Making Waves Conversations
Social Justice
Dr. Ashley Lauren Joseph – Unstoppable: Social Change & Collegiate Leadership
Dr. Joseph is passionate about building leaders and helping them develop frameworks that will carry them into their careers. With her focus on understanding the evolving role of women in leadership, she’ll discuss what is...
Flossie Hall – Military Spouse Unemployment, Why it’s a National Crisis
Military spouses face one of the highest unemployment rates of any demographic in America at nearly 30%. While also facing an incredible under-employment problem. The military, government, nonprofits, corporations, and Department of Defense are spending...
Majid Abai – Winning the Lottery – a metaphor for a life’s journey
Most of us have dreams of one day winning the lottery. We imagine how our lives would change if we won and the things we would do with that money. But have we considered other...
Richard Culatta – Education in an Evolving Digital World
EdTech expert Richard Culatta argues that technology can be a powerful tool for learning, solving humanity’s most challenging problems, and bringing us closer together. He offers a refreshingly positive framework for preparing kids and educators...
Diane Luby Lane – Is it possible to change the field of education with poetry? Yes!
Youth voices and youth stories are at the center of Get Lit’s curriculum in which students claim classic/contemporary poems that resonate with their hopes, dreams, and life experiences.
Brooke Ishibashi and Matthew-Lee Erlbach – The Important and Often Hidden Role of Arts and Culture in Today’s Society
In this episode, we discuss the mobilization effort for protecting the arts and culture sector of the U.S. through the grassroots campaign Brooke Ishibashi and Matthew-Lee Erlbach co-founded.
Fabiola Lara – Women in the Resistance: Empowering women artisans and entrepreneurs
In this talk, Fabiola breaks down the need for empowering other women, especially women artisans and female entrepreneurs to sustain their craft knowledge and skills. She shares her experience partnering with women artisans and female...
Penelope M. Meurer – Virtual “Super-collaborators” in a Post-Covid World
How we partner is continuously evolving, and Penelope’s examination of differing perspectives on work forums provides an avenue to advancing recognition of the value of the virtual environment.
Jennifer Strube Bochsler – Toddlers and Tech: A New Way to Look at Screen Time
In this talk, Jennifer explains why it’s never too early (or too late) to create a healthy relationship with tech. Through the use of simple screen swaps and intentional choices, it’s possible to boost your...
Hannah-Beth Jackson – Why would anyone in their right mind want to enter the political arena today?
The critically important role of public policy in maintaining a functioning, working Democracy, needs participation by citizens to be effective. As the current political landscape seems impossibly polarized, Hannah-Beth will make the case to exercise...
Khalila Writes – Fighting cultural misconceptions towards Muslims through the power of voice
With the rise of businesses exploding on social media, Muslim women who once had barriers in place, such as not being able to commit to working hours due to children, are now creating successful businesses...
Jeremy Kermit – Self-Evident Truths: Wisdom from a Dying Man
Jeremy has Glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer with no cure. Speaking of death in western cultures is taboo and challenging. In this conversation, we’ll talk about facing that reality and his choice to live...
Dr. Suzanne Wertheim – The deeper meanings and the hidden power of inclusive language
In today’s world, it’s become increasingly important for individuals and organizations to prioritize inclusion. In this conversation, Dr. Suzanne Wertheim shares one element where everyone can strive toward inclusivity: language.
Angella Goran – Obstacles & Illusions in Finance for the Banked & UnBanked
This conversation is for people and business owners to better understand global financial access and securities, allowing for better use of innovative technologies that are truly aimed at mobilizing and integrating inclusivity, diversity, & openness.
Dr. Margo Thomas – The imperative to foster global gender economic equity
“Women’s economic empowerment is not just a moral imperative, it is an economic no-brainer.” Women make significant contributions to economic growth, wealth creation, innovation, employment, and human capital. Yet, their participation is constrained by structural...
Michelle Beyo – A Wave of Change: The Rise of Female Founders, Inclusion, and Diversity
A harsh reality must be faced: Female founders still face huge challenges rendering access to opportunities and funding. In a world where diversity is key, how do we change?
