Theme: TRUTH

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE DATES
Session 1: 1-4pm Friday, April 23
Session 2: 1-4pm Sunday, April 25
Session 3: 1-4pm Tuesday, April 27
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TED is a global nonprofit organization devoted to ideas worth spreading. It began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost almost any topic you can imagine.

TEDx is a program in which live TED-like presentations are shared with local communities around the world. Each TEDx organization is unique, developing and executing their events independently, but all of them have features in common.
> Format: Short, idea-focused, carefully prepared talks, demonstrations, and performances to foster learning, inspiration, and wonder – provoking discussions that matter.
> Diversity of topics: Multiple, multidisciplinary topics born from a wide range of voices within many disciplines.
> Community-driven and bias-free content: Organized by local volunteers to spark conversation, connection and community — free of commercial, religious and political agendas within the messaging.

TEDxHeritageGreen derives its name and spirit from a long-established public resource in the heart of Greenville, SC. Heritage Green is a cultural campus that provides a vibrant place of discovery, inspiration, creativity, and entertainment for Greenville County residents and visitors of all ages and walks of life.

Our mission is to elevate and widen the TEDx movement in Greenville, with emphasis on…
> supporting messages with intentional, impactful experiences and engagement,
> attracting untapped audiences,
> spurring respectful, open conversation among individuals and groups who wouldn’t normally interact, and
> providing avenues for individual or collective innovation and action.

VIRTUAL
Heritage Green Place
Greenville, South Carolina, 29601
United States

B-Roll

Multi-medium artist group

GROUP BIO: B-Roll is a collaboration of five artists from Upstate SC. • Kimbi Tiez uses music, singing, spoken word poetry, sound therapy, yoga and meditation to inspire healing and to remind us all we are magnificent and powerful in this beautifully chaotic world. • Grey Thompson loves working with new people and brings a wealth of filming experience to this project which is “art for art’s sake,” a welcome change from his regular routine. • Phillip McCreight has a passion for Greenville, collaboration, community and teamwork; this project gives him an opportunity to expand emerging passions for art, design and visual thinking. • Keith Groover is a multi-instrumentalist—guitar, electric bass and cello—who invented The Glide, an intuitive, expressive instrument designed around an accelerometer and arm movements. • Marty Epp-Carter is a multidisciplinary artist who had never before collaborated, but was anxious to join a team that might steer her toward new artistic expression. __

Celeste Wright Harris

Lifestyle and wellness coach

Celeste Wright Harris is a lifestyle and wellness coach, author, marathoner, bodybuilder and mom who increases her clients' impact through personal development, strategic implementation, and leadership training. Having held impactful senior executive roles herself, she can coach anyone to lead from any seat. She is a lifelong learner, fitness enthusiast who has run over 15 marathons, and a trailblazer woman of excellence, class, and elegance. Armed with a Master's Degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership, her career was built on establishing organizational cultures of excellence in positions such as corporate recruiter, account executive, business development manager, and director of recruiting and special projects. Most recently she has led high performing teams as Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) in the investment banking industry. —

Christopher Rice

Futurist

Christopher S. Rice, PhD, is the founder and managing partner of Refuturing, where he leads foresight, strategy and research activities. As a futurist, Christopher has worked with leaders in business, community and government for over 25 years to rethink unspoken assumptions, reframe problems and challenges, reimagine possible futures and develop actionable strategies to achieve them. Christopher writes and speaks on a wide variety of topics at the intersections of strategic foresight, education, culture and technology, and sustainable community development. He will also, if given the opportunity, talk your ear off about bourbon and the craft of songwriting. A Kentuckian born and raised, Christopher currently resides in the weirdly futuristic city of Austin, TX.

