her zigzagging career path and hyphenated credentials, she finally decided to embrace her plural nature and start a movement for others who lean toward being “multipotentialites.” Since launching her website, Puttylike, in 2010, Wapnick has inspired thousands of multipotentialites to stop trying to fit themselves into boxes, and embrace their plurality. She has been featured in Lifehacker, The Financial Times, and The Huffington Post. Currently, she is working on her forthcoming book, “Multipotentialite.”
Aisea Taimani
Born in the Kingdom of Tonga, which is a Polynesian archipelago, multi-instrumentalist and artist Taimani has recently recorded and produced his first self-titled EP. Although primarily raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, it is his Tongan heritage and personal history that inspires his music. Taimani is not only a singer-songwriter but also a storyteller. His father was the first to introduce electronic instruments into sacred spaces in the Tongan Islands, by way of gospel music. While Taimani’s music is called “island soul,” it embraces and overlaps multiple genres, allowing for a wider breadth of connectivity. Taimani travels the world working with youth outreach, bridging music and spirituality. His influences include James Brown, Ben Harper, Robert Nesta Marley and Bill Withers.
Kiarra Saito-Beckman
A 4.0 student at Summit High School, Kiarra began studying violin at age three-and-a-half, cello at six, and piano at seven. She has performed classical violin in cities across the country, including Atlanta, Chicago, Charleston, Coeur D’Alene, Las Vegas and Washington, DC, where she performed on the National Public Radio program, From the Top. Her awards include the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, the Sunriver Music Festival Young Artist Scholarship, and full scholarship to Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, NY. She is also a three-time national fiddle champion and has played many musical styles including rock, contemporary Celtic, Irish, swing, jazz and bluegrass.
Naomi A. Rose
As a scientist for Humane Society International and a marine mammal scientist for the Animal Welfare Institute, Rose has spent her entire career studying whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in captivity and how society’s relationship with these animals needs to change. Rose travels the world, most recently to Russia and Singapore, to give presentations about the concerns related to keeping cetaceans in captivity and using them in performances. She brings scientific grounding to an often divisive and emotional topic. Her work has been profiled in the book “Death at SeaWorld” by David Kirby; she also consulted on the 2013 documentary film “Blackfish” by Gabriela Cowperthwaite.
Kris Prochaska
Once a psychotherapist, now a coach and consultant, Kris uses her intuitive insight, diagnostic skills and business savvy to help her clients discover their Natural Genius Factor™ and use it to excel in business and create harmonious family relationships. She’s helped hundreds of women and men learn to calm their little voices in their heads and follow their intuition to create powerful results personally and professionally. She is the author of “Life Well Spoken: Free Your Inner Voice & Prosper,” and the creator of “Align Your Design at Home & Work.”
Dale Partridge
Described as “a mind that feels the trends before market,” Bend-based Partridge teaches leaders and organizations how to position their brand, love their people and develop profitable corporate social responsibility programs. He is the author of the upcoming book “People over Profit.” In less than two years, Partridge’s venture, Sevenly, has given more than $3 million—in donations of $7 each—to charities across the globe. Partridge has been featured on Fox News, NBC, INC. Magazine, Mashable, MSN Money, Forbes, Los Angeles Times and on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine.
The Night Light Show with Shanan Kelley
Bend’s only local variety show, the Night Light Show is hosted by Shanan Kelley, with comedienne Chelsea Woodmansee, Jesse Locke of AMZ Productions, artist Kaycee Anseth, activist Casey Corcoran, and Micah and Esme LaVoy of Tin Pan Theater, the Night Light Show’s home stage. Anseth and Corcoran also make up The Gold Rust, the show’s house band. The Night Light Show features film, comedy, music and community spotlighting. Beginning in November of 2013, the Night Light Show has performed for over 25 sold-out audiences. They seek to inspire creativity and connection and want to leave audiences with this charge: “Do something, do anything!”
Jason McLennan
Considered one of the most influential individuals in the green building movement today. McLennan is the recipient of the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Prize, as well as CEO of the International Living Future Institute, a leading NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that focuses on the transformation to a world that is socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. He is also CEO of Cascadia Green Building Counsel. McLennan is the founder and creator of the Living Building Challenge, widely considered the world’s most progressive and stringent green building program. His vision and published works have made a pivotal impact on the shape and direction of green building in the United States and Canada.
