Friends Select’s Distinguished Guests During the 2022-23 School Year | News | Friends Select School

• Graduation Speaker: Amy Cohen '82

• The 1619 Project Screening and Q&A: Shoshana Guy, Showrunner and Executive Producer
• Middle School Assembly: Beth Lincoln, Author, The Swifts 

• Transformation Talk: Strategic Partnerships: Crafting a 21st-Century Education
• John Chin P’83, Executive Director, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC)
• Melissa Levy ’91, Executive Director, Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
• Gerald Lopez P’31, ’34, Director of Operations and Business Development & Center Associate Director, University of Pennsylvania Singh Center for Nanotechnology
• Rachel Zimmerman ’85, Founding Executive Director, InLiquid
• Upper School Visiting Writer-in-Residence: Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters, Playwright
• Upper School Voter Registration Drive: Seth Bluestein, Philadelphia City Commissioner 
• Upper School Assembly on the Legacy of Gamble + Huff: Caliph Gamble ’95, Cinematographer, Director, Editor, and Founder of Gamble Companies and the Sons of Legends Foundation
• Quakerism Panel Discussion
• Dwight Dunston, Hip-hop Artist, Activist, and Educator
• Dyresha Harris, Director, Catoctin Quaker Camp
• George Lakey, P’89, GP’27, Activist, Author
• Middle School Assembly: Dwight Dunston, Hip-hop artist, Activist, and Educator
• Upper School Engineering Course: Alanna C. Raffel, Assistive Technology Specialist, Pennsylvania Initiative on Assistive Technology 
• Upper School Latin V Course: Vicki Landers, Founder & Executive Director, Disability Pride PA 

• Social Justice Week

Keynote Speakers

• Kurt Evans, Chef and Activist
• Rodney Glasgow, Head of School, Sandy Spring Friends School
• Zarinah Lomax, Artist, The Apologues
• Blanca Pacheco, Co-director, New Sanctuary Movement
• Asian American Experiences:
  • Wei Chen, Civic Engagement Director, Asian Americans United, Co-founder of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance Pennsylvania (APIPA)
  • Fariha Khan, Co-director, Asian American Studies Program, University of Pennsylvania
  • Urvashi Pathania, Writer and Director
  • Raquel Villanueva Dang and Taizu, Co-founders, Philly Solidarity
• Community and Police Relations
  • Keir Bradford-Grey, Former Chief Public Defender for Philadelphia, and Current Partner at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP
  • Kermit O, Community Organizer
  • Christopher Rabb, Pennsylvania House Representative
• Drugs and Opioid Crisis
  • Eriach Fox, Counselor, Spilove Psychotherapy 
  • Dr. Daniel Teixeira da Silva, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
  • Dr. Annika Vaughn-Cooke, Psychiatrist, Jefferson University Hospital
• Food Insecurity: Abbe Stern, Food Pharmacy Manager of the Healthy Weight Food Pharmacy, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  Immigration Reform
  • Leslie Castrejon, Assistant Dean for Student Support and Belonging, Bryn Mawr College
  • Joanne Gottesman, Director of Clinical Programs, Camden and Clinical Professor of Law, Rutgers University
• Indigenous Peoples’ Experiences
  • Tailinh Agoyo, Co-founder and Director, We Are the Seeds of CultureTrust and Rise & Thrive Podcast
  • Brianna D'Agostino, Speaker on Indigenous Religion
• Math and Social Justice
  • Samantha Caiola, Gun Violence Prevention Reporter, WHYY
  • David Holloman, Chief of Staff, Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services  
• Media’s Role in Social Justice: Ernest Owens, Journalist and President, Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists 
• Mental Health
  • Eben Hilpert, Counselor, Arrive Therapy
  • Emily Torchiana, Speaker About Mental Health and Social Media
• Mixed Tracks
• Karina Gutierrez-Noriega, Owner, Strategic Soul
• Achola Simkins, Instructor, Uprising ACM Studios
• Religious Identity and Discrimination
• Deborah Bowen, Rabbi, Congregation Temple Beth’El 
• Eli Freedman, Rabbi
• Michelle Horton, Minister 
• Aaron Rock-Singer, Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Cara Rock-Singer, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Women in Power
• Melissa Gerber, President and CEO, Access Matters
• Sarah Podemski, Actor
• Transformation Talk: Creating and Educating a More Sustainable Philadelphia
• Rich Freeh, Green Building United
• Micah Gold-Markel ’95, Solar States
• Caroline Goodbody, Comcast Smart Solutions
• Nidhi Krishen, Philadelphia Office of Sustainability
• Wellness Program: The Anxiety Paradox: Why Helping Kids Feel Bad Can Help Them to Feel Good
  • Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, Psychologist, Author, and Anxiety Researcher

