Dr. Val Margarit is an expert in Transformational Education, an award-winning educational leader, college professor, speaker, and the author of Why Not You? How to Become an Empowered Woman.
Val has a Doctorate in Education/ Educational Leadership and Masters & Bachelors degrees in Sociology and political science. She teaches, mentors, and advises future educational leaders. A passionate advocate, Val speaks on education equity, women empowerment, gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
Val grew up on a farm in a third world country, without money or indoor plumbing, and was determined to change her family’s legacy. Her mother’s lack of education set her on a transformational journey from working on a farm, working in a factory at 16 years old, moving across the globe, learning English, working multiple jobs, and becoming a transformational educator. Val believes that ”achieving one’s full potential has less to do with genetics and IQ and everything to do with opportunity, high quality education, and how you think about and live your life – the habits, self-discipline, resilience, hard work, and mindsets.”
Keith Weedman is Principal/ Founder of Level 3 by Design, LLC. focusing on empowerment & change. He is also a member of the
It was painful waking up to the terrorism news that suicide bombers in Sri Lanka had targeted hotels and churches during Easter services. Hundreds of people were killed and hundreds more were injured. At first, officials pointed to the perpetrators as a local group of radical Islamists espousing a terrorist ideology. Then they announced that international connections had helped design the attacks. At this point, Sri Lanka shut down online social networks, a move that would limit conspiracy theories, copy cat attempts, and violent revenge attempts. Was the ban prompted by guilt that warnings had been ignored, or by the experience days before in Paris?
Alicia Mitchell, owner of The Smoothie Patch in Oak Ridge, TN, is helping communities understand how eating real food can by healthy: restore and maintain health.
In the 1990s, I made my first trip to Bermuda in fifteen years. My family, once the mainstay of Bermuda Jews, were long gone from the island. The first whiff of salty sea air hasn’t changed but the airport is a jumble of construction. A short jog across the tarmac should end in a hushed wait for the appearance of a customs agent, sitting patiently on the dark wood furniture of the terminal’s old-fashioned waiting room. Today, official greeters wave us through a temporary cordoned maze to a terminal with a second story, a food court, and customs agents encased in glass booths. An electronically-enhanced steel band strikes an earnest rendition of “Island in the Sun” where a portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth once hung.
Reprinted in honor of Madeleine Albright R.I.P. 1937-2022
In 2018, former engineer Toni Crowe started successfully pursuing her dream of becoming a full-time author. After growing up in Chicago’s projects, Toni Crowe graduated from the University of Illinois with an Engineering Degree. She obtained her Master’s in Management, became a Professional Engineer, Certified Professional Manager, and a corporate Vice-President. She evolved into an entrepreneur and CEO of Just One with the goal of stopping “just one” person from making her mistakes.
Chattanooga Council Against Hate
Sybil Topel serves as Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. She led the marketing department for a boutique architecture firm in Nashville prior to earning her Master’s degree in Fine Arts in Atlanta in 2014. As a media consultant her clients included insurance companies, healthcare systems and FedEx. She has worked in communications for AT&T and SunTrust Banks. Sybil started her career as a journalist.