international

TEDxFSCJ Women: Fearless

In this moment, women’s leadership is more important than ever.

This is an uncertain time. And yet, amid the environmental, political, and economic challenges confronting us at every level, now is the time to engage.

Join TEDxFSCJWomen for Fearless, a virtual event featuring prerecorded talks from TEDWomen 2020 as well as a live and locally organized line-up of speakers. This year’s TEDWomen conference will showcase venues from around the world, including Lagos, Nigeria, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Montreal, Canada, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Sydney, Australia.

After screening select talks from TEDWomen 2020, our live speakers will take the virtual stage. Hosted by Action News Jax anchor and reporter, Lorena Inclán, our speakers include:

  • Ms. Shawana Brooks, Founder of 6 Ft Away: Public Art Agency

  • Dr. Diana L. Greene, Superintendent, Duval County Public Schools

  • Dr. C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D., President and CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research

  • Dr. Claire Thomas, Desk Officer for Botswana and Namibia, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Southern Africa Affairs

Join us as we explore how women are leading us into the future at the crossroads of the local and the global, the national and international.

This virtual event is free and open to the public, but all attendees must register


TEDxFSCJWomen 2020 will be held Saturday, November 14, 7-9 p.m. Online check-in will begin at 6:50 p.m.


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Shawana Brooks

Shawana Brooks is a literary artist and avid public speaker for her various roles as a curator focused on the relationship between artists and their communities. Her art revolves around personal storytelling infused with issues of social justice. She is the founder of a public arts agency that strives to amplify Black artists through representation and storytelling. Brooks’ work has been highlighted in the national media (“Morning Edition: NPR”), and she was selected as the first official curator for the Jacksonville Public Library. Recognized by her peers, she received the 2018 Robert Arleigh White Award for Artist Advocacy from the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville as the first Black person to win the award. Two years later, Shawana made history again winning the council's highest honor, the Helen Lane Founder Award.

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Diana L. Greene

Dr. Diana L. Greene began her tenure as Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools (DCPS), the 20th largest school district in the nation, on July 1, 2018. Prior to becoming a superintendent in Duval County, Dr. Greene served as Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of Instructional Services in Manatee County. During her 33-year career as an educator, she has spent time as a teacher, assistant principal and principal as well as in curriculum development, staff development and senior executive leadership. On a personal note, Dr. Greene’s father served in the Air Force, and she grew up living in locations all over the United States and abroad. She is married to James Greene, an independent financial advisor and retired Navy veteran; they have two sons, Aldon and Joshua.

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C. Nicole Mason

As one of the nation’s foremost intersectional researchers and scholars, Dr. C. Nicole Mason brings a fresh perspective and a wealth of experience to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). For the past two decades, Dr. Mason has spearheaded research on issues relating to economic security, poverty, women’s issues and entitlement reforms; policy formation and political participation among women, communities of color and youth; and racial equity. Prior to IWPR, Dr. Mason was the executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the nation’s only research and policy center focused on women of color at a nationally ranked school of public administration. She is also an inaugural Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C.

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Claire Thomas

Claire Thomas is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, and she is currently Desk Officer in the Africa Bureau, Office of Southern African Affairs covering Botswana and Namibia.  Previously, Claire served as Vice Consul in Chennai, India and as Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  Before becoming a diplomat, Claire was a Product Manager in the software and analytics sector in Silicon Valley.  She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics and a B.A. in Russian and Linguistics from the University of Lund in Sweden.  Originally from the suburbs of Boston, Claire went to high school in Brooklyn, NY and is married with two grown daughters and a teenage son.


Host

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Lorena Inclán

Lorena Inclán, reporter and weekend anchor of Action News Jax This Morning, joined the Action News Jax team in 2012. Before moving to Jacksonville, Lorena was a multimedia journalist for Univision Orlando. Lorena began her broadcast journalism career in the Texas Panhandle. While there, she was the only bilingual anchor, reporter and producer for KFDA NewsChannel10 and its sister station, Telemundo Amarillo. She got her start in the TV industry by working behind the scenes as a camera operator and studio technician at WTVJ NBC6 in South Florida. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Lorena was born and raised in Miami where she attended the University of Miami and earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication.