2021 SPEAKERS

Kelly Sue DeConnick

MORNING KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Kelly Sue DeConnick is the iconic comic book and television writer whose long run on Marvel’s Captain Marvel inspired the record-breaking 2019 film starring Brie Larson. She’s also an outspoken feminist activist who is on a mission to make art thattruly reflects the world around us. Her fiery keynotes challenge us to engage critically with the media we consume, getcomfortable with being uncomfortable, and do anything we can to make our voices heard. “What I bring to the table matters,”she says. “I know that heroes—even the really gothy ones—don’t limit themselves to battles they know that they can win.”

Kelly Sue DeConnick is a comic book and television writer. Her long run writing Marvel’s Captain Marvel put Carol Danvers in the Captain’s role and inspired the 2019 film that made over a billion dollars at the box office. She served as a consultant and also appeared in the film.

In addition to her two award-winning independent series, Pretty Deadly and Bitch Planet , she currently writes Aquaman for DC and develops television for Legendary TV. Her writing has been nominated for Eisner and Hugo awards.

Nataki Garrett

AFTERNOON KEYNOTE

Nataki Garrett is Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s sixth artistic director. As the former associate artistic director of CalArts Center for New Performance, Garrett has been hailed as a champion of new work as well as an experienced, savvy arts administrator. 2019 was Garrett’s first season at OSF, where she directed How to Catch Creation. At CalArts, Garrett oversaw all operations of conservatory training and produced mainstage, black box, developmental projects, plays, co-productions and touring productions. She is currently on the nominating committee for The Kilroys, and she recently served on the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Distinguished Playwright Award nominating committee and the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship panel.

Garrett is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts and Theatre Communications Group Career Development Fellowship for Theatre Directors and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Garrett is also a member of the board of directors for Theatre Communications Group, a company member at Woolly Mammoth and an advisory board member for Mixed Blood Theatre.

Garrett is a graduate of California Institute of the Arts with an MFA in directing.

Colleen Padilla

BREAKOUT SESSION

Colleen is the Executive Director of Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. On staff since November 2001, and now Director for four years, she is well-versed in the daily operations of SOREDI. Colleen is a Southern Oregon native and holds a Masters in Management and Bachelor of Science in Human Communication from Southern Oregon University.  She serves as the agency’s lead with 6 staff members and provides vision and direction as the SOREDI team continues to help business LAUNCH, RELOCATE, and PROSPER in Southern Oregon.  She is a member of the Medford Rogue Rotary and is a board member of the Rogue Valley Council of Governments and Hearts With a Mission.  Padilla is wildly serious about business development in all 15 jurisdictions served by the agency and was named the 2019 Economic Development Leader of the Year by the Oregon Economic Development Association, a professional organization of economic development practitioners throughout Oregon. She lives in her childhood home in Medford and enjoys bowling, long-distance hiking, and time spent with her three children and five grandchildren.

Kaylan Adams

BREAKOUT SESSION

Throughout Kaylan Adams’ career, her passion and curiosity have often revolved around how to help both people and processes be more effective – from her start as a recruiter for a staffing agency, to her work as an executive coach for college students, serving as the project manager for website implementations, and now as the Director of Operations for a digital agency that serves nonprofits. Kaylan is at her absolute best when she can help identify a goal, collaborate on the vision for success, and then lead the execution. With a Master’s in English and Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, a thoughtful communication plan is one of Kaylan’s very favorite things. In her free time she volunteers with ChickTech as a way to inspire more girls and women to join the tech industry, and Family Forward Oregon in order to drive policy change that better supports working families. And when she’s ready to unwind, Kaylan loves discovering family-friendly wineries throughout the Willamette Valley with her husband and preschooler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamskaylan/

Erin O’Kelley Muck

BREAKOUT SESSION

Erin O’Kelley Muck started Ruby Slipper Designs in 2002 – a web design company born from a dash of daring, a stubborn streak, and a leap of faith. Eighteen years and hundreds of websites later, her thriving company is known for beautiful design, great customer service, and websites that get results. What started as a one-woman show now includes a team of web and graphic designers, internet marketing pros, and a bevy of programmers. Erin has had the honor of guiding each and every client – many of whom are entrepreneurs – into a place of clarity about their business and how to communicate with their audience to achieve their goals.

https://www.rubyslipper.com

https://www.facebook.com/RubySlipperDesigns

https://www.instagram.com/rubyslipperweb

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinokelleymuck

https://twitter.com/rubyslipperweb

Diana Hartley

BREAKOUT SESSION

Diana Hartley is a serial entrepreneur who brings compassion, energy and creativity to all of her ventures which include consulting, training and public relations, both in the Rogue Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

She promotes self-discovery, conscious communication and positive values as a way to empowered change. When you live from your true self you have a rock-solid foundation to be flexible in the face of  change.

Her years of training, coaching and consulting for personal and organizational change positively affected both solopreneurs and Fortune 500 companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard. She joined Michael Gerber, author of the E-Myth, as a management consultant and trained communication skills with Decker Communications around the world. She had the privilege of presenting her original organizational development program at the University of California Santa Cruz Extension.

