LiveGirl Founder and CEO, Sheri West

Welcome, "My Voice, Our Equal Future" Acknowledge indigenous land

Sheri West has a passion for equality & inclusion and over 25 years of corporate and leadership development experience. She is the Founder, CEO & Chairperson of LiveGirl, a nonprofit organization that builds confident, inclusive leaders. Prior to LiveGirl, Ms. West spent 16 years as a finance executive at General Electric Co., a multinational company, where she was instrumental in its Women’s Network and taught leadership development courses at the GE Management Development Institute. In 2014, she founded LiveGirl to “pay it forward” and prepare the next generation of diverse, female leaders. Sheri regularly speaks on a wide range of topics relating to women’s leadership and co-hosts the Confident Podcast with her 17-year-old daughter. She was recently featured in the NY Times, CABE Journal, and at the Yale Women's Leadership Launch. Her honors include being named “Best Friend to Girls” by Moffly Media, Community Champion by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, “Connecticut’s Most Philanthropic Women” by Serendipity Magazine, a “Woman Empowering Women” by the Rowan Center, and a “Woman Of Inspiration” by CWEALF. Her education includes a BA Finance and Masters of Leadership Development from Michigan State University. She is married with three children (ages 20, 17, and 14) and lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, where she is actively involved in the community and serves on the New Canaan Public Schools Board of Education.

LuTonya Russell

Fairfield County Community Foundation Fund for Women & Girls

Welcome, "Call to Action" LuTonya Russell, Fairfield County Community Foundation Fund for Women & Girls

Lutonya Russell-Humes joined Fairfield County's Community Foundation in 2021. As Sr. Director, FWG, Lutonya is responsible for executing FCCF's long-term strategic plan for the Fund and day-to-day operations, grantmaking and asset development.

Prior to joining the Community Foundation, Lutonya worked for The Boys and Girls Club of New Rochelle where she served most recently as Executive Director.  During her time there Lutonya provided quality programs that allowed young people and their families to access services that might not otherwise be available to them. Lutonya began her career at the Children's Village, a residential treatment facility for adolescent boys in Westchester County. She spent the next ten years working in the foster care systems of New York City and Bexar County, Texas. Hoping to impact families and children before they entered the system, she began her community-based work with the Westchester Community Opportunity Program (WestCOP) at the Ossining Community Action Program overseeing a nationally recognized pregnancy prevention program.

Lutonya received her undergraduate degree in sociology from Mississippi Valley State University, and holds a Masters of Public Administration from Pace University. She is currently an adjunct professor at Mercy College.

CT Senator Pat Miller

Senator Patricia Billie Miller, a Stamford native, was elected to the state senate for the 27th district in a special election in 2021. She had previously served in the General Assembly from 2008 to 2021 representing Stamford's 145th Assembly District.

Through her tenure in the legislature, Sen. Miller has been a strong advocate for education reforms that help address and improve Connecticut’s education opportunity gap. She has learned and seen firsthand the disproportion of students’ achievements and the role that literacy plays in their success or failure. She believes giving teachers the right tools to help them address disparities is a step in the right direction.

Sen. Miller took the lead in addressing and passing legislation aimed at creating a Reading Readiness Program at the State Department of Education (SDE) that will assess Alliance Districts and Commissioner’s Network Schools to determine if students are reading ready and to provide adequate support to the schools as it relates to performance and needs.

In addition to working on education issues, Sen. Miller has been a strong proponent of campaign finance reform, strengthening domestic violence and consumer protection laws, and has served as a voice for vulnerable communities, advocating for the rights of marginalized groups.

Sen. Miller is proud to have championed a consumer friendly law in 2016 that allows customers to get cash refunds for their unused gift cards as a simple and fair solution when a gift card has less than three dollars remaining. 

Prior to her election to the legislature, Sen. Miller spent her professional career in the Affordable Housing industry for over 25 years and served on the Stamford Board of Representatives. 

As a member of the Stamford Board of Representatives, Sen. Miller served on the city’s Housing/Community Development/Social Services Committee and Education Committee.

An alumnus of the former Low-Heywood School in Stamford, Sen. Miller attended Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.

Broadway Star Brennyn Lark

Brennyn Lark is an NYC-based actress/singer. 

She has appeared in a range of productions, including performing as Eponine in Broadway's revival of Les Miz, Deena Jones in the West End’s Dreamgirls, and season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Alongside performing, Brennyn is passionate about extending her insight and abilities to that of transforming the next generation of young artists and performers.