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Family Experience 2023
• Amanda McIllmurray, Democratic Candidate for City Council at-Large, 
• Briannah Stoves, Youth Leader, Care, Not Control 
• Jorian Rivera-Veintidos, Prevention and Education Manager, POP Program, GALAEI 
• Ebony Ali, TINGS Program Coordinator, GALAEI
• MLK Teach-in
• Amplifying Voices of Indigenous People: Adam DePaul, Tribal Council Member, Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, and  Storykeeper and Coordinator of the Rising Nation River Journey 
• Apologues: Art and Advocacy: Zarinah Lomax, Artist, The Apologues
• Beyond the Bell Tours: Badass Women's History of Philadelphia: Joey Leroux, Co-founder, Beyond the Bell Tours
• Books Through Bars: Dr. Tom Haney, President, Books Through Bars
• Connecting The Dream to Reality:Michael Butler, Reporter, Miami Herald
• Continuing MLK's Legacy at North Philly Peace Park: Brother Tommy Joshua Caison, Founder and Executive Director, North Philly Peace Park 
• Crown Them King: Reinterpreting a Legacy: Aaron Smith, Assistant Professor in the Department of Africology and African American Studies, Temple University 
• Education Through the Lens of Social Justice: Darien Headen ’11, Associate Head of School, Greene Street Friends School
• Handball in Philadelphia: Emerald Martez, Founder, Urban Eminence
• Policing and Youth Violent Crime Rates: Jarreau Thomas, Inspector, Philadelphia Police Department
• Storytelling for Social Change: Reva Stover, Playwright, Director, and Producer
• Using Your Voice for Freedom: Marshall Mitchell, Pastor, Salem Baptist Church
• We Love Philly Podcast: Using Your Story to Inspire Action: Carlos Aponte, Founder and Executive Director, We Love Philly, Thayid Wilson, Graduate, We Love Philly 

• Book Launch Party for White Fragility (Adapted for Young Adults): Why Understanding Racism Can Be So Hard for White People
• Ali Michael, Co-founder and Co-director, Race Institute for K-12 Educators
• Toni Graves Williamson, Director of Equity and Inclusion, Friends Select School

• Concerts for Lower, Middle, and Upper School: People of Earth
• Indigenous Peoples Month Assembly: Chief David “Stands with Song” Hughes, Principal Chief, Eagle Medicine Band of Cherokee Indians
• Upper School History Class: Natasha Danielá de Lima McGlynn, Executive Director, Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia
• Upper School History, Current Events Course: Natasha McGlynn, Executive Director, Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia 

• Upper School Assembly: Helen Gym, Philadelphia City Councilmember at-large
• Middle School Assembly: Kwame Alexander, Author
• Upper School Spanish Course: Samu Cortez, Mexican-American Artist 
• Upper School Spanish Course: Perla Trevizo, Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist 

• Transformation Talk: Building for the Future: How to Create Lasting Equitable and Accessible Learning Spaces
• James Bradberry, Principal, James Bradberry Architects
• Helen Gym, Philadelphia City Councilmember at-large
• Nasheli J Ortiz González, Executive Director, Taller Puertorriqueño
• Kelly Richards, President and Director, Free Library of Philadelphia