Empowerment Day 2023 – Meet Our Speakers
COMMUNITY. UNITY. LEGACY.
It’s About US!
IT’S ABOUT US… means shining a light on what’s working, amplifying amazing stories of courage, resilience and achievement today and everyday… The Mom who resolutely will not give up her teens to gangs and drugs… The entrepreneurs who doggedly followed their imagination and heart – and then make it happen … People determined to up their game who earned a new career and a ticket to a better life…
Success stories abound. We just have to tell them.
At Empowerment Day 2023, you’ll hear these stories of collaboration for the greater good.
What if you could learn…
from a Black R& B musician who be-friended and de-robed the Klan – including becoming a godfather to the daughter of a former Imperial Wizard?
And…
from a white Alabama-born attorney who prosecuted the Klansmen behind the Birmingham Church Bombing – and advised Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Well, you can…
Join us at Empowerment Day 2023. Learn about Sponsorship Now
It All Starts with Us:
Community, Unity, Legacy.
Meet Our Speakers
Senator Doug Jones
A venerated prosecutor who brought long-overdue justice to the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Doug Jones has built his career on fighting impossible battles. In 2017, he shocked the political establishment by winning a special election to fill a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama—the first Democrat to do so in 25 years in the state. On Capitol Hill, he quickly built a reputation as a well-regarded and effective legislator, passing more than two dozen bipartisan bills into law in just three years.
Daryl Davis
As a race relations expert, Daryl has received acclaim for his book, Klan-Destine Relationships and his documentary Accidental Courtesy from many respected sources including CNN, NBC, Good Morning America, TLC, NPR, The Washington Post, and many others. He is also the recipient of numerous awards including the Elliott-Black Award, the MLK Award and the Bridge Builder Award among many others. Filled with exciting encounters and sometimes amusing anecdotes, Daryl’s impassioned lectures leave an audience feeling empowered to confront their own prejudices and overcome their fears.
Mike Curtin, Moderator
Mike Curtin is a former editor and associate publisher of The Columbus Dispatch. He also served as president, chief operating officer and vice chairman of The Dispatch Printing Company. Curtin began his 38-year newspaper career in 1973 as a summer intern. In 1999, after 26 years in the newsroom, he became the first president of The Dispatch Printing Company who was not a member of the Wolfe family. During his journalistic career, Curtin specialized in the coverage of local and state government, public policy and electoral politics. He is co-author of The Ohio Politics Almanac, now in its 3rd edition, published by Kent State University Press. Following his retirement from the newspaper at the end of 2011, Curtin served four years (2013-2016) in the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 17th District, serving the west and south sides of Columbus.
