REWRITING OUR WORLD

EVENT ORGANIZER

Kristen is a best-selling author, editor, and long-standing publishing professional. She is the founder of Rise Literary and the Licensee of this event.

EVENT ORGANIZER

Lauren is a best-selling and has spent the past 25 years working in sales, fundraising, and marketing through various industries.

EVENT MANAGER

Raya is a publishing associate who believes in the power of literature to foster community, provoke thought, and provide much-needed escapism.

VOLUNTEER MANAGER

Tim is a publishing intern and author of cosmic horror and sci fi under the pen name T.I. Magellan. He hopes to help authors turn their manuscript dreams into a reality.

SPEAKER

Dr. Amrah Salomón J. (O’odham, Mexican, and European) is a queer-bi chingona assistant professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Amrah is a co-founder of Rez Beats, a tribal open mic and youth performance space, and a founding member of CIEJ, the Center for Interdisciplinary Environmental Justice. She's has critically acclaimed chapters in the books Research Justice: Methodologies for Social Change and Making Citizenship Work: Culture and community. You can also find her research in American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Chicana / Latina Studies Journal, Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, Historical Studies in Natural Science, the Political Theology Network Symposium, Science for the People Magazine, and the online platform Water Justice and Techology (www.waterjustice-tech.org).

Amrah's essays and social critiques have been featured in Truthout, Indigenous Action Media, and numerous podcasts and her poetry is available in the Chicana / Latina Studies Journal, Mujeres de Maiz, Yellow Medicine Review, and other collections. Her forthcoming book, Confluences: Indigenous fugitivity on the border, traces the history of the non-federally recognized O'odham and Yoeme community around the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers against processes of U.S.-Mexico border violence.

SPEAKER

Amy Sandler is a pioneer in bringing mindfulness and compassionate leadership to the workplace.

A sought-after speaker, Amy has worked with hundreds of top companies, including Ford, Google, Spotify, and Starbucks. Over the past decade, she has trained more than 50,000 people worldwide in emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and Radical Candor® — the groundbreaking communication framework from Kim Scott’s best-selling book. She hosts the hit podcast “Radical Candor: Communication at Work.”

A lifelong overachiever, Amy had her mid-life crisis decades ahead of schedule. Seeking out meditation as a freshman at Harvard College, Amy revisited it while getting her MBA at Harvard Business School. As her classmates took jobs (and stock options) in something called “The Internet,” Amy followed what she calls “The Income Minimization Path”: earning an MFA in Screenwriting at UCLA while deepening her study of meditation, energy work and the healing arts. In 2014, Amy became one of the first 30 certified teachers of the Search Inside Yourself program developed at Google. She brought mindfulness and breathwork to CEO coaching organizations Vistage and YPO, where she also held leadership roles.

Amy loves french fries and has walked on fire seven times.

SPEAKER

Faith Scott was an educator and school counselor for 25 years, before entering private practice as a therapist, at Doors of Hope Counseling, LLC, in Kansas City. She has also always loved to write and perform her poetry. Her forthcoming poetry book, a collaboration with nine other women poets, called Shaking Off the Ashes: A Collaboration of Heart and Talent will be released on Janurary 20th, 2025. She is passionate about healing and recovery of all kinds. She began her own journey toward radical peace and freedom through sobriety on January 23, 2022. She began attended women's writing and empowerment retreats all over the country and around the world. She has begun leading writing workshops and trauma-informed yoga at retreats in Kansas City, California, Toronto, and Italy. She most recently journeyed to Puerto Rico, in honor of her own lineage, and as a part of her memoir and writing process. The generational migration she refers to in her title pays homage to the monarch butterflies journey. Each generation of monarch takes another part of the journey back home.

Faith feels she took her place in that migration by going back to Vieques, the place where her mama was born in 1939. So much of her life and trajectory even to this day has been influenced by this path of exploration and ultimately, healing. Faith lives with Jason, her beloved husband of 24 years, their amazing daughter, Zoe, their two dogs

SPEAKER

At the heart of her work, Gertrude Lyons has a deep commitment to helping every individual understand, realize, and own their inherent value, guiding them toward living the life they’ve always dreamed of. She works directly with her clients, coaching them with a nurturing, mothering energy that helps them find balance between creating the life they choose to embody and releasing what no longer serves them.

With over 20 years of experience, she has dedicated herself to empowering individuals, couples, parents, and families toward leading fulfilled lives. Her diverse certifications and training allow her to offer a tailored, integrative approach that addresses the unique needs of these individuals and groups.