Shannon Keith
Keith confronted her life’s purpose while traveling through the red light districts of India. While she listened to countless stories of women trapped in India’s sex trade, an idea formed. A social entrepreneur who believes that a solid “double bottom line” business practice can change the world, Keith was compelled to action. International Princess™ Project (IPP) was born. Women who enter one of IPP’s 4 sewing centers learn transferrable skills, produce a give-back loungewear product called PUNJAMMIES™ and earn an above-fair-trade wage, while receiving the medical and emotional support to recover from the traumas of the sex trade world. Some even realize career aspirations they never dreamed possible.
Roz & Ashton Eaton
Ashton Eaton is known as the “World’s Greatest Athlete.” In the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Eaton won the gold medal in the decathlon, soon after setting the world record at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon. Today Eaton competes for the Oregon Track Club Elite team in Eugene, where he trains to defend his titles at the 2015 Worlds in Beijing, China, the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Eugene, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Eaton plans to return to London for the 2017 World Championships. Eaton was raised in Bend, Oregon, by his mother Roslyn (“Roz”). Roz Eaton is an important figure in her son’s success as well as multiple philanthropic events throughout Central Oregon.
East Forest
Under the moniker of East Forest, Portland’s Trevor Oswalt weaves ethereal soundscapes from vintage keys, intimate vocals and original field recordings. His sonic architecture reflects motifs of nature and the inner spiritual landscape, and experiments with elements of pop and contemporary themes. The wide-ranging textural sound has been called “blissful” by National Public Radio and has been compared to Sigur Ros, Bon Iver and Explosions in the Sky. He has collaborated with Deepak Chopra, shared stages with artists including Moby, Sarah Neufeld and Random Rab, and composed and licensed music for TV, film, theatre, apps, video games and dance companies.
Jon Bullock
Bullock has dedicated his career to educating, empowering and developing leadership in young people. He dreams of leading an educational revolution, in which youth are empowered to embrace their strengths and share their passions with the world. He is involved with such volunteer youth organizations as Kids Helping Kids, a division of Children’s Miracle Network in Eugene, Oregon. He has also been a motivational speaker for the Oregon Association of Student Councils. Currently, Bullock is the Executive Director for the Redmond Proficiency Academy in Redmond, Oregon. He holds a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Oregon.
The Bivy
Created by Bend filmmakers Wes Coughlin and Ari DeLashmutt, The Bivy is an online action sports channel, fixated on fun and adventure. An accomplished snowboarder and skateboarder, Wes quietly excels at almost anything he tries. Ari also excels, but much more loudly. Not only will he ski, jump or highline almost anywhere, but he’ll also talk ten other people into joining him. While many adventure films position extreme sports as something to watch from a safe distance, The Bivy invites viewers to feel a part of the action—and to revel in everything life has to offer. Their work has been featured by GoPro, RedBull and the Outdoor Channel.
Chris Agnos
If humanity is to not just survive but thrive, we must change the narrative of modern civilization. So says Agnos, self-proclaimed change agent and co-director at Sustainable Human. Agnos believes it’s high time we re-imagined the story of the world we wish to live in. By inspiring social and cultural change through attitudes of sustainability, empathy and love of life, Agnos’ strategy is based on volunteering, gifting and the desire to create an abundant world. Currently the Sustainable Human Facebook page has more than 1.3 million subscribers.
Wyatt Carrell & Hayden French
Students at Bend High School, Carrell and French specialize in sleight of hand, cardistry and illusion. Wyatt, a self-taught web developer, blogger and magician, has been performing illusions since the age of four, including such classics as The Famous Houdini and Coke Trick. Hayden, or as his friends call him, “French,” has been perfecting sleight of hand with the deftness and speed of a seasoned magician. He recently achieved his personal goal of solving the Rubik’s Cube in less than a minute.
Nicole LeFavour
An American politician, educator and activist, LeFavour served as an Idaho State Senator from 2008 to 2012. In 2006, LeFavour criticized the passage of Idaho Amendment 2, which made it unconstitutional to recognize or perform same-sex marriages or civil unions. In 2007, she was named one of Idaho Business Review’s Women of the Year. LeFavour was involved in Idaho’s Add The Words campaign in 2014, which sought to add language including “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the state’s human rights act. LeFavour was featured in the documentary, “Add the Words,” which premiered at the BendFilm Festival in October 2014.