Her newly-launched services not only involve refining a performer's acting, singing, and audition technique, but also range across uncovering and unlocking their potential, and stepping into their authenticity and - essentially - their power. 

Mari Copeny, “Little Miss Flint” Activist

Mari is a 13 year old from Flint, Michigan known globally as Little Miss Flint. Born on July 6th, 2007.  She first rose to the public spotlight when her letter to President Obama about the water crisis prompted him to visit the city and survey the water crisis for himself. That visit ultimately led to him approving $100 million dollars in relief for the city of Flint.  Her young age has not prevented her from making a significant impact on the dialogue around environmental racism and confronted the entire country with the reality faced by victims of state negligence. Her youthful honesty prevents political leaders from being able to ignore the consequences of neglectful leadership. She gives voice to the unheard hardships of Americans trapped by a collapsing and toxic infrastructure. 

In 2017 Mari continued her dedication to social justice by becoming a national youth ambassador to the Women’s March on Washington and the National Climate Mari. Mari is also dedicated to preventing bullying and works with the anti-bullying group Trendsetters Productions. She is also a member of the Flint Youth Justice League. She also sat on the 2019 Kid Box board of directors as the chairwoman of the board. She also proudly works with Eighteen by 18, a youth organization founded by her mentor Yara Shahidi.   Mari has also spoken twice at the March for Science about how the Flint water crisis has affected her community. Mari has a doll that is modeled after her by the doll company Lottie. She also sits on the Flint Youth Justice League and the MDE Anti-Racism Student Advisory Council.

Mari has used her platform to not only bring awareness to her community but to give back. Mari has raised over $500,000 for her Flint Kids projects including giving out over 16,000 backpacks stuffed with school supplies, a yearly  Christmas event with thousands of toys, Easter baskets, movie screenings, and more. She has a book project where she gets books by authors of color into the hands of local children. Her dear Flint Kids letter project has received thousands of letters of support to the children of Flint from people all around the world.  She has also raised over $250k and given away over a million bottles of bottled water. But she takes the most pride in pivoting away from single-use bottled water to partnering with a company (Hydroviv) to produce her very own water filter, that is shipped all over the country to those that are facing toxic drinking water, to date she has raised over $400k to produce her filters. 

Mari Copeny has been featured in Teen Vogue, The Guardian, VICE, TIME, Refinery 29, The Washington Post, NBC News, Rewire, Buzzfeed, and more for her vocal opposition to the injustices of environmental racism. When Mari grows up she plans on running for president in 2044.

Qiana Coachman-Strickland also known as “DJ Q-Boogie”

There are trends and then there are classics; DJ Q-Boogie is the latter. A dynamic entertainer, she has a gift, equal parts performance art, intuition, creativity and raw talent. Audiences delight in dancing to her Sets, fusions of Hip Hop, R&B, Funk, House, Top 40, and Reggae. Her passion for music, curating an experience, and creating a vibe have solidified her as one of the most sought after in the industry. 

From corporate to creative circles, Qiana Coachman-Strickland has established herself as an enterprising business woman and entrepreneur over the past decade. Conquering board rooms and sound boards alike, Qiana has constructed her authentic life path to personal success and is now harnessing her positive force to help others become leaders of their own artistic ambitions.

From a young age, Qiana’s affinity for music fueled her creativity as she was often found rummaging through the records of Evelyn Champagne King, Luther Vandross, and Michael Jackson in her parent’s basement. However as a native of the nation’s insurance capital, Qiana eventually pursued a traditional and prosperous career path at an esteemed insurance company. Yet despite the allure of the competitive business world and comfortable benefits, her inner creative voice craved an outlet. Ultimately, she began organizing and producing original passion projects such as The Ultimate DJ Showcase and Behind the Turntables, (an industry revered showcase and networking event) and The Art of DJ’ing, a youth enrichment program that introduced inner city students to the basics of DJ’ing and encouraged a passion for the arts.

