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Speakers
Kenseth Armstead
Kenseth Armstead is a conceptual and multimedia installation artist based in Brooklyn, NY. His videos, drawings, and sculptures draw upon and re-envision the legacy of Africans and their diaspora in the United States, including his own position in an art world that is still too white. Through his numerous public sculptures, he speaks not just to Black people about their history and their community, but also about the physical lack of presence of the histories of African slaves, something that persists all the way down to their current descendants.
Armstead鈥檚 works have been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Brooklyn Museum; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and the Studio Museum in Harlem, amongst others, and are included in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, the African American Museum in Dallas, Texas, and numerous private collections. The artist received a BFA from the Corcoran College of Art & Design and attended the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program. He was the founding .
Dr. Jennifer D. Lewis
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Dr. Jennifer D. Lewis is an organizational and leadership development expert focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). A seasoned executive guiding Board of Trustees, leaders, teams, and individuals in culture change, employee engagement, and human capital strategy. She is also an adjunct professor who teaches business courses in graduate and undergraduate programs. She partners with clients on issues related to strategic transformation, such as organizational change, team effectiveness, and DEI.
Dr. Lewis鈥檚 experience crosses various industries, including insurance, health care, entertainment, non-profit, and academia. As a trusted coach and consultant, she has led organizational change and development efforts with a strong focus on DEI. She has worked with and led organizations in enhancing the employee experience through design, data, coaching, team development, and facilitation, which has resulted in people-centric solutions and measurable change.
Irshad Manji
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Irshad Manji is the Founder of , which equips people worldwide to turn heated issues into healthy conversations and sustained collaboration.
The recipient of Oprah's "Chutzpah Award鈥 for boldness, Prof. Manji is also a New York Times bestselling author. Her latest book, Don鈥檛 Label Me, is a primer on how to disagree constructively.
A professor of leadership at New York University for many years, Prof. Manji now teaches with Oxford University鈥檚 Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights.
Kate Taney Billingsley
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Kate Taney Billingsley is an actor, playwright and professor of Basic Technique of Acting and Playwright/Directors Unit at The Actors Studio Drama School where she has taught for eight years. Kate's most recent credits include: Outen The Light (their first feature film dir. Chelsea Lockie), Uncle Vanya (The Actors Studio) White Fatigue (Utopia Theater Project), and Barefoot (Black Rose Co.). Kate is also featured as @dreamfluencer to the stars, Annabella Spark, in Girl Soup's original interactive comedy series Karula's Dream Show Live. Kate鈥檚 playwriting credits include: American Dread, Lee and The Magnolia Tree, Barefoot, Bernadette and Sandy, and A Man of His Time. Kate is a Lifetime member of the Actors Studio and winner of the Theater Hall of Fame鈥檚 2018 Emerging Artist grant. Their film A Man of His Time received 2nd Place in the Audience Choice Award for iWomanTV/NYWIFT Online Shorts Festival. Kate is also a recipient of the National Judicial College Community, Justice and Service Award and Alex Haley Roots Foundation, Racial Healing and Reconciliation Honor. Kate鈥檚 full-length play American Dread will be produced at LaMaMa in March 2024. .
Isabel Wilkerson
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Isabel Wilkerson is a nationally acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and highly sought-after speaker, whose brave and insightful work has changed how an entire country understands its history. In her groundbreaking New York Times bestsellers The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste, Wilkerson explores the Great Migration and the hidden hierarchy in America, uncovering 鈥渢he missing puzzle piece of our country鈥檚 history鈥 (The American Prospect). Wilkerson is one of today鈥檚 foremost thought leaders and public speakers whose talks are filled with empathy and insight, leaving audiences 鈥渂uzzing,鈥 鈥渃aptivated鈥 and rising to their feet in ovation.