Clark Bell

Improving our food starts with improving our fertilizer

To combat growing food insecurity, we need to grow our food more securely – and we can do that by improving the quality of the fertilizer we use as well as using it responsibly. Advances in agriculture have led to us being able to grow twice as much food on a single acre of land than we could 40 years ago, and Clark T. Bell shares three different technologies that can help our fertilizer be more effective to feed our growing population, as well as tips for us to better use fertilizers in our own gardens. Clark Bell is an accomplished serial entrepreneur, having successfully established more than five companies throughout his career. Hailing from Millcreek, Utah, he spent his weekends cultivating his family's land in Bluffdale, Utah. This upbringing has bestowed upon him a distinctive perspective, positioning him as a forward-thinking leader dedicated to forging a sustainable future through regenerative agriculture. Clark's personal life is equally fulfilling, as he is happily married to his beloved Jamilyn, and together they reside in South Jordan, where they are raising their four children and serving their community.

 

 

 

Elle Griffin

What if we release books episodically?

The future of publishing may just be found in a model that’s centuries old, and author Elle Griffin shares her enthusiasm for and insights about this new take on an old way to tell stories. Drawing from her own experiences, she asserts that this method improves on the current publishing system in the US, benefitting authors by allowing them to see more commercial success, and benefitting readers by allowing them to follow and interact with their favorite storytellers. Elle Griffin is the author of The Elysian, a newsletter thinking through a better future and a utopian novel bringing it to life. Her newsletter has been featured by the BBC, Business Insider, Fast Company, Publisher’s Weekly, and Morning Brew; and in 2022, she was awarded one of 10 places in Substack’s coveted fellowship program.

 

 

 

Dr. Benjamin Lewis

Could psychedelics aid the therapy process?

Can psychedelic-assisted therapy be a cure for the public health crisis that is loneliness or a loss of connection? Using results from his clinical trial on group psilocybin-assisted therapy, Dr. Benjamin Lewis shares the ways that these emerging treatments, when utilized in a thoughtful, safe way that embeds medication in a psychotherapeutic process, can not only improve difficult-to-treat mental health conditions, but improve our overall approach to mental health care as well. Ben Lewis is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI) where he practices adult inpatient psychiatry and is the medical director of the HMHI Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Clinic. His research focuses on psychedelic-assisted therapies with an emphasis on psilocybin and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. He is interested in the overlap of mindfulness and psychedelic interventions and is deeply invested in investigating these practices for the alleviation of human suffering.

 

 

 

Erika Anne Sullivan, MD

Why medical training should incorporate LGBTQIA+ needs

Dr. Erika Anne Sullivan's training to become a primary care physician involved learning a bit about the medical needs of everyone - except the LGBTQIA+ population. For that, she had to learn on her own and found it incredibly rewarding. Her talk shares how including education for this patient group within our medical schools, professional programs, and residencies can improve the lives of patients while also enriching the professional lives of the providers who offer these services. Dr. Erika Anne Sullivan (she/her) is a family physician and medical educator in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her practice focuses on providing evidence-based, culturally competent whole-person care to members of the LGBTQIA+ population and in providing rapid access to contraceptive services in her community. When she’s not seeing patients, she can be found teaching Family Medicine Residents about LGBTQIA+ and contraceptive health. She is the Medical Co-Director of the University of Utah’s Transgender Health Program, a founding member of the Gender-Affirming Primary Care Residency & Research Collaborative and the Medical Director and Co-Founder of the annual Mountain West Transforming Care Conference.

 

 

 

Tanisha Shedden

Why therapists need support too

Mental health professionals provide vital support to patients, but many are experiencing burnout. And Tanisha Shedden contends that self care practices aren’t as effective at deterring burnout as designing more therapeutic work environments. She proposes creating work places that include group therapy opportunities as well as spaces for relaxation, restoration, movement, and nourishment for clinical teams to nip burnout in the bud. Tanisha Shedden is a counselor, coach, and speaker guided by her passion to help people heal. Tanisha advocates and educates about trauma, healing, and mental health. As she fosters community through her work, Tanisha uses her voice to create meaningful understanding around the issues that affect us all.

 

 

 

Sara Beaudry-Wiltse

How sports teams deal with teammate deaths

In recent years, headlines about the untimely deaths of athletes have grown more frequent in the U.S.. Athletes are generally seen as the pinnacle of health, making their deaths even more unexpected. Dr. Sara Beaudry-Wiltse experienced this firsthand when she worked as a medical director on a team and, despite all of her training, found herself wholly unprepared for an athlete's death. She outlines three key ways that teams can prepare for these tragedies to move from grieving to healing more effectively. Sara Beaudry-Wiltse, Ph.D, ATC, has 20+ years of experience in collegiate athletics, including recruiting, team management, and sports medicine. With a Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine she has assisted thousands in coping with the impacts of teammate deaths, catastrophic injury, and the lingering challenges of loss. In athletics, business, and life, the impacts of wins and losses last beyond the events themselves; she believes our wellness practices should be just as enduring. Sara’s unique ability to combine the body's natural awareness with the mind's abilities to apply intellect and facilitated processes result in a profound methodology for lasting intentional change.

