Glitch
Our theme for this year’s conference is GLITCH. Glitches represent the idea that life often tries to derail us off a steady path. Although we may experience a setback or glitch, we can learn from it, propel forward, and start to appreciate every pixel of our experiences. We aim to cultivate an attendee experience that reflects the many meanings of this theme. As always, we hope those who attend our conference will leave having discovered the importance of their own glitches while learning to look for the positive outcomes.
Speakers
Our speakers have already been selected for this year's conference. They will be revealed here and on our social media throughout the month of January. Make sure to follow us on social media and check back regularly for when they are announced.
Dr. Feranmi Okanlami
Dr. Feranmi Okanlami is the Director of the first-ever Adaptive Sports and Fitness program at the University, an assistant professor of family medicine, and serves as director of Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services. After facing a spinal cord injury in his third year of orthopedic surgery residency at Yale that paralyzed him from the chest down, he has gone on to pursue several degrees and receive the Nielson award for his disability advocacy. He served on the St. Joseph County Board of Health, appointed by then Mayor, Pete Buttigieg and has been featured on news outlets including CBS News, PBS News Hour, and Good Morning America. Dr. Okanlami continues to push for DEI and accessibility with his message that disability is not inability.
In his talk he hopes to explore disability as a fabric of diversity and its relationship with society.
Elizabeth Trinh
Elizabeth is originally from Vietnam and is currently a Ph.D. student and researcher in the Management and Organizations program at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She has a unique life story of growing up in a small town in Georgia since her father was on a Student Visa in America. The community however in her small town was something that molded her to become the person she is today even though it was a very segregated town as her family was the only people of Asian descent there. When she got older, she moved to Atlanta where she first started to see people who looked like her. She further went to Stanford for her undergraduate degree in premed studies.
In her talk, she hopes to tell her story and how it affected her to learn the importance of mentorship and creating meaningful connections wherever we go!
Amy Tseng
Amy is a passionate speaker who works at Walt Disney as a Technical Director, which act as the bridge between the art and technical sides of animation (ex. The water in Moana). She grew up in a small town in Port Huron, MI and was always a part of many different activities in sports, theater, music, and academics. At first, she worked for Nordstrom, but really wanted to do some creative work as well, which is how she decided to apply for Walt Disney. So far she has worked on Zootopia+ (which is her favorite project so far), Strange World, and is working on a film that comes out in 2024. She is currently based in Los Angeles, CA.
In her talk, she will touch on story telling and how “everyone is a storyteller” as everyone has experiences that build off of each other and all of these experiences when growing up builds our stories!
Tommy Searle
Tommy is an app developer and is a 2020 UofM Alumni! During his first year in Michigan, he lost his dad to suicide. He ran 6 campaigns surrounding mental health awareness, sold t-shirts, and raised over $20,000. He began interning at LinkedIn but soon recruited his closest friends to quit their jobs and create their first app, WellNest. Throughout his work, he loved seeing people wear or use the products he created. His goals for the future include increasing the happiness that we feel on our phones and breaking the pattern of phones disconnecting us. Tommy speaks in such a confident and genuine way that is truly inspiring.
In his talk, he will touch on topics such as persistence, turning something “bad” into a good positive force of energy, and being unafraid of failing!
Nicole Auerbach
Nicole is a sports journalist for the Athletic. She is also a UofM alumnus and at her time here she wrote for the Michigan Daily Sports section, being one of the very few females in that category. She originally thought she would pursue business in college but someone in her dorm told her about the Michigan Daily. That changed the trajectory of her life and through working at the Michigan Daily she worked her way up after having many internships to a first full-time job as an editor at USA Today. From 2017 to the present, she is doing football reporting for the Atlantic and she does some radio coverage on the side with Sirius XM.
In her talk, she will speak about her experience being a woman in the sports industry, a heavily male-dominated space, and resiliency through coping with difficult situations in what many perceive as a “dream job”.
Annie Rauwerda
Annie is currently a freelance writer and she runs the “Depths of Wikipedia” account on Instagram which holds 1.1 million followers. During her time as a Junior at UofM when COVID hit she was able to take time to post her favorite things from Wikipedia on Instagram. This quickly became a hit with people on Instagram and this growth allowed her to freelance as a junior doing live shows and stand-up comedy while still in college. She was able to get a book deal and do a show tour around the country. Through this whole incredible experience, she learned the importance of digital archives for the sake of history. She continues to run “Depths of Wikipedia” through not only Instagram but also Twitter (650k), and TikTok (140k) and does comedy and speaking engagements about Wikipedia.
