Ignite Howard County #6 was a smashing success this year. Jailbreak Brewing Co. hosted a full and enthusiastic house. We recognized many of the attendees from prior years, but we had several first-timers too, some of them speakers.
From Larry Twele’s exciting tail of sailing around the world, to Erika Chavarria’s powerful message about going from teacher to community organizer to racial justice activist; to Cyndi Gula’s enthusiasm to advance the idea of data care, to many more talks about pivoting during COVID, money management and taking risks, the audience was enthralled.
Danielle Marshall kicked off the evening with a powerful and thought-provoking message, Words Matter, But Don’t Forget the Context. She spoke about the importance of paying attention to the complex societal differences people have in relation to one another. She argued that we should actively try to understand these differences in order to better understand the people we interact with. She demonstrated how easy it is to feel alienated and at odds with others even through the words we use to express ourselves and how it’s possible to turn the situation into an opportunity to learn about someone. You can view Danielle’s video here.
One attendee said Regina Clay’s presentation was their favorite. Regina showed how the concept of love transcends fear, hatred, and inaction and creates courage, leadership, and positive action. The attendee appreciated how Regina seamlessly blended abstract thought about love with specific examples and her own story, creating a profound and highly transferable message that was easy to understand and apply to one’s own life.
Every single presentation was great, but we particularly enjoyed Anthony Brown’s presentation about his journey to make dreams come true. As a child, he aspired to be a great singer, but didn’t pursue it because his voice was too high, or as he said, “made him sound like a girl.” But he did start singing in college, which led to a successful singing career. Then, following his success, he developed a desire to encourage others to pursue their dreams. His story was relatable and inspiring to all of us, and he told it with assertiveness and pizzaz, winning the audience over.
One of the highlights of each ignite is choosing, at random, a nonprofit to receive $500 from C3MD and our sponsors. Each speaker gets to choose a nonprofit to include in the drawing. This year’s winner was Anthony Brown who selected the Dream 4 It, Inc. nonprofit organization!
PHOTO (left to right): C3MD President Liz Richardson, speaker Anthony Brown with his wife, and C3MD Board members and Ignite Howard County organizers Tracy Turner and Wendy Baird.
We’d like to thank all of our sponsors for making this event possible. Special thanks to our Luminary Sponsor, Maryland Innovation Center, plus our Blaze sponsor: The Wendy Slaughter Team of Elevate Real Estate Brokerage; Flame Sponsors: Avilar Technologies, Indigo Ink Printing, and ReFrame Financial Planning, and finally our Spark Sponsors: insight180 Brand Consulting & Design, Challenging Racism, and Kevin T. Howard, CFA/PFS, P.A.
You can view all of the Ignite videos here. See you next year!
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