Theme: Ignite

We are exploring ideas that will hopefully IGNITE passion, understanding, and reflection. This full-day VIRTUAL event will feature live speakers, performers, audience engagement activities, and of course "Ideas Worth Sharing."

SESSION 1 9-10:30am
Presenters
• Hank VanPutten When it comes to racism, are you a non or an anti?
• Jay Miller Leadership Begins with Culture
• Buddy Walker Spiritual Agroecology…Creating healthy & sustainable communities
• Dr. Becca Johnson Becoming Trauma Sensitive with the Trauma Dance

Virtual Breakouts 10:30-11am
10:30-10:45 Q&A Hank VanPutten
10:30-10:45 Kindness Project Heidi Campbell
10:45-11:00 Q&A Dr. Becca Johnson
10:45-11:00 Q&A Buddy Walker

SESSION 2 11:15am-1pm
Presenters
• Dr. Heidi Campbell When Internet Memes about Religion are Mean
• Greg Brooks What Does It Mean to be Human?
• Lane Davis How Dying Showed Me the Power of Stories
• Dr. Gary Sligh The Legacy of Handmade Objects

Virtual Breakouts 1-1:45pm
1:00-1:15 Panel Greg Brooks and Lane Davis
1:00-1:15 Meme Creation Dr. Heidi Campbell
1:15-1:30 Art Project Dr. Gary Sligh

SESSION 3 2-3:45pm
Presenters
• PERFORMANCE Theatrics & Storytelling with Phantasmagoria
• Alyssa Miller Solving the Tech Skills Gap at Your Local Coffee Shop
• Toni Upchurch Our Loneliness Problem
• Dr. Linda Karp The Dark Side of Leadership
• Renata Gomes-Martins What if you could have a famous mentor?

Virtual Breakouts 3:45-4pm
3:45-4:00 Panel Renata Gomes-Martins and Dr. Linda Karp
3:45-4:00 Q&A Alyssa Miller
4:00 Wrap up

For more information contact us at tedxlssc@lssc.edu

Lake-Sumter State College
9501 US-441
Leesburg, Florida, 34788
United States

Alyssa Miller

Alyssa Miller is a life-long hacker, programmer, security advocate researcher, author, and internationally recognized speaker. Her career began as a software developer and later pivoted to security as a penetration tester. She has 15 years of experience in security leadership across enterprise, consulting, and security product roles. Alyssa crusades against imposter syndrome and advocates for aspiring security professionals trying to find a path into security. Her advocacy extends to expanding diverse representation from all backgrounds in security. She’s a member of the Women in Cyber Security (WiCyS), a Women of Security (WoSEC) chapter leader and presented at She Speaks Security at RSA USA 2020. She currently serves as BISO (Business Information Security Officer) for S&P Global Ratings.

Becca Johnson

Dr. Becca C. Johnson, a licensed psychologist for 30 years, has served as trainer, counselor, consulting psychologist, clinical director, aftercare director and international program director for numerous anti-trafficking and child abuse organizations. Becca has provided support, training and consultation on child abuse, human trafficking and trauma recovery to numerous NGOs and restoration programs around the world (in over 30 countries). Becca is author of books on abuse and trauma recovery, guilt and anger. Her book, The Journey to Hope – Overcoming Abuse (available on Amazon.com) guides victims on a journey of healing and can also be used by others (whether family, friends or professionals) wanting to help the abused.

Buddy Walker

Buddy Walker felt a call to international missions at age 16 and made his first short-term mission trip to Mexico at age 19. He graduated from the Spanish Language School of Guadalajara, Mexico and received his theological training from the El Calvario International Bible College in Guatemala, C.A. He has served with numerous international disaster relief efforts, coordinated international mission teams and developed broad based partnerships for advocating sustainable community development with local government, churches, business leaders, educators and non-profit organizations. Buddy later began working with an agricultural consulting firm and received training in soil science and plant nutrition. He built and operated a wholesale nursery and has developed three micro-intensive farms and a community garden project. In 2012, Buddy started the Empower School & Farm, a residential educational and apprenticeship program located in Umatilla, Florida, which provides training in Christian discipleship, micro-enterprise, sustainable agriculture, community development and world missions.

Gary Sligh

Dr. Gary Sligh was born and raised in Roanoke, Virginia and educated at the University of Virginia, Wesley Theological Seminary, The American University, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He earned a PhD in Literature and Criticism in 1998. He and his wife Julie were married in 1990, and they have three adult children — Carter, Mary, and Graham — who enjoy successful and satisfying careers. He has worked as a pastor, a college professor, a full-time Dad, a college administrator, a fiber artist and shop keeper, and as a wizard in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. He is currently semi-retired and running a small shop in downtown Leesburg, Florida.

Hank VanPutten

A native of Jamaica, New York, Hank Van Putten earned his B.S. in Education from Northeastern University, and a M. Ed. from Cambridge College. Hank spent 35 years in the Newton Public Schools in Massachusetts and is currently a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Facilitator/Trainer for the Peace and Justice Institute at Valencia College. Hank is an anti-racist educator who has received training from internationally recognized scholars. His interests have focused on the impact of race on the academic achievement of African American students. To this end he has taught a graduate course for educators entitled “Active Anti-Racism and Effective Classroom Practices for All Students,” and the Foundation Course in the Graduate Program of Conflict Resolution and Peaceable Schools at Lesley University.

