Theme: Connect

ideas are the beginning.

At Connect Fort Wayne, great talks are just the start. Somewhere along the way, we realized the ideas, as important as they are, were only part of what we were doing. As we start the fifth year of our journey, we’re giving these ideas a larger voice, and creating opportunities for forward-leaning individuals to connect and build on these ideas.

11109 Parkview Plaza Drive
Entrance 1
Fort Wayne, Indiana, 46845
United States

The Ukulele Cowboy Society

  The Ukulele Cowboy Society is an eclectic alternative Jazz and Swing Cabaret Duo with a new spin on popular standards and influential artists of the 1920’s - 1950’s. Connecting the ties between the arts and cultural diversity, their goal is to show and develop the relationship between modern American musical history and form and the diverse lineage from which it flourishes. The Duo has designed a multi-media theatrical event reminiscent of 20th century Cabaret entitled, Call & Response. Weaving history, storytelling, original art, and jazz and swing, they create a Cabaret Experience that is an innovative, informative, exciting, and accessible approach to celebratory diversity and connection.

Adam Garland

Taller in real life, Adam is an optimist chasing photography and design in Northeast Indiana. His work has been featured by the design podcast "99% Invisible" and several local publications.   Born in Bloomington, adopted by Fort Wayne, Adam founded the design collective, Three River City, to independently create and curate the image of "the city that saved itself" as a labor of love for the city and it's people.   Passionate about education, Adam has been fortunate to share his experiences to teach students by partnering with local galleries, universities, and schools.   An avid cyclist, Adam commutes on bicycle year round, relying on the growing public transportation and expanding trail networks.   He enjoys loud music, strong coffee, and staring at clouds.

Alec Johnson

Alec Johnson is a Hoosier by choice from St. Paul, Minnesota. He currently serves as City Landscape Architect for the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department where he designs new parks, park improvements, and does long-term master planning. Alec is also a working artist and musician. On the art side, Alec is the co-founder of the Publicity Studio, which specializes in small through large scale public art including sculpture, land art, and interactive multi-media installations. As a musician, Alec operates Smart Alec MusicWorks, a music production house working in film, experimental art installations, and live performance.

Andy Youniss

Andy Youniss co-founded Rocket Software in 1990 and continues to be the company's main driving force. He successfully established and actively manages Rocket's OEM partnerships and is guiding the company's growth through technology investments, acquisitions, new product lines, and strategic partnerships. Prior to founding Rocket Software, Andy was the development manager for DB View Inc., a software company specializing in DB2 database tools. Previously, he was a programmer/analyst at American Management Systems, and was also a project development consultant. Andy holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

Bernadette Gleeson

As an Inspirational Speaker and Recovery Life Coach at Bernadette Gleeson Coaching, Bernadette is fueled by the fact that recovery for people with Substance Use Disorders is more than possible. She has a uniquely powerful way of facilitating a paradigm shift from one of what people are in “recovery from” towards what people are in “Recovery To”. She works with people who are affected by Substance Use Disorders - at any stage of their use or recovery -- loved ones touched by the disorder, and is a consultant to many organizations in the field. She further works, to close the gaps and trek all parts of this beautiful terrain towards true freedom.

Courtney Tritch

Courtney Tritch currently serves as the VP of Marketing at the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and has a shared love for community and positive change. Through her work at the Regional Partnership, she has led nationally-recognized marketing campaigns and, most recently, she spearheaded the Our Story Project to discover the region’s authentic and compelling story to market to the world. With 15 years of brand building experience and her empathy for the underdog, she constantly challenges herself and her community to be better than we are today. She is an ATHENA Award nominee; a recipient of Business Weekly’s “40 Under 40” Award; and she won Best in Show for her original, one woman show “The Identity Itch” performed at Fort Wayne Fringe Fest.

Dan Swartz

Dan is an artist, writer and curator based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is the founder and curator of Wunderkammer Company, a independent non-profit contemporary art center. Formerly Swartz worked for the Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District (DID), and volunteered for a number arts, social service, and civic organizations.   Swartz explains his trials and tribulations working within the Fort Wayne community, taking the audience through his experiences as a teenager volunteering for community pride initiatives, then as an employee of an economic development organization, and finally through the founding of a non-profit contemporary art center and all of his interactions, celebrations, and collisions with community along the way.