Tchicaya Missamou
Raised in the Republic of Congo during their civil war, Missamou was recruited by rebel forces in 1992 and taught to fight at age thirteen. In 1997, he fled his homeland, eventually arriving in America and joining the U.S. Marine Corps. In 2003, he was instrumental in finding and releasing captured Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq. Missamou founded Warrior Fitness in Valencia, California, inspired by his military experience and his belief that freedom is not something to take for granted—it’s something to live. His memoir, “In the Shadow of Freedom,” is the uplifting story of his quest to achieve his own American Dream.
John Gray
An all-time bestselling author of 17 books sold in 45 languages, including Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, John Gray is arguably the world’s foremost expert on relationships. Gray’s focus is helping men and women understand, respect and appreciate their differences in both personal and professional relationships. He’s appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View and Larry King. He’s also been profiled in Newsweek, Time, Forbes, USA Today, and People Magazine.
Wilderness
An eclectic blend of folk, rock and spacey noises, Wilderness creates a powerful connection between vintage guitars, twinkling keys, xylophones, layered horns, steady bass and drums. Based in Bend, Wilderness meets at the intersection of folk, pop and rock music, with an experimental streak that occasionally runs the stop sign. Band members include Bradley David Parsons, Nick Graham, Nora K.W. Smith and Jared Nelson Smith. Their first album, Homeward from the Battle, was released last year and features rollicking instrumentals and likeable hooks.
Ellen Waterston
Literary muse Waterston brings a powerful voice to arts and humanities in Central Oregon. An award-winning author and poet, she teaches and inspires emerging writers of all ages. As founder and former director of the local nonprofit The Nature of Words, she has opened hearts and minds through creative writing classes and an annual literary festival. Waterston is now the founder and president of The Writing Ranch in Bend where she leads retreats and workshops for fiction writers and poets from around the world.
Second Son
Bend musicians Micah Peterson, Trey Russell, Jason Chinchen, Tyler Canfield and Dan Ericson create a pure blend of folk, country and bluegrass with their new Central Oregon project Second Son. Flavored with rich sounds reminiscent of the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, their original songs are written and sung by guitar player Peterson. The visual appeal of the stand up bass, banjo, lap steel guitar and acoustic guitar gathered around a single condenser microphone is the perfect complement to the group’s soothing sounds and harmonies.
Sarah Red-Laird
Red-Laird transformed a childhood fascination with honeybees into an impassioned career as a research scientist, educator, conservationist and revered beekeeper. From her first taste of freshly harvested honeycomb at age three, through the undergraduate research program at the University of Montana, she cultivated the art and science of beekeeping. Today, Red-Laird is based in Ashland where she educates the next generation of honeybee keepers through her Kids and Bees program and the Southern Oregon University Beekeeping Club. She also helps farmers and other land managers conserve bee habitat.
John O’Sullivan
O’Sullivan remembers when youth sports was about children competing with other children instead of adults competing with each other through their kids. Following nearly three decades as a soccer player and coach, O’Sullivan began working to reshape youth sports and inspire a major shift in culture. After serving as a youth coach for the Portland Timbers in Bend, he founded the Changing the Game Project and is now an international speaker and national best-selling author of Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High-Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports back to Our Kids. His writing has also been featured in the Huffington Post, Soccer America Magazine and The Soccer Wire.
On Your Feet
Brad Robertson and Shelley Darcy are the brainchildren of a unique project that blends business and art to help companies like Disney, Nike and Intel create and relate more effectively. On Your Feet uses improvisational theater and other nontraditional tools to teach leadership development, communication, team building and other skills for business success. Robertson began his career as the owner of a successful shaved ice company and later served as the Director of the Business Outreach Program at Portland State University. Darcy, a professional improv writer, performer and sketch comedian has worked with Second City LA, The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade and Big News, one of L.A.’s longest running live-sketch comedy shows.
Michael Neill
Michael Neill is a coach, adviser, friend, mentor, and creative spark plug to celebrities, CEOs and royalty from the United Nations and five continents around the world. He is a best-selling author whose books have been translated into 14 languages. As founder of Supercoach Academy, an international school that teaches coaching from the inside out, Neill helps transform lives through his writing, teaching and public speaking. He also hosts Supercoach, a weekly radio segment that airs internationally on Hayhouse radio. To Neill, happiness is our natural state and we’re always just one thought away from peace.
