Archives for September 2016

Danielle Bilot studied landscape design at the University of Oregon and is passionate about analyzing local pollinator species, which lead to the creation of her startup, BumbleFumble.

A speaker at our It’s About Time, she has worked on the White House Pollinator Action Plan to develop priority actions and continues to give presentations at professional conferences around the U.S. She’s passionate about teaching people how to create native bee habitats and eliminating misconceptions about bees. Here, we talk about potatoes and communicating with trees.

So you’re an optimistic realist. When was the last time you made a decision with that mindset?

Oh man, I make decisions based on that mindset every day, mostly because a startup in its toddler stage does not make lucrative amounts of money. It’s like putting together a puzzle. You know, starting with the edges is best to create the framework, them matching up stand-out color pieces, and so on. You are optimistic about finishing the puzzle, but realistic as to how it gets done so you don’t spend 16 weeks on a single puzzle.

When I first started with my idea, BumbleFumble, I wanted to go do all these presentations and travel to spread the message, but I knew I could not afford it. So I partnered with an incredible organization that paid my way, but then was on my own dime to stay past the presentation day if I wanted to explore. I was optimistic that I could do all the presentations that were accepted, but realistic as to what I could receive for monetary support.

Whatever I come up with in this mindset is feasible and easy for the public to understand, and that’s the biggest positive. They are completely new ideas, but are so simple that people question why it wasn’t like that in the first place. But I don’t think I would ever be a cool Bjarke Ingles or a Stephen Hawking with their awesome, out-of-this-world solutions and designs. I was always taught to be practical above anything, for better or worse.

You like potatoes. Hypothetical situation: you get to have one potato for the rest of your life. How would you prepare it?

One potato for the rest of my life? I have anxiety just thinking about it. I would first like to state that all potatoes matter (in case they’re listening), but by far potato skins are my favorite. Cheese, bacon, and potatoes is my number one comfort food. TGI Friday’s doesn’t have anything on my homemade skins.

Do you have a favorite TED talk?

There really is a TED talk for any mood, whether I need a pick-me-up, inspiration, or help getting out of my head. “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” by Simon Sinek is solid. It gets down to core values of what really turns ideas into actions of many.

How Trees Talk to Each Other by Suzanne Simard is also one of my favorites. I believe we can communicate with almost anything. Everything we come in contact with has energy networks, from trees to people to your computer screen. Not everything can speak like humans do, but there is still communication happening! And if we learn how to communicate with things other than humans and animals, our world would look VERY different.

What do you believe It’s About Time for in your life?

There has been a lot of change in my life in the past year. I was the child that went to college and then grad school, got a job in a design office, had a regular paycheck, and had the life that my family valued. Then my mom got breast cancer, 15 years after having a full hysterectomy from ovarian cancer. The world looked different from that day, more finite than I had ever seen it. I was doing the job because it was what I was supposed to do, but it was not what I wanted in my heart.

I was using all my spare time to implement my thesis project with The White House and the City of Houston, writing articles, doing presentations around the US. Then something in my gut said it was time, time to turn my passion into my job and use it to help the people that need and deserve it.

My mom is doing well, they removed all the cancer and has been in remission for a year. Sometimes I think, though, if she never had cancer, would I still be in Denver doing what I love? What would my motivation have been otherwise? Cancer is a heavy darkness, but without it, it’s hard to know what the light is. And light is most visible when it is dark.

Dr. Betsy Cairo is a reproductive biologist who teaches at University of Northern Colorado. A speaker at our It’s About Time, Betsy founded CryoGam Colorado in 1990.

Her experiences in the field and in the classroom have fueled her passion and helped hone her vision for educating Colorado’s youth, its educators, and its communities. Here, we talk about the reproductive education of yore and spotting a liar.

Has reproductive health education—officially known as sex education—changed significantly since you were in high school?

I was born in 1960 and started high school in 1973. We didn’t have sex ed, per se. We were taught the reproductive system, the stages of pubertal development, and a little about STDs. We weren’t taught anything about contraception.