 

 

 

RJ Walker

Punk theater productions that create positive social change

Actor and performer RJ Walker has noticed that arts activism often effectively raises awareness of issues in a community but can sometimes struggle to create direct action. So he created an avant-garde "mutual aid theater company" that reimagines the audience experience while making a direct impact on a local cause, unlocking the potential of theater as a vehicle for positive social change. RJ Walker is an award winning spoken word poet and playwright from Salt Lake City, Utah. He placed 3rd at the World Poetry Slam and 4th at the National Poetry Slam with the Salt City Slam team. He is a writer in residence at the Utah Arts Alliance and the Executive Director of Lords of Misrule Theatre Company, a fringe theatre group with a focus on mutual aid and arts activism. His work sits at the intersection of Performance Art, Literary Art, and Games.

 

 

 

Eric Lo

How your backyard can change science

Plants have been instrumental in some of our greatest discoveries, but of the 400,000 plant species on Earth, less than 10% have been studied. So why aren’t we utilizing plants more? Eric Lo breaks down the reason why research can be difficult – and how you can help unlock the superpower each plant offers from your own backyard. Eric Lo is a serial entrepreneur driven by making things better. Having experience in molecular biology, biotechnology, software engineering, agriculture, and audio media production, Eric uses his experiences from each field to develop creative solutions in disrupting and pushing forward possibilities.

 

 

 

Jennifer Sorensen

Human complexity simplified

Humans are complex creatures, but at work we can often be seen as a simplified version of ourselves just fulfilling a role. What amazing results could happen if we were able to embrace the complexity of people to benefit both the workplace AND the humans who work there? Jennifer Sorensen, CEO and founder of Jirah Partners, shares strategies to do just that at every stage of an employee’s workplace journey to enhance their experience as well as what they add to the business. Like the many pieces that make up a mosaic, Jennifer sees seemingly independent pieces that contribute to a collective whole. This perspective has fueled her desire to meaningfully engage in adventures and cultures across the world. It comes to life in her work as she partners with organizations to solve complex challenges and improve the journey of organizations and the experiences of their people. After being a practitioner in organizations of all types and sizes, she now runs her own consulting and freelance practice where she brings her ‘mosaic’ perspective to help organizations maximize their potential and people.

 

 

 

Michelle Flynn

Homelessness is solvable

In her 25+ years working to help the unsheltered community in Utah, Michelle Flynn has seen how complex the issues that lead to homelessness can be. But she’s also seen one simple solution we can all utilize right now, today, to help: letting go of our assumptions about homelessness. She shares insights on how to do this as an accessible step we can all take to help end the rising occurrence of homelessness. Michelle Flynn has served as Executive Director of The Road Home since February 2020, having been with the agency for 25 years in various roles. Michelle is a fierce advocate for systemic changes to reduce and end homelessness. She is dedicated to the mission of The Road Home and her role of supporting the team members providing crisis shelter and housing programs. Her work focuses on program and system planning, using best practices and data to achieve key outcomes and lifting and embracing the voices of front-line workers and people experiencing homelessness into decision making roles.

 

 

 

Marj Empire

Bravely write your own voice to the world's song

Throughout her music career, Marj Empire has come to see the world as a song filled with a variety of melodies. In this beautiful, inspiring performance combining music with the spoken word, she invites us to bravely use our voices to create our own verses for this song. What will your verse be? Marj Empire is the Founder and CEO of Blooming Biz and Mind, LLC and the agency HighRev by BBM. She is a seasonal Utah Jazz National Anthem Singer, award-winning executive leadership coach, and author of the book and album, "Be Still". Marj is a philanthropist who gives back to her community in Haiti. She is passionate about personal and small business development.

 

 

 

Bomba Marilè

Dance & music: an act of rebellion

In generations past, bomba music & dance brought slaves together after long days laboring in the sugarcane fields of Puerto Rico to foster community, express emotions - and secretly plan escapes and uprisings. Today, Utah-based group Bomba Marilè shares this Afro Puerto Rican musical tradition through performances like this one, an original song written by group member Miriam Padilla Vargas, that will take you on a journey and will move you in more ways than one. Bomba Marilé was established in 2017 to share Afro Puerto Rican traditions of bomba music and dance with the greater Utah community. A musical expression of resistance, bomba has been used for intentional disruptions such as providing cover for escapes and rebellions as well as to honor the struggles of ancestors. Bomba Marilè has hosted workshops and social gatherings and has screened documentaries highlighting issues related to Puerto Rico. They have performed at various cultural events throughout Utah including the Living Traditions Festival, West Side Dance Cinco de Mayo Festival, Mondays at the Park, and the Utah County Fair.