Theme: Soul and Roll

The spiritualist Frederick Buechner is often attributed as saying something like; “Your vocation in life is where your own deep gladness and the world’s deepest hunger meet”. In this idea we find the seeds of all our greatest accomplishments and our greatest aspirations. Here Buechner calls us to find that intersection; the intersection between the reality of our own being and the reality of the world. It is the calling inside us that draws us to the needs of others, and paradoxically engaging with the needs of others in authentic ways that strengthens and nurtures our own sense of being in the world. This is where true purpose and calling are found. This is the intersection of who we are and what we do.

Soul and Role intends to explore the relationship between who we are and what we do and to encourage us to consider that relationship. Today we invite you all to look, listen, and engage, as we experience the deep gladness of those in our community who are working to meet the world’s greatest hungers as they seek them out. We encourage you to look for the intersections of who we are and what we do as we work to make the world a better, more authentic, and more equitable place. Today we are called, individually and collectively, to find the meeting place of our own soul and role.

The Bing Crosby Theater
901 W Sprague Ave
Spokane, Washington, 99201
United States

Abby Miller

Nutritional Specialist

Abby Miller is a consultant specializing in developing effective, nutritious school meal programs for rural communities throughout Eastern Washington. As a registered dietitian, she focuses her work on educating faculties and students alike on everything from scratch cooking skills to the nutritional importance of fresh produce.

Avery Frazier

Mortician

Avery Frazier is an eighteen-year-old death enthusiast based in Billings, Montana. She has held a particular passion for all things morbid throughout her life and decided at a young age to pursue a career in mortuary science due to this. Her mission in life is to promote a death-positive outlook in each person she comes into contact with alongside acting as a political catalyst for more inclusive and liberal death legislation in the United States of America.

Benjamin Maixner

Behavior Analyst

Benjamin is a Spokane native living in Los Angeles. He is a board-certified behavior analyst providing behavioral and organizational consulting. He currently serves as the Director of Programs at Exceptional Minds, a vocational program training adults with autism to work in visual effects and animation.

Carla Shayman

Physical Therapist

Carla Shayman was born and raised in southwest Florida where she was active in gymnastics and other sports growing up. She obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Health with a minor in Exercise Science from the University of North Florida and then received a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Northeastern University in Boston. Carla now works as a physical therapist with a board certification in orthopedics.

Erin Lydon

Investor Strategist

Erin is an investor, strategist, keynote speaker and coach. Much of her working life was spent in Chicago, first as a fundraising executive and then as a private banker at JPMorgan. She received her undergraduate degree in English Literature and French from Bates College and her MBA in Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. More recently, she served as an independent corporate director for a technology company based in Denver, and for a privately-held brain health company in Chicago.

Karli Ingersoll

Arts Organizer

Karli Ingersoll is a Spokane native, a designer, artist and arts organizer. She co-owns The Bartlett and Lucky You Lounge and is a songwriter/musician in several local bands including Super Sparkle, Cathedral Pearls and her solo project Windoe. She’s worked the past six years as a Spokane Arts Commissioner and runs the blog Collect to encourage and bolster the local arts scene.

Kiantha Duncan

Artistic Philanthropist

Kiantha is an avid writer, artist and philanthropist. In her profession she serves as a Program Officer at Empire Health Foundation. For over 20 years Kiantha has been recognized nationally as a community advocate, mobilizer and leader.

Kimber Lybbert

Educator

I am a National Board-certified teacher at Moses Lake High school, and my students keep telling me I need to write a book or give a TED talk. I don’t think this is because of who I am, but because of who they are. This year, their argumentative research projects answer the question: What is it like to be a member of the class of 2020?

Linda Hunt

NonProfit Co-Founder

Linda Lawrence Hunt is co-founder of the Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship, an award-winning author, and former professor and director of the Writing Program at Whitworth University. A graduate of the University of Washington, she earned her Ph.D. from Gonzaga University. As the mother of a 25-year-old daughter who was killed while volunteering in Bolivia, plus a two-time cancer survivor, she has a strong interest in exploring the inner resources that give people resilience, strength and purpose.

Mark Anderson

Poet Laureate

My name is Mark Anderson. I’m a poet, and Spokane’s most recent poet laureate. I’ve been performing poetry and organizing poetry events in Spokane for over a decade. I’m one of the co-founders of the cult classic Broken Mic readings series, as well as several other events. I’ve traveled all across the country performing in coffee shops, schools, poetry slams, bars, parks, and basements.

Nicolette Ocheltree

Philosopher

My name is Nicolette Ocheltree and I’m a philosopher from Spokane, Washington. I went to college at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and graduate school at Columbia University in New York.

Robert Thompson

Artist Entertainer

Robert Thompson is an artist, actor, athlete, and entertainer who lives at the intersection of a multitude of socially constructed spaces. He’s performed in shows at Lake City Play House, the Modern Theater, and Stage Left. Robert works in development for the City of Spokane, is a graduate of Arizona State University, and is a co-founder of the Spokane Sidewalk Games project.

Ryan Oelrich

Community Builder

Ryan Oelrich is an artist, advocate, and community builder. He serves as the Executive Director of Priority Spokane, a nationally recognized collective impact organization, and he’s a Culture of Health Fellow with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He was awarded the Peirone Prize for service in 2016, and he’s received congressional recognition for his work on poverty and homelessness issues.

Tom Mueller

Freelance Author

I am a freelance author whose work has appeared in the New Yorker, Atlantic, NY Times and elsewhere, on topics ranging from computer chess programming to the evolution of whales to the international conspiracy of olive oil fraudsters. My new book explores the social, legal, and psychological history of whistleblowing.