MOsley WOtta
Bend-based hip-hop and rap group MOsley WOtta is Jason Graham, Jason Schmidt, Colten Williams and Aaron-Andre Miller. Graham - an outspoken advocate for literacy, the arts and kids - assembled the band with a vision toward celebrating differences and connecting humanity. In fact, live performances tend to begin with a reminder of this connection: “We’re MOsley WOtta. And so are you.” The group has been a local favorite since winning Bend, Oregon’s Last Band Standing competition in 2010. But their appeal continues to grow and they’ve spent the last two years energizing crowds across the Northwest.
Brianna Mercado
At only 22-years-old, Mercado lives by the personal credo “Go big.” A professional dancer with two college degrees, she has survived bone cancer and works tirelessly as a role model for children with cancer and as an advocate for cancer study, treatment and prevention. Mercado is a native Californian, living and dancing in New York City. She is admired by family, friends and fellow dancers as a warm and glowing soul who has lived more intensely, intentionally, gratefully and lovingly in the past eight years than most people live in a lifetime.
Moe Carolin-Anderson
Carolin-Anderson believes that the current public school paradigm is not effective in fostering independent thinkers necessary for social renewal. A veteran educator with 30 years of cross-cultural teaching experience, she has an advanced degree in pedagogy, the science and art of instructional theory. Through holistic learning and teaching practices, Carolin-Anderson strives to create a higher level of social justice and well-being by uncovering emotional, social, academic and spiritual/metaphysical potentialities in our children. She now leads a progressive jr. high school program for Waldorf School of Bend.
Paula Byrne
Following a 20-year career in the corporate high tech world, Byrne rediscovered her roots and a lifelong passion for dance. Raised in a world of rhythm and movement with a jazz drummer father and figure skater mother, she became a professional modern dancer. After giving up dance for many years, she returned to find her calling as a movement teacher and is now the owner and director of SomaSpace - Studio of Movement Arts in Portland, Oregon. She also leads Wild Grace and DanceQuest transformational dance classes, workshops and retreats worldwide. Byrne believes the body is a source of wisdom, pleasure and joy in the present moment.
1939 Ensemble
Portland instrumental duo 1939 Ensemble moves artfully between ominous dissonant noise and sharp bombastic beats to create random precision noise. Musicians Jose Medeles and David Coniglio use metal, wood, drums, vibes, beats and melody to create sound that not only crosses genres, but embraces and exploits them, inviting listeners in through the familiar and leaving them with something new to explore. Having shared the stage with the likes of Battles and Medeski, Martin & Wood, the two create instrumental songs that range from passive, ambient soundscapes to violent crescendos and use the spaces in between to build and deconstruct transient melodies within each piece.
Blake Canterbury
Blake is the Founder and CEO of beremedy – the simplest way to help other people. beremedy is an organization that uses social media to connect those in need with those that can help. It’s based on the concept that there are the resources in every community to meet the needs of that community. beremedy has been named one of the “3 best twitter usages worldwide” by CNN (3/20/11). beremedy was one of the leading organizations in bringing aid to Haiti after the earthquake using social media to network organizations, the UN and U.S. Marines. Through social media they have been able to help thousands of people and they’re just getting started.
Myrlie Evers-Williams
Myrlie Evers-Williams, a Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Alcorn State University, is an African-American civil rights leader, who for decades has broken barriers of racial and gender inequality in the workplace, in government and in society. Her legacy evokes leadership in activism, journalism, politics and public service. A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Myrlie Evers became a symbol of courage as well as tragedy in the civil rights movement, and went on to become a championed leader of civil rights herself. In 1995, Mrs. Evers-Williams became both the first female and first full-time chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) — a post she held until 1998. During her tenure leading the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, Ms. Magazine named her Woman of the Year. Mrs. Evers chronicled the life of her husband Medgar Evers, and the civil rights struggle in Mississippi in a co-authored book, For Us, the Living and anchored a special HBO production, Southern Justice, the Murder of Medgar Evers. Other books include Watch Me Fly: What I learned On the Way to Becoming the Woman I Was Meant to Be, and most recently, The Autobiography of Medgar Evers: A Hero’s Life and Legacy Revealed Through His Writings, Letters, and Speeches.
Wren LaFeet
Wren LaFeet is the founder of Nomad Dance, created with the mission to re-establish social partner dance as an integral component of popular culture. As an instructor, performer and choreographer, Wren has spent almost half of his life dancing, both in groups and solo, but mostly in partnership with others. With Nomad Dance, he offers the experience and the opportunity to learn the skills of connection, non-verbal communication and how partner dance contributes to the creation of a conscious culture.
