Sue Coates worked in contract management for 35 years on a variety of projects in both public and private sectors, and owned a small business for fifteen years providing procurement-related consulting and training services and publishing a local bid information service.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Golden Gate University (cum laude), a Master of Public Administration from University of San Francisco, a Certificate in Contract Administration from University of California Berkeley Extension, and numerous awards for procurement-related service.  Her master’s thesis was about municipal corruption. She is a PhD candidate in Organizational Learning and Instructional Technologies at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, studying inter-organizational relations.  Her dissertation is a collective case study of how organizational culture compatibility supports project sustainability.

Her publications include “The Subcontract Management Manual”, “How To Make Ethical Decisions”, “How To Find M/WBE Subcontractors”, a chapter on International Subcontracting, and a training manual for the United Nations, and she co-authored an article on “Subcontract Types”.  She retired from University of Arkansas with Emeritus status in 2010 and is now a frequent speaker and trainer, presenting topics related to her research and experience.

Ramona King is a professional storyteller and actor.  She helps educators and parents build the esteem of children through the power of story. She’s performed throughout the US for over 25 years in venues including the White House, cultural centers, universities, festivals, and conferences.  She’s also former host of the Spoken Word Hour on KUNM Radio in Albuquerque.

Her solo show, On My Own, is her childhood story of finding community in the midst of adult turmoil.  It’s a story about self-parenthood, connection and creating the family truly desired.   The show opened at both the National Hispanic Cultural Center and the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence Training Conference.

She’s interviewed in Parenting Magazine, is listed in the commemorative book Albuquerque: Three Centuries to Remember, appeared on the cover of Abqarts magazine, and can be found on the award-winning cd “Rainbow Tales Too” featuring Prairie Home Companion’s Garrison Keillor.

In a Houston fundraiser she developed a workshop with International a Capella group Sweet Honey in the Rock “No Mirrors in My Nana’s House” celebrating and promoting the high self-esteem of children.

She studied Human Development, Family Studies and Early Childhood Development at Cornell University and the University of New Mexico.

Christina Foster is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She received her B.A. in History with a focus in Psychology and African Studies. In May of 2016, she obtained her M.A. in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management from SIT Graduate Institute, in Brattleboro, Vermont. Christina is the mother of one, Cerron Ross. Her dedication to social justice has long been a part of who she is as a person. While in Albuquerque, she cultivated her desire to advocate for the human rights and civil liberties for people, especially those of African descent. She has taught and helped design several programs, which provided holistic education, growth and development opportunities for many different communities.

Relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, she interned for HABESHA, Inc. and assisted in the establishment of the KASI Sustainable Development Institute being built in Ghana, Africa. Christina serves as Ambassador of Pan-African History for Lutino Adunu Library in the Nwyoa District in Uganda, Africa and is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Christina will continue her education with a Ph.D. in Africana Studies. She is currently the middle school Social Studies teacher for Imhotep Academy, an African-centered private school in Atlanta.

Laurie Magovern is a native to New Mexico and have been the Curator of Education at the Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum since 2009. At the Balloon Museum, she helps ensure a visitor’s great experience, whether local or international. The Balloon Museum is emblematic of the culture of NM and its strong connection and internationally known reputation for ballooning. At the Balloon Museum, it is our business to say, with verve, hello to the world.

Currently, she serves as the president of the Rio Grande Down Syndrome Network which promotes inclusion and independence for over 300 families and individuals with Down Syndrome.  She is not an expert on Down Syndrome, other than raising her seven-year old daughter with Downs, which comes with a high learning curve in medical, educational, social and emotional considerations. She wants New Mexico to be a place that welcomes and embraces her daughter, who loves to say hello.

She is a professional storyteller, having presented at festivals, schools, libraries and theaters across New Mexico, Colorado and Washington, DC. For 15 years she has led workshops for teachers, librarians, museum professionals in the art of improvisation, storytelling and how to use it in educational settings. She has curated and presented the award-winning modern story time at the Balloon Museum weekly for 6 years, called Stories in the Sky. Over six years, Stories in the Sky has provided early childhood literacy, arts, sciences and has said hello to over 50,000 New Mexicans.

Personally, she loves the many and varied opportunities in Albuquerque, from Women and Creativity to Maple Street Dance and Pride Parade. Her family of 5 is overscheduled, cluttered with the fantastic and trivial.  Sometimes they forget to say goodbye to each other and sometimes their day’s deepest connection swells at ‘Hello.’

Michelle Justice is the President of Personnel Security Consultants (PSC) and the Managing Member of Kees Adjudication Services.  Michele, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and of Hispanic descent, has over 25 years of experience in employee background screening, training development and is recognized as a national expert in personnel security.  Michele has committed her business services to aid in the protection of Native American communities.

Since establishing PSC, she expanded services to Federal agencies and private employers.  She has served as the Federal Bureau of Investigations Tribal liaison for the last nine years for Native American communities throughout the United States.  Michele also serves as an Adjunct Instructor for the US Graduate School and has been invited to train nationally to clients such as NASA, TSA and the Federal Protective Service.  Michele has received a number of awards and honors, including the New Mexico SBA Small Business Person of the Year, the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women, the American Indian Business of the Year Award, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Top 100 Businesses Blue Ribbon Award.

She lives on the west side of Albuquerque with her husband, has three grown children and three wonderful grandchildren.

Davina Detrik, former dentist and founder of The Disruptive Collective is hell-bent on curating a modern industrial revolution: “The invisible lows and visible highs of my first story were never atypical of high-achievers. And that was the problem – I felt impotent in a collective boredom.”