Dr. Joan Rosenberg – Rethinking Imposter Syndrome
Dr. Rosenberg will help us reframe Imposter Syndrome which includes addressing skills, knowledge, experience, and mastery along with discussing intersecting practices such as diminishing accomplishments, perfectionism, harsh self-criticism, refusing compliments, not speaking up and a...
Randy Bretz – Mentoring for a New Era: A Generational Perspective
With so much turmoil in the world today and everyone working in time-compressed situations, when would now be a good time to understand how you could raise your hand to help or be helped.
Fiona Sampson – Ending Impunity for Child Rape
The equality effect is an international network of human rights advocates (including grassroots community members, artists, musicians, filmmakers, health care workers, journalists, lawyers, teachers, students, judges, and Parliamentarians) working collaboratively to improve the lives of...
Dr. David Pellow – Struggles for Environmental Justice in Prisons and Jails
This conversation considers the origins and evolution of the movement for environmental justice as a grassroots demand for a bold vision of democracy that emphasizes the links among human health, racial justice, and ecological sustainability.
Ezinne Okoro – Understanding the Importance of Corporate Social Advocacy, and Cultural Equality in the Workplace
At this time in history, it is clear that diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a trend. The business case is proven that these strategies should be incorporated into the fabric of every facet of...
Melody Stanford Martin – Conflict Transformation and the Lost Art of Healthy Disagreement
In a society of seemingly unending conflict, impasse, and polarization, many of us feel our communities tearing apart at the seams. Using an anti-oppression lens, author Melody Stanford Martin offers an approach rooted in restorative...
Stacey McKinnon – The Societal Duty of Businesses. Happiness, meaning, and fulfillment for your people.
Businesses are often founded to make a difference in a particular industry. However, owners do not always consider the impact they will make in the lives of the people working for them. Business owners and...
Linda Cole – Moving Beyond Extreme Poverty: Women Speak Their Development Strategies
When women become active participants in defining their development strategies, change takes place. African Women Rising has been on the frontlines working in Northern Uganda for the last 15 years, an area long-damaged by conflict...
Chris Ragland – Climate Equity & Culture: Rethinking What Makes an Environmentalist
Chris will unpack environmental justice and the need for culture change to occur simultaneously with policy changes. Re-building relationships between the natural world and communities of color, centering awareness and resiliency into the minds and...
Majora Carter – Community as Corporation: Talent Retention in Low-Status Communities
Billions of dollars go into education, training, health, and other support for low-status communities in America, yet economic stagnation persists – at times interrupted only by displacement as a result of population increases from re-urbanization...
Jennifer Hernández – Climate Justice: Essential Practices to Advance Justice and Equity in the Climate Movement
In our continuing conversation during Earth Month, we will talk with Jen Hernandez about her work with the Central Coast Climate Justice Network, and her focus on an Electric Vehicle Blueprint for Ventura County.
Dyhia Belhabib, Ph.D. – Understanding the global importance of small-scale fisheries
Dyhia works at the intersection of sustainability and ocean criminality. She created the most comprehensive and largest database of ocean criminality in the world, Spyglass.fish. She’s a TEDx speaker on Diversity and Inclusion in science...
Bishop Lamont – Standing out within an industry that keeps artists boxed into predictable molds.
With the emergence of social media, streaming platforms, and new technologies, the journey of an independent artist establishing a global reach and taking control of their destiny can be a challenging yet significantly rewarding one...
Jenna Arnold – We’re doing the wrong *work* if we’re looking for concrete answers.
Our relationships, the systems of which we operate, our attempts to understand new sets of information can sometimes (who are we kidding, all of the time!) become polarized. We have forced each other and ourselves...
Jeff Steinberg – Sojourn Project: Experience history. Inspire the future
Jeff will talk about the past 20 years and through 90+ study trips to the American Deep South and Washington, D.C., how Sojourn Project has been immersing middle and high school students from diverse backgrounds...
Tim Goldstein – Diversity from a Neurodistinct Perspective
While diversity in the workplace is a common idea particularly in the tech industry, Tim will relate his personal autistic discrimination experience in the tech workplace including being fired multiple times for being different.
Jan Campbell – Finding a Vaccine for Violence
Jan has been working diligently to get in front of the crisis of domestic violence here in Santa Barbara, and working at the state level to understand and learn from the best practices of others....
