This is a follow up event and a building up event for the yearly event. We are going to have 2 speakers from the TEDx Maumee River past event and 2 new speakers.

5501 Coventry Lane
Fort Wayne, Indiana, 46804
United States

Roberta Ridley

Roberta F. Ridley is the Chairwoman of the recently organized (2010) African American Genealogical Society of Fort Wayne and a Fort Wayne, Indiana native. She is an employee of the Allen County Public Library and is a passionate researcher who believes genealogy to be good psychological and social medicine for our families and communities. Roberta believes that honoring the ancestors through every facet of the genealogy story is a necessity. She has facilitated numerous genealogy workshops within the community, as well as presentations to several organizations. She is a steering committee member and part of the program team for “It Is Well with My Soul” an organization established to develop programming to unlearn internalized racism, and a member of the Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana. Her primary focus in the workshops has been researching in a “genealogy state of mind” for the necessity of knowing and understanding one’s self, family, and community history. Roberta’s research publications include the following: Fort Wayne News Sentinel newspaper March 2005, articles for the History of Fort Wayne & Allen County Indiana 1700-2005 published in 2006, and The Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ontario Canada newspaper April 2006. Ms. Ridley contributed articles for the Allen County Public Library online genealogy e-zine “Genealogy Gems: News from the Allen County Library” 2004-2006 and a contributing writer for Frost Illustrated Culture series “What, why of African American Genealogy”, 2011.

Thae Ohu

Thae Ohu, born in Bangkok, Thailand is 17 years old. She came from parents of refugees from Burma during the time of the civil war. She has lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana for the past fourteen years. As any teenager she attends North Side High School, plays sports, and is involve with extra circular activities. Her biggest involvement with the community comes from her father, Ahr Yu who has helped her become a leader for the younger generation. She was involved with Crime Victim Care and National Crime Prevention Council which helped her shape her passion dealing with bullying. Her platform for the future deals with teenagers with all likes, gender, race, religion, and sexual preference.

Renee Florin

Renee Florin is an accomplished, award winning designer who loves taking Interior Design to an inner level. After surviving a brain aneurysm in 1999, Renee started a journey of letting go and understanding from a scientific viewpoint, the “why” of our thoughts and actions. She has shared her insights over the last 10 years through teaching weekly adult education classes at her church, speaking at various women’s groups & health retreats, as well as international markets and shows in Chicago, Orlando, and Las Vegas. Renee is currently working on a book titled, “My sister really loves me – She just doesn’t know it yet!”