I’m delighted to have been selected to present about the Voices of Hope at the 17th bi-annual Conference of the Association for Justice-Involved Females and Organizations (AJFO) in Santa Clara, CA this coming December. Their theme this year is “Changing the Narrative for Justice-Involved Women and Girls: Journey from Reform to Transformation,” and I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned about incarcerated women embodying womanhood through choral music.
The Robina Institute’s “In Conversation” event last Friday was inspiring, and I was so honored to be a part of it! Several people have asked if they could see my talk; video from the entire day has been uploaded to their website, and you can view it here. My part is in the first 45 minutes, beginning with a choral piece, and then a short introduction to the day, and finally, my 20-minute talk with Q&A. I strongly encourage you to watch the rest of the video as well, which includes a panel of formerly incarcerated women, and a panel of professionals discussing issues of incarceration for women.
This weekend, I have the opportunity to speak about the Voices of Hope at a special “In Conversation” event, hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Robina Institute of Criminal Law & Justice. This event will focus on female incarceration, and I will be the first speaker of the day, followed by a panel of formerly incarcerated women and then another panel of experts in the field. It has been a challenge and an honor to put together a talk a bit different from my TEDx talk. Rather than a focus on music and restorative justice, this presentation aims to share the specific needs incarcerated women may have, and how music can help to celebrate and embody womanhood. The talk will be on Friday, June 9 at 1:30pm, and will open with members from the Twin Cities Women’s Choir singing my composition, “Voices of Hope.”
amanda kate weber 