About the Speakers

Listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Jensen Adams

Jensen Adams directs the office of energy and sustainability with the Kansas City Public Library. KCPL operates a central library, neighborhood branch libraries, a digital branch, and mobile services so that anyone in the KC region can freely and safely access knowledge. Jensen has two decades of local experience as a sustainability professional with nonprofit, government, schools, and libraries.

Learn more at www.kclibrary.org

Richard Cadena

Richard Cadena is an ETCP Recognized Trainer, an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician with 35 years of experience in live event production. He is the author of Electricity for Entertainment Electricians & Technicians, 3rd Edition. As a freelance lighting designer and lighting consultant he has worked on concert tours, television, theatre, motion picture productions, sporting events and more.

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Elexa Dawson

Elexa creates community-focused Americana music with soulful vocals and connection to land. Oklahoma Native, Elexa now calls the Kansas Flint Hills her home. Potawatomi activist and educator, Elexa facilitates songwriting workshops, talking circles, and relational plant education.

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Tom Clareson

Program director, Performing Arts Readiness

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performingartsreadiness.org

Anita Dixon-Brown

Executive Director/UNESCO Creative City of Music-USA-KC

Anita Dixon-Brown began her career in tourism in 1992 after starting Passage Unlimited, the Kansas City area’s first full time Black Heritage Tour Company. Dixon-Brown authored the UNESCO application (2017) making it the ONLY designated Creative City of Music in the United States and in 2018, completed the process for an apprentice program under the U.S. Department of Labor for the first time in American history and started the American Music Apprenticeship Program.

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Beny Esguerra

Ruben “Beny” Esguerra arrived as a child to Tkaronto from Bacatá (Bogotá, Colombia) as a political refugee with his parents, who were receiving threats for their human rights activism. Today, he is a two-time JUNO nominated multi-instrumentalist/producer, spoken-word poet, arts educator and community worker. In 2021, he was chosen as the laureate of the 2020 Ontario Arts Foundation Arts Educator Award and was nominated and chosen as a finalist for the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Community Arts Award.

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Eric Hemphill

www.bridgingthegap.org

CHARLY LOWRY

CHARLY, LLC

Charly Lowry, a musical powerhouse from Pembroke, NC, is a proud Indigenous woman belonging to the Lumbee/Tuscarora Tribes; she is passionate about raising awareness around issues that plague underdeveloped, underserved, and marginalized communities.

While she may be familiar to some from her success as a semi-finalist on American Idol, she maintained close ties to her Native American roots, culture, and music as Lead Singer of Dark Water Rising. In 2021, she was inducted to the Recording Academy Class of 2021, the "American Music Abroad" Class of 2021, and is a 2021 Native LaunchPad Artist.

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Matthew Kowal

Co-founder, Majestic Collaborations

Adam mccurdie

CEO and Founder, Humanitix

Passionate about humane business and technology, Adam McCurdie co-founded Humanitix, a fast-growing innovative social enterprise focused on providing education to disadvantaged youth in America and abroad. Humanitix is the first events ticketing platform that donates 100 per cent of all profits to children's charities, as well as leading innovation in event accessibility for patrons with disabilities. Humanitix is rapidly establishing itself as a game changer in events ticketing by transforming annoying booking fees into a force for good.

Learn more

www.humanitix.com

Dina Newman

UMKC Center for Neighborhoods, Director

Learn more

cfn.umkc.edu

Kathryn Persley

Heart of the City Neighborhood Association Inc

Kathryn Persley is co-founder and President of Heart of the City Neighborhood Association, Inc. an organization committed to rebuilding the historic Dunbar community. Ms. Persley has lived in the community most of her life and is committed to increase community engagement, historic preservation, environmental health and safety and neighborhood redevelopment. Through activities with HCNA and Creative City KC, Ms. Persley was instrumental in hosting the first Make Music Day event in Kansas City, MO. She is a retired attorney, entrepreneur, writer and business coach. She holds a B.A. degree in sociology from University of MO-KC and a J.D. degree from Washburn University in Topeka, KS.

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Danny Powell

HEARTLAND SONG NETWORK INC

Danny Powell is co-founder and President of the Heartland Song Network. He has served on many non-profits and his music past has included co-owner of the artist management company Tom’s Town Media, Past President of the Kansas City Blues Society and manager of the Michael Shannon Musician’s Fund. He is a member of the Folk Alliance International, the Americana Music Association, BMI, Playing for Change and Guild of American Luthiers. Danny currently serves on the Board of Directors of KKFI 90.1 FM, Kansas City's 100,000 watt Community Radio Station.

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Jennifer Tarwater

Teracore, Regional Preparedness Liaison

Jennifer Tarwater has 15+ years of experience in emergency management with nonprofit, private sector, and governmental agencies. She is passionate about helping communities enhance their resiliency skills to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disaster.

Jacob Wagner

Associate Professor, Urban Planning + Design, UMKC

Jacob Wagner is an associate professor of Urban Planning + Design at UMKC. He is a co-founder of Creative City KC, the local focal point organization for Kansas City Missouri's membership in the UNESCO Creative City Network (since 2017) as the only City of Music in the United States. With his colleague Anita Dixon-Brown, he received the Public Service Award for a Leading Music Cities Professional in 2020 from the Music Cities Awards of Sound Diplomacy.

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Neel Vasavada

Neel is a driving force in the movement to bring green technology to the events industry. His engineering background and experience with both sustainable energy and live entertainment business development has led him to found Overdrive Energy Solutions.

In 2003 he founded Apex Speed Technology, a provider of control systems and engineering consulting for prototype, research & development and motorsports vehicle projects. Neel has also led business development for capital equipment suppliers and tech companies in live events since 2012. He led eps america - one of North America’s fastest growing production equipment suppliers of the last decade.

Neel has constantly been a “go to guy” for growing live event companies.

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