r(E)volutionary Woman

Fatima-Tuj-Johora is an independent visual journalist and a National Geographic Explorer based in Bangladesh. Her passion is to produce artistic visuals that include information about stories of daily life, children’s and women’s rights, and environmental rights. She conveys significant facts about the human experience in intimate and engaging storytelling. Her works concentrate on the effects, consequences, and adaptation of global climate change that relate to natural phenomena and human experiences.
Despite having a degree in biological science, Fatima chose to pursue a career in photography because, to her, photography is all about empathy: it fosters closeness and understanding while addressing contemporary social issues like injustice, abuses of human rights, and our adverse relationship with the environment.
She has worked as a contributing photographer at Reuters and ZUMA Press. Her images have been published in The Guardian, Liberation, The Courier, Avax News, Hindustan Times, and many others.

Portfolio website: www.fatimatujjohora.com
Instagram: @fatimatujjohora

Yelba Zoe McCourt was born in La Ceiba, Honduras and arrived in the US as a toddler. She grew up in New York City. She attributes her diverse upbringing with her ability to portray different characters and her facility with accents. She is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and Barnard College, Columbia University in New York City. She studied acting and graduated from the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University. Early on in her career she performed sketch comedy and improv in the West Village. Her television credits includes:Sesame Street, House of Buggin’, Law & Order, First Time Out, Riot, Walker Texas Ranger, Local Heroes, Fired Up, Tracey Takes On, Diagnosis Murder, Moesha, On Common Ground, No Mother’s Crying, No Babies Dying, Strong Medicine, The Mind of a Married Man, Hollywood 7, ER, For the People, and Kingpin. Her film credits include:Carlito’s Way, No Exit, Slings & Arrows, The Pest, Ghetto Rhapsody, Road Dogz, King Rikki, Hustlas, Frozen Stars, Shut Up and Kiss Me! Valentina’s Tango, and Griot’s Lament. In 2015 she graduated from UCLA with a Masters of Science degree in Nursing. She most recently wrote and performed in “Where Y’All From?” a solo play directed and developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson at Solofest 2024. Her solo show will preview at the Hollywood Fringe Festival on June 6 at 8:15 pm at the Zephyr Theatre.
To learn more about Yelba Zoe McCourt and her show “Where Y’All From:
https://yelbazoe.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/YelbaZoeMcCourt
https://www.instagram.com/yzmccourt/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yelbazoemccourt/?trk=opento_sprofile_details
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0652205/

Lauren Valbert is a person who has “reinvented herself” several times. She has founded her own company twice, been a global marketing communications professional for tech companies for many years, developed innovation programs for corporate clients, and has been working with start-ups and scale-ups for more than two decades.

In the newest chapter of her life, she has started her own training company, Training 2.0, to help people raise their game, whether that is in professional or personal life. She is also a seasoned podcast and event host, panel moderator, webinar facilitator, and workshop leader. Her personal passion is to increase the representation of marginalized people on stage and in media, as “presentation is representation”. She has recently published a book called “Imposter”, which helps readers identify and overcome Imposter Syndrome, and to identify their own particular “Imposter Persona”.

To learn more about Lauren Valbert:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenvalbert/

Gabrielle Senza is a multidisciplinary artist with a deep commitment to fostering a culture of compassion and fearlessness. Through audience-participatory installations, performances, and workshops, she encourages critical engagement and dialogue about unseen societal and environmental forces. Her artistic practice focuses on illuminating the invisible and unheard aspects of our world, bridging gaps in understanding through visual and performance art.

Senza exhibits, lectures, and performs internationally, and her work is represented in corporate, public, and private collections around the globe, including MoMA New York, the Whitney Museum, and Lifetime Entertainment among them. With a specific focus on creative engagement for social and environmental change, her projects are often showcased in a variety of settings, from museums and galleries to public spaces and international symposia.
Senza’s notable projects, such as The Long Slow Crawl, The Collaborative Scroll, Walk Unafraid, Terra Temporalis, and the InVisibility Lab, underscore her role as a creative researcher engaging international audiences through experimental events. Her most recent endeavor, Antarctica Temporalis, blends ephemeral art, mystical trance performances and inspiring climate narratives, encouraging individuals across generations to participate in a joy-filled climate movement.

An MFA graduate from Transart Institute and a ZK/U-Berlin Fellow, Senza has received several awards, grants, and artist residencies. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Walk Unafraid, a nonprofit organization that champions creative activism and supports under-represented and under-resourced artists, particularly from BIPOC and LGBTQ communities.

Based in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts for over 35 years, Senza continues to devote time and resources to protecting the environment and building a world where everyone is seen, heard and celebrated.

To learn more about Gabrielle Senza:
FB/IG:
@gabriellesenzastudio
@invisibilitylab
@wewalkunafraid
@antarcticatemporalis
@terra.luna.loves.you

Websites:
gabriellesenza.com
walkunafraid.org.
invisibilitylab.com

April is Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month, To speak about this subject, my guest this week is Barb Jordan – Personal Safety Expert. Barb has been featured as a Personal Safety Expert on ABC Good Morning and ABC News-Los Angeles, NBC News-Nashville and Houston, as well as on CBS-Inside Edition. Barb has traveled the world as an elite athlete, coach, broadcaster, and instructor. Barb is a former collegiate 3X All American, 3X National Champion and 7X Gold Medalist as a USA Softball Team member and Coach.

Sarita Covington is a social entrepreneur, the founder of Upper Manhattan Forest Kids, a multi-disciplinary artist, and a racial justice organizer from Harlem. She holds an MFA from Yale and co-founded ACRE (Artists Co-Creating Real Equity), an organizing body of artists and cultural workers committed to undoing racism within arts and culture work.

In 2016, she launched Upper Manhattan Forest Kids, a business that leads outdoor classes based on the Danish Forest School model for children up to ten years old. She uses New York City’s public parks as a classroom to learn about the world and build relationships with our natural ecosystems. The work intends to expand the culture of urban forest schooling through class curricula and related products that inspire urban families, and support the next generation to be thoughtful stewards of the Earth, living in the right relationship with nature.

Her work has received support from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Open Meadows Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation. Sarita has taught and facilitated within various communities, including the inmates at the Fishkill Correctional Facility and Yale University.

To learn more about Sarita Covington and Upper Manhattan Forest Kids:
IG – https://www.instagram.com/uppermanhattanforestkids/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/uppermanhattanforestkids
X (Twitter) – https://twitter.com/UMFK8/
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/uppermanhattan