Sidney Rittenberg
Sidney Rittenberg has known every Chinese leader: Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, the notorious “Gang of Four,” Deng Xiaoping, and the present president and premier. The Army trained Sidney in Chinese Studies during World War II, and sent him to China. He later joined the UN Relief Program, met and formed a friendship with Zhou Enlai, and in 1946 accepted the invitation to help train Chinese journalists working in English. He became a leading translator for the Works of Mao Zedong, and was the only American citizen accepted into the Chinese Communist Party, until he withdrew from the party during the Cultural Revolution. In China, Sidney found Yulin, his dream girl and lifetime partner; she has been for 56 years the source of his happiness and the strength behind his achievements. 16 of Sidney’s 35 years in China were spent as a prisoner in solitary confinement on charges of being an American spy. He was freed in 1977 and eulogized by the post-Cultural Revolution Chinese government as a true friend of China. His family became a myth and a legend, giving them easy entrée to China’s leaders — a great advantage for their consulting work. As consultants, Sidney and Yulin have helped clients like Intel, InFocus, Nextel, Levi Strauss, Hughes Aircraft, ARCO, Microsoft, and Teledesic, as well as CBS’ Dan Rather and Sidney’s close friends, Mike Wallace and the Reverend Billy Graham. Sidney has appeared on virtually every major TV and Radio interview program, he has been interviewed or revieweed by every major newspaper, and frequently gives seminars on the China business. He has been Distinguished Professor of Chinese History at the University of North Carolina, where an endowed chair has been announced in his honor, and is currently Visiting Professor of China Studies at Pacific Lutheran University. Sidney’s 35 years in China are chronicled in “The Man Who Stayed Behind,” co-authored with (then) senior Wall Street Journal writer, Amanda Bennett.
A feature documentary THE REVOLUTIONARY has just been completed on Sidney Rittenberg’s life. You can view the trailer here: http://revolutionarymovie.com/trailer.html
David Hume Kennerly
David Hume Kennerly is a native Oregonian who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for his photos of the Vietnam War, was President Gerald R. Ford’s personal photographer, and is an Emmy-nominated film producer. American Photo Magazine namedhim“One of the 100 Most Important People in Photography.” He has contributed to Newsweek, Time & Life, and George magazines. His books, Shooter, Photo Op, Seinoff: The Final Days of Seinfeld, Photo du Jour, and, Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford have been must-‐reads in the photo community. He was executive producer and principal photographer of Barack Obama: The Official Inaugural Book. Kennerly is on the Board of
Trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, and the Atlanta Board of Visitors of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). His archive is at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas, Austin. He resides in Santa Monica, California where he’s participating in an Egyptian work-‐ release program.
Malerie Pratt
After working as a volunteer with children in Zambia in 2005, Malerie Pratt, a college student and native of Bend, Oregon, realized that something needed to be done to help orphaned children in vulnerable and abusive situations. Returning to Bend, she and Marlena Bellavia founded a non-profit organization called VIMA LUPWA HOMES, raising funds to build the first home, not an institution, but a family-style home. The first VIMA LUPWA HOME, Lupwa meaning “family” in the Bemba language, provides education and medical care, leadership economic opportunities, and environmental awareness that facilitates self-sustainability for these children, the family, and their community.
Raj Dhingra
Raj Dhingra is a twenty-year veteran of the technology industry with an extensive track record of building strong, sustainable and profitable industry leadership positions in new and emerging categories. Raj brings entrepreneurial drive and success, and a rich depth of corporate experience across general management, business development, product development, sales and marketing functions. Prior to joining NComputing in April 2011, Raj was VP and GM at Citrix where he led the company’s desktop virtualization business from zero to half a billion dollars growth in sales over a 3 year period. As well as his leadership role in global virtualization companies such as Citrix, Dhingra has held executive leadership positions in public companies such as McAfee, 3Com, SonicWALL and startups such as IntruVert Networks (acquired by McAfee) and PortAuthority Technologies (acquired by Websense).
Eric Plantenberg
As the CEO of Freedom Personal Development, Eric Plantenberg shows people from all walks of life how to make a greater impact in all areas of their lives.
Eric has an uncanny ability to take things from concept to reality. He believes that when one person lives a life of Purpose, the entire world becomes a better place because of it.
His wife Michelle says the “craziest thing about Eric is that he really thinks he’s just living a normal life.”