The momentum and relationships generated from her creative side hustles inevitably propelled her into her first entrepreneurial venture - Q the Beats Enterprise, LLC. - a music and entertainment company where Qiana took centerstage as a supreme DJ otherwise known as DJ-Q Boogie. Once all in, her business accelerated dramatically and began to garner the attention of clients like the University of Connecticut, Girls for Technology, and The National African American Insurance Association as well as celebrities and legendary Hip-Hop artists. Recognition was not far behind. In 2020 alone, Qiana was named the Best DJ by Hartford Magazine, honored as one of the top 100 Women of Color in Connecticut, and featured in The Hartford Courant and Innovation Destination Hartford for her work as a DJ and entrepreneur. She also obtained the distinguished title of Sound Artist when she brilliantly scored the soundscape of the 2020 Harriet Beecher Stowe Prize Winner, Eddie S. Glaude’s “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own”. In this commissioned role, she brought to life the author’s work and the experiences of James Baldwin and Harriet Beecher Stowe through a compelling soundscape and musical journey that encompassed the music of artists and activists such as Nina Simone, James Brown, and Gil Scott Heron.

As Qiana continues to evolve her creative brand and hone her focus, her goal is not only to inspire others to pursue their dreams by living her own, but also to leverage her lessons and experience to guide others on how they can turn their “crazy” ideas into their wildest reality. Find her on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin) and follow along as she empowers everyone to do what they love, achieve their own version of success, and never settle for the safe route.

Pilin Anice

Movement Break

Pilin Anice, E-RYT 500, is a yoga, barre, dance, and meditation instructor, health coach, artist, and model. Passionate about supporting others to connect to their highest self, she has guided people of all ages in the sacred movements of yoga and dance through a range of workshops and classes for over a decade. She is the founder of Restore + Explore Retreats and has taught in the US and abroad, including the Omega Institute, 1440 Multiversity, Dubai Yoga Fest, and SoulFEST. A Howard University Alumna, she is a MIRROR Trainer and lululemon Ambassador. She is also on the faculty at Kripalu Center for Yoga and the Ailey Extension. Pilin studied at the Integrative Institute of Nutrition and is a true believer in using real, whole foods as both fuel and medicine. She is a Health Coach at THE WELL in NYC where she works alongside an incredible team of Functional Medicine Doctors and Holistic Wellness practitioners. Pilin has appeared on GMA, The Today Show and has been featured in the NY Times, ESSENCE,  Well+Good, MindBodyGreen, and SELF.

As a professional performer, Pilin has performed Off-Broadway, on National Tours, and in regional productions. She has modeled in dozens of commercials, print ads, and industrials for many Fortune 500 companies including Disney, Visa, and Google. She has also worked extensively as a vocalist performing in concerts and cabarets throughout New York City.  She lives in the NYC area with her husband and two children.

Visit: www.pilinanice.com.

Rowena Track, CEO of Stamford Boys & Girls Club.

Rowena Track is the CEO, Stamford Boys & Girls Club. BGCS empowers youth by providing an environment to develop productive, caring and responsible citizens. She serves on the Board of Governors for the University of New Haven and is a graduate of Harvard Business School.

Lynnette Johnson, Woman of the World Poet

@KnottyPoet

Lynnette’s first love is poetry.  She has made a name for herself as an actor, an event host, a workshop facilitator, a podcaster and a spoken word artist.  Lynnette has had the opportunity to travel across the country performing her own pieces. Her gentle style and comedic delivery has allowed even non-fans of poetry to be drawn in by her words. Lynnette visits the subjects of love, injustice, motherhood and friendships in her writing.  She has competed in poetry slams, winning a place on the 2014 Connecticut slam Team, Verbal Slap.  She competed in the Woman of the World Poetry Slam in Brooklyn, in March of 2016.  She visits universities and elementary schools leading workshops on poetry, and journal writing, titled, The Power of Words. Ms. Johnson writes and recites poems for special occasions; weddings, funerals, birthday celebrations, retirements and any other social gathering. She published her first collection of poetry titled I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You in February 2014.  Collections 2 and 3, Only Love can Do That and Purple were released in the fall and winter of 2015.  Her fourth collection, Supreme was released April 2017 as a book and a one woman show.

Eloisa Melendez, TCSYale

Eloisa Melendez is a lifelong Norwalk, CT resident. Her mother immigrated to the US from Medellin, Colombia. Her father is a Puerto Rican New York native. She is the Treasurer for the Connecticut State Democratic Party. She is also the Chair of the Norwalk Democratic Town Committee. At age 19, Eloisa was the youngest woman ever elected to Norwalk's Common Council. She served three terms before leaving the council in 2019. During her time on the council, she chaired the council's Ordinance Committee. She is an alumna of The Campaign School at Yale. She is also a member of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Horizons at New Canaan Country School.