Theme: Reflect/ Revitalize/ Renew

Today we come together to explore ideas worth sharing that touch all aspects of our lives. We will embark on a journey of ideas that challenge us, inspire us, and push us to grow, both as individuals and as a community.

Our speakers will shine a light on some of the most pressing issues of our time, from the changing needs of education to the importance of confronting uncomfortable topics.
How do we create a system of education that truly serves every student? How do we engage in conversations that make us uncomfortable, yet are essential for progress?

You will hear a unique perspective on a tradition we have forgotten. We will delve into the purpose of education, not just as a means of gaining knowledge, but as a tool for shaping more compassionate, inclusive, and informed citizens.

We will explore the profound idea of redefining ourselves—not just in the context of who we are, but in how we challenge and navigate the expectations that culture places upon us. In a world that often seeks to define us, how do we take back that power and redefine ourselves on our own terms?

And finally, we will be reminded of the power of art and music to express the things we cannot say with words alone. Through a unique collaborative performance that will progress throughout the afternoon, you will witness how the arts can communicate the ineffable, transcending language and touching the core of our humanity.

Today is about more than just listening to ideas—it is about reflecting on where we have been, revitalizing our sense of purpose, and renewing our commitment to growth and change. So let’s open our minds and hearts as we journey through these powerful stories and performances together. Let’s reflect, revitalize, and renew.

The Bing Crosby Theater
901 W Sprague Ave
Spokane, Washington, 99201
United States

Caren Furbeyre

Artist

I am an artist and have spent my career investigating the myriad of ways that I can transform a blank surface through various paints, liquids, materials and subjects of all kinds. The one thing that hasn’t changed for me is the internal, solitary, experimental nature of my creative activity. Last year I painted a large mural for the the Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, WA on a wall that is 12’x16’. Through this process I began to think in terms of performance and choreography and an embodiment of color, paint and flow. In an unexpected way, the making of this mural brought my painting into a new light.

Casey Pilgeram

School Psychologist

Casey, a wife and mother of two, is a school psychologist with a decade of experience working in public schools with children ranging from pre-K through high school. Raised by her mom in Western Montana and Sandpoint, Idaho, Casey is a product of public education. Casey holds degrees in Political Science and Women/Gender Studies from DePaul University, later pursuing her Ed. S in school psychology. Casey believes in children, human wisdom, and the beneficence of the earth! She envisions a future where understanding our past empowers us to recast our educational model to center the humans within it and the communities they touch. She believes changing our educational system can birth a safer, more just world for generations to come.

Elisabeth Kraus

College Professor + Author

After growing up in a small-town faith community, Elisabeth went on to earn both her undergraduate and graduated degrees from Northwest University with the hope of continuing on much further in her studies. But as it does for all of us, the journey of motherhood became the most formative of her life as she navigated 2 high risk pregnancies resulting in unexpected 2nd trimester terminations. She has spent the last 16 years teaching at the university level and writing about the ways that faith collides with questions of reproductive justice, gender, and parenting. Most recently, Elisabeth has been teaching at Whitworth University and working as a Parent Coach for parents whose children are various navigating medical complexities. In her spare time, she enjoys life with her girls.

Emily Torres

Educator + Student Advocate

Emily Torres has been an educator with Spokane Public Schools for 22 years. In 2016 she helped pilot a program for trauma-impacted teens and ever since has continued to incorporate a counselor-in-the-classroom approach to education. She has had the unique privilege of working alongside psychologists (Dr. Kent Hoffman Every Person has Infinite Worth | Kent Hoffman | TEDxSpokane – YouTube, Dr. Russel Kolts Anger, Compassion, and What It Means To Be Strong | Russell Kolts | TEDxOlympia (youtube.com), and Mental Health Therapist Sean Barrett to develop and implement an ELA curriculum designed around self-awareness. Emily is also a trauma-informed trainer through the Community Resilience Initiative (www.CRIResilient.org) and has been a presenter introducing others to Holistic Curriculums at their annual Beyond Paper Tigers Trauma-Informed Care Conference and at the 2024 Regional Equity Summit. She was also one of Lilac City’s Teacher of the Year in 2022.

Esteban Herevia

Community Leader, Inclusive Designer, and Strategic Thinker

Esteban Herevia, he/they, served as the President and CEO of Spokane Pride – the organization that produces the Spokane Pride Parade and Festival. He served as Vice President for the United States Association of Pride Organizations and Communications Co-Chair for InterPride, the international association of Pride organizations. He co-founded Wonderfully Made Spokane, a non-profit entrusted with increasing inclusion and celebration of LGBTQ+ people in faith communities. Esteban currently focuses on expanding health equity and addressing community health through story-telling at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. He was recognized in the Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living top 20 under 40 list for 2021 and listed as a 2023 Top Influencer in the Trending Northwest Publication. “I wish my 15 year old self could see where I am today.” – Esteban

Georgia Goff

Student + Researcher

Georgia Goff has long been interested in the power of stories and how we tell them. After being diagnosed with Endometriosis, she developed a deep interest in the world of women’s issues, advocacy, and, most specifically, menstruation. Georgia Goff is a recent graduate from Whitworth University where she received her bachelor’s in history. During the research she conducted in this program, Georgia combined her interests in menstruation and storytelling to highlight the complexities of menstruation through the lenses of faith, economics, politics, technology, and more. Currently, Georgia is working on her Master’s in Teaching through Whitworth University and hopes to someday become a history professor. When she is not studying, Georgia can be found watching movies, spending time with her family and friends, or trying to make up for all of the sleep she lost in college.