Most people wouldn’t use the word “normal” to describe Eric’s life. In addition to inspiring people across the globe, here’s a snapshot of a few things he’s done in his free time:
- Started a school for homeless children in Egypt – while learning Arabic
- Completed the IronMan four times
- Volunteered at orphanages in India
- Climbed to the Summit of Mt. Everest from the North
- Chases tirelessly after his 2 year old daughter
Charles Jennings
A successful Internet entrepreneur, author and speaker on technology and government, Charles Jennings founded the companies Swan Island Networks (where he is currently CEO); GeoTrust (acquired by Verisign in 2007 for $250 million); and Preview Systems (2000 IPO). With Esther Dyson and Lori Fena, he also founded the Internet privacy assurance leader, TRUSTe, whose privacy assurance mark consistently is one of the Internet’s most recognizable symbols.
Jennings is the author of six books, including The Hundredth Window: Protecting Your Privacy and Security in the Age of the Internet (Simon & Schuster, 2000), which has been translated into four languages and distributed world-wide. Jennings is a periodic op-ed columnist for The Oregonian, and his work with Swan Island was the focus of a major feature story in WIRED Magazine’s December 2005 issue.
Jennings has been a speaker at top conferences worldwide. In 1999, he was a keynoter at the United Nations 50th Anniversary Conference on Human Rights in Toulouse, France. In 2000, he debated Shawn Fanning, founder of Napster, before 5000 people at a high tech conference in New York City. In the past year, he has been speaking about Web 2.0 and “private cloud” services at events ranging from the U.S. government’s National Fusion Center Conference in Kansas City, to the Nobel Public Services Summit, an annual event held in conjunction with the Nobel Prize Awards in Stockholm and Oslo.
Honors in high tech include the Federal 100 Award given by Federal Computer Week to the 100 most influential people in government technology; and the Oregon Entrepreneurial Networks’ Individual Achievement Award (one of the highest business awards in Oregon).
Jennings holds two patents for secure content distribution over public networks and one for secure wide-area emergency networks. He is the architect of Oregon’s award-winning Connect & Protect information sharing system, a finalist for the Mitretek Innovations Award in Homeland Security given by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; and of Swan Island Networks’ current TIES® platform.
Jennings served four years as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at The Northwest Academy, an award-winning, honors-based private high school. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife of 38 years, the artist Christine Jennings.
Duke Stump
Duke Stump believes in bonfires. His role is that of a Sherpa, responsible for sparking the bonfires.
He finds nutrition in the wisdom of nature, the compassion of horsemanship, the vision of Buckminster Fuller and the inspiration of Sister Corita Kent. However, he thrives when he is living the simple life with his wonderful wife, two amazing daughters, horses, and chickens in the genius of place called Ojai, CA.
He believes in adventures that make him uncomfortable…in a good way. That said, his adventures to date have led him to NIKE (VP Product Marketing – subsidiary), Seventh Generation (CMO), The Northstar Manifesto (Principal), Marlboro Graduate School (Adjunct Faculty), Presidio Graduate School (Expert-In-Residence), Biomimicry Institute (Board member), Easton Bell Sports (SVP Culture, Creative & Brand Innovation) and The DO Lectures USA (host/curator).
Thomas Lauderdale
Thomas Lauderdale (piano) was raised on a plant nursery in rural Indiana. He began piano lessons at age six with Patricia Garrison. When his family moved to Portland in 1982, he began studying with Sylvia Killman, who continues to this day as his coach and mentor. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Oregon Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Portland Youth Philharmonic, Chamber Music Northwest and Oregon Ballet Theatre (where he collaborated with choreographer James Canfield and visual artists Storm Tharp and Malia Jensen on a ballet based on Felix Salten’s Bambi, written in 1923).
Active in Oregon politics since a student at U.S. Grant High School (where he was student body president), Thomas served under Portland Mayor Bud Clark and Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt. He also worked under Portland City Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury on the drafting and passage of the city’s civil rights ordinance. He graduated with honors from Harvard with a degree in History and Literature in 1992. He spent most of his collegiate years, however, in cocktail dresses, taking on the role of “cruise director” … throwing waltzes with live orchestras and ice sculptures, disco masquerades with gigantic pineapples on wheels, midnight swimming parties, and operating a Tuesday night coffeehouse called Café Mardi.
