2020 Speakers

Tifani Kendrick

Inspirational. Determined. Faith-filled.

Tifani Kendrick is an inspirationalist who writes, performs spoken word, and creatively coaches people to live in love and in their purpose. Often referred to as a breath of fresh air, she highlights trauma and resilience, self love and relationships, faith and other qualities of life in her work. Tifani Kendrick is an Ohio University graduate and established D’Light House Family Center, Inc. to strengthen families and empower youth. She is currently a Service Connector with Urban Strategies, advocating for families to receive the community support they need in order to thrive. She co-authored The  Resilience Factor to share how losing her mother to domestic violence led to her greatest awakening. As Tifani Kendrick prioritizes leaving an inheritance of abundance for her two children, she creatively resuscitates others into a greater sense of self worthiness, personal purpose, and connectivity.

Adrienne Hood

Passionate. Faithful. Determined 

Adrienne Hood is the mother of Henry Green, who was killed by the Columbus police in 2016. Since his tragic and untimely death, Adrienne has emerged as a powerful voice against police brutality. She is  a Columbus native and a graduate of Columbus City Schools. She has three adult children and three grandchildren who are the center of her life. She has a BS Criminal Justice Administration and MA Human Services with  a minor in Christian Ministries. She believes that  communities strength is determined by the support and integrity of its residents. She is an active member of the Air Force Reserves and will retire December 2020. 

Jonathan Moody

Servant. Believer. Visionary.

Moody Nolan’s newly appointed CEO, Jonathan Moody, is driven by a passion to continue his father’s legacy and approaches design with an overall goal of having a major impact on communities in need. Under his leadership, Moody Nolan has grown to over 230 employees and 12 offices across the nation. The firm’s designs have now won over 300 design citations. Jonathan has helped continue and extend the firm’s position as the largest African-American owned architecture firm.  For Jonathan, architecture is a medium through which people can be connected and inspired by giving tangible being into ideas. Over the last several years, he has passionately devoted himself to community service through mentoring and education programs focused on developing underserved youth.

Valerie Hawes

Passionate. Enthusiastic. Creative.

Valerie L. Hawes is regarded as a Thought Leader in Central Ohio’s drive to bring attention to the barriers faced by Justice Involved/Restored Citizens. As a member of Score Ohio, she works to bring statewide attention to the initiatives that ensure equity in employment opportunities for this forgotten segment of society. As the Organizational Learning & Development Lead for Goodwill Columbus, she has worked extensively with programs such as the Amethyst Program and Alvis EDGE to provide career development training. What she finds most rewarding in this role is this work she does with Justice Involved/Restored Citizens, which began with her participation in Former Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s Restoration Academy. Valerie has nearly 20 years of public speaking, training, and workforce development experience in both the public and private sectors. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Park University in Social Psychology and a Master of Human Resources Management from Keller

Graduate School of Management.

Yolanda Owens

Speaker. Advocate. Helper

I am a homegrown Buckeye. I grew up in Southfield, daughter of a first-generation American mother and a farm-raised father, and a product of Columbus City Schools. I love food. As the first Black/Latinx president of the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Alumni Society Board, I am an advocate of healthy food access. Much of my career has been to connect youth to healthy food. Whether it is teaching about how to grow food, what to eat, what career choices they have, or selling it to their schools, I want to connect the dots between Black people and our food. I believe that we need to be sitting at the decision-making table when it comes to Ohio’s number-one economic contributor. As a wife and mother of two little girls, I believe that it is important to teach them the power that lies within a seed. 

Eboni Partlow

Advocate. Creator. Connector. 

As a Black, Queer, Woman, I've witnessed first-hand the grave social, political, health, and economic injustices this country commits against Black people. As an advocate and servant to my community, I'm committed to addressing racial disproportionality and combating systemic inequities that impact marginalized lives. I currently serve as an Administrator for Franklin County Children Services and Board President for Black, Out, & Proud, a local nonprofit providing safe spaces, education, advocacy, and inspiration for Black LGBTQIA+ people in Central Ohio. I'm also the former Director of the Malaika Mentor Program, a culturally specific program for Black girls involved with children services and the juvenile justice system. I've led successful organizing efforts on behalf of Black girls, People of Color, and the LGBTQIA+ community here in Franklin County, and aim to continue to advance trauma-informed and culturally responsive care, curriculums, and services, both through my day job and community engagement efforts.

Jameel Paulin

Artist. Socialist. Afrofuturist.

My work is primarily about transformations: new worlds, new relations, and new forms of being. It is about how descendants of the African diaspora have transformed the very grounds of being, meaning and relatedness through the framework of afrofuturism. As a visual artist who grew up during the overlapping eras of ‘golden age of hip-hop’ and the digital age, my experience of afrofuturism has primarily been shaped by the evolution of personal digital/information technology and hip-hop music. I use the emergent technology of virtual reality to create immersive audio-visual worlds influenced by afrofuturist themes and West African symbolism. By embracing the digital media, and creating digitally immersive realities, that are visually akin to the sonic environments of Coltrane, J Dilla, and Flying Lotus, I aim to situate hip-hop aesthetics within a tradition of black liberation aesthetics and to employ a kind of “hip-hop” method within my own creative practice.

Olivia Nathan

Compassionate. Personable. Loyal.

Dr. Olivia G. Nathan is a native of Columbus, OH. Dr. Nathan completed her undergraduate studies at Spelman College (Atlanta, GA) where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science, in Biology. In 2017, Dr. Nathan received her Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of California, San Francisco where she gained extensive experience in the San Francisco Bay Area working with the HIV/AIDS community. A patient focused Pharmacist sincere in delivering culturally competent care to patients in underserved communities; Dr. Nathan is passionate about improving lives and preventing illness through the appropriate use of medication for underserved populations. Dr. Nathan is equally passionate about access to healthcare for Deaf and hard of hearing patients. She uses her fluency in American Sign Language to champion for their rights. 

Noah Mitchell

Witty. Courageous. Down-to-Earth

I currently work as the Director of Strategic Partnerships & Student Experience at Per Scholas Columbus. Per Scholas provides work force training for underserved communities preparing them to gain jobs with  a higher livable wage. I have a masters degree in Higher Ed, and I am in the last semester of Seminary, where I will obtain a Mdiv with a specialization in the Black Church & African Diaspora. I am an author, public speaker, and advocate for marginalized groups. My specific research in seminary has been focused on the LGBTQ+ community in the Black Church, and the issues of oppression found within. I have spent over a decade working in churches from various settings.