She values living a fully integrated life, balancing her professional work with personal fulfillment. She enjoys traveling with her husband and family, welcoming guests into their home in Mexico, and choosing to live life to its fullest expression. Through her work and personal choices, she embodies a commitment to living with purpose, fulfillment, and authenticity, inspiring others to do the same in their own lives.

SPEAKER

Gregg Stewart is a published author, HWA member, award-winning songwriter, film composer, studio and touring musician, journalist, editor, screenwriter, and “creative life“ enthusiast.

He is the author of “LET IT OUT: Unlocking Creativity to Access Authentic Expression” (New Fable, 2024), which reached #7 on Amazon’s best-seller list for new releases in creativity.

His dark fiction tales have appeared in multiple publications, including The Sirens Call magazine, Crimson Quill Quarterly, and short story anthologies from Crystal Lake Publishing, Hellbound Books, Black Cat Press, and Sley House.

Gregg has recorded and released over 100 songs in multiple genres, toured the US and Europe countless times, composed the score for a dozen indie films, and provided songs for a dozen more film and TV soundtracks.

Gregg facilitates two monthly workshops: “StoryWorks” a dynamic space for sharing new songs, poems, essays, and scenes. And “Let It Out” a six-week program to kickstart your creativity, reignite a passion project, and delve into better understanding yourself through accessing your creative voice.

SPEAKER

Called “a natural raconteur” by the Washington Post, Jamie Brickhouse is an acclaimed writer, comedic storyteller, and public speaker. He is the New York Times published author of Dangerous When Wet: A Memoir of Booze, Sex, and My Mother, and has also been published in the International Herald Tribune, Washington Post, Daily Beast, Salon, Huffington Post, and the Houston Chronicle. A six-time StorySLAM champion of The Moth, he has appeared on PBS-TV’s Stories from the Stage, NPR’s “The Gothamist,” The Moth Podcast, recorded voice-overs for the legendary cartoon Beavis and Butthead, and tours the country with his award-winning solo shows Dangerous When Wet, I Favor My Daddy: A Tale of Two Sissies, Pearl Necklace: A Gay Sexcapade, and The Brothers Orphan. A two-time suicide attempt survivor and alcoholic in recovery for 16+ years, Jamie gives lived experience, inspirational talks that are part personal narrative and part calls to action about the intersection of alcoholism, depression, and suicidal ideation. Jamie also tells a true story in high heels every day on TikTok where he has over six million views one million likes and 75,000 followers.

SPEAKER

Jennifer "Jen" Kem helps thought leaders create personal brands that reach and help millions. Named Forbes' top brand strategist, her company, Master Brand Media, represents influencers, celebrities, CEOs, experts, specialists, authors and speakers to get seen, heard and paid more through brand management, team optimization and corporate brand collaborations. With a focus on the four essential areas for brand success called Brand T.I.M.E. - Team, Identity, Messaging and Experiences - Jen and her team of Strategizers and Mobilizers have advised over 400,000 leaders to grow their brand, expand their businesses and lead teams who "get" their mission and follow-through on their vision.

Her upcoming book, Unicorn Team: The Nine Leadership Types to Launch Your Ideas with Speed and Success, outlines the frameworks for everyone to leverage the concept of Brand T.I.M.E. so that they can make the next level impact they know possible. Jen lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

SPEAKER

Jennifer Pastiloff trots the globe as a public speaker and to host her retreats to Italy, as well as her one-of-a-kind workshops, which she has taught to thousands of people all over the world. The author of the popular Substack, also called Proof of Life, she teaches writing and creativity classes called Allow, and workshops called Shame Loss, when she isn’t painting and selling her art. She has been featured on Good Morning America, and Katie Couric, and in New York magazine, People, Shape, Health magazine, and other media outlets for her authenticity and unique voice.

She is deaf, reads lips, and mishears almost everything, but what she hears is usually funnier (at least she thinks so). The author of the national bestseller On Being Human, Pastiloff lives in Southern California with her son, Charlie Mel.

SPEAKER

Julia Krankl, MD is a Harvard and UCLA-trained physician, board-certified psychiatrist, trauma resilience specialist, and physician educator. Dr. Krankl gives voice to underrepresented groups in medicine as a Latina physician and by using insights gained through working abroad in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Tanzania. She has authored research articles and the forthcoming book, The 21st Minute: Everything You Wish Doctors Explained About Mental Health. All proceeds from The 21st Minute  will be donated to mental health non-profits, in support of her mission to improve mental health literacy.

