Theme: Bold + Brilliant = Badass: Now is the Time

The TEDxUStreetWomen conference theme expands on the 2019 TEDWomen Conference theme of Bold + Brilliant. Our theme Bold + Brilliant = Badass: Now is the Time represents the idea that now is the time to be unapologetic when speaking up and out about those issues that affect women and humanity. Now is the time to be Bold, Brilliant, and BadAss.

Women are realizing that the way things used to be is not the way things should be. More and more, women are becoming empowered to break the glass ceilings and strive towards finding their place in leadership roles. Roles that challenges the old way of thinking while creating opportunities for women to make a difference in the world. Women are not new to leadership; think of Cleopatra or Queen Elizabeth. Think of the women who led the civil rights and education reform movements. However, women are still outnumbered by men in the most prestigious positions, from Capitol Hill to the board room.

Although a lot is being done to change the way women are seen, much still needs to be done. Women make up more than half the U.S. population, yet there are only one in five women in Congress. Men still out pace women in salaries and positions. Women all across the globe are regaining their confidence and becoming bold, brilliant and unapologetic. During this conference, we will celebrate, not only the successes of women, but ponder on ways to be innovative and inspirational. Ways to affect the planet and the people on it.

Now is the Time!
#BoldBrilliantBadAss
#NowIsTheTime
#TEDxUStreetWomen
@TEDxUStreet
@TEDxUStreetWomen

University of the District of Columbia Student Center
4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, District of Columbia, 20008
United States

Avis Jones DeWeever

Political Commentator, Author, International Speaker, Race & Gender Empowerment Expert

Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever, is an Award-Winning Author, International Speaker, Political Commentator, and Race & Gender Empowerment Expert. As a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Avis is the Founder of the Washington DC Boutique Consulting Firm, Incite Unlimited and The Exceptional Leadership Institute. Dr. Avis’ organizations offer diversity & inclusion training and consulting, entrepreneurship training and media training along with communications strategy development. She is also the Co-Founder of Black America Digital Network (launching January 2020). Her distinct perspectives have been shared through a variety of media platforms, including CNN, Fox News, PBS, C-Span, TV One, BET, BBC, NPR, Sirius XM Radio, the Washington Post, USA To-day, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Glamour Magazine, Black Enterprise, NBC BLK and many more.

Brianna McGowan

Developer, Data Scientist, Poet & Advocate

Hello World! I'm Brianna McGowan, a developer, poet, data scientist, advocate, and dancer passionate about intersecting worlds. I encourage people to boldly envision a future that defies the status quo. I code to move women and people of color into tech, and change the face of the industry. We challenge the bias in our data and demand integrity. Humans don’t need big data, big data needs humanity. I am committed to projects that promote social responsibility and community vibrancy. I volunteer for Black Girls Code. and am a Python Director for Women Who Code DC. I attend hack-a-thons, write poetry, teach modern dance, and advocate for D.C. Statehood and my community. I am endlessly curious, goal-driven, and lead through service.

Kimberly Quinn

Professor

As a professor at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, Dr. Kimberly Quinn teaches cognitive and positive psychology. She’s also a workshop facilitator, who frequently speaks on a variety of topics related to positive psychology, well-being, trauma-informed education, and mindfulness training for schools (students and/or faculty), human services agencies, and business organizations. Her recent research is on the influence of social media on the well-being of college students. Prior to teaching, Kimberly was a child and family therapist, specializing in working with those with ADHD. She said, “ADHD is a misnomer: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder should be ASHG (Attention Surplus High-energy Gift). ADHD is a gift due to one’s enhanced ability for divergent thinking – creativity and innovation.” Kimberly also proclaims that it is not the ADHD that is problematic, but the underlying shame that does the real damage.

