2022 TEDxOAKPARKWOMEN
SPEAKERS + PERFORMERS

Dana N. Anderson - Speaker

Dana N. Anderson (she/her) is an Oak Park-based, globally-minded multi-hyphenate (actor, performer, creator, playwright, author) with boundless talent. Her work spans on-camera, stage, voiceover and music, and she’s appeared in commercials and major network shows, including Chicago Med. She wrote and performed in Soul in Suburbia, mounted twice at social change theatre Collaboraction, and her poetry ensemble “Cries from Quarantine” dropped in 2021. Drawing from her full-scope industry experience, Dana founded media and talent relations agency, Concrete Runway. Her client portfolio has expanded from solely multicultural consumer engagement to impacting the DEI, political and social justice space. 

Kajal Gupta - Speaker

Dr. Kajal Gupta is an infectious disease and cancer immunology scientist and researcher. Her work focuses on the gut microbiome and how it influences the development and function of immune cells and gut health in relation to various diseases. Dr. Gupta is excited by the fast pace and unpredictability of scientific research, and fascinated by the diverse ecosystem of commensal species that take up residence on the human body. Dr. Gupta is a faculty member at RUSH University Medical Center, and is passionate about bringing lab-based research to the community. In additional to science, her passions include dancing, cooking, reading autobiographies and taking long walks.

Amira Pierotti - Speaker

Amira Pierotti (they/them) is a tireless advocate for transgender and gender-expansive rights, menstrual equity and sexual assault survivor rights. They are a Lead Organizer with Bleed Shamelessly, an organizer with the award-winning Wisconsin Trans Rights Coalition, a student facilitator of the GameChangers program at the Rape Crisis Center (RCC) of Dane County, and a past student representative on the RCC board of directors. Amira is the recipient of the 2021 RCC GameChangers Award and a nominee for the 2021 PERIOD Youth Champion Advocacy Award. After graduating high school in 2022, Amira plans to continue grassroots and youth-led advocacy work.

Robby Williams - Performer

Robby Williams, a member of the MOMENTA Dance Company, combines movement and spoken word to create powerful performance pieces. Prior to a gunshot wound two years ago that damaged his spinal cord, Robby was dancing the Tango and Lindy and was a fitness coach-in-training. After becoming a wheelchair user, he jumped headfirst into the disabled community. Robby actively gives back to the community through the outreach programs of MOMENTA and Reinvent Ability, and is working with Tango 21 Dance Theater to explore ways where tango and disability can meet.

Sheetal DeCaria - Speaker

Dr. Sheetal DeCaria (she/her) is a physician whose goal is to promote an integrative approach to treating and preventing chronic pain. She is double board-certified in anesthesia and pain management, and has pursued further education in integrative medicine, including a year-long faculty scholars’ program at the Northwestern Osher Center. Dr. DeCaria authored the bestselling book, Break the Chronic Pain Cycle: A 90 Day Program to Diagnose and Eliminate the Root Cause of Pain, and is an on-air medical advisor for CBS, FOX, ABC and NBC news stations around the country. She currently practices at Revitalize Medical Center, with offices in Glenview and Evanston, IL. 

Gabrielle Hartley - Speaker

Gabrielle Hartley, Esq., is a leading online mediator and family law attorney known for resolving 99% of her cases. She’s the author of Better Apart; The Radically Positive Way to Separate, which received glowing recommendations from Gwyneth Paltrow and People Magazine. As a sought-after media divorce expert, Gabrielle has been featured in The New York Times, Real Simple, Vice, The New York Post, Psychology Today, NBC Mass Appeal and on dozens of podcasts. She is a co-chair of the American Bar Association Mediation Committee, maintains a private mediation practice, and is counsel to a top NYC litigation firm. Her forthcoming book, How to Get Along is due out in 2023.

Mariann Aalda - Emcee

TEDxOakParkWomen Speaker Alum Mariann Aalda is back with us again this year as our emcee. Mariann starred as one of the first African-American daytime soap opera heroines, attorney DiDi Bannister, on ABC's Edge of Night. Today, she’s “prosecuting ageism” with her TEDx Talk and solo show, “Gettin’ Old is a Bitch...But I’m Gonna Wrestle that Bitch to The Ground!” Additional TV career highlights include starring as Lita on CBS’ Designing Women and opposite O.J. Simpson on HBO’s First & 10. As a standup comic, she’s played top comedy clubs in Chicago, LA and NYC. Currently, she can be found every Tuesday night hosting Aging Shamelessly on Clubhouse. Mariann also volunteers as a TEDxOakPark Speaker Community Ambassador.

TEDxOakParkWomen 2022 Theme: What Now?

What a time it has been! The past year has upended so much for so many, and forced global reckonings with systems, processes and policies that too often let us down. So ... what now? At the 2022 TEDxOakParkWomen event, six visionaries who are imagining new possibilities and exploring new ideas for how we might live and work better in the years to come to the stage. This year’s inspiring lineup shared their ideas worth spreading all centered around the National TEDWomen theme: What Now?

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