Theme: Kaleidoscope

This past year has been anything but normal. The COVID-19 pandemic has simultaneously illuminated our global connectedness and exposed the many ways in which we remain divided. Each and every person has felt the pandemic’s effects in different ways and to different extents, but we have all had to reimagine what it means to support one another—what it means to be a neighbor, a friend, a family member, a colleague, an ally. We have seen how what divides us can also—with consistent empathy, curiosity, and compassion—unite us. In this spirit, we have selected “Kaleidoscope” as our Main Event theme. Kaleidoscopes are special in that they create a beautiful, unified whole while also recognizing the unique colors, shapes, and sizes of their individual parts. Like the very world in which we live, kaleidoscopes are always in motion—changing and evolving as our eye invents and reinvents what it sees. For this year’s event, we hope to capture this kaleidoscope spirit of diversity, change, and imagination. In bringing together diverse voices and ideas not only from our own institution, but from the greater community, we seek to celebrate the complex, colorful, and dynamic kaleidoscope that is Baltimore.

Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, Maryland, 21218
United States

Aaron Henkin

Co-host of Baltimore's "Out of the Blocks" Podcast

Aaron creates and produces original radio programs and podcasts for Baltimore’s NPR affiliate, WYPR. His neighborhood documentary series, Out of the Blocks, earned the 2018 national Edward R Murrow Award. Aaron’s past work includes the long-running weekly cultural program, The Signal, and the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series, Tapestry of the Times. His stories have aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, PRI’s Studio 360, & The World. Aaron teaches a Fundamentals of Podcasting class in Johns Hopkins University’s Film & Media Studies program.

Anthony Parker (aka. Wordsmith)

Songwriter, Performer, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist

Wordsmith is a Baltimore-based songwriter, performer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. His music has been featured in hit shows like Russian Doll (Netflix), Preacher (AMC TV), ESPN and WWE Programming. Wordsmith's partnership with the US Department of State has sent him to 11 countries over the past 4 years to hold major concerts, anti-bully and Hip Hop History Workshops for underprivileged youth. His non profit, Rise with a Purpose, Inc. is currently raising funds for a consistent music school in Baltimore City while his work as a cultural ambassador to Kids Connection Haiti and Project Plase bring attention to fighting homelessness. His Ted Talk will center around his search for purpose while answering the question: can you impact the world and be a successful musician without being famous?

Carmera Thomas-Wilhite

Environmentalist

Carmera has a passion for raising awareness and inspiring others to be stewards of the land and water around the Chesapeake Bay region, where she grew up and resides. She likes to spend time with her family and friends, read and explore historic landmarks around the Bay watershed. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from North Carolina Wesleyan College. Carmera is also a Master Watershed Steward, member of the Anne Arundel County Citizen Environmental Commission and serves on various boards.

David Linden

Dr. David J. Linden is a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where is laboratory studies the cellular basis of memory storage, recovery of function after brain injury, and other topics regarding brain function. He has a longstanding interest in scientific communication and is famous for making his work more accessible and understandable for those not in the field. He has served many years as the Chief Editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology and is also the author of three bestselling books on the biology of behavior for a general audience. His most recent book is Unique: The Science of Human Individuality (Basic Books, 2020). He has appeared on the TED Radio Hour, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, as well as many other media outlets.

Dwight Watkins

Dwight Watkins is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of The Beast Side, The Cook Up, Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised, and We Speak for Ourselves. He is Editor at Large for Salon. He has been featured in the HBO documentary The Slow Hustle and is a writer on We Own the City, an HBO miniseries from David Simon. Mr. Watkins' work has been published in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and other publications. He is a college lecturer at the University of Baltimore and holds a Master's in Education from Johns Hopkins University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Baltimore. His past awards include the BMe Genius Grant for dynamic Black leaders, the City Lit Dambach Award for Service to the Literary Arts, the Maryland Library Association's William Wilson Maryland Author Award, and the Ford's Men of Courage award for Black male storytellers.

