Schedule:

*Schedule subject to change

DOORS OPEN - MUSIC BY DJ KISSEY ("GENERATION WATTS")
1 PM / LOBBY

WOW WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
1:45 PM

Includes performance by Urban Word Poet, Camryn Bruno, 2019 Poet Laureate for New York City

IN CONVERSATION WITH ANGELA DAVIS
2 PM / Mainstage

Iconic activist Angela Davis joins WOW for a transatlantic conversation, first in London, and then in New York. Davis is joined by Jude Kelly, WOW Founder and together they will address the current ‘state of the nation’ for women and girls across the world

 

PANEL: WOMEN FOR WOMEN
2:45 PM / Mainstage

This panel profiles the work of several NGO (non-governmental organization) leaders who are addressing the critical issues of US immigration policy, business microfinancing in Haiti, and support for formerly incarcerated Aboriginal and Indigenous women and girls in Australia.

Panelists:

Mabel Valdivia, Executive Director, Fonkoze USA

Maria Praeli, Government Relations Manager at FWD.us;

Debbie Kilroy, Founder and CEO, Sisters Inside

Moderator:

Keisha Sutton-James, Inner City Broadcasting

 

WORKSHOP: WORK, WOMEN AND SPIRITUALITY: A SISTERS' CYPHER
2:45PM / Soundstage

This open forum women’s circle utilizes the collective wisdom of the group to explore how women are being impacted intentionally, unwittingly, advantageously and adversely by a wide-range of issues and influences: cultural, educational, historical, personal, professional, social, spiritual.

Workshop Facilitator:

Baraka Sele, Performing arts curator, consultant, and producer

 

WOMEN AUTO KNOW
3 PM / Green Room

Audra Fordin, the fourth generation mechanic and owner of Great Bear Auto Repair in Flushing, N.Y. and founder of a consumer advocacy initiative leads this hands-on workshop to better prepare women to buy, repair and maintain their cars.

 

JENN MAHONEY: SOLO PERFORMANCE
3:15pm / Soundstage

Jenn Mahoney's style is a mix of Acoustic Soul, R&B, Folk, and Alternative. She’s drawn inspiration from a variety of artists and genres (including Lauryn Hill, Emily King, Miguel, James Taylor, and India Arie), and her style has been described as Quiet, Emotional, and Honest.

 

WOW BITE: CELEBRATING SHANGE
3:15 PM / Soundstage

In 1976 Ntozake Shange penned the choreopoem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf and changed the face of Broadway.  Trezana Beverley, from the original cast, who won the Tony Award for her performance as Lady in Red, shares her reflections on Shange, her writings, and her place in the pantheon of American literature.

Trezana Beverley, Speaker, American stage and film actress, and the first African-American actress to receive a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

 

WOW BITE: SEX, SHAME AND GOD
3:20 PM / Mainstage

Linda Kay Klein shares her personal story and 12 years of research on the devastating effects the evangelical Christian Purity Movement has had on young women’s lives. She fearlessly explores sexual shame, fear, and anxiety rooted in religious and cultural teachings about sexuality, and introduces us to a collective of young women and others who are demanding change.

Linda Kay Klein is the author of Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free, and the founder of the not-for-profit organization Break Free Together.

 

WORKSHOP & PANEL: THE WELCOME TABLE PART 1: COOKING WITH GRANNY: GRANDMA FATIMA'S SOMALI FLATBREAD
3:25 PM / Soundstage

Cooking with Granny is based on the web and live events series where an immigrant grandmother cooks a traditional dish to tell her story of family, food, culture and tradition.  We’ll meet a Somali grandmother, Fatima Issa Mohammed, who will share her recipe and story behind her sabaayad, a traditional Somali flatbread.  Then we’ll meet a trio of women restaurateurs who are bringing their cultural cooking to the Harlem culinary landscape.