Reggie Smith III, Ph.D. – The Transformational Power of Distance Learning
Distance learning brings education and training to where students or trainees are connecting their world to worldwide learning communities. This presentation will cover how all of these technologies can transform the world and foster a...
Cooper Bates – Redefining the relationship between Performance, Art, and the Audience in a Sequestered Society.
Cooper Bates produced a one-man show and since sheltering-in-place has had to figure out how to be an actor in a virtual world. We’ll talk about the role of the audience in art and the...
Andreas Forsland, Tim Jin – What Did the Nonverbal Person Say to the Verbal Person?
Cognixion’s goal is to unlock speech for hundreds of millions of people worldwide affected by communication disabilities. We’ll talk with Founder and CEO Andreas Forsland and Tim Jin, a Cognixion Brainiac Council Member, exploring the...
Dr. Keith Witt – Are we at the beginning of something extraordinary?
Dr. Keith has a unique point of view of our culture. He believes that our collective worldview is fraying at the edges, and the process of change we are all experiencing is existentially scary and...
Scott Mann – It’s time to bridge trust and restore social capital.
Scott believes if we’re going to hand this country off to our children better than we found it, we will have to overcome the distrust and disengagement in this country by bridging beyond our groups....
Kerri Murray – Rethinking the Role of Shelter
All of our lives are being affected by Coronavirus in some way, but those living in refugee camps or in makeshift settlements are particularly vulnerable. Shelter is a critical need for people who are simply...
Donna Weng Friedman – Pandemic Empowerment: Finding Resilience in Music and Stories
In collaboration with WQXR, Donna Weng Friedman created Heritage and Harmony, a virtual concert that is both a recognition of the tremendous contributions to the musical canon by classical musicians of Asian descent and a...
Kyra Gaunt, Ph.D – Agree to be offended, then stay connected.
In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois asked the question, “How does it feel to be a problem?” Day-to-day many of us witness and tolerate marginalization. In this critical juncture in our history, Dr. Gaunt shares lessons...
Lisa Biggs – Empowerment through Education
Lisa Biggs’ day job has her helping educators around the globe understand how maps tell stories about culture, history, and current events. Her passion project is taking storytelling skills and using them to help children.
Shannon Kenny – Humanizing Technology: Feminine Native Traditions and Startup Ideologies
Prontopia is putting the people back in the equation because human services are tragically hard to come by in the digital age. We cannot dismiss the complexities and interdependencies of people, and the earth, as...
Lisa Jones – COVID-19 and Race: Double Emergencies for Women of Color
Women of color face unique health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This disproportionate impact on women of color should not be dealt with by women and their families alone.
Than Baardson – Accelerating the Fight Against Human Trafficking and its Root Causes
Human trafficking occurs when a person is forced into service against their will—usually forced work or prostitution. Often one person controls another by exploiting a vulnerability. Than’s organization, UNSEEN, is working through collaboration across a...
Simone Akila Ruskamp, Krystle Farmer Sieghart – Healing Justice
Formed in response to the destabilizing impacts of racism and anti-blackness, we aspire to build resilient communities for the African diaspora and other marginalized people along the Central Coast.
Dr. Harry Grammer – Breaking Down Privilege
Harry was on the 2018 TEDxSantaBarbara stage and returns to talk about the confluence of COVID and Social Justice. We’ll discuss understanding the transformation that needs to happen as we come to grips with the...
Dr. Wizdom Powell, Ph.D., MPH – It’s time for radical healing
Dr. Powell will discuss how the combined impact of COVID-19 and racism is brewing a lethal force of mental health syndemics — or the social patterning of co-occurring disease conditions. COVID-19 has all the ingredients...
Dr. Yonette Thomas – Is racism a public health crisis?
Health encompasses mental, social, economic, and educational success and stability – all of which are eroded by structural racism. If US institutions want to combat racism like the public health issue it is, they need...
Garrett TeSlaa – Rethinking Public Safety
Rethinking Public Safety Peace isn’t the absence of crime, it’s the absence of pain. Garrett addressed many issues related to public safety in this 30-minute conversation. We began with misconceptions the general public has about...
James Joyce III – COFFEE WITH A BLACK GUY
James says we’ve been having conversations about race in Santa Barbara for four years, starting with his Coffee with a Black Guy series. James joins us to talk about the community reaction to the senseless...