In her talk, she will talk about the importance of creating human knowledge and how Wikipedia encourages this along with adding some standup and humorous elements to her talk.
David Siev
Midwest-born and raised, David Siev is a first-generation Cambodian-Mexican-American filmmaker. Before directing Bad Axe, his SXSW award-winning feature debut based on his family’s restaurant in rural Michigan, David spent his early career learning guerilla filmmaking under director Jeff Tremaine. This experience prepared David to make his directorial debut with his award-winning narrative short, Year Zero, based on his father’s experience of escaping Cambodia. David’s work on Bad Axe has been celebrated with numerous accolades, including the Critic’s Choice Award for Best First Feature Documentary and he is on the Oscar shortlist for documentary features. David now lives in NYC, focusing on developing narrative and documentary projects.
In his talk, he will touch on the immigrant experience and the American Dream along with coming from nothing to making something of yourself in an unknown field!
Ji Hye Kim
Ji Hye Kim is the award-winning chef/owner of Miss Kim in Ann Arbor, MI. Named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2021, Ji Hye aims to broaden the understanding of Korean cuisine through her cooking. She was born in Seoul, Korea, and was introduced to cooking by her mother, a talented home cook. Her family immigrated to New Jersey, and Ji Hye went on to study political science and economics at the University of Michigan. Since Ji Hye attended U-M during the Asian financial crisis, she had to take two years off to make cash for school through waitressing because she did not have a work permit. After years of hard work, Ji Hye was able to finish college and open her first restaurant Miss Kim, which has now been named one of Ann Arbor’s “Most Essential Restaurants” by Eater. At her acclaimed restaurant Miss Kim, her seasonal menu is inspired by ancient Korean culinary traditions and adapted to local Midwestern ingredients.
In her talk, she will touch on how we are all a complex mix of identities but society often wants to put us in one box and how to lead with empathy by creating a system that sets people up to have a more equitable workplace!
Our theme for this year’s conference is GLITCH. Glitches represent the idea that life often tries to derail us off a steady path. Although we may experience a setback or glitch, we can learn from it, propel forward, and start to appreciate every pixel of our experiences. We aim to cultivate an attendee experience that reflects the many meanings of this theme. As always, we hope those who attend our conference will leave having discovered the importance of their own glitches while learning to look for the positive outcomes.
Speakers
Our speakers have already been selected for this year's conference. They will be revealed here and on our social media throughout the month of January. Make sure to follow us on social media and check back regularly for when they are announced.
Dr. Feranmi Okanlami
Dr. Feranmi Okanlami is the Director of the first-ever Adaptive Sports and Fitness program at the University, an assistant professor of family medicine, and serves as director of Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services. After facing a spinal cord injury in his third year of orthopedic surgery residency at Yale that paralyzed him from the chest down, he has gone on to pursue several degrees and receive the Nielson award for his disability advocacy. He served on the St. Joseph County Board of Health, appointed by then Mayor, Pete Buttigieg and has been featured on news outlets including CBS News, PBS News Hour, and Good Morning America. Dr. Okanlami continues to push for DEI and accessibility with his message that disability is not inability.
In his talk he hopes to explore disability as a fabric of diversity and its relationship with society.
Elizabeth Trinh
Elizabeth is originally from Vietnam and is currently a Ph.D. student and researcher in the Management and Organizations program at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She has a unique life story of growing up in a small town in Georgia since her father was on a Student Visa in America. The community however in her small town was something that molded her to become the person she is today even though it was a very segregated town as her family was the only people of Asian descent there. When she got older, she moved to Atlanta where she first started to see people who looked like her. She further went to Stanford for her undergraduate degree in premed studies.
In her talk, she hopes to tell her story and how it affected her to learn the importance of mentorship and creating meaningful connections wherever we go!
Amy Tseng
Amy is a passionate speaker who works at Walt Disney as a Technical Director, which act as the bridge between the art and technical sides of animation (ex. The water in Moana). She grew up in a small town in Port Huron, MI and was always a part of many different activities in sports, theater, music, and academics. At first, she worked for Nordstrom, but really wanted to do some creative work as well, which is how she decided to apply for Walt Disney. So far she has worked on Zootopia+ (which is her favorite project so far), Strange World, and is working on a film that comes out in 2024. She is currently based in Los Angeles, CA.
