Our Creating Change Conversation Series is back for our 5th season! These conversations really are the heart of what we do here, because each group of panelists helps all of us to think through: HOW DO WE MAKE THE ARTS MORE EQUITABLE, MORE ACCESSIBLE, MORE RELEVANT, AND MORE IMPACTFUL IN OUR COMMUNITIES?
ASL can be requested for this conversation. Please email us by July 3rd.
Join us July 24th at 7pm ET . Panelists:
Johnnie Jae has traveled throughout the U.S. in an effort to help create space for Indigenous truths and justice. She has facilitated numerous conversations and workshops that address Racial Justice, Mental Health & Suicide in Indian Country, Native Mascots & Stereotypes, Indigenous Representation & Journalism, Indigenous STEM & Tech, and the Utilization of Social & Digital media for Business and Activism. Her ability to seamlessly shift from humor and pop culture to advocacy and business has made her a much-sought after speaker, panelist, and commentator.
Using her life story and experiences, Jae strives to teach others that understanding our histories, ancestral knowledge, and how the little choices that we make every day are crucial to creating pathways for healing and justice.
Madeleine Milner is currently pursuing a BFA in dance and choreography as well as a BA in psychology from Elon University as a Fine Arts Fellows scholar. She has spent her life studying dance. She’s attended summer intensives with New York University Tisch School of Dance, MODAS Dance as a scholarship recipient, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and University of North Carolina School of the Arts' contemporary intensive, where she was also accepted into their year-round performing arts high school.
Her goal after dance is to become a dance psychologist, to help reform the system from the inside out. Competition that is unsupported by confidence can create a toxic culture both in the dance studio and dressing room. The dance culture can cultivate an unhealthy atmosphere that is devastating to mental health. The stage should be a safe space to express individuality.
Maddie seeks to enact positive change for dancers, from unpacking neurodivergencies for dancers, to supporting their self advocacy, and understanding that science and art are complementary, not adversarial.Cash app: $MaddieLMilner
Mark Travis Rivera- The Professional Storyteller Telling stories is at the core of Mark Travis Rivera’s purpose in life. He is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and the Chief Executive Officer + Founder of The Professional Storyteller.
As a writer, Rivera’s bylines include The Bergen Record, Herald News, The Star-Ledger, Fox News Latino, and The Huffington Post. He was also a contributing author in the anthology, Crisis and Care: Queer Activist Responses to a Global Pandemic (PM Press, 2022), edited by Adrian Shanker. His debut collection, Drafts: An Imperfect Collection of Writing, was published in August 2017. He was also a contributing writer for Imagining: A Gibney Journal, where he shared his experience as a disabled choreographer and dancer.
As a stubborn and determined 17-year-old, Rivera founded marked dance project (2009-2019), becoming the youngest person in the United States to create and lead an integrated dance company for disabled and non-disabled dancers. Inspired by his desire to dance as a person with cerebral palsy, he would go on to help disabled and non-disabled dancers alike find their voice as artists. As a Puerto Rican queer man, he was also one of just a handful of artistic directors of color in the disability dance field in the United States.
As an independent disabled choreographer, Mark is determined to build a bridge between the main dance field and disability dance.
As a speaker, he has addressed audiences at various institutions of higher learning, including Harvard, MIT, Rutgers, and NYU. As a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant and facilitator, he has spoken to corporate audiences virtually in the UK, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Israel, China, and India, just to name a few. His TEDx Talk, “Embracing Yourself, Embracing Your Potential,” was a smash in 2014 at Bergen Community College.
A first-generation high school and college graduate, Rivera earned his bachelor’s degree in women’s & gender studies with a minor in public relations from William Paterson University of New Jersey. In 2013, Rivera received the Student Government Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to the William Paterson community. That same year, he was honored with the Campus Pride National Voice & Action Award for his work with the LGBTQ community. More recently, he won the Audre Lorde Award for Social Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Lavender Legacy Award from William Paterson.
Mark also serves as Board Secretary for the Board of Directors at AXIS Dance Company, the nation’s leading integrated dance company. He formerly served as the Community Engagement Manager and apprentice. He is represented as a speaker by Hummingbird Humanity and their Speaks Bureau and is a member of the WE CREATE SPACE global collective of LGBTQ+ leaders. He was raised a Jersey boy, lived in New York City and the Bay Area, but now calls Atlanta, GA, home.
Moderated by Molly W. Schenck. The body of work by Molly W. Schenck (MFA, MEd.) is rooted in a quest to understand humans. She is fascinated with human movement - whether that is a social justice movement, individuals persisting through systems, or how a body moves through space and time. She is also interested in what interrupts the full expression of movement (stress, trauma, burnout, injuries, chronic pain, etc.). This has guided the evolution of her studies and career path. She worked in higher education as an adjunct professor and administrator for ten years. She taught mind body and group fitness classes for twelve years. She specializes in the intersection of creativity and trauma and is the creator of Trauma-Informed Creative Practices. She is the founder of Grey Box Collective (an interdisciplinary, experimental, post-dramatic, trauma-informed arts organization that devises original performances around topics of social and emotional wellbeing i.e. makes weird art about tough stuff). She is the author of ‘Trauma-Informed Teaching Practices for Dance Educators’. She is a certified Trauma Support Specialist, Personal Trainer, a 500-hour experienced yoga teacher (focused on asana, pranayama, and meditation), Certified Teacher of BodyMind Dancing™, a registered somatic dance educator and a Dynamic Embodiment™ Practitioner. For more information visit: mollywschenck.com
The rest of our Creating Change Conversation Series schedule is:
Monday August 28 at 7pm ET: Educators’ Edition
We do pay our panelists for their time and sharing. Please consider your privilege and their lived experiences when donating. All funds support our mission, and to help us continue to make our resources for artists and arts educators free and/or affordable, using sliding scale and donation-based pricing models.