Tuesday, July 28 at 9:15 AM
Each year, we invite members of the host city’s communities – their leaders, movers and shakers – to share short, inspirational stories during the Flash Talks session. Learn from their efforts and gather ideas for your own!
Antonio Ramirez
Project Director, Chicagolandia Oral History Project
Antonio Ramirez is Associate Professor of History at Elgin Community College. He is Director of the Chicagolandia Oral History Project, which documents the history of the lives, work, and culture of Latinx suburban communities around Chicago. Ramirez is currently writing a book on the history of “Chicagolandia” for the University of Illinois Press. His written work has been published in TIME Magazine, The Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Nation, The Progressive, and others.
The Chicagolandia Oral History Project documents the history of the lives, work, and culture of Latinx suburban communities around Chicago including Elgin, Waukegan, Aurora, Joliet, and beyond. The Project uses oral history to create community dialogue about the history and future of Latinx communities in Chicagoland.
Starla Thompson
Indigenous Curator, Scholar, and Advocate
Starla Thompson (Forest Band Potawatomi) has served as a consultant for numerous institutions, including the Chicago Blackhawks, Lake Forest College, the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee, the Burpee Museum of Natural History, and more. She is the curator of Of This Place, an exhibition at the Burpee Museum (opened July 2022), which showcases contemporary and traditional artworks by Native people from the Ho-Chunk, Sac and Fox, Potawatomi, and Ojibwe Nations. Thompson has presented widely as a diplomat, connector, storyteller, and truth-seeker, and she regularly performs the Native American ceremony called the “Jingle Dress Dance,” or “Healing Dance,” a century-old tradition that constitutes a prayer in physical form and motion.
Lisa Weiss
Storybeat Studios
Founder, Object Diaries Project
Lisa Weiss is the creator of Object Diaries, a multimedia storytelling project and community engagement methodology built around a simple question: What happens when we honor the things that actually matter to us? Through workshops, public storytelling events, and a growing collection of personal narratives, Object Diaries explores what meaningful objects reveal about legacy, memory, and the relationships that define who we are.
Lisa brings to this work more than two decades of experience as a writer, journalist, and Emmy Award-winning producer, including years crafting stories for Oprah Winfrey and CBS News with subjects ranging from President Barack Obama to Dr. Maya Angelou and Brené Brown. A duPont-Columbia Award winner for journalism, she holds an MFA in Prose and Poetry from Northwestern University, and her writing has appeared in outlets including The Boston Globe. The Tory Burch Foundation named her a Fellow.
Nick Wesley
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Urban Rivers
Nick Wesley is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Urban Rivers, a leading organization dedicated to transforming urban waterways into vibrant, community-centered spaces. With a deep commitment to environmental sustainability and community engagement, Nick has spearheaded numerous initiatives that integrate natural ecosystems with urban development. His leadership has been instrumental in creating projects that not only enhance the ecological health of urban rivers but also provide accessible, inclusive recreational spaces for all. Nick has become an expert in working with stakeholders, government agencies, and community partners to create innovative space within navigable waterways.
Urban Rivers is a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to transforming urban waterways into wildlife sanctuaries and public green spaces. Their flagship project, the Wild Mile, is the world’s first floating eco-park, located on the North Branch Canal of the Chicago River, featuring floating gardens, wildlife habitats, and community walkways.