Join us for a free virtual conversation about the power of crafting and telling community stories. Speakers will share their experiences working with community members to tell stories through history, art, and cultural events.

Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions, share their own ideas or projects, and learn from one another.

Vickie Brent-Touray, VB Touray is a certified life coach and teacher, a published author and the owner of Sweet Synchronicities Coaching & Consulting Services. She is the founder of VBTouray Empowerment Events, an events production company that is committed to "creating unforgettable gatherings that inspire, empower and ignite our community members to expansion!" The company's branded events include: The Evolutionary SHE; The Black Dollar Power Market; The Annual Touray Kwanzaa Celebration and The Yaktown Poets Revue.

Irma Hayes, Pontiac-based event producer, promoter, and tour guide. Irma is the Chair of the Pontiac Arts Commission. Irma has been bringing music and entertainment to Pontiac and its surrounding areas since 1988. If you ever read Forum: The New Pontiac Perspective a newspaper about the positive things happening in Pontiac; If you ever attended Tastefest in Detroit, if you made it to Detroit Festival of the Arts or, a show on the Phoenix Plaza in the 90’s or hung out at Industry Nightclub, you’ve seen her work. She obtained her BA in Communication from OU, raised three amazing adults and is living her happily ever after with her beau of 35 years. Arts & Culture, Music & Small business enterprises to her are essential to her existence as water is to fish!

Erik Paul Howard, artist and co-founder of Inside Southwest Detroit. Erik is a lens-based artist and cultural organizer born and raised in Southwest Detroit. Howard’s work serves as a comprehensive visual index of his community’s traditions, culture and history. For Howard, photography and video is a tool for building and expanding cultural capital and forging a future that prioritizes generational wisdom, mutual aid and justice. Inside Southwest Detroit is a collection of initiatives that promote youth and community development; The Alley Project, a community-driven, indoor-outdoor art environment; and Young Nation, which promotes holistic development of youth through mentoring and passion-driven projects.

Mike McGuinness, Executive Director of Oakland County's Historical Society. Mike runs their Oakland History Center site in Pontiac and has dramatically expanded their communications reach in recent years. He is also Executive Director of Berkley's Downtown Development Authority and previously worked for Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence leading her outreach efforts, running her re-election campaigns, and handling her campaign communications. Mike was recently elected to the Pontiac City Council, and serves as the City Council President, and previously was on the Pontiac School Board and Pontiac Arts Commission.

Moderator, Freyja Harris, Director Pontiac Funders Collaborative and Director, Diversity Equity and Inclusion for the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. As the Director of the Pontiac Funders Collaborative, Freyja provides leadership, grant and administrative management, and guidance in support of a place-based initiative in the community of Pontiac. As DEI Coordinator, Freyja connects the Community Foundation’s vision to a strategy that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through these positions, she hopes to address the impact of historical inequities and the power dynamic that can pervade relationships, decision-making, and outcomes.