The Welcome Table – Restaurateurs

Caroline Shin, Workshop Facilitator

Panelists:

Anita Trehan, Owner, Chaiwali (India)

Maymuuna Birjeeb, Owner, Safari (Somalia)

Beejhy Barhany, Owner, Tsion Café (Ethiopia)

 

PANEL: LEADERSHIP HACKS FOR WOMEN
3:30 PM / Mainstage

To “leap frog” means to skip the tried and true, good ole boys’ club rules for success by identifying the gaps, taking your best shot and not waiting to be acknowledged or rewarded.  In other words, hacking your way to fulfilling your vision.  Meet four women in entrepreneurship, technology, banking and politics who did just that.

Moderator:

Nathalie Molina Nino, Investor, coder and author of Leap Frog 

Panelists:

Victoria Flores, Founder, Lux Beauty Club

Minerva Tantoco, Former Chief Technology Officer for the City of New York

 

WOW BITE - LGBTQ IN THE BARBERSHOP
3:40 PM / Green Room

Khane Kutzwell - Master barber, tonsorial artist & owner, Camera Ready Kutz

 

COLORING AND CONVERSATIONS
3:50 PM/ Green Room

This is a creative "stressmelting" session to explore the connection between color, art, and healing while engaging in dialogue on relationships, self love, hair to hair freedom and wellness.

 Aleathia Brown - Aleathia's Original Artworks & founder Unveiled Unlocked

 

WOW SPEED MENTORING
4 PM / Mainstage

Mentors come in all ages and walks of life. First, we are all born with innate wisdom. Next, we acquire more along the way through education and life experience. You never know how what you know might be just what someone else needs to hear. Speed Mentoring is a WOW Festival favorite, where we give and receive mentoring where you might least expect

Moderator:

Shirley McAlpine, Specialist in leadership, individual performance, equality, diversity and inclusion

 

WORKSHOP: THE WELCOME TABLE PART 2: IN THE SPIRITS
4:25 PM / Soundstage

The Japanese national drink is sake, a wine brewed from rice. Sake sommelier and distributor Linda Noel Kawabata shares how soil, sun, water and time are used to create this traditional beverage, its many varieties and how best to enjoy them.

Workshop Facilitator:

Linda Noel Kawabata, Sake Distributor

 

LECTURE-DEMONSTRATION: HARLEM CHI NATURAL HEALING WORKSHOP
4:30 PM / Green Room

A lecture-demonstration on the art and science of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, popular Eastern paradigms for health and vitality.

Presenter:

Johanne Picard-Scott, founder of Harlem Chi Community Acupuncture

 

IN CONVERSATION WITH APRIL RYAN AND JAMI FLOYD
4:35 PM / Mainstage

Along with White House correspondent, CNN political analyst and American Urban Radio Network’s Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief, journalist and author, April Ryan can add #trolledbyPOTUS to her resume. In this up close and personal conversation with Jami Floyd, April shares her view from the WH press room, her membership in the sisterhood of Black women defamed by the President, and other details from her new book, Under Fire: Reporting from the Trump White House.

April Ryan, American Urban Radio Networks and CNN

Jami Floyd, WYNC Host, All Things Considered

 

WORKSHOP: THE WELCOME TABLE PART 3: DINING PROTOCOL
4:45 PM / Soundstage

You’re in a restaurant having a meal with your boss or prospective client.  You are utterly confused by the array of utensils, plates and glasses on the table.  And let’s not even mention having to make sensible conversation while navigating the minefield of ordering, eating and paying the check.  This expert on international protocol will walk us through the basics of dining etiquette, from appetizers to gratuity, with tips for making sure you leave the restaurant with your job intact.

Cheryl Walker Robertson, Workshop Facilitator, Protocol International

 

LECTURE-DEMONSTRATION: SISTERS IN SHARQUI (BELLY DANCING)
4:50 PM / Green Room

Raks Sharqui is a form of dance based on torso articulations. Better known here as Belly Dancing, its origins run deep in Africa and the Middle East, and provide the foundation for several other individual and tribal group dance forms.  Come learn a new way to shake what your mama gave you.

