Michele is the Program & Volunteer Coordinator with the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center. She also operates her own business, FlynnConsult, through which she provides a range of training and technical assistance to non-profit organizations, including project development and management, board and staff leadership skill enhancement, strategic planning and organizing, and program management. Prior to starting her business in 2004, Michele was employed for 15 years with the TN Network for Community Economic Development. Among the programs she initiated were the Women and Self-Sufficiency Collaborative, Tennessee Micro Enterprise Initiative, Individual Development Account Project, and the Tennessee Home of Your Own for Individuals with a Disability. Michele has led workshops and consulted on projects for national policy and training organizations, including the Corporation for Enterprise Development and the Association for Enterprise Opportunity. She led the Justice in Jackson Racial Profiling Project and Former Felon Right to Vote Campaign for the ACLU-TN. Michele also provides direct assistance to individuals in personal, executive, and business planning transition and growth. Michele is a founding member of the TN Alliance for Progress, Women are Safe Battered Women’s Program, and Artemis Production Company, among others. Her formal educational background is in English, Mental Health, and Special Education.
Workshop: Intro to Organizing
Matt Leber
Matt, 33, of Jewish and Catholic ancestry, was born and raised in an affluent white suburb of Boston: Newton, Massachusetts. Never homeless, Matt describes his childhood years as “growing up in a bubble” where he thought the average American grew up like him: white and able to go to college. Matt’s bubble was first burst through community service work such as Habitat and Big Brother/Big Sisters but transitioned into social justice work after he left college and worked in Mexico City doing youth organizing. Matt learned his facilitating skills from skilled trainers who were serving time in a maximum security prison in Maryland called the Alternatives to Violence Project. He learned how to organize as an ally for the Coalition of the Immokalee Workers, who have achieved the largest wage increases for farm workers in decades from Taco Bell, McDonalds and Burger King. Matt was the director of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center (NPJC) from 2002 - 2006. Matt, also co-founder of the Nashville Homeless Power Project, www.homelesspower.org left the NPJC to work full time with them in 2006. When Matt was involved with both the NPJC and NHPP he had helped raise over $300,000 per year, and is now the grantwriter for the Nashville Movement, A Coalition for Economic and Racial Justice, www.thenashvillemovement.org.
Workshop: Fundraising for Justice
Molly Secours
As a writer/speaker/filmmaker/activist, Molly Secours has been called an "uncompromising fighter for racial equity and social justice." Since 1995, Ms. Secours' writings have been published by over 50 mainstream and internet magazines and newspapers. She has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows to discuss issues of racism, white privilege and reparations for slavery. During 2000-2001, Ms. Secours wrote a bi-weekly column for the daily Nashville City. Since then, Secours has become a contributing writer for z-net magazine and many other progressive publications and has written and produced videos for Death Penalty Institute and Free Speech TV. She has also co-created a workshop entitled "Straight Talk About Race-a dialog in black in white" which she co-facilitates with Dr. Raymond Winbush, the Director of Urban Research at Morgan State University in Baltimore MD. In Spring 2001, Secours testified before the Tennessee Judiciary Committee in support of a reparations study bill. In Fall 2001, The Scene, Nashville's alternative weekly, identified Secours as one of "Nashville's most influential public intellectuals". As a strong presence in the community, Secours has used her skills as a writer and orator to challenge state and local officials (as well as members of the community) to carefully consider the state's position on the death penalty and the racial disparities of the criminal justice system. This summer, she appeared on CNN with Nancy Pelosi, speaking out for universal healthcare.
Workshop: Effective Public Speaking
Randall Venson
Randall is a prominent activist, youth social worker, entrepreneur, playwright and public speaker in Nashville, TN. Randall works at the United Neighborhood Health Services as a social worker for troubled youth, many of whom are in gangs or on probation with the Metro Juvenile Justice System. Randall is the founder and President of the United Nubian Congress, the President of the Nashville Kemet Jubilee, and the Director of Historical Preservations for the Memphis Kemet Jubilee. He is also working on the establishment of a new nonprofit organization, Messengers of Peace. Randall is the founder of Askia Productions, Inc., a vibrant music production company that serves as a repository of local youth talent. Through his work with Askia, Randall has written and directed several plays, including “Black Men Rising to the Occasion,” “The Resurrection of Jimi Hendrix,” and the provocative production, “The People vs. the CIA.” Randall serves on the board of directors at the Nashville Peace and Justice Center. He is a 1982 graduate of Tennessee State University.
Workshop: Event Planning, & Media Coverage
Chris Sanders
Chris has been chairman of the board of the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), a statewide organization that lobbies state and local government to promote the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in Tennessee, since 2006. Chris led the citizen advocacy effort in support of the Metro Council Members who passed the non-discrimination ordinance this September. In 2007, he led a save-your-receipts campaign that compelled Nashville-area Kroger stores to return Out & About Newspaper to their racks after the chain's distributor had removed them. Chris believes that the best activism is a combination of professional government relations practices, alliance-building, and communications that drive citizen contact with key decision-makers. He holds the M.Div. from Vanderbilt University.
Workshop: Coalition Building
Tamara Ambar Losel
Tamara is the Executive Director of the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center. She has worked in non-profit organizations over the past ten years, focusing on child care advocacy issues, arts & culture, human rights, peace and social justice work. Tamara has two master's degrees from Brandeis University in Coexistence & Conflict Resolution and Modern Jewish History (with a focus on Black-Jewish relations in America). She also has Supreme Court Rule 31 Mediation certification. In 2005-2006, Tamara lived in Israel and worked on a project called the Coexistence Network, bringing together over 170 organizations to foster improved relations between Jews and Arabs. In 2007, Tamara was the Education and Development Coordinator at the Nashville Peace and Justice Center where she coordinated the Leadership Institute. Currently, Tamara manages NCRC's fundraising, program planning and administration. She brings to NCRC strong management skills and a passion for a healthier, happier world.
Workshop: Managing & Resolving Conflicts
Francie Hunt
Francie worked with children professionally for over eight years in a variety of child care settings. As an early childhood educator, she stood for children daily. As Nashville Organizer for Stand for Children, Francie believes that children are our most valuable resource; and that our public policy decisions should reflect that! While completing her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida, Francie led the largest campus chapter of the National Organization for Women (1992-1996). She founded the Alachua County Childcare Teachers Association in 1994, a teacher-led group working to ensure high quality early childhood education. Francie and her husband, Scott deShon, both expert mountain bike racers, are very active in their East Nashville community, and are the owners of East Side Cycles. They have a two young children.
