Jordan Benton
Free expression of movement is the hallmark of this Charleston native’s contemporary dance which she uses to explore the beauty of the time and place – in a thoroughly modern and urban style. Jordan Benton, a graduate of the School of the Arts and College of Charleston, moves with seeming abandon and obvious joy, reflecting her family’s history of music and dance that has influenced her.
Nina Cano Richards, Esquire
Building bridges to enable and engender inclusion for the Latinx community is key to the better cross-cultural understanding and acceptance into our country. Language barriers, difficulty in navigating American culture and finding ways to benefit from services are part of Charleston attorney Nina Cano Richards’ goals. Her own family challenges with integration, combined with her involvement in the Latinx community and its 300% increase in the Charleston area in the past 20 years or so has prompted her to work on those goals.
Erin Kienzle
Introverts are not always what you think: they’re not the ultra-shy kid in the corner at the school dance; they’re sometimes mildly misunderstood. And who we might think is an introvert just might be wrong. Erin Kienzle, a local TV show hostess and noted auctioneer – not two powers of introverts, challenging
the notion that being loud isn’t the same as being heard.
Ann-Marie Adams
In the 21 st Century new methods of communication are becoming the norm. An experienced professor, Adams seeks to explain the shifting notions of communications within these new parameters as it relates to a number of issues including free speech, privacy, confidentiality and even national security. Understanding the public forum in today’s world and its ever-shifting modalities for communication, speech and human interaction is critical to better understanding of each other in an increasingly fragmented society.
Ben Towill
Ben Towill is co-founder of a major hospitality group in Charleston and a passionate promoter of food education and equal access to farm fresh food. But that’s not all he wants to talk to you about. His message is about seizing the moment and taking the crucial first steps toward accomplishing something you can always be proud of. Towill will weave together his ideas about food, community and life’s adventures in a story about a 3,000-mile trans-Atlantic rowing race that he and the executive chef at one of his restaurants completed in 2022.
Herb Frazier
As a writer and Charleston native, Herb Frazier believes that spreading ukweli – the Swahili word for truth – about the Black experience is the only path to racial healing. For the last two years, he’s been spreading ukweli through talks at colleges, churches, libraries and civic organizations across South Carolina. What he’s witnessed is that audiences become more sympathetic and less resistant to social change once they learn the truth about what it means to be a Black person in America today. Building on his experience in traveling the world, Frazier wants to amplify his and others’ learnings so that racial healing can happen here in Charleston.
Dr. Jon Pangia
Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises to dramatically impact every aspect of our lives. But Dr Jon Pangia wonders when and how it will have a meaningful impact on the world of medicine and health care. As a practicing physician and AI engineer, he has a unique perspective to offer people on what’s to come and what to expect in the near future. As AI changes the nature of health care and the providers who deliver it, people will need to understand these changes and the problems they’re solving in order to trust them and the clinicians using them.
Dr. Melissa Milanak
Dr. Melissa Milanak knows about the importance of a good night’s sleep. With over 70% of Americans struggling to do what the body is designed to naturally and use incorrect strategies that make sleep worse, she has researched better approaches to improve insomnia and sleep problems. Melissa has transitioned from her career as a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in stress, trauma, and sleep into a business innovator who helps improve workplace effectiveness and optimize performance through better sleep. Her mantra: Fix your sleep and you improve your life.
Vikki Matsis
As a co-founder of the non-profit Media Reform, SC, which was the driver behind local community radio station Ohm Radio, Vikki Matsis has a front row seat on the challenges presented in today’s ever shifting media landscape. Vikki believes a change in how we consume information is needed in this era of increasingly unregulated news in order for increased tolerance and understanding in our society. Her talk will look at emerging concepts like filter bubbles and media literacy strategies to help better understand what we are consuming.
Julie Walker
If you found out that you were at a higher-than-average risk for cancer because of your family history, would you do something to reduce that risk? For most people, the answer is a resounding yes. But many people don’t know much about their family’s cancer history, and even when they do, it’s not clear what to do about it. Julie Walker, a genetic counselor and Charleston native, has some answers for you. When you know your risk and act on it, you can stop cancer in its tracks, she says. It’s called personalized medicine. Walker will walk you through it. Her hope is that community awareness will lead more people to assess their risks, make necessary changes to their health care and beat cancer in the Lowcountry.