Brandy Heyward, Worshop Facilitator – Lecturer, Performer, Founder, Sisters in Sharqui

 

JENN MAHONEY: SOLO PERFORMANCE
5:05pm / Soundstage

Jenn Mahoney's style is a mix of Acoustic Soul, R&B, Folk, and Alternative. She’s drawn inspiration from a variety of artists and genres (including Lauryn Hill, Emily King, Miguel, James Taylor, and India Arie), and her style has been described as Quiet, Emotional, and Honest.

 

WOW BITE: HEY!
5:05PM / Soundstage

Erika Ewing, performer, multi-faceted activist and actor presents a spoken word piece on domestic violence/abuse.

 

WOW BITE: AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 WOWS
5:10 PM / Mainstage

Domino Pateman, Director of Programs for WOW, shares why toilets come up at every WOW Festival globally - and what they can tell us about gender equality.

 

PANEL: LIFE WARRIORS FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE
5:15 PM / Soundstage

Every being on the planet enters life through birth and leaves it through death. But our society has removed our natural connection with these two fundamental biological processes. The mortality rate for women, especially women of color has been increasing, with many deaths attributed to preventable causes. Women’s reproductive rights in general are still very much under fire across the nation.  So much of our approach to death is devoid of simple, knowledgeable and compassionate end of life planning and support. This panel addresses new ways to bring us closer to and more comfortable with each of these portals of existence, and the work we still need to do in between, as individuals, families and communities.

Moderator:

Michelle Adams, Planned Parenthood NYC

Panelists:

Patricia “Mamu” Rangel, Founder and CEO of Sacred Crowning Birth Service

Ebone' Carrington, CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem

E.E. Miller, death doula and educator, Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), National End of Life Doula Alliance (NEDA)

 

WOW BITE: MIRACLE IN RWANDA
5:20 PM / Mainstage

Malaika Uwamahoro will deliver a monologue from Leslie Lewis and Edward Vilga's new play, Miracle in Rwanda, based on Immaculee Ilbagziza’s NY Times bestseller, Left to Tell, Miracle in Rwanda.  Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a family she cherished in a country she loved, until, in 1994, it was brutally torn apart in a genocidal killing spree that lasted three months and claimed nearly one million souls. Miracle in Rwanda is a tribute of faith and survival.

 

PANEL: TELLING WOMEN'S STORIES ON THE BIG AND SMALL SCREEN
5:30 PM / Mainstage

For 20 years, talk about R. Kelly and his alleged relationships with underaged girls have been circulating in Black communities around the country. A few journalists have written articles on the subject, but by and large, it remained hidden until the recent docuseries on the Lifetime network, Surviving R. Kelly brought the voices of the women involved to national attention. This panel explores the galvanizing power of television, its impact on the social justice issue of abuse, and the affect it has had on the women in the series and those behind the scenes.

Moderator:

Salamishah Tillet, Chair, African American and African Studies and Creative Writing, Rutgers University

Panelists:

Scheherazade Tillet, social documentary photographer and co-founder, A Long Walk Home, a nonprofit that uses art to help end violence against girls and women.

Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Creator, #LoveWITHAccountability; Visiting Scholar, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania; Producer/Writer/Director, NO! The Rape Documentary; Associate Editor, The Feminist Wire

WOW CLOSING REMARKS
6:15 PM / Mainstage

 

EVENTS ONGOING THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Girl Rising, Film Screenings

SCREENING SCHEDULE: 3PM, 4PM, 5PM / HALL OF FAME

Girl Rising is a non-profit organization that uses the power of stories to change the way the world values girls and girls value themselves.  “We use stories - chief among them our original film, Girl Rising, and now Brave Girl Rising – to inform, engage and inspire people everywhere to stand up for gender equality and against gender discrimination.”

Screening sponsored by

WOW Activation Station with Tasha Douge'
Natural. Curly. Straight or Processed. Synthetic. Dreads. Weaves and wigs. Black hair is a never-ending odyssey, full of meaning, burdened by history.  Artist and activist Tasha Douge’ makes visual statements about freedom, beauty, culture and power, all with hair.

Marketplace (Lobby)
Visit our Exhibitor Marketplace for details on WOW and to learn more about teen organizations, groups that support women's rights, women-led organizations, and more.