Village Santa Cruz has registered as a group via Senior Center Without Walls. We'll participate in the symposium together by hooking up a laptop to a TV. We are grateful to the Aptos United Methodist Church for allowing us to host this event in their Fellowship Hall.
Power to Change Symposium Flier
Power to Change is a first-of-its-kind event, an online symposium to ignite the belief that older adults can use their creativity to continue to transform the world.
Whether potential attendees think of themselves as creative or not, we will give tools to unlock the creative promise we all carry. We will remind each attendee that creativity is beyond art-making – it is about using your imagination to forge new paths. This symposium will share inspiring stories and creative tools to ignite changes from the very personal level of communicating one’s story all the way to speaking with legislators. Join us as we remind each other that we all possess the Power to Change our world.
Reminder: This is a virtual event, accessible via computer or phone.
Schedule:
10:00am – 10:15am PT
Welcome
Kevin Gerber, CEO of Episcopal Senior Communities
10:15am-10:45am PT
Dr. Fred Mandell, innovative business leader, author, widely collected sculptor and painter, and founder of The Global Institute for the Arts and Leadership. After decades of a successful career in the private financial sector culminating in national leadership positions, he moved his professional life to art-making. His art has been featured nationally and internationally, and is held in private and corporate collections. Dr. Mandell’s award winning book, with Kathleen Jordan, Becoming a Life Change Artist, has opened new pathways for growth as we age. Dr. Mandell’s insights have served as a compass, moving many to view their lives and work in new ways.
11:00am – 11:45am PT
Telling Your Story: Workshop & Moderated Panel
Stagebridge, an award-winning performing arts organization, will share how their theatrical training has been a launchpad for change, including practical tips for how you can use stories to advocate for yourself, and end with a moderated panel of Participants in Stagebridge’s Performing Arts Institute and Seniors Reaching Out Program
11:45-1:00pm PT
Break - bring your own brown bag lunch, we'll provide tea & coffee
1:00-1:15pm PT
Poetry Reading
Poet Gregory Pond was born in Brooklyn, NY and has been writing since he was able to hold a pen. He cites literary influences ranging from Langston Hughes, e.e. cummings, and Gwendolyn Brooks, to punk poetess Patti Smith. He is the author of Blackened Blue and after moon.
1:15-1:45pm PT
Dr. David “Lucky” Goff, author and community organizer, had a brain aneurism in 2003, which lead to the onset of a rare brain syndrome, the brink of death, and permanent disability. This experience had a transformative effect, cuing him in to how radically connected all things are. He has spent these past years approaching aging in an innovative way, using techniques from a host of oral traditions to discover what promotes, heals, and binds together a culture where elders are seen, and see themselves, as valuable and essential contributors. Dr. Goff has encouraged elders to seize the metamorphic experience of elderhood, reminding us we can be seen and heard in this society.
2:00-2:30pm PT
Postcards With A Punch: Workshop
First, we will learn why writing your legislators does make a difference and tips for what to include in your letter. Then we’ll explore creative ideas for using simple, household materials to make your letters stand out from the pack. Presented by California Senior Legislature Member, Shirley Krohn, and VP of Program & Development at Ruth’s Table, Jessica McCracken.
2:45pm-3:15pm PT
Cindy Weil, artist and activist, has often found herself at the frontier of change. She began her career as a Director in the Internet Group at Ameritrade, back when all you could do online was buy a book or trade a stock. From there she fused her creativity and tech savvy as Executive Producer of MarthaStewart.com, then leaned into parenthood, and later founded Wallpaper Collective and I80west. Recently, Cindy has become more politically active, which inspired the launch of Enactivist.com, a place where advocates commit their creativity to shine a light on invisible and marginalized communities.
3:15-3:30pm PT
Wrap-up Exercise by Creative Aging San Francisco
This event is held online and is accessible via computer or phone. Village Santa Cruz is gathering in person to access it together. Donations from non-members are welcome to offset the registration fee our group has paid.