Heidi Campbell

Dr. Heidi A. Campbell is Professor of Communication, affiliate faculty in Religious Studies, and a Presidential Impact Fellow at Texas A&M University. She is also director of the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (http://digitalreligion.tamu.edu). Her research focuses on intersections between technology, religion and digital culture, with emphasis on Jewish, Muslim & Christian negotiations with digital media. She is co-editor of Routledge’s Religion and Digital Culture book series, and author of over 100 articles and books including When Religion Meets New Media (2010), Networked Theology (2016) and Digital Creatives and the Rethinking Religious Authority in Digital Culture (2020).

Jay Miller

Originally from Chillicothe, Ohio, Jay Miller was hired to lead the Lake-Sumter State College softball program in 2015. Jay played collegiate baseball at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, where he completed his undergraduate degree in Exercise Science in 2012 before earning his Master’s Degree in Applied Health and Sports Sciences at Northwest Missouri State in 2014. In five seasons at Lake-Sumter, Jay has amassed over 100 wins and in his third season became the all-time winningest softball coach in school history. His program has produced a President’s Award winner (2016), a Jean Williams Scholar-Athlete award winner (2018), 14 NJCAA All-Academic student-athletes, 14 All-Conference players and five consecutive years as an NJCAA All-Academic Team. Jay’s book, The Island: An Unconventional Approach to Coaching People, Not Players, was released in 2020 and is focused on the LSSC softball program.

Lane Davis

Lane Davis is a graduate of Lake-Sumter State College’s Honors Program. He became an Eagle Scout in 2017, served as a State Officer for SkillsUSA Florida, and became the first Bank of America Student Leader in Lake County in 2019. He was active at LSSC as a student leader and aspires to go into the entertainment industry following university.

Linda Karp

Dr. Linda Karp holds a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a master’s in political science. Her dissertation addressed an employee’s perception of destructive leadership in higher education. She currently works as an instructor for Lake-Sumter State College teaching political science and psychology courses. Additionally, she owns her own Coaching and Consulting Firm, Mustang Coaching & Consulting, LLC. In her spare time, she shows and trains her horses.

Phantasmagoria Orlando

Phantasmagoria is a Victorian Horror Storytelling troupe based in Orlando, Florida. For the past 11 years, they have provided premiere entertainment throughout Central Florida and around the nation. Performances include storytelling, “Phantastical” dance, explosive stage combat, puppetry, projections, fire dancing, aerial arts, and much more combined to create a tapestry of elegant and whimsically macabre horror. Join Phantasmagoria’s evocative troupe of storytellers, dancers, and chorus as they embark on all-new dark journeys through literary tales of terror, horrific folk stories, legends, and myths. Good Day Atlanta called Phantasmagoria “One of the most unique theater troupes in the country.”

Renata Gomes-Martins

Originally from Brazil, Renata Martins’ path began on volleyball courts and reached the United States in her junior year of high school. As the daughter of parents who didn’t attend college, she made it her goal to make the best out of the opportunities that came her way. She just graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in global business and marketing and accepted a full-time offer from Cintas Corporation as a catalog sales representative. Renata has spoken to over 400 Brazilian children and teenagers about her journey and the important things she has learned. Her goal is to help make our world better through education and mentorship because she believes in a generation that appreciates the opportunity to study.

Roland Nunez

Dr. Roland Nuñez serves as the Director of Educational Opportunity Programs at Lake-Sumter State College, where he oversees two federal programs that prepare students from disadvantaged backgrounds for college. He received his Master’s and PhD in Educational Leadership from Oklahoma State University. His academic hobbies include adjunct-teaching statistics and research courses, as well as researching edutainment and college socialization. As a first-generation student who struggled with his college transition, Roland is passionate about innovative approaches to education. He researches, creates, and evaluates programs that blend the arts and sciences together for improved student outcomes. Roland founded a family recreation center that served as a test bed for edutainment program development, including workshops, retreats, novels (Halls of Ivy), stage plays (Door Tags), and video games (Virtual Life). His work has received regional and statewide recognition, including Most Outstanding Hispanic Artist through the Hispanic Arts Council of Oklahoma, NextGen 30 Under 30 in Higher Education through IonOklahoma Magazine, and Best Family-Friendly Attraction through Chickasaw Country for his family recreation center.

Sandy Olson-Hill

Sandy Olson Hill’s a disabled artist, an Arts4Allflorida Teaching Artist, a writer and a visual artist. Hill’s poetry and prose has been published widely and internationally. Nominated for Best of the Net, Hill’s awards include The Academy of American Poet’s Prize, Open Doors Short Fiction Award, BRPR Poem of the Month, and more recently a Creative Access Residency and Fellowship in partnership with The Alliance of Artist Communities. Representative publications include BlazeVox, Specs Journal, Kaleidoscope, Wordgathering, and numerous others with upcoming/ and published works in Journal Nine, This is Poetry IV: Poets of the South, and Streams of Light, The Lake County Poets.

Toni Upchurch

Toni Marie Upchurch has her MS in Business Communication and is an Assistant Professor at Lake Sumter State College. Before teaching, she served as an Americorps VISTA advocating for at-risk youth with National Safe Place Services; she has worked in nonprofit, and has owned her own business. Upchurch has taught public speaking, journalism, intercultural, and interpersonal communication classes, and has coached business professionals. She is passionate about helping people to identify and reach their full potential and believes that true leaders serve others.