Instead of running for political office, Lauderdale founded the ‘little orchestra” called Pink Martini in 1994 to play political fundraisers for progressive causes such as civil rights, the environment, affordable housing and public broadcasting. In addition to his work with Pink Martini, Lauderdale collaborates with international superstar and singing sensation Meow Meow, the surf band Satan’s Pilgrims and novelist/writer Tom Spanbauer. In Spring 2008, Lauderdale completed his first film score for Chiara Clemente’s documentary Our City Dreams, a portrait of five New York City-based women artists of different generations. In 2008, he performed as the featured piano soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia with the Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland under the direction of Roger Doyle, and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with the Oregon Symphony under the direction of Christoph Campestrini.
Lauderdale currently serves on the boards of the Oregon Symphony and Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon. He lives in Portland with his boyfriend artist/designer Philip Iosca.
Eric Simpkins
Eric leads a team seeking to give Oregon a once-in-a-century chance to lead a new industry built upon civilian space systems.Taking the lead in civilian space systems will make Oregon a world leader in sensor development, data acquisition and analysis—with emphasis on earth sciences and the environment—law enforcement, and energy-efficient transportation. These new technologies will create a new robotics infrastructure that will support all cutting-edge modern industry.
Eric has served as a quality control engineer, designed and manufactured space systems—including nuclear-powered spacecraft—and has worked at the national and regional level to shape alternative energy policy and develop fuel cell businesses.
Chad Russell
Chad served 3 tours (a total of 2.5 years) in Iraq as a Marine in a variety of positions, including being a sniper. While with the sniper teams, he conducted surveillance for intelligence purposes and eliminated enemy forces that would try to harm coalition forces or local civilians. Chad was also a Team Leader, Assistant Team Leader, Radio Operator, and Forward Observer who called in air strikes. And he trained some of the first Iraqi Army units and Iraqi Police Departments.
Returning home from Iraq was not an easy transition. But Chad learned to gain valuable insight through the support of others, often including Vietnam Vets. Now married to his wife Taneal and a successful business person living in Portland, Chad realizes that the impact of his time in Iraq will always be part of him. And he knows that the returning Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen have a long road of recovery.
Chad grew up in Bend, graduating from Mountain View High School (Go Cougars). As a kid he had an array of interests: Chad loved soccer, tee-ball, and football. He was part of the Jazz Choir, participated in the Navy Junior ROTC program, and volunteered for the Deschutes County Search and Rescue.
Patrick Renvoise
Patrick discovered the buy button inside the brain and spent two years researching and formalizing a science-based map to access that button.
Neuroscience is exiting the hospitals to reach the aisles of your grocery store. Companies like Coke and Pepsi want to better understand how and why you decide to buy their products, movie makers want to know what trailer will best promote their films, and politicians want to predict what issue will make them win or lose your vote – and they are all looking for answers inside your brain!
Patrick received a Masters in Computer Science from the National Institute of Applied Sciences (Lyon, France). He is the co-author of “Neuromarketing: Understanding the buy button inside your customer’s brain.” He is currently serving as Chief Neuromarketing Officer of SalesBrain.
Russell Redenbaugh
Russell lost his sight at the age of 16 and has learned to “read the world” without being able to “see” any of it.
Russell has a skill for learning – not just information, but how to move in a changing and uncertain world. Forming a commitment not to live like he was blind, regardless of how others treated him, he graduated 6th in his class from Wharton.
His journey from welfare to wealth has included working as a Partner and Chief Investment Officer for a $6 billion investment firm, being a Commissioner on the US Civil Rights Commission, and becoming a Jujitsu world champion.
Kelley Kalafatich
Kelley is an adventure guide, explorer, and novice-filmmaker who paved the way for women to become guides in the adventure travel industry. Today, paralyzed from the waist down after ingesting a waterborne parasite on the first descent of the Blue Nile River, Kelley continues to illustrate the need for courage to make the world better.
Her experiences include:
- Trainer for third-world locals who continue to earn living wages for their families as guides on their native rivers
- Guide on historic journeys that retraced the steps of great explorers such as John Muir’s expedition through Alaska and Teddy Roosevelt’s wilderness river descent through the rain forests of Brazil
- Stunt woman for Meryl Streep in the movie “The River Wild”
- Award-winning documentary film maker for the movie “Three Women, 300 Miles,” which chronicled her river-board (similar to large boogie-board)trip through the Grand Canyon
Kelley inspires listeners to live in the moment, embracing and not shying from fear. She uses her spinal cord injury to support all people in their pursuit of living the life they dream.
