Theme: CARE - Create a Ripple Effect

This year's event is invitation only. Please follow our website or Facebook page as we continue to make announcements.

THELMA Sadoff Center for the Arts
51 Sheboygan Street
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 54935
United States

Judy Goldsmith

Activist

Judy Goldsmith, a past national president of the National Organization for Women, also served as Campus Dean/CEO of UW-Fond du Lac from 1993-2002 and again from 2009-2010, in the interim position. She was also a founder of The Humanity Project: Telling the Untold Story, an effort to combat racial injustice. Goldsmith is a Wisconsin native, having grown up in Two Rivers. After getting an MS degree in English at the University of New York in Buffalo, she taught English for 15 years, first at SUNY Buffalo and then returning to Wisconsin to teach at the UW Manitowoc, before becoming involved in the National Organization for Women. She served in leadership positions at the local and state level of NOW, then was elected to the national board of directors, after which she moved to Washington, D.C. to serve first as executive vice president and finally as national president of the organization (1982-1986).

Lynn Roethke

Olympian

In a career that began in 1967, Lynn Roethke reigns as one of the most accomplished American women judo athletes in the history of the sport. Lynn holds the rank of eighth degree black belt. This promotion made her the youngest eighth degree black belt and one of only two of the highest ranked woman in the United States. Lynn was the first American woman to medal in judo at the Olympic Games, winning a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. She was also an Olympic team member in Barcelona in 1992. In 1987 Lynn was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, making her the first woman in the world to earn that honor. In 2008, she was inducted in the inaugural class of the USA Judo Hall of Fame. She was selected by the U.S. Olympic committee as “female athlete of the year” in the sport of judo in 1985 and 1987.

Nick O'Brien

Community Builder

Nick O’Brien is a community/economic development creative with a passion for building and activating people-centered communities. Following the first several years of his professional life as a TV sports reporter and anchor (which relocated him to the state of Wisconsin), Nick serendipitously collided with the realm of community and economic development when he was asked to manage a young professionals group in the central Wisconsin community where his journalism career had landed him. It didn’t take long for Nick to realize his passion for the work that it takes to drive place-based talent engagement and community-enhancing projects.

Paul Sunseri

Clinical Psychologist

Paul Sunseri, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist who specializes in children’s mental health and is a pioneer in family therapy. He is the founder of three community mental health agencies and has worked to improve the lives of countless children and families over the past three decades. Dr. Sunseri is also a researcher and has published original research on the relationship between family functioning and children’s mental health. His most recent study (“Hidden Figures: Is the Key to Improving Children’s Mental Health through Better Family Functioning?”) is the largest research study ever conducted and shows that children and adolescents with serious mental illness benefit the most when their family as a whole is treated and family functioning improves. Dr. Sunseri is also the developer of Intensive In-Home Family Treatment (IIFT), an innovative treatment approach for children and teens in high conflict families for which traditional outpatient therapy has been ineffective.

Samantha Nelson

Artist

Illustrator and Fond du Lac native Samantha Nelson holds a bachelor’s degree in illustration from UW-Eau Claire and holds certification in web development. She was theFond du Lac Public Library’s Idea Studio 2019 summer artist in residence, conducting workshops on life drawing, concept character creation with 3-D printing and screen printing. Nelson was also instrumental in the launching the Idea Studio’s Girls Who Code Club. Her creativity inspiration comes from her pet rats, beekeeping, reptile breeding projects, tarantulas and her microfauna vivariums. She is an avid lover of non-traditional pets and educator on how to care and respect them.

Shawn Robinson

Dr. Dyslexia Dude

Shawn Anthony Robinson, PhD, is a Faculty Member at Madison College, a Senior Research Associate in the Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and serves on the Board of Directors with the International Dyslexia Association. Robinson graduated from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UWO) with a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Services, a Master’s in Education from DePaul University, and a PhD in Language and Literacy from Cardinal Stritch University. Robinson has over 40 publications and has received several distinguished honors throughout his early career such as: the 2017 Alumni Achievement Award/New Trier High School Alumni Hall of Honor; the 2016 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from UWO; and the All-State Insurance’s 2005 Educator of the Year Chicago, ILL.

Veronica Scott-Fulton

Chief Nurse Executive

Veronica Scott-Fulton is Regional Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive of SSM Health. She is an accomplished Executive with proven success leading teams in the achievement of a vision for transforming and creating value in healthcare. She has expertise in lean leadership, strategic planning, innovation and process redesign, creating measurable and sustained results.

Wendy Babcock

Founder, Kindness Bucket Brigade

As the founder of the Kindness Bucket Brigade, Wendy Babcock seeks new ways to make progress in overcoming the bullying epidemic with kindness. Happily married, mother of two adult daughters and five “fur-kids”, Wendy has been on a mission to bring positivity to the world through motivational speaking. Since overcoming past life challenges such as escaping domestic violence, having undergone a 12-hour bilateral mastectomy and losing both parents to cancer – Wendy has gained a lot of life experience and knowledge about resilience, perseverance, positivity, and the power of mindset. Wendy is the author of two books and a self-guided journal for couples’ retreats, as well as a communication strategist helping businesses implement effective communication by becoming complaint-free. Wendy Babcock encourages us all to raise the bar and challenge ourselves to do the right thing to bring kindness, understanding and compassion in even the most difficult situations.