On the rise in her dental career, Davina broke rank, quitting what everyone called the dream-job, to pursue a deeper calling. “I’m living a different story now, a powerful sequel that will break you and remake you stronger.” She coaches high-achievers to leverage their degrees and creativity to incite bold movements that disrupt industries and professions. “There’s stiffness in our culture, obsessed with doing good, being good, appearing good… and it’s terribly misguided.” Instead, she proposes the unthinkable: embracing your darker sides, the parts you hide from to fuel your truest passion. “All high-achievers know the ‘devils’ such as competitiveness, selfishness, and the need to feel special that lurk inside. But they’re ashamed of those qualities and try to play nice. She asks, “What if you could turn that power into rocket fuel, mixing it with creativity and education to disrupt your industry and forever change your life?”

JoAnne Tucker (PhD,) founded and was artistic director of the Avodah Dance Ensemble from 1973 to 2004, a modern dance company that was based in New York City. Jennifer Dunning in the New York Times called JoAnne “one of the most persistent and one of the best creating simple, luminous and heartfelt dances.“  In 2002 Avodah began doing residencies in women’s correctional institutions. Drawing on her dance training from Juilliard, undergraduate work in theatre at the University of Pittsburgh and doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin, JoAnne is dedicated to bringing dance and movement activities to non-traditional environments. She is author of two books and has written a number of articles. JoAnne lives in Santa Fe, NM where she regularly leads movement activities in the local jail.  In addition JoAnne founded a non-profit organization called Healing Voices – Personal Stories (http://hv-ps.org) that makes films about domestic violence survivors.  Currently, Healing Voices is working with Esperanza Shelter for Battered Families in Santa Fe documenting the use of movement and meditation as part of the healing process. JoAnne is on the Board of New Mexico Women in Film.

Áine Pierandi McCarthy holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Connecticut where she first started volunteering in prisons through Wesleyan’s Center for Prison Education.  She is a graduate of the Buddhist Chaplaincy Training at Upaya Zen Center and now serves as co-director of this program.  Áine is also a certified Labyrinth Facilitator through Veriditas, an organization dedicated to sharing the labyrinth as a contemplative tool and works as a board member of the Labyrinth Resource Group of Santa Fe.

Áine first met JoAnne in Santa Fe in 2012 where they discovered that two of JoAnne’s dancers from Avodah Dance Ensemble had stayed in Áine’s family home in Connecticut while they were participating in The Forgiveness Project, a collaboration building a dance with incarcerated women at York Correctional Institution ten years earlier.  The Forgiveness Project planted early seeds of inspiration for Áine as a teenager, leading her to pursue working in prisons and meeting JoAnne began their ongoing collaboration together offering contemplative and art-based programs at the Santa Fe County Jail, Esperanza Shelter and other community organizations with a focus on empowering women.

Meggan Gomez, Theater Education Director at Working Classroom, studied acting in the BFA program at Montclair State University School of the Arts. She completed institute residencies with Cornerstone Theatre Company, and The Hemispheric Institute of Performance & Politics in Bogota, Colombia in 2009 and Santiago, Chile in 2016. She also apprenticed and taught playwriting at Touchstone Theatre and trained in Moment Work at a Tectonic Theater Project.

She is a member of the Latino/a Theater Commons steering Committee, and is on the programming committee for an international theater conference in partnership with Revolutions Theater Festival and Theater Without Borders, scheduled for March 2017. She has taught and developed theater curriculum at the Arts Academy Charter School in Allentown, PA and Touchstone Theatre in Bethlehem, PA. Acting and devising credits include productions at Abrons Arts Center and Theater for the New City in NYC. She makes her Albuquerque stage debut in Woman on Fire with Camino Real Productions.

At WC she directed Roundhouse Comedy Review and state-wide tour of ¡Bocón!. She is responsible for curriculum development, student recruitment and mentoring, contracting guest artists, theater partnerships, project development and teaching improvisation, Theater of the Oppressed, clowning and Moment Work. Meggan also sits on WC’s Executive Board as Secretary.

Jane Loubier Epstein has been a nurse practitioner with a specialty in adolescent medicine since 1989.  She received her nurse practitioner degree from Yale University. In addition to primary care, she provides contraceptive and sexual health care services to teenagers.  Her focus is to help young women feel empowered about their health, their choices and their sexuality.

She trained at the Yale School of Nursing and did an Adolescent Medicine fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine.  She has worked at community health centers, clinics for adjudicated youth, academic settings and school-based health centers.  Her focus areas have included sports medicine, medical complication of obesity, sexual health and the health care rights of minors.  She now works at the University of New Mexico in the School-based Health Center Program seeing patients at Albuquerque High School and helping to establish a new clinic at Manzano High School.

Sandra Akkad is a Muslim Palestinian American woman and a Native New Mexican educator and entrepreneur.

Education has always been her passion and she has always been a fervent believer that education leads to empowerment.  She brought this belief to fruition through the creation of a conducive learning environment for all students in “Tutor-Me”. She is the founder and director of this learning and enrichment center where she teaches, motivates, and reinforces students in all subjects from K-12. Additionally, she has had the privilege of being an adjunct instructor at UNM where she teaches “Children in Genocide”, a Peace Studies department course. Her time as an educator has brought her to the fore of issues pertaining to cultural identity, relevancy, and diversity. This has inspired her to become an earnest advocate of social justice and acceptance.

She co-founded “The Red Hearted” initiative which was designed to provide youth of all backgrounds a platform that encourages and engages them in frank discussion aimed at building connections, dismantling stereotypes, and promoting tolerance.