Julia and her husband are the owners and winemakers of the artisanal Rhône-based winery, FINGERS/CROSSED in the Ojai Valley, California. You can find her at @The21stMinute.

SPEAKER

Kathlyn Hendricks, Ph.D., is an evolutionary catalyst and freelance mentor who has pioneered body intelligence and conscious loving practices since the 1970s. Passionate about the power of embodied integrity and emergence, her work promotes creative expression in service of a direct experience of wholeness and evolutionary collaboration. She is the co-author of twelve books, including the best-selling Conscious Loving, At The Speed of Life and Conscious Loving Ever After: How to Create Thriving Relationship at Midlife and Beyond.

Katie has been a successful entrepreneur for over forty years and has developed a unique coaching and leadership program that has trained hundreds of coaches in the U.S. and Europe. She co-founded the Spiritual Cinema Circle and the virtual Body Intelligence Summit. She has appeared on over 500 radio and television programs and traveled well over one million air miles as the ambassador for the work that she and her husband Gay Hendricks have developed.

SPEAKER

Memphis-born, Atlanta-forged, and Brooklyn-propelled, LáDeia Joyce, MBA, is a creative powerhouse in brand and marketing. As the founder of The Positive Experience non-profit, she is an advocate, activist, and speaker dedicated to dismantling the stigmas surrounding HIV in the Black community. A Black woman thriving with HIV, LáDeia uplifts others by promoting representation, empowerment, and knowledge. Her work has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, ABC News, and more.

LáDeia’s national influence grew when she served as an ambassador for a groundbreaking campaign at the 2019 Emmys, shifting perceptions of Black women living with HIV. Her mantra, “die empty,” encourages others to embrace vulnerability and unlock their full potential.

She is a contributing writer for WebMD and a co-author in Manifesting Her! The Anthology and Hood Wellness. With dual degrees in Music Industry Business and Communication from the University of Memphis, and an MBA in Marketing, LáDeia has honed her leadership skills through various programs. She also served as co-chair of the Tennessee Decriminalization Coalition.

LáDeia is an active member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and contributes to the Junior League of Memphis. Follow her on social media @LaDeiaJoyce or visit her website at www.LaDeiaJoyce.com.

SPEAKER

Lauren Dollie Duke, an author, educator, psychological storyteller, entrepreneur, and community activist, has been a driving force in her community for over twenty years. Her role as a Yoga teacher and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner is not just about the BodyMind Continuum but also about fostering a sense of community and social change.

With a Master's degree in Psychology and invaluable mentorship from leading traumatologists such as Bessel van der Kolk, Peter A. Levine, and Stephen Porges, Lauren's debut Memoir: "Sh!thouse," published in January 2022, is a testament to her commitment to addressing generational trauma. She is currently working on her second book about healing generational wounds, furthering her mission to inspire change.

SPEAKER

Maggie Boxey, author of The 3 Things, is a Navy veteran, former math teacher, and passionate advocate from Fitzgerald, Georgia. Despite living with ME/CFS, Maggie has dedicated herself to fostering progress and equity in south Georgia, serving on the board of SOWEGA Rising and advocating for ME/CFS awareness through SolveME and #MEAction.

A proud wife, mother of five, and woman in recovery, Maggie embraces life’s challenges with resilience and creativity. When not speaking or serving others, she enjoys writing, painting, crocheting, and cuddling her Pitbull mix, Jack.

SPEAKER

Mel Harris is a leader in restorative justice and social innovation, known for fostering dialogue between communities in need and institutions with resources. As an author, speaker, and advocate, she works to drive transformative change at the intersection of intersectionality and the LGBTQ+ community. Mel’s background as a former minister in the conservative evangelical church, where she built social safety nets for under-resourced individuals, gives her a unique perspective on deconstructing systemic bias and creating inclusive communities.

Now a strategic alliance builder, Mel consults with a wide range of stakeholders, from Fortune 100 companies to policymakers and media conglomerates, to support historically excluded communities. Her global influence includes collaborations at the World Economic Forum, Cannes Lions, and in regions like Northern Ireland and South Africa.

Mel served as the first Head of Global Council Strategy at The Juilliard School, where she expanded the institution’s diversity and global reach. A sought-after leader in DEI initiatives, she advocates for justice, belonging, and psychological safety. In Washington, D.C., Mel mentors the next generation, produces her podcast Finding Our Way Forward, and works to create affirming spaces for queer people of faith in the Mid-South.