Closing the Gap

Multi-medium artist group

GROUP BIO: This temporary collaboration was formed when six artists pooled their individual talents to create a music video to tell a story. The three-and-a-half-minute film features the choreography of Elizabeth Strong performed by her step troupe; the artistic vision of Ric Standridge, who directed the young girls to create an abstract work with their movements; Elizabeth Kinney’s portraits that were inspired by the dancers; and the song entitled “One Step,” written and performed by Brandy Lindsey with violin work intertwined throughout by the Synergy Twins, Stephen and Jeff Neil. »

Delighted Tobehere

Drag queen

Delighted Tobehere is a tour de force in the drag world, celebrating 20 years as a vocalist, comedian, emcee, activist, and motivational speaker. A self described "Queen of all Trades," Delighted combines celebrity illusion, vocal impressions, live vocals, lip sync, comedy, intelligence, and quick wit to wow audiences from corporate functions to pride festivals. In 2015, she wowed the judges on America's Got Talent with a rendition of bass country singer Josh Turner's Your Man, garnering yes votes from all of the judges. Throughout the year Delighted tours internationally to sold out houses with her celebrated one-woman shows including “She Haw,” “Hello, Daddy!,” and “Drag 101.” Along with giving masterclasses and lectures at universities, Delighted has been a featured presenter at two TEDx events (TEDxGreenville and TEDxHeritageGreen), continuing her mission of encouraging people to live in the moment, live a better life, love themselves, and love each other. ---

Derrick Quarles

Political consultant + non-profit and higher education leader

Derrick L. Quarles is a leader in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, helping to build strategic partnerships that enable organizations to mobilize capital to solve the world's most pressing problems; scale innovative solutions in developing economies; strengthen company strategies to enhance sustainability; and attract investment and innovation to US government programs. He is a PhD candidate at Jackson State University in Jackson, MS, and is a social justice activist who founded the Upstate Black Lives Matter chapter in South Carolina. ----

Eleazer Hunt

Police department strategic planner

Eleazer (Lee) Hunt, PhD PMP, is an anthropologist with over 25 years working and consulting with law enforcement. His current role is Strategic Planning and Analysis Administrator for the Greenville South Carolina Police Department. His career began in California as a reserve police officer and moved to the Greensboro North Carolina Police Department to lead the Crime Analysis Unit and, later, Information Services. He built the crime analysis function within the High Point North Carolina Police Department, and was part of the team that implemented Project Safe Neighborhood for open air drug markets, group/gangs, and domestic violence. He has consulted with numerous law enforcement agencies on crime analysis, data integration, strategic planning, staffing/workload analysis, focused deterrence, and stratified policing. He has attended several leadership programs including Leadership Greenville, the Senior Management Institute for Police, and Greensboro Chamber of Commerce Other Voices.

Greg Dover

Pastor

The Rev. Dr. Greg Dover was born in Greenville (SC), grew up in Greenville, went to high school and college in Greenville, and continues to live in Greenville as the pastor of Augusta Heights Baptist Church, a traditionally non-traditional community of faith located less than a mile from his childhood home. Greg loves to travel and has visited five of the seven continents. He enjoys good food, good friends, good fun, and good trouble—and makes all of them every chance he gets. Greg is married to Suzy and is father to Yates and Lennon as well as two dogs. ---

Heather Brannon

Physician + practice owner

A family physician who has been practicing for nearly 30 years, Heather Brannon, MD, sees adolescents and adults and is very passionate about the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. Her interest in ADHD began when, as a primary care provider in a family practice, she realized that many patients who felt overwhelmed, anxious, easily frustrated, and tired actually had ADHD—and that diagnosing it correctly and treating it was life-changing for those patients. She decided in 2014 to devote her entire practice, Greenville ADHD Specialists, to adolescents and adults with ADHD. Heather completed her internship and residency at Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Bragg, NC, and has served as a staff physician in a combat support hospital, behavioral science curriculum coordinator, medical director of a family practice residency clinic, and chief of staff of a community hospital.

Illusionaries

Multi-medium artist group

Illusionaries is a collective of three artists; multidisciplinary performance artist MiiMii Beaulieu of PhysioMorph; songwriter and producer Joel McCreight of Evan’s Dilemma, Golden Strip Recording Studio, and Golden Strip School Of Music; and musician and teacher Jeff Holland of DRUM4WORK. Working diligently with many years of knowledge of music, rhythm, and sound, Jeff and Joel craft a unique musical composition to provide a springboard where the choreographed visuals from the mind of MiiMii can dance and glide. The artists' collective ideas manifest in an artistic representation that stimulates the senses.

