Our Speakers

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Anastacia-Reneé   is a multi-genre writer, educator, interdisciplinary artist and Deep End Podcast co-host. She is a 2020 Arc Fellow (4Culture), recipient of the 2018, James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award for Washington Artist (Literary), Seattle Civic Poet (2017-2019),Poet-in-Residence at Hugo House (2015-2017), and Jack Straw Curator (2020). 

Renee has received fellowships and residencies from Cave Canem, Hedgebrook, VONA, Artist Trust, Jack Straw, Ragdale, Mineral School, Hypatia in the Woods and The New Orleans Writers Residency. Anastacia-Reneé's work has been published in, Furious Flower: Seeding the Future of African American Poetry, Spirited Stone, Foglifter, Auburn Avenue, Pinwheel, The Fight and the Fiddle, Glow, The A-Line, Ms. Magazine and many more.  

Mariangela Abeo (they/them) is a Mental Health Advocate, Speaker, Podcast Host, Producer and Photographer + Creator of the Faces of Fortitude movement. The movement began as a series of portraits that document the healing of those affected by suicide – providing a safe, stigma-free space both virtually and in person for mental health and suicide to be discussed.

After losing their brother over a decade ago to suicide, and surviving their own severe attempt as a teen, Mariangela initially started this movement for their own healing. The portraits caught fire online and they quickly saw a need for a safe space for others to share their stories. They now travel the country to capture portraits of those affected by the epidemic in any way (be it loss, attempt or first responders) as a step towards their healing, and to educate people as both a mental health advocate + suicide loss and attempt survivor.

Daemond Arrindell is a poet, performer, and teaching artist. Writer-In-Residence through Seattle Arts & Lectures' Writers in the Schools Program; and in 2012, he taught Seattle University’s first course in Slam Poetry. Daemond has performed and facilitated workshops in poetry venues, prisons, high schools and colleges across the country.

 His work has appeared in City Arts, Specter, and Crosscut magazines, as well as Poetry NorthWest and Seattle Review of Books. Daemond is a Jack Straw Writer, a VONA/Voices Writer’s Workshop fellow and co-adapted the acclaimed novel “Welcome To Braggsville,” by T. Geronimo Johnson into a stage production for Book-It Repertory Theater. In 2019, he performed his first one-man show, “Frozen Borders,” a performative exploration in imagery, poetry and emotion on the subject of the United States’ southern border.

Tracy Stewart believes recognizing the importance of intersectionality in our lives in vital. She provides safe space for people of color (POC) and LGBTQIA folks and their families. Deciding to seek support for life problems can 

be an important first step toward taking care 

of yourself. She appreciates the opportunity 

to work with individuals to improve 

relationships, problem solve, and help them toward their best self. 

Trauma can result in a variety of issues such as ADHD, PTSD, depression, anxiety, borderline and relating issues, impulse control, OCD, emotion control or shifts. People may experience one or many of these issues together. With an approach that is holistic to utilize strengths and build new skills for coping. Mindfulness Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MBCT), ACT, EMDR, DBT, and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) are therapies 

in which I have training to help clients process their experiences. 

Davinah Simmons is a Black birth-worker based in Seattle, WA (unceded Duwamish Territory) with a background in counseling and development in a Higher Education context. 

With several years of facilitation experience, Davinah is committed to furthering the healing and liberation those who are systemically oppressed in the healthcare system from 

birth to death by bringing education and truth 

to those who oppress. 

She infuses her personal shadow moments with rage, grief, and power to develop effective and meaningful learning opportunities through story-telling, dialogue, and humor.  

 Morgan leads services, ceremonies, arrangements, and at-need death care at Recompose. She has been exploring death care since 2016 and is a licensed funeral director in both Washington and Oregon. Her goal is to support people in choosing meaningful, empowering options when it comes to death care, and believes that compassion, education, and understanding are paramount in accomplishing this goal. Prior to joining Recompose, Morgan led community events focused on death education and what it means to be mortal through her Oregon-based group, Our Own Hands. 

Morgan is a devoted animal lover and spends time keeping up with several rescue animals, as well as creating pen and ink illustrations, avidly collecting books, and gardening whenever possible.

Lashanna (she/her) is, at her core, a helper. She is a doula, massage therapist, deathcare educator and community organizer.  Her work is informed by a delightful blend of formal education, ancestral knowledge, life experience, and all 6 senses to guide her care. She has a never diminishing desire to nurture community care through growing access, providing education and fostering collaboration. Growing access to health and deathcare is root of the ways that Lashanna engages in community and private deathcare.

Lashanna is a Director of A Sacred Passing: Death Midwifery & Community Education and instructor. She is a Volunteer Client Advisor 

with End of Life WA, Providence Hospice, and 

a community healthcare agent.  She is on the board of National Home Funeral Alliance, African American Health Board, Washington 

End of Life Coalition, and Franklin High 

School's R& E Committee.  

 Oceana is an End of Life Doula.  Drawing upon her meditation practices, her experience as a sensuality educator, her earth-based spirituality, and an intensive study in the expressive arts and integral counseling psychology, she brings a grounded, compassionate presence to the death, dying, and grieving process. In addition to being a certified funeral celebrant, she is also an authorized facilitator of Living Funeral Ceremonies. Currently, her work is focused on grief for people on the social margins.

C. Davida Ingram is an award-winning artist and civic leader based in Seattle, Washington. Her artwork, curatorial projects, and writing discuss race and gender via lens-based media, social practice, performance art, lyrical essay and installation art. Ingram has exhibited at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Northwest African American Museum, Bridge Productions, Intiman Theater, and Town Hall in Seattle, Evergreen College and more. Her writing has appeared in Praxis Center for Social Justice, Arcade, Ms. Magazine blog, The James Franco Review, and The Stranger. 

In 2014, Ingram received the 2014 Stranger Genius Award in Visual Arts. In 2016, she became a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow and was one of the finalists for the Neddy award in Visual Arts. In 2018, she was awarded the Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency at the University of Washington. Seattle Magazine has voted Ingram both one of the 20 most talented people in Seattle (2016) and one of Seattle’s most influential people (2017). Her art is part of the collections of the City of Seattle, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Frye Art Museum and several private collections. 

 Savannah Blackwell is a senior at Franklin High School. She is passionate about the performing arts and doing the work to support and uplift her community. Savannah has performed all over Seattle including the Moore theater with More Music @ the Moore 2019, the Paramount for their annual fundraiser, as well as several plays & musicals. Savannah believes in the power of music and arts and is grateful she’s able to use it as a vehicle for change and connection.   

Miguel Escobar is a Latinx multi-instrumentalist from Chicago who has spent the majority of his life in school. He is in the final steps of completing work for an MA in Theology at Seattle Pacific University, while serving coffee at Resistencia Coffee in South  Park Seattle where he also facilitates a bi-monthly songwriter workshop/discussion group.

Miguel has released three albums, all of which are available on Spotify, itunes, Deezer, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud.