Theme: TRANSFORM

There is something otherworldly about transformation; caterpillars to
butterflies, winter to spring, simple marks on paper to a stunning portrait. So
many transformations are visual, but the world is full of transformations that
are far less conspicuous – and no less meaningful.

Sublime joy, wrenching tragedy, an enlightening conversation – these can all
transform. And so do words and stories. This year’s event celebrates our
ability to transform, from subtle internal shifts to seismic quantifiable ones.

The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Rd
San Marino, California, 91108
United States

Ashlee Marie Preston

Host, Commentator, Activist

Ashlee Marie Preston is a media personality, writer, speaker, and civil rights activist. She is the host of a podcast/vodcast entitled “Shook with Ashlee Marie Preston” which examines news, politics, entertainment, and pop culture through a social justice lens. Ashlee Marie is historically the first trans woman to become editor in chief of a national publication. She has been featured by Teen Vogue, NBC, New York Times, BuzzFeed, HuffPo, The Washington Post, and many other news outlets. She was named one of The Root 100’s “Most Influential African Americans of 2017”, and was profiled as one of LOGO/NewNowNext and PopSugar’s top 40 LGBTQ’s of 2017. Ashlee Marie was a candidate for California State Assembly District 54 in 2018; making her the first openly trans person to run for California State Legislature.

Bryan Kett

Storyteller, Scientist, Humorist

Bryan Kett is a writer and storyteller from the Midwest who now lives in Los Angeles. After earning his Bachelor’s degree in biology and education, he spent his first few years out of college teaching high school science in Chicago. On a whim, after his first year teaching, he began taking writing classes at Chicago’s famed Second City. There, he fell in love with the craft of writing, and went on to earn his Master’s degree in Writing and Publishing at DePaul University. Still a scientist at heart, Bryan loves weaving personal narrative and scientific explanation to create illuminating, entertaining stories for the screen and stage. In his free time, Bryan loves fishing, despite the fact that he hasn’t caught a fish in years.

Dana Budzyn

Researcher, Futurist, Crypto-enthusiast

After her first month of college at Lehigh University, 18-year-old Dana Budzyn went into septic shock and was put in a medically induced coma for a month. She went from being a third place junior volleyball Olympian and recruited college basketball player, to learning how to walk and function again. Dana eventually returned to school, but this time to study bioengineering in tribute to the doctors and engineers whose technology saved her life. She interned at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory developing use cases for space technology in the medical, forensic, and environmental fields. In her research, she realized the potential of aggregated health data and how this could not only help solve some of the largest medical mysteries in the world, but could give individuals a vested interest in and ownership of the cures themselves. With this in mind, Dana came to focus on empowering individuals to own and capitalize their data.

Erika Jayne Girardi

Performer, Author, TV Personality

A natural-born entertainer, Erika Jayne Girardi has raked nine #1’s on the U.S. Billboard dance chart. The Atlanta native is a New York Times bestselling author, cast member and fan favorite on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and virtual character in the mobile app Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. She has also appeared on major network television programs like ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, CBS’s The Young and The Restless, and Paramount’s Lip Sync Battle. Erika has been seen on Ellen, Good Morning America, Nightline, Larry King, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, and People Magazine. The blonde siren’s always-perfect hair and makeup – on-camera and on the red carpet – has made her a marketing target for the beauty industry, scoring Girardi high-figure partnerships with popular brands like TooFaced and Beauty Blender for Sephora. It’s hard to believe that with all this, Erika Jayne is just getting started…

Jeffrey Bucholtz

Motivator, Educator, Consultant

Jeffrey Bucholtz is director of We End Violence, a violence prevention social business that provides performances, educational materials, curricula, consulting services, and Agent of Change bystander intervention programming. Over the past 17 years, Jeff has worked as an activist, organizer, and public speaker, providing consultation, presentations, and performances in the fields of sexual violence, masculinity, relationship violence, gender normativity, popular culture, violence prevention, stalking, bullying, working in alliances, feminist thought, collaboration, and the intersectionality of oppression. Jeff has done extensive work with the male community to engage and involve men in violence prevention.

Jeffrey Bucholtz

Jeffrey Bucholtz is director of We End Violence, a violence prevention social business that provides performances, educational materials, curricula, consulting services, and Agent of Change bystander intervention programming. Over the past 17 years, Jeff has worked as an activist, organizer, and public speaker, providing consultation, presentations, and performances in the fields of sexual violence, masculinity, relationship violence, gender normativity, popular culture, violence prevention, stalking, bullying, working in alliances, feminist thought, collaboration, and the intersectionality of oppression. Jeff has done extensive work with the male community to engage and involve men in violence prevention.

Lauren Gibbs

Entrepreneur, Foodie, Olympian

Having been an athlete for most of her life, Lauren Gibbs pursued a career in sales after graduating from college. But when she was presented with the opportunity to attend a tryout session for the U.S. National Bobsled Team, Lauren made the decision to leave her six-figure job to pursue a different dream, to become an Olympian.Three months later, she was selected to represent Team USA as a rookie member of the 2015 Women’s National Bobsled Team. Thrust into a sport she had never competed in or even watched, Lauren transformed herself into an elite-level bobsledder in just four years’ time. In January 2018, Lauren was named to her first Olympic Team to compete in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. With her teammate, Elana Meyers Taylor, Lauren earned a silver medal helping Team USA continue the trend of success for the Women’s Bobsled program.

