Activate : Leading with Purpose Panel Discussion

September 25th (Monday) – Activate Panel Discussion at Flying Pig Improv

This event is open to the public. The registration fee is $10 at the door or in advance.

We are meeting at Flying Pig Improv at 3203 E. Douglas Ave. from 6 to 8 PM.

Activate: Leading with Purpose Panel Discussion

Nothing helps you own your power more than standing up for something you strongly believe in. The challenge is knowing what to do and leading others to get more involved. In this informative panel discussion, experienced advocates will help you discover how to get involved, how to inspire others to action, and resources to guide you.

Panelists

Julia Fabris McBride, Author, and Chief Civic Leadership Development Officer with Kansas Leadership Center

Julia Fabris McBride is the Chief Civic Leadership Development Officer of the Kansas Leadership Center. She is also a certified coach, co-author of two books When Everyone Leads (Bard Press, January 2023) and Teaching Leadership: Case-in-Point, Case Teaching, and Coaching, and author of Your Leadership Edge: Teacher Companion. At KLC, she oversees teacher and coach development and has created three professional programs for leadership developers, including an International Coach Federation (ICF)-approved Leadership Coach training program and an Advanced Leadership Development Intensive that has drawn people to Wichita from four continents. Julia served as KLC’s interim president and CEO from August of 2022 until March of 2023.

Julia has traveled as far afield as Melbourne, Australia, and Yangon, Myanmar, to teach and share the KLC ideas, first among them the principle that leadership is an activity available to anyone, anytime, anywhere. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Case Western Reserve University and holds a diploma (signed by Sir John Gielgud) from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Julia lives with her husband, sculptor Bill McBride, and teenager Lake McBride in Matfield Green, Kansas, in the heart of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie. She is a co-founder of the Know Your Worth Women’s Leadership Conference and founding board president of the Pioneer Bluffs Foundation. Julia serves on the advisory committee for the Western Conservation Leadership Development Program and as secretary of the board of directors of the Adaptive Leadership Network. She splits her time between Wichita and Matfield Green.

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Claudia Amaro, AB&C Bilingual Resources Marketing and Media Agency, PlanetaVenus Online Radio, Podcast, and Print Newspaper

Claudia Amaro is an immigrant who has been living in Kansas for more than 25 years. She founded AB&C Bilingual Resources, a bilingual marketing company, in 2017 to close the communication gap in her community. She founded Planeta Venus, an online Spanish radio station, podcast, and newspaper. She has played a significant role in the communication and engagement with the Latino community.

For Claudia, her son, daughter-in-law, grandkid, and her husband are her greatest treasures, and she feels blessed to be surrounded by her mother, her four sisters, and their families in Wichita, and friends who respect and love her. Claudia’s goal is to inspire, teach, and motivate more people to exercise leadership in their homes, communities, and places of employment to build a better society together. When she is not busy with work, she enjoys spending time with family, reading, and traveling.

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Melody McCray Miller, Candidate for USD 259 School Board Co-Founder and President Miller’s Inc., Adjunct Lecturer, Wichita State University

Melody McCray-Miller has served the community in multiple capacities, always leading with the guiding principles of a strong commitment to community service and a belief in people having a voice in their own destiny. Ms. McCray-Miller served as a State Representative for the 89th House District from 2005 to 2013. Prior to running for State Representative, McCray-Miller served as the first African American woman to represent the 4th District on the Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners, following in the footsteps of her father, Billy McCray. Melody successfully championed reforms in prevention, early childhood education, and the juvenile justice system in her role as a local public official and state legislator. Melody is proud of her rich and diverse background, which also includes being a USD 259 teacher and a small business owner, Miller’s Inc., for 25+ years.

Melody McCray-Miller continues to wear multiple hats in the community, consulting on issues regarding health disparities, juvenile justice reform as well as business development.

McCray-Miller is a Kansas Health Foundation Fellow and alum of the Kansas Leadership Center. As a seasoned public policy maker with expertise at both the state and local level, Melody is keenly adept at identifying and understanding the steps involved in public policy making and is committed to increasing the participating role of “community” in public policy making and community engagement. She continues her passion for people and serving as a catalyst for urban communities working to change lives and strengthen communities as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Political Science Department at Wichita State University and as a Guest Instructor at the Citizen Upward Bound, WSU/TRIO Program.  And currently, Melody is campaigning to be the next USD #259 At Large Board member.

Sponsored by Optometric Billings Solutions, optometricbilling.com, (316) 722-2021 and Flying

Pig Improv, flyingpigimprov.com, (316) 833-1889

Our Sponsor

Thank you to our sponsor, Optometric Billing Solutions! At 10501 W. Hampton Lakes in Maize, OBS is a woman-owned, nationally recognized insurance billing company for optometrist clinics in 43 states. It was named by Wichita Business Journal as one of the best places to work in Wichita, based on confidential employee job satisfaction surveys.

If you’re ready for a career in an employee-centered company with flexible hours and options to work at home after training, OBS wants to talk to you! Go to https://bit.ly/OBSBadass for more information.

Sending a resume to BWWA@obsteam.com and letting OBS know the applicant is referred by the Badass network automatically guarantees them an interview. Make sure they drop your name when they apply! OBS rewards your referral with $150 cash each time the person you sent gets hired!