TEDx Organizers

History, Reading, Teaching

my family, learning, creativity, community supported agriculture, slowing down, mindfulness, supporting and encouraging others to 'level up,' and to reveal the awesome-ness that is around them

Authenticity, raising kind humans, UGA football, enneagram

Broadband, rural community and economic development, community leadership and initiative development, yoga, beer, gardening and fishing.

Art, creativity, forests and marshes, ocean sailing, and especially collaborating with motivated people to enable positive change.

Learning: I read almost everything I can get my hands on Children: It is our duty to nurture the next generation of earth dwellers Baking: Baked goods spread joy Words: The fact that letters can come together and create words and rhythms and foster emotions is simply amazing Foster care and adoption: The fact that there are so many children without families or homes is heartbreaking. I want to be part of the generation that places every child in a home

Knowledge leads to freedom

I was a geeky, bookish nerd who joined the school orchestra in fifth grade to get out of gym class. I’ve been obsessed with the arts ever since. The arts have given me friendship and community, paid for my education, taken me around the world, helped me communicate with people from different cultures, given me a career, and introduced me to my husband. I believe everyone should be involved in creating things, and I’m especially interested in helping people who think they aren’t creative or artistic find a creative outlet. Young children are creative beings. We all instinctively sang, danced, and drew, and we loved it. But as we grow up, not only do we stop doing these things, we often think we can’t do them. That’s why I created the “I Can’t” workshop series at the Center for Creativity in downtown Tulsa. These free lunchtime workshops let people try everything from drawing to dance to digital fabrication. The goal is to get people to get outside their comfort zones, use different parts of their brains, and perhaps discover a new interest or hobby. I’ve convened arts organizations from across the city to bring these workshops to the public, in order to showcase what the community has to offer while giving people new arts experiences. In addition to program development, I run an exhibition space in my role as the Dean of the Center for Creativity. Our most unusual art exhibition was called “Please Touch the Art.” This exhibition engaged all five senses, with a focus on accessibility for people who are blind or visually impaired. One of the best feelings I’ve had was at the exhibition opening, looking around the space and seeing hundreds of people touching, smelling, and even tasting the art. Many people commented that this was the first time they’d been able to experience an art exhibition. While my artistic career began in the performing arts, I now feel most fulfilled when helping facilitate creative experiences for others. I still play music, dance, and fill notebooks with abstract doodles, but I most enjoy helping you discover the joy of doing those things, too.

travel, math, art, physics, and giving back

Let's change the way we look at complex problems to focus on context, not preconception; it's placing problems in a nuanced framework that's the key.

emerging techologies to enrich education, teaching and learning

I'm passionate about my community,I live in a small tourist town stuck in the past, which requires many new ideas and especially new energy to evolve and improve. Also i'm a passionate about all outdoor sports.

Literacy