Jelly Helm
Jelly Helm is creative director of Studio Jelly in Portland, Oregon. He helps people and companies connect with their purpose and powerfully express it to the world. Clients include Starbucks, Nike, Wikipedia, The University of California, the New York Governor’s Office, Warner Brothers/DC Comics, Oregon Humanities and the Portland Timbers.
Caitlin Crosby
A native of Los Angeles, actress/singer/songwriter Caitlin Crosby started writing songs with Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and signed to his label under Arista Records at the age of 17. Caitlin has also appeared in film and recurred in dozens of TV shows and commercials.
Growing up in and around the entertainment industry gave Caitlin insight into what really went on behind the scenes of the media, and she started speaking at junior highs, high schools and colleges about body image, peer pressure, and bullying. She created www.LoveYourFlawz.com to aid in those issues. Caitlin was chosen as a spokesperson for Oprah’s top 10 favorite charities for O Magazine’s 10-year anniversary and Oprah’s Live Your Best Life events.
Additionally, Caitlin started a ‘Pay It Forward’ jewelry business called “The Giving Keys.” They engrave inspiring words on used keys. Once someone wears it, they must give it away at some point to a person they think needs the message on the key and then go to the website www.thegivingkeys.com to blog the story about why they gave it away. The Giving Keys has now employed ten people who were trying to transition out of homelessness and five of them have now moved into apartments from this movement. The Giving Keys have now been featured on The Today Show, The Huffington Post, Teen Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, and more.
Portland Cello Project
Portland Cello Project has gained a reputation as a group that welcomes new and diverse audiences by breaking down musical-social boundaries and building bridges between different musical communities.
Since the group’s inception in late 2007, the Portland Cello Project (or, PCP, as their fans affectionately call them), has wowed audiences all over the country with extravagant performances, everywhere from Prairie Home Companion to that punk rock club in the part of town your grandma warns you not to go to after dark. The group has built a reputation mixing genres and blurring musical lines and perceptions wherever they go. No two shows are alike, with a repertoire now numbering over 800 pieces of music you wouldn’t normally hear coming out of a cello.
The Cello Project’s stage setup ranges from the very simple (4-6 cellos), to the all out epic (which has included 12 cellos playing with full choirs, winds, horns, and numerous percussion players).
Amber Case
Amber Case is a researcher exploring the field of cyborg anthropology and the interaction between humans and technology. She is the founder of Geoloqi (geo-low-key), Inc., a company bringing the future of location to the world. She’s spoken at TED and around the world, and has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, WIRED and more.
Geoloqi was acquired by global mapping company Esri in Oct 2012.
Joe Abraham
Joe is the founder/CEO of bosiDNA.com, featured in the Wall Street Journal for its breakthrough technology and award-winning accelerator.
Entrepreneurship has given us Edison and Ford, Branson and Jobs. But has entrepreneurship seen its best days? We’ll learn why its best days are still ahead – and how a breakthrough discovery about entrepreneurial behavior is unlocking entrepreneurship’s greatest potential around the globe.
A serial entrepreneur himself, Joe has started, grown and exited three companies of his own and invested in over 20 growing startups. He is author of Entrepreneurial DNA: The Breakthrough Discovery That Aligns Your Business to Your Unique Strengths (McGraw Hill 2011). He has been featured on FoxNews, CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC, WGN and numerous nationally syndicated radio shows on topics related to entrepreneurship and small business growth. Joe also serves as an advisor to entrepreneurship programs domestically and around the world.
Charles Precourt
Precourt launched on his first space flight in 1993, aboard the Columbia. A highly decorated veteran of four different missions, Precourt was Chief of the Astronaut Corps from 1998-2002 and was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2012. He retired from NASA in 2004 and now leads the Space Launch Division at ATK, where he is overseeing the development of a launch system that he hopes will enable human-manned deep space exploration. Whoa.
Bob Hurley
Hurley founder and CEO Bob Hurley made his work his play from the beginning. Hurley started as a surfer and board shaper in Huntington Beach, before acquiring the license to Billabong USA in 1982, starting his own eponymous surf and skate company in 1999, and folding into the Nike brand in 2002, where he continues to lead the $252M business. Hurley’s instincts to make surf culture less insular and more inclusive have led the brand toward successful alignments in music, art and youth culture. He still surfs and shapes boards today.