Nancy Baker Cahill

Artist, Innovator, Communicator

Nancy Baker Cahill is an acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist and founder of 4th Wall, a free Augmented Reality (AR) app which allows users to place art in 360 degrees anywhere in the world. Nancy received her B.A. in Art from Williams College. From 2010-2012 she initiated and led a collaborative art project at Homeboy Industries called “Exit Wounds.” Works from this project were exhibited throughout Los Angeles as part of the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM)’s “Folk Art Everywhere” program. In 2015, she designed and led a collage workshop with homeless individuals under the aegis of a CAFAM grant. She is also the recipient of an ARC Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation. Solo exhibition highlights include the Pasadena Museum of California Art, Ochi Projects, her Virtual Reality (VR) public art project on the IF (Innovation Foundation) sponsored Sunset Digital Billboards, and a VR/AR event at LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) in April 2018.

Peter and Adenike Harris

Father, Daughter, Allies

Peter and Adenike Harris, also known as Pops‘nAde, provide practical and loving lessons learned from years of courageous “call-and-response” dialogue that helped them heal in the years after Adenike revealed her stepfather had sexually abused her from the ages of 14 to 22. In the spirit of Lift Every Voice and Sing, Pops‘nAde reveal how they became thriving survivors through tears, candor, imagination, and even hard-won laughter. Pops‘nAde are 21st Century Conversation Starters and Healing Partners with a dynamic message: “We’re all worth healing and no silence is good that keeps you from talking to people who can help you.” Pops‘nAde are living examples, whose powerful service offers a roadmap to rich, loving, and inspiring non-abusive relationships.

Rene Sotelo

Urologist, Professor, Surgeon

Dr. René Sotelo serves as a professor of urology at the Institute of Urology at USC and Medical Director of the International Services at Keck Medicine of USC. Recognized for his leadership in the field of laparoscopic and robotic repair techniques, Dr. Sotelo has performed more than 3,000 advanced laparoscopic-robotic surgeries, including complex urinary fistulae, radical prostatectomy, partial nephrectomy, cystectomy, and inguinal lymphadenectomy. He is considered a pioneer among his peers and one of the most experienced surgeons in the world, for using these techniques to treat patients. As a distinguished researcher, Dr. Sotelo has published more than 60 articles on urology.

Steven Butler

Visual Storyteller, Dancer, Music Lover

Steven Butler is a multi-talented creative with an open mind, passion for storytelling, and aptitude for intersecting multiple art forms. He harbors the stage presence, confidence, and spatial awareness of a dancer; the storytelling ability of a seasoned writer and filmmaker; and the social responsibility of an informed artist. He received a Bachelor of Arts in film from ArtCenter College of Design. Complementing his choreography and film work, Steven serves as the Media Coordinator for Designmatters, the ArtCenter’s Social Innovation department. By intersecting his creative passions and vast practical experience in varying artistic fields, Steven aims to use art as a means of storytelling that both engages and inspires viewers and participants, while simultaneously shaping a progressive and culturally relevant narrative.

Tim Hartley

Altruist, Coach, Connector

To Tim Hartley, community is everything. When he’s not working as a residential real estate agent in the Pasadena/Los Angeles area or raising his two sons with husband, Jason of 19 years, he is actively engaged in helping many others throughout the community. Tim’s enthusiasm and commitment are an inspiration to everyone he meets. He serves on the board of Monte Cedro, a senior living community in Altadena; coaches for Pasadena’s Special Olympics swim and soccer teams; and serves on the steering committee of All Saints Foster Care Project. In his free time, Tim works as a hospice volunteer.

Timothy Alexander

Speaker, Author, Minister

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Timothy Alexander attended Erwin High School and was ranked the eighth best high school football player in the state. Timothy had the opportunity to play for any college in the country. However, this all changed in 2006, when he was involved in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Through tremendous perseverance, however, he went on to graduate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he double majored in Criminal Justice and Communication Management, and later earned a Master’s degree in Communication Management. He became the first paraplegic to receive a football scholarship. His proudest moment, however, came in July 2016 when he was able to stand up on his own while on the football field. Hear this man's incredible story of how...

Tracy Drain

Problem Solver, Explorer, Trailblazer

Tracy Drain relishes being on the forefront of space exploration. She is a Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA and is currently the Deputy Project System Engineer on the Psyche mission. She received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky and a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. In her 17 years at the JPL, Tracy has been involved in the development, testing, and operation of several missions: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (a science and relay orbiter at Mars), Kepler (a space based observatory searching for Exoplanets), Juno (an orbiter at Jupiter), and her current adventure, Psyche. Psyche will launch in 2022, on a mission to study the solar system’s largest metal asteroid. Tracy is passionate about space exploration and STEM fields in general and loves taking every opportunity to share her enthusiasm with students, parents, and teachers.