Just.Us.3

Multi-medium artist group

Just.Us.3 is made up of three artists from different backgrounds who would have never met if not for the TEDxHeritageGreen 2021 Artists Project. Megan Hannon is a dancer and visual artist, Jonathan Underwood is a visual artist/designer and Susan Sorrell is a painter/mixed artist. Three different artistic visions come together to create a painting and a visual movement.

Melody Stanford Martin

Author + social ethicist

Melody Stanford Martin is a social ethicist, communications expert, and author of Brave Talk: Building Resilient Relationships in the Face of Conflict (Broadleaf Books, 2020). She is the founder of Brave Talk Project, the founder & CEO of Cambridge Creative Group, and a regular contributor to Psychology Today. Melody grew up as a Pentecostal pastor's kid in California and studied theology for ten years, earning a Masters of Divinity. During her graduate studies, she developed a passion for social ethics and anti-oppression work through the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at Boston University. Today, Melody’s work focuses on rhetorical innovation, courageous community engagement, and out-of-the-box thinking to solve social problems. Melody is also a musician and avid gardener who lives in Maine with her partner Corey and their dogs, Baxter and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Scott Neumeister

Mythic pathfinder

Scott Neumeister, PhD, is a literary scholar and author from Tampa, Florida, where he earned his PhD in English from the University of South Florida in 2018. His specialization in multiethnic American literature and mythology comes after careers as an information technology systems engineer and a teacher of English and mythology at the middle school and college levels.

Team Resilience

Multi-medium artist group

Team Resilience is a visually musical and moving menagerie of artists who have never worked together before. • Darby Wilcox’s ethereal escapades pull her truth through the listener’s mind. Her music is raw and real, with emotions that are hard to deny. She performs with her band, The Peep Show, throughout the region. • Hailing from NYC and LA, Gina Buntz is Director of Dance for The Fine Arts Center. An acclaimed choreographer and teacher, she has toured throughout the world. She creates with gestural movement and interconnection. • Award-winning artist Keith Grace’s mixed-media paintings can be found across the country. He creates in vibrant layers collaged with hand-torn pieces. His work is part of the collection at the new AC Hotel. • Upstate native and world-traveler Laura Blume is a writer, painter, designer, thought-thinker, and thing-maker. After a handful of corporate careers, her journey as a professional creative is ever-evolving. »

While We Wait

Multi-medium artist group

While We Wait is a collaborative of three Upstate SC artists. • Choreographer/dancer Vaughn D. Newman, Jr., is the artistic director of the Vaughn Newman Dance company. He has offered professional dance instruction out of The Studio since 2018, and sponsors multiple arts outreach programs designed to narrow cultural divides. • Filmmaker Collins Abbott White learned his craft shooting with Bell and Howells, NPRs and Arri film cameras while cutting film stock on a bench—an education that informs his current process and aesthetic. He runs Other Vision Studios, produces and directs short films, and partners with other filmmakers to bring dreams to life. • Jazz composer/musician Tom Wright paints aural scenes through projects such as his album “Notes From The Journey,” compositions within a Greenville Jazz Collective album, and the Wheel Sessions underground concerts. He is an unofficial composer-in-residence for the Greenville Jazz Collective and directs the Spartanburg Jazz Ensemble. »

Yvonne Davis

Gang intervention coordinator

Yvonne Johnson-Davis has worked as the Gang Intervention Coordinator with the City of Greenville Police Department in the GRAVITY program since 2017. GRAVITY—an acronym for Gang Reduction and Violence Intervention Targeting Youth—utilizes evidence-based strategies to offer hope, support, and community resources to influence and ultimately shift the pathway of each participant. A graduate of Rutgers University where she earned a degree in Administration of Justice, Yvonne also served as a civilian employee with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, responding to the safety concerns that impact residents. As a Leadership Greenville graduate, she was inspired to continue to work on the partnership between the community and law enforcement. She served under the motto “Bringing the pieces together to build a safe community.”