Amy A. Hunter has served as a Senior Global Equity Diversity and Inclusion leader at Boeing since 2018. She joined the team at Boeing in late 2018 where she supported Boeing Defense for St. Louis, Oklahoma, Houston and Florida.  She currently leads strategies for Boeing Corporate and Defense.  Prior to joining Boeing, Amy was the senior manager of Diversity and Inclusion for St. Louis Children’s Hospital. In this role, she led their diversity and inclusion strategies, implementation and measurement while developing educational trainings that impacted retention as well as equitable patient care.

Hunter has more than 20 years of experience in human resources, organizational development, project management and leadership within the corporate and nonprofit arenas. Her responsibilities have included creating and implementing return on investment strategies for recruitment, and curriculums for training and retention strategies.

Her community engagements have included serving on a number of boards for local organizations including Cultural Leadership, We Stories and the United Way.   She has also led the Missouri Business Leaders Network’s Governor’s Council on Disability and been an active member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Corporate Advisory.

Her popular speech “The Talk” was incorporated into a TEDx presentation called “Lucky Zip Codes.” 

Hunter has an earned undergraduate degree and is currently pursuing a doctorate in critical race theory from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

TEDx Presenter: 2014, 2015, 2018

I currently serve as an Assistant Principal at Rockwood Summit H.S., and I've been in this post for two years.  I am also working on my Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership at Maryville University.  Prior to being at Summit, I was a Social Studies teacher at Parkway Central High School.  I also had stints at Wright City High School, as well as University High School.  While at Parkway Central, I created a Contemporary Issues curriculum.  The goal of the class was to facilitate constructive discussions on the topics of race, politics, and identity.  At each of my stops, I've been successful in connecting different groups of people, while providing a forum for different ideologies to blend together.  Since becoming an administrator, I've been able to take a lot of the elements I used in the classroom, and I have begun implementing policies of inclusion, understanding, and culture from a school-wide standpoint.  My education includes a B.S. in History with an emphasis on African-American History and a Minor in Sociology from Truman State University; Master of Art in Education from Webster University; and a Master of  Educational Administration from Missouri Baptist University.

Cecil Slaughter is a Professor of the Practice in Dance in the Performing Arts Department at Washington University. He received his MFA from the University of Iowa. His career as a professional dancer includes fourteen years with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Mr. Slaughter was a featured artist in many of the company's works which include the "Junkie" in Eleo Pomare's Blues for the Jungle, Ulysses Dove's Urban Folk Dance, "Lil Lou" in Donald McKayle's District Storyville, and McKayle's Rainbow Round My Shoulder. During his time with DCDC, Mr. Slaughter performed extensively throughout the United States. His international tours include South Korea, Russia, France, and Germany. The company has also been featured annually at such dance festivals as Jacob's Pillow and the American Dance Festival. His theatre credits include Darker Face of the Earth, The Bow Wow Club, The Merchant of Venice, Mahalia's Song, and Applause. He has worked with several professional dance and theatre companies including Upstream Theatre, St. Louis’ Black Rep Theatre, and Mid America Dance Company. He has also choreographed several productions for Washington University’s Performing Arts Department including Spring Awakening, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and Metamorphoses.

Charles Bryson, II, a native St. Louisan, has a passion for service and improving the quality of life for all.

Charles has served in various aspects of human service; from a Case Worker and Case Manager at various programs for persons who were homeless in Baltimore, St. Louis and Springfield Il., to the Director of a Head Start in Springfield Il and Executive Director of a Youth Program in Peoria Il.

Charles has also held various positions in State and City government, including Area Rep for the Missouri Housing Development Commission, Neighborhood Development Executive, Senior Policy Advisor, Director of Department of Public Safety and Director of the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency under both Mayor Slay and Mayor Lyda Krewson.

Diana Barrios has been the Artistic Director of Leverage Dance Theater since it emerged from the company’s previous structure and identity, Atrek Dance Collective. She has been producing, presenting, performing, choreographing and teaching dance for almost 20 years in the St. Louis area.