In her talk, she will touch on story telling and how “everyone is a storyteller” as everyone has experiences that build off of each other and all of these experiences when growing up builds our stories!
Tommy Searle
Tommy is an app developer and is a 2020 UofM Alumni! During his first year in Michigan, he lost his dad to suicide. He ran 6 campaigns surrounding mental health awareness, sold t-shirts, and raised over $20,000. He began interning at LinkedIn but soon recruited his closest friends to quit their jobs and create their first app, WellNest. Throughout his work, he loved seeing people wear or use the products he created. His goals for the future include increasing the happiness that we feel on our phones and breaking the pattern of phones disconnecting us. Tommy speaks in such a confident and genuine way that is truly inspiring.
In his talk, he will touch on topics such as persistence, turning something “bad” into a good positive force of energy, and being unafraid of failing!
Nicole Auerbach
Nicole is a sports journalist for the Athletic. She is also a UofM alumnus and at her time here she wrote for the Michigan Daily Sports section, being one of the very few females in that category. She originally thought she would pursue business in college but someone in her dorm told her about the Michigan Daily. That changed the trajectory of her life and through working at the Michigan Daily she worked her way up after having many internships to a first full-time job as an editor at USA Today. From 2017 to the present, she is doing football reporting for the Atlantic and she does some radio coverage on the side with Sirius XM.
In her talk, she will speak about her experience being a woman in the sports industry, a heavily male-dominated space, and resiliency through coping with difficult situations in what many perceive as a “dream job”.
Annie Rauwerda
Annie is currently a freelance writer and she runs the “Depths of Wikipedia” account on Instagram which holds 1.1 million followers. During her time as a Junior at UofM when COVID hit she was able to take time to post her favorite things from Wikipedia on Instagram. This quickly became a hit with people on Instagram and this growth allowed her to freelance as a junior doing live shows and stand-up comedy while still in college. She was able to get a book deal and do a show tour around the country. Through this whole incredible experience, she learned the importance of digital archives for the sake of history. She continues to run “Depths of Wikipedia” through not only Instagram but also Twitter (650k), and TikTok (140k) and does comedy and speaking engagements about Wikipedia.
In her talk, she will talk about the importance of creating human knowledge and how Wikipedia encourages this along with adding some standup and humorous elements to her talk.
David Siev
Midwest-born and raised, David Siev is a first-generation Cambodian-Mexican-American filmmaker. Before directing Bad Axe, his SXSW award-winning feature debut based on his family’s restaurant in rural Michigan, David spent his early career learning guerilla filmmaking under director Jeff Tremaine. This experience prepared David to make his directorial debut with his award-winning narrative short, Year Zero, based on his father’s experience of escaping Cambodia. David’s work on Bad Axe has been celebrated with numerous accolades, including the Critic’s Choice Award for Best First Feature Documentary and he is on the Oscar shortlist for documentary features. David now lives in NYC, focusing on developing narrative and documentary projects.
In his talk, he will touch on the immigrant experience and the American Dream along with coming from nothing to making something of yourself in an unknown field!
Ji Hye Kim
Ji Hye Kim is the award-winning chef/owner of Miss Kim in Ann Arbor, MI. Named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2021, Ji Hye aims to broaden the understanding of Korean cuisine through her cooking. She was born in Seoul, Korea, and was introduced to cooking by her mother, a talented home cook. Her family immigrated to New Jersey, and Ji Hye went on to study political science and economics at the University of Michigan. Since Ji Hye attended U-M during the Asian financial crisis, she had to take two years off to make cash for school through waitressing because she did not have a work permit. After years of hard work, Ji Hye was able to finish college and open her first restaurant Miss Kim, which has now been named one of Ann Arbor’s “Most Essential Restaurants” by Eater. At her acclaimed restaurant Miss Kim, her seasonal menu is inspired by ancient Korean culinary traditions and adapted to local Midwestern ingredients.
In her talk, she will touch on how we are all a complex mix of identities but society often wants to put us in one box and how to lead with empathy by creating a system that sets people up to have a more equitable workplace!
Cost
- $15 for Students $25 for General Admission
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