Dan Wire

For over 50 years Dan Wire developed a relationship with the rivers beyond simple recreation. From flooding to water quality Dan has spent decades on dozens of committees focused on our rivers. With successes in flood control and sewer improvement plans in place the next frontier is the rivers as economic drivers.   Culminating over 2 years of study and a $500,000 Riverfront Development plan complete Dan has never lost sight of the importance of connecting individuals, one on one, to their rivers.

Dr. Dave Johnson

Dr. Dave Johnson is a Professor of Nursing at the University of Saint Francis, EAP Specialist with Parkview Health, and co-owner of Integrate Mindfulness in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has worked with many organizations with consultations, presentations, and publications. With licenses in clinical social work, marriage and family therapy, and nursing, he promotes health and vitality in individuals, families, organizations, and communities. Topics focus on stress, leadership, teambuilding, change, and mindfulness. He weaves stories that reveal the nature of stress in juggling work and family and strategies for maintaining one’s sense of humor and perspective.

Henry Graf

As a pastor and professor Henry has long straddled two worlds---the church and academia. Some say it’s a collision of worlds. However, it’s in that overlap he is most comfortable and fully present. Something magical happens when that space is occupied.   Henry is sought after speaker and coach whose first book More Than a Story launched him onto the international scene. While he enjoyed tours of Demark, England, Latvia, South Africa, Haiti and throughout North America, his first love is Fort Wayne, where he lives with his wife Tricia and his daughters Kaitlyn and Adeline.   Henry’s mission to help individuals from all walks of life and organizations of sizes grow to their full potential.

Lauren Sanderson

Named "Most Influential Up & Comer" at the 2014 Indiana Social Media Summit, 19 year old, Lauren Sanderson, is seen as an inspirational role model of teenage girls nationwide. After graduating high school in June 2014, she jumped right in and started her own business as a teenage positivity coach. She's established a brand on social media and achieves over 10 million views per month, spreading her movement, "Stay Positive N' Stay You." Although this is truly sensational, it is not nearly as important as her influence on teen girls across the country, helping them on their journey to accepting and embracing themselves for who they truly are. Lauren sees herself expanding her passion by speaking, rapping, writing and making videos to change the way youth thinks about not only themselves, but the world around them.

Nicole Moore

Nicole Moore is an artist and designer who believes in living life joyfully. She is the Director of Operations and for Creative Women of the World, a local nonprofit in Fort Wayne that is dedicated to inspiring creative business and marketing solutions for women around the world seeking to rise out of extreme poverty, human trafficking and disasters. Always equipped with a sense of adventure and wanderlust, Nicole travels all over the world and helps train these amazing artisans, and carry their stories back home to share with others. She has passion and heart for giving girls opportunities and education, because she believes that they are the key to changing our world.

Rob Staley

Rob Staley serves as the Executive Director of the Crossing Educational Center, a faith-based, accredited, alternative high school in the state of Indiana.   After serving as a public school educator for 25 years; 20 years as an administrator with Concord Community Schools, Rob started the Crossing Educational Center in December 2003. He always had a dream of running his own school focused on the needs of students who have barriers in life which lead them to struggle in a traditional school environment. The mission of the Crossing is to empower struggling students to become contributing members of their community through academics, job training and faith-based mentoring. The Crossing is helping students to acquire not only a high school diploma, but job skills to better equip them for their future, and a moral compass to assist them in leading those around them, with the goal to give back to the communities they live in.

Tara Rodden Robinson

When Tara was twenty-eight years old, she dropped everything to move to Costa Rica where she fulfilled her dream of living in the rainforest. Since then, she’s earned a Ph.D. in biology, authored Genetics for Dummies, left academia to become an executive coach, and is now an internationally recognized expert in the field of personal productivity. As crazy as it sounds, she got interested in productivity because she was worried that she wasn’t living up to her potential. When she’s not working, you can find in her art studio making mosaics or hiking near Corvallis, Oregon.