I grew up in a small town in Southern Colorado and, one year, we had about eight pregnant teens in the high school. I guess they finally thought that was too many so they asked Planned Parenthood to set up a clinic. It wasn’t very effective because they put the clinic on Main Street (where all the parents worked).

Did you speak about sex education with your family or was it taboo?

I never discussed it with my parents. That was the last place I would have this conversation. I gained most of my information at the local library and encyclopedias—we didn’t have Google back then.

I do remember always being interested in this topic, so whenever I had to do a report in biology class it was always related to pregnancy, the history of birth control, or STDs. I’m sure my biology teacher cringed every time I gave a report … or maybe not. I had some really progressive biology teachers in high school. I really don’t remember being as interested in anything as much as I was with reproduction and reproductive health.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not in a lab?

When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time gardening, golfing, skiing, cooking, and, of course, playing with my granddaughter. I also put a lot of time into my non-profit, Look Both Ways. We specialize in reproductive health education and provide professional development for other educators faced with teaching this topic.

Do you have a favorite TED talk?

I really enjoyed the TED talk about “How to Spot a Liar.” Found it very useful.

Christen Reighter is an essayist focusing on issues of social justice. Her interests in writing include sex-positivity, LGBTQI rights, confronting racism in America, women’s issues, and mental health issues and recovery.

A speaker at It’s About Time, she is also a spoken word artist, having performed in many venues and competitions across the country. She can often be found writing and speaking about societal prejudice and medical paternalism. Here we talk about the power of art and finding compassion and love in the world.

Who inspires you in terms of advocating for social justice awareness?

I beam with pride in my community when I see someone taking a risk and standing tall to confront injustice. Recent examples that stick out in my mind include: The protest of the North Dakota Pipeline at Standing Rock Sioux reservation, Colin Kaepernick, Malala Yousafzai, Cocks Not Glocks at UT Austin, Black Lives Matter, “I’ll ride with you” (Australia’s solidarity with its Muslim citizens), “I’ll go with you” (allies’ solidarity with the transgender community) and then I also see friends who post photos of themselves at marches and rallies. There is a sense of: if they are doing it, I can too, and there is no excuse for me not to.

Those are inspiring examples.

I’m also inspired by artists. I am deeply moved by they way art can influence and inform an entire movement. Photographs humanize those who we might have previously considered our enemies. Performance art and music deliver the stories of the subjugated to the masses, all while allowing the kind of transformative space in which a musician can transcend his or her oppression and become a powerhouse on stage. The written word puts the reader in the perspective of someone they would never have considered paralleled in any way. Art illuminates aspects of the human experience that we would otherwise gloss over as inconsequential.

This is why I write. Writing is my best way of contributing to the movements that move me, of sharing with the world a new perspective, a silenced experience. We all have our place in the fight. This is mine.

Is it hard to focus on your own happiness when there is so much injustice in the world?

This is something that does give me pause from time to time. I am sensitive to the energy of the world around me and sometimes that can become very overwhelming. A question I have often revisited is whether sticking our heads in the sand when the world becomes too ugly is cowardice or a self-care, a temporary respite from the pain. I waver back and forth in my answer.

I personally confronted this dilemma recently when I had to step away from a project I was working on about police brutality and institutionalized racism in America. I had become enwrapped and fervent in what I was writing and researching…I had to force myself to detach because all I could see in the world was pain and hatred, therefore losing my perspective of why [I was] writing the piece, why envisioning change was even worth it. I have only recently revisited it once I regained some objectivity and balance in my worldview.

There is so much compassion and love in this world, and that has to be my inspiration behind delving into and exposing the oppression and pain.

Do you have a favorite TED talk?

I can’t say I have a single favorite. I often use TED talks as a catalyst when I need inspiration or motivation. If I had to pick a few that really piqued my interest and influenced me in the past month they would have to be: “Teach girls bravery, not perfection” by Reshma Saujani (which made me consider my own socialization); “How great leaders inspire action” by Simon Sinek (which changed the way I approach many things); and “A call to men” by Tony Porter (which reinvigorates my advocacy for challenging prescribed gender roles and norms—and, side note, makes me cry every time).