Leverage Dance Theater is a St. Louis based dance company in residence at the Intersect Arts Center in the Cherokee Street neighborhood. Leverage makes and presents work in non-traditional environments and in non-traditional ways to build new audiences and promote development and accessibility in the field of local dance.

Gina Patterson has been hailed as a choreographer of “startling originality” by Backstage Magazine and Dance Magazine said of her work “Patterson has a voice, that ever-elusive thing, and whatever the future of ballet may be, choreographers like her will always have a place in it.”  

Her versatility as a dancer set the stage with the breadth of experience that informs her voice as an artist today. During her long career as a principal dance artist, Ms. Patterson was known as a versatile, consummate performer, dancing with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Ballet Austin, Ballet Florida, and as a guest artist in the US, Canada, Iceland, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and France. Performances at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Florence Gould Hall, and the Joyce Theatre accentuate her performance career.

Ms. Patterson has created more than 100 choreographies, including 13 full-evening productions that include the Emmy-winning Liquid Roads for MADCO, a contemporary adaptation of Romeo and Juliet for CoDa21, and her one act Hansel and Gretel created for the Croatian National Theatre. She has won international acclaim and such honors as the Choo San Goh Award, a nomination for an Isadora Duncan Award, the Hubbard Street 2 National Choreographic Competition, New Choreographers on Pointe, and the National Choreographic Initiative. On behalf of Chris Hannon, 2016 McKnight Dancer Fellowship recipient, Way of the Dodo was commissioned by The Cowles Center for their SOLO Commissioning Program, funded by the McKnight Foundation. She is honored to receive a Fellowship from the Bogliasco Foundation (fall 2021).

Her work encompasses concept and direction, collaborating across disciplines, and appears in the repertoire of more than 25 companies including VOICE, Nashville Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Richmond Ballet, Dayton Ballet, BalletMet, and DanceWorks Chicago. Ms. Patterson’s creations have been presented internationally in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Spain. In addition to commissioned choreography, she educates through classes, creativity workshops and multi-disciplinary collaboration with young artists of all ages, working with Arts Umbrella in Vancouver, Dancers’ Workshop, Interlochen Arts Academy, Point Park University, Goucher College, and the University of Iowa among others.

Ms. Patterson advocates for empathy and compassion through her work as a choreographer, leader, educator, and creative artist. Her work responding to social, economic, and environmental climate illuminates the importance of interconnection with our land and each other. She will work even harder, continuing to bring awareness to issues of equality, beginning with a mindfulness of her own speech and actions. Holding close the power of listening, of respect. 

Full bio: http://ginapatterson.com/bio

James never stops talking, so it's lucky that his job requires a lot of it! As Leader for the Society, James is a public face for the community, ensuring that Ethical Humanist values are represented at rallies and protests, in schools and universities, and in the media. James believes that our culture desperately needs a Humanist moral voice, and he's determined to provide one. You can often find James yelling through a megaphone or posting on Facebook. He loves Star Trek way too much, and tries to find a way to work a Star Trek reference into every Platform Address.