Hannah Brancato

Hannah Brancato is an artist and educator based in Baltimore. Her art practice is grounded in collective storytelling and the creation of public rituals to bring people’s stories together. Brancato is dedicated to mobilizing visual culture to uproot and resist white supremacy and rape culture. She is co-founder of FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, an art/organizing collective that produces creative interventions to create a culture of consent. She is faculty at Maryland Institute College of Art, Towson, and UMBC. She was a FORCE collective member from 2010-2020 where she was a recipient of the 2016 Sondheim Prize. She was also a 2015 OSI-Baltimore Community Fellow. In Fall 2021 she was a Studio Resident at VisArts, culminating in the solo exhibition "Inheritance of White Silence," a socially engaged project investigating ways to resist white supremacy culture. Hannah is currently working to document the integral role of art in social justice work.

Legacy Forte

Legacy Forte, a 22 year old Baltimore Native, found their voice at their alma mater, Baltimore City College. They have been active in LGBTQ Youth Advocacy since as early as 2014 and has served as a founder in the creation of youth groups such as Youth Against Oppression, SOMOS, and most recently BMORE BLXCK. After Mayor Scott was elected, they were appointed to his Youth Recreation Transition Team and shortly thereafter began working as the Administrative Coordinator for FreeState Justice. They are a Certified Critical Medical Needs Program Navigator and HIV Testing & Linkage to Care Counselor. Coupled with being a certified Youth Mental Health Navigator, they dedicate a lot of their time and energy to better not only themselves but the community and world around them.

Letitia Dzirasa, M.D.

Baltimore City Commissioner of Health

Dr. Dzirasa, a Hopkins trained pediatrician, believes that equitable care is a basic right for all and will tirelessly advocate for programs that support the overall health and wellbeing of all Baltimore city residents. Dr. Dzirasa’s special interests include obesity management and prevention, trauma informed care in children and adolescents, and expanded use of technology to improve health outcomes. Prior to joining the Health Department, Dr. Dzirasa worked at Fearless Solutions, a Baltimore based digital services firm that builds custom software solutions for local and federal government clients. In her role as Health Innovation Officer, Dr. Dzirasa was responsible for managing the Healthcare IT portfolio for the company and provided clinical subject matter expertise to HIT projects. Dr. Dzirasa has also trained at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in pediatrics and has worked as medical director for school based health and quality at Baltimore Medical System from 2013-2016.

Melanie Shimano

Melanie Shimano is a research fellow at the Harvard Project on Workforce interested in exploring the relationships between postsecondary educational institutions and employer systems to best support learners in achieving sustainable, meaningful, and equitable careers that meet the evolving needs of the 21st century workforce. Melanie previously taught at Johns Hopkins University, in addition to having run K-12 STEM and community engagement programming in Baltimore. She also worked as a data analyst for the Baltimore City government, and led a boutique startup. She was even named recently as one of Forbes 30 Under 30, Baltimore's 40 Under 40, and Maryland's Leading Women for her outstanding work with technology and workforce educational programming in the Baltimore area. Melanie holds an M.Ed from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, as well as both an MS in Engineering Management and a BS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Wendel Patrick

Co-host of Baltimore's "Out of the Blocks" Podcast, Music Producer

Wendel Patrick has been referred to as “David Foster Wallace reincarnated as a sound engineer” by Urbanite Magazine and as “wildly talented” by the Baltimore Sun. The alter-ego of classical and jazz pianist Kevin Gift, Wendel Patrick has made a name for himself internationally as a music producer of remarkable vision, skill and talent. Wendel Patrick’s music has also been heard across the country on NPR stations, most notably on Out of the Blocks, an award winning radio documentary program he co-produces with radio producer Aaron Henkin for NPR affiliate WYPR that has been featured by the Third Coast International Audio Festival and Hearing Voices as well as on the BBC.Wendel Patrick is currently a professor at The Peabody Music Conservatory - Johns Hopkins University where he teaches “Hip Hop Music Production: History and Practice,” the first course of its kind to be taught at a major traditional music conservatory anywhere in the United States.