With a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Communication/Radio and Television from San Francisco State University and a Master Practitioner Certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, she continued to pursue her passion for people working together in ways that honor individual contribution, collaboration and success.

Susan Bradley Krant

BREAKOUT SESSION

Susan is licensed to practice law in Oregon and California. Susan is an experienced trial attorney, handling complex litigation matters for over 30 years, and she focuses her practice on estate planning and disputes, business planning and disputes, and on general civil litigation matters in Jackson and Josephine Counties.  She promotes cooperative resolution of cases through mediation and creativity, and serves as an Arbitrator for private arbitrations.  Susan also served as a volunteer mediator for many years in Jackson County handling tenant disputes with landlords. She focuses on bringing a peaceful practice to the otherwise extreme adversarial process of civil litigation. Susan has served on the board of Oregon Women Lawyers, as President of Rogue Women Lawyers, member of the Oregon State Bar Advisory Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, and speaks frequently on the topic of legal ethics.

Locally Susan has volunteered in the Ashland Schools teaching art and creativity to students and has served as past secretary of the Ashland Independent Film Festival Board, a local non-profit she greatly enjoys. She is an avid reader and life-long learner, and loves hiking and boating with her family.

Susan has a Bachelor of Arts from Occidental College, Los Angeles (1984), and a law degree from Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco (1987).

Tina Miller

BREAKOUT SESSION

Tina Miller is the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer at Lithia Motors, Inc., one of the largest providers of personal transportation solutions in the United States and among the fastest growing companies in the Fortune 500. She leads the accounting, tax, corporate finance, financial planning & analysis, risk management and treasury functions. She joined Lithia in 2005 working in internal audit and corporate accounting before being promoted to Corporate Controller in 2015 and Vice President in 2018. Before Lithia, Tina worked as an auditor at Ernst & Young in their assurance practice. She graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in Accounting and is a licensed CPA in Oregon.

Kate Ingram

BREAKOUT SESSION

Kate Ingram is a life transitions coach, counselor, speaker, and writer who is passionate about helping people discover joy and meaning through the tough stuff of life. Her father’s death when she was eight and the loss of her husband in a plane crash were the catalysts that inspired her exploration of depth psychology and spiritual wisdom traditions, Taoism in particular.

Kate received degrees from Northwestern University, the University of San Francisco, and did doctoral work at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She is the award-winning author of Washing the Bones: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Transformation, and recently published The Grab & Go Grief Kit: A Practical Workbook to Help You Understand, Navigate, and Heal Your Grief. Her newest book, The Grief Girl Guide: How to Grieve, Why You Should, and What’s In It for You will be published this spring. In addition to her writing and private practice, Kate is the creator of Soul Matters Live!, a popular, monthly salon exploring ways to live a more joyful, meaningful life.

Kate has performed on stage in the Ashland New Plays Festival and the Rogue Opera. She loves dogs, blue jeans, authenticity, good wine, Giants baseball, and anything Italian. She lives with her family and a quirky little dog named Baci in the beautiful Southern Oregon wine country.

Cynthia Scherr

BREAKOUT SESSION

Cynthia Scherr has been coaching leaders, working with executive teams and facilitating strategic planning processes for over 20 years with innovative, complex and thriving organizations such as Lithia Motors, Alaska Airlines, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Her approach includes drawing out an inspirational vision of the future, exploring alternative strategies, creating realistic plans, and developing team alignment and commitment. As an executive coach, Cynthia supports and develops senior leaders using insightful assessments, growth-oriented development plans and supportive coaching approaches. She worked with Brené Brown to become a Certified Dare to Lead Facilitator and with Mary Beth O’Neill in Executive Coaching with Backbone and Heart.

Cynthia currently serves on the Board of Directors of Wholesale Solar and as a Trustee of the Pacific School of Religion. An advocate for entrepreneurship, Cynthia chairs a CEO peer group and a peer group for women executives. She co-founded Southern Oregon E2E (Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur) and curates The Ground Floor podcast, featuring interviews with entrepreneurs on JPR. Cynthia holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an MTS from Harvard Divinity School.

www.ScherrConsults.com

www.linkedin.com/in/scherrconsults

Michelle Hynes

BREAKOUT SESSION

Michelle Hynes has more than 25 years of experience as a nonprofit executive, consultant, board member, and volunteer. She is a founding member of ninety-nine girlfriends, a regional women’s giving collective that’s given more than $1.2 million in high-impact grants in its first four years. Michelle’s formal education includes a Master’s in Education from University of Pennsylvania, a certificate from the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, and a certificate in Strategic Organizational Management from Portland State University. A skilled meeting facilitator and certified coach, Michelle loves to help leaders navigate from what is to what’s possible.

Diahana Barnes

BREAKOUT SESSION

Diahana is an award winning Trainer, Speaker, Success Strategist, and Executive Consultant with over 23 years of experience.  Mom, former corporate woman, and entrepreneur she built her own successful consulting business after leaving a demanding corporate job leading $40 Million dollar sales and service teams and email marketing campaigns.

She’s worked with Fortune 500 executives to strategically execute their events and keynotes, has been personally trained by their executive coaches and spoken on stages with audience sizes ranging from 25 to 500.