Jonathan Middleton

Professor + Composer

Jonathan Middleton is professor of Music Theory and Composition at Eastern Washington University. He holds a DMA in music composition from Columbia University and his compositions have been recorded on the ERM and Origin Classical labels. In addition to being a modern-day classically trained composer, he is a published author for a composition textbook called “Essentials for Composers,” and a co-author for four research articles about data-to-music transformation. He designed and launched a Web-based tool for converting data into music called “musicalgorithms” in 2004-05. Since then, has held sonification research residencies at Stanford University (2007-08) and Tampere University in Finland (2015-17).

Lance Cox

Funeral Director

Lance has been in the death care industry for over 20 years and is a licensed funeral director, licensed embalmer, crematory operator, certified funeral celebrant, and holds a degree in Mortuary Science. He owns funeral businesses in Idaho, Washington, and Nevada. In the last two decades, he has witnessed a transformation in the way Americans mourn. Reviewing the past traditions of those in grief, he believes we can create a healthier societal view of death for the future. A native of Southern Idaho, he now resides in Spokane, WA with his wife and three children. He has been an involved member of the Barbershop Harmony Society since his youth and has served as music director for two community choruses and performed in several quartets. He spends any free time with his family or pursuing better musical skills.

Megan McLean

Mathematician + Teacher

Megan was always good at playing school and enjoyed being a student. As a student at the University of Idaho, she earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and realized her love of learning. The university course catalog was a new world of knowledge, and she dabbled in architecture, art, and history, in addition to the required courses for her mechanical engineering degree. As a mathematics teacher, Megan has become passionate about representing mathematicians who resemble all students in the classroom so that everyone can see themselves as a “math person” and runs @mathematicianslooklikeallofus on Instagram. This project led her to pursue a PhD in mathematics & science education at Washington State University, focusing on equitable grading and the impact of written feedback, instead of points-based feedback, in the mathematics classroom.

Miranda McLeod

Professor + Writer

Miranda McLeod is a writer and English professor at Gonzaga University. With a BA in sociology, an MFA in fiction writing, and a PhD in contemporary ethnic American literature, she has been consumed with the human need to tell stories all her professional life. She has taught writing and literature to college students for eighteen years, but it was her experience leading free public creative writing workshops in New York City’s Bryant Park that revealed to her how transformative encounters with literature can be outside the confines of academia. Miranda’s short fiction has appeared in the Sunday Times of London, Willow Springs, Epiphany, and elsewhere. Her current book project, Traitor, is about her experiences as a Black feminist scholar befriending NYPD officers during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2014.

Sean Barrett

Mental Health Counselor + Educator

Meet Sean, a mental health counselor who at the age of 16 had steered clear of psychology classes because he and the counselors he was working with were unable to unravel the mystery to him finding himself. A mixtape given to him around this time was Sean’s Rosetta Stone, giving him the first words and emotions to understand what he had been experiencing. Sean treasures his roles as a husband, father, family member, friend, and colleague. Alongside TEDx co-speaker Emily Torres, he is devout in bringing language arts and psychology to every young soul in every classroom possible. Those who know Sean best describe him as empathetic, affable, and a bit of a muppet – qualities he would recommend to work in an industry where the chief commodity is pain. His guiding philosophy? Start with putting relationships first, and listen to one another the way you listen to your favorite song.

Suzanne Ostersmith

Dance + Theatre + Visual Artist

Suzanne Ostersmith (MFA) founded the Academic Dance program at Gonzaga University in 2000 and presently serves as Chair. In the years since she has created the Dance Major, Minor and Interdisciplinary Arts Minor, developed the Dance Season and Presenting Series, hosted the American College Dance Association Conference for the Northwest Region, and put Gonzaga Dance on the map. Audiences may have seen her signature passion and craft as director and choreographer to over 50 stage productions including the opening gala production for the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center of A New Season, audience-record setting staging of Jesus Christ Superstar, A Chorus Line, Pippin, Seussical, Chicago, Gonzaga original Weaving Our Sisters Voices and the annual Spring Dance Concert. Suzanne gave a TEDx Spokane talk in 2013 titled Leveraging Passion.

Teri Koski

Fixer

Teri has had many roles in her life, including being a social worker, performance poet, student, handywoman, mental health advocacy volunteer, pet mom, and yard sale enthusiast. She has several pieces of paper that say she is smart, can follow instructions and jump through hoops well. Teri is bad at pop culture trivia, playing themed games and knowing who sings the song currently on the radio. When she begins to tire of the view, she travels. Her recent trips include North Dakota, Washington D.C., Tekoa, and England. When she tires of traveling, she returns to her 1904 farmhouse that is her in “house form”. Her partner is a truck driver from New York who is also a smart and opinionated woman. Much of their conversation involve temperatures of rooms and what to have for dinner. That is, if the cat approves.