Lorie Hood

Traumatologist, Researcher

Lorie Hood is a traumatologist, researcher and expert on the intersection of power, trauma, and human potential. Her clinical work, scholarship and lived experience as an individual with diagnosed PTSD has led her to develop a body of work called High Stakes Performance. Lorie teaches individuals how to function in high-stress environments consistently and predictably while maintaining access to their minds, bodies, and their full range of abilities. She does this by helping people understand, access, and process their stress and trauma, identify where they have been potentially victimized, and guiding them to reclaim their power. Lorie is the founder of The Hood Group; a Washington, DC based firm devoted to human potential and High Stakes Performance.

Michele Barnwell

Producer/Director

With early experience working as a producer on some of the highest rated cycles of the reality series America’s Next Top Model, Michele Barnwell embraced a form of story craft that she had no previous knowledge of— episodic “unscripted” story. The series was a social experiment which brought together a small group of women with different socio-cultural, economic, racial, religious or other differences in competition for a real-life top prize. The experience for Michele gave way to a fascinating new landscape of potential for how to connect audiences with the unfolding stories of real people. She has since spent over a decade producing unscripted television for many distributors (Netflix, the CW, Lifetime, BET, HBO and more), and her interest in story craft has expanded. In 2016 Michele took a break from being a producer-for-hire to create and independently produce the politics-themed web series Party Girls: Exploring Politics Across America.

Michelle Chatman

Professor, Anthropologist, Artist, & Social Justice Advocate

Dr. Michelle C. Chatman is anthropologist, artist, and social justice advocate. She works as an assistant professor in the Crime, Justice, and Security Studies program at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). Dr. Chatman earned her Master’s degree in Applied Anthropology and Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from American University. Also a contemplative educator, she integrates mindfulness, storytelling, and jazz into her instruction to help enhance learning, promote connection and well-being, and inspire social justice activism. She leads the contemplative movement at UDC where she offers mindfulness workshops and a Mindful Monday meditation series. As a Research Fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Program (IRL), she researches mindfulness and restorative justice as an approach to preventing violence and promoting resilience among African American youth.

Nic Cober

Business

Nic Cober, Esquire, recently appointed to the National Women’s Business Council, is the Principal Managing Partner of Cober Johnson and Romney (CJR), an award-winning multi-million dollar legal and business consulting firm. She is also an author, a media influencer and contributor, and an advocate for women’s empowerment and small business growth in her community. No matter the platform, Nic is regarded as an expert on business matters and personal success strategy.

Roselyn Aker-Black

Psychology, Healthy Relationships

Roselyn V. Aker- Black, Psy.D (affectionately known as Dr. Roz) is a native of Rome, Georgia currently residing in the Washington, DC metro. Dr. Roz received a B.A. in Psychology from Fisk University and completed a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at The American Schools of Professional Psychology at Argosy University. Dr. Roz is an award- winning psychologist and has over 13 years of experience in providing psychological services as a subject matter mental health expert to children, families, and couples in the nonprofit, government, and private industry sectors. Currently, she is the Chief Operating Officer for the Goal Grinders Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides Leadership and Entrepreneurial training with a STEM Focus for at risk middle school girls. She is also a psychology professor at local universities in the DC Metro area.

Shanna B. Tiayon

Writer, Speaker, Trainer in the area of Well being.

Shanna, also known as “The Wellbeing Dr.,” is a writer, speaker, and trainer working in the area of wellbeing. She defines wellbeing as a sense of enjoying life, happiness and optimism. She works to foster wellbeing and elucidate the ways we may infringe upon the wellbeing of others. Currently, Shanna is the owner of Shanna B. Tiayon Consulting, which provides individual and corporate wellbeing tools in the form of diagnostic surveys, trainings and coaching. Shanna has a Ph.D. in Sociology with a specialization in Social Psychology. While in academia, her research focused on physical and mental health, with a focus on minority populations. She’s a former National Science Foundation and Ford Foundation fellow and a published scholar. She also writes on the topic of wellbeing for popular magazine outlets. Her work has been featured in Greater Good Magazine, Yes! Magazine and Longreads.