She’s the founder of the Speak to Inspire Method™ a trend setting modality that teaches business owners and entrepreneurs how to speak in a way that creates momentum and drives results.  Her mission is to help 10,000 heart centered business leaders be the Harmonious CEOs of their business.

Elizabeth Miner

BREAKOUT SESSION

As an international life and business coach Elizabeth has been encouraging women to live into their dreams for years through her company Thrive This Day. Recently she has added an empowerment element to her business in response to the “me too” movement enabling women to feel confident, safe and to stand in their power.

Certified by ESD Global and using her 20+ years as a corporate paralegal, Elizabeth has customized workshops to specifically respond to the needs of women in the changing world. This workshop is an opportunity to build empowerment by focusing on skills to create subtle and bold boundaries, teaches de-escalation techniques and promotes situational awareness.

Attendees leave the workshop with tools they can use in their everyday lives empowering them to engage and contribute with confidence.

Jen Oleniczak Brown

Jen Oleniczak Brown is the Founder of The Engaging Educator (EE), a women-owned and operated company dedicated to helping people find their unapologetic, authentic and best voice, communication style and self through improv-based education. Since 2012, EE has served over 50,000 students, working with such companies as Viacom, Food Network, The New York Times, Saks Fifth Avenue and CBS. EE is based out of NYC, LA, SF and Winston Salem, NC. Jen’s latest book, Think on Your Feet: Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Impromptu Communication Skills on the Job (McGraw Hill Education, November, 2019) is one of Inc Magazines “20 Books That Will Kick Off 2020 on the Right Foot” and has been called “a helpful maven’s guide ideal for anyone who views a podium with fear and trembling” by Publishers Weekly. She lives in Winston Salem, NC with her husband, their two dogs Drumstick and Pickle, and over four-dozen houseplants.

Dr. Sheree Bryant Sekou

BREAKOUT SESSION

Dr. Sheree Bryant Sekou is an author, motivational speaker, international facilitator and positive change catalyst whose work is grounded in a strengths-based philosophy of searching for the best in individuals and organizations. She is the author of What A Difference A Change Makes! and owner of Sheree Sekou Consulting, a global learning and development firm. As a coach and leadership expert, Dr. Sheree works with people who want to thrive through change and lead themselves so they can love their lives. Dr. Sheree holds degrees in Human Development, Educational Leadership and a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of San Francisco. An active member of the International Leadership Association’s Women in Leadership Affinity Group, her research includes educational leadership success, women leader purpose/calling and leadership development for women of all ages. Born and raised in Texas, Dr. Sheree has journeyed to six of the seven continents, and she currently resides in the Houston area and the U.S. Virgin Islands with her hubby. She considers herself a lifelong student of spirituality, personal empowerment, self-mastery, and cultural enlightenment and she believes that the power to change your life is in your hands.

Michelle Farabaugh

BREAKOUT SESSION

Michelle Farabaugh is an entrepreneurial-spirited, visionary executive with a time-tested record of turning around organizations, repositioning best-in-class brands, and propelling multimillion-dollar revenue gains.

Michelle’s nearly three-decade career trajectory is hallmarked with proven results achieved by steering data-driven initiatives, fostering organizational transformations, and building and leading high-performance teams. She has astutely led Marketing organizations for multibillion-dollar companies and iconic brands across various sectors, including Harry & David, BevMo!, Smith & Hawken, Galls, West Marine, PetSmart, and more.

Persistently recruited and hired by growth-challenged companies, she has reversed lagging sales performance, orchestrated many mergers and acquisitions, deployed integrated, omnichannel marketing strategies, and transformed brands from being tactical to strategic, indispensable go-to-market leaders.

With her unwavering focus on delivering metrically proven ROI, Michelle’s overall mission is to enable growth and transformation while unifying team members through shared purpose, common vision, and passion for delivering excellence.

Michelle was recognized as a Top Women in Retail in 2019 and one of San Francisco’s Most Influential Women in Business in 2016. She earned an MBA in entrepreneurship from Babson.

Along with her husband, Ross, Michelle is an avid—“and a wee bit competitive”— sailboat-racing enthusiast. Having raced from San Francisco to Hawaii on a 40-foot sloop (sailboat), she sees many parallels to business. In both arenas, she places great importance on the art of communicating and working together to win.

Fenella Das Gupta

BREAKOUT SESSION

Fenella Das Gupta PhD (Neuroscience) MFT is a licensed clinician working in both Oregon and California. She has over 15 years experience dealing with families and high conflict couples. Fenella enjoys her work as a mediator presenting facts, and coming up with creative options for those she works with. She believes in win-win options for mediation. When she’s not working, you’ll find her reading or walking her two dogs alongside Lithia Park. She has a family who loves playing and watching ice hockey (Go Capitals!).

Robin Brockelsby

BREAKOUT SESSION

Certified by ESD Global and using her 20+ years as a corporate paralegal, Elizabeth has customized workshops to specifically respond to the needs of women in the changing world. This workshop is an opportunity to build empowerment by focusing on skills to create subtle and bold boundaries, teaches de-escalation techniques and promotes situational awareness.