JENNIFER ARCHIBALD, Toronto-Brooklyn based artist is the founder and Artistic Director of the Arch Dance Company and Program Director of ArchCore40 dance intensives. She is a graduate of The Alvin Ailey School and the Maggie Flanigan Acting Conservatory where she studied the Meisner Technique. Archibald has choreographed for the Atlanta Ballet, Ailey II, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Kansas City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet II, and worked commercially for Tommy Hilfiger, NIKE and MAC Cosmetics as well as chart-listed singers and actors. In 2017 she will create new works as the resident choreographer for Cincinnati Ballet. Next season new works will be created for Ballet Nashville, Wylliams/Henry, MADCO and Stockholm's Ballettakademien. Archibald’s works have been performed at venues including New York's City Center, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Aaron Davis Hall and Jacob's Pillow Inside|Out Stage and Central Park's Summerstage Mainstage. In 2013, Jennifer was awarded a Choreographic Fellow for Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab under the direction of Robert Battle. She is 2015's Choreographic Winnings recipient by the Joffrey Ballet. She also choreographed “Seven”, a biographical work about Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee, commissioned by St. Louis based MADCO Dance Company. In 2017 she will create new works as the resident choreographer for Cincinnati Ballet. Spring 2015 her work was performed in Scandinavia, Germany, France and in the U.S. In 2015 she was appointed as guest faculty lecturer to develop the Hip Hop dance curriculum at Columbia/Barnard College and is currently on faculty at the Yale School of Drama. Jennifer is a guest artist at several universities; Fordham/Ailey, Purchase College, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of South Florida, Goucher College, Columbia College Chicago, and Bates College. This spring she will premier a new work for Miami New World School of the Arts and South Carolina's Governor's School of the Arts, and Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre.

Joshua L. Peugh is the Founder and Artistic Director of Dark Circles Contemporary Dance. After graduating from Southern Methodist University, Joshua moved to South Korea to join Universal Ballet Company. Since then, he has created work for festivals in Asia, Europe, and North America, winning awards for his choreography in South Korea, Japan, Canada, and the USA. He was the recipient of the Grand Prize at the McCallum Theatre's 18th Annual Choreography Festival. He was chosen as one of Dance Magazine's 2015 "25 to Watch" and was named “an important discovery” by The New York Times. Joshua recently served as choreographer for legendary soprano Kathleen Battle’s concert Underground Railroad - A Spiritual Journey. Joshua was the 2018 recipient of the Natalie Skelton Award for Artistic Excellence. He has been commissioned to create for BalletX, Ballet Memphis, BODYTRAFFIC, Bruce Wood Dance Project, Company E, Dallas Theater Center, Eisenhower Dance, Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, MADCO, METdance, Tulsa Ballet, WaterTower Theatre, and Whim W'Him, among others.

Madison Alexander - Student and incarnate word academy and president of the diversity club. Dancer at Dance Plus.

Madison Alexander is a senior at Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis. As a student leader at Incarnate Word, Madison serves as the president of Incarnate Word’s Diversity Club and secretary of National Honor Society. In 2019 Madison participated in World Wide Technology’s STEM Student Forum Hackathon where her team came in second place. She has also been involved in the Boeing Explorer program for the past two years. Madison has been a member of the Dance Plus competitive dance team for the past 10 years and trains in jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, modern and tap. She has won many convention scholarships, two national championships and countless high point awards. The highlight of her dance career was participating in the 2018 St. Louis Teen Talent Competition where her group Labels won second place, the audience choice award and the “I” award for the most imaginative, inspiring and innovating routine. After high school Madison plans to attend an HBCU and major in mechanical engineering.

Michael Butler, a native of St. Louisan and a lifelong member of the Democratic Party and holds the distinction of being the first African-American Record of Deeds for the City of St. Louis, after winning the election over his predecessor, who was the 38 year incumbent.

Michael is a former State Representative serving the 79th District in the Missouri House from 2012-2018. During his 2012 State Representative campaign, he worked as an educator in the St. Louis Public Schools System. 

As the Chair of the Democratic Central Committee for the City of St. Louis, Michael is a proponent of voter education and assists in the development of strong political candidates and community leaders to serve and strengthen the Democratic Party.  Additionally, he is the 6th Ward Committeeman serving the community where he resides with his family.

While studying at Alabama A&M, Michael served as Student Government President and as a Board of Trustee member.  Michael is a graduate of Alabama A&M with an undergrad degree in Business Management.

Prior to his many political successes, Michael gained valuable work experience in the legislature while serving as the Legislative Aide in the office of State Senator Robin Wright-Jones, and as the Legislative Assistant to State Representative, Mary Wynne Still. While working in the legislature, he earned a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Michael also has valuable private sector work experience while employed as manager at the home office of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in Bentonville, Arkansas.