In life, tension and failure are inevitable – it’s how we deal with adversity that transforms us. Join our tellers as they share true, personal stories exploring how they’ve navigated failure, jealousy, and redemption, and found peace in unexpected places. From the science of napping to the dazzling images from the Hubble telescope, join us as we explore how our tellers found relief.
Hosted by Meisa Salaita and Kellie Vinal.
Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please note: Seating is first come, first served.
Stories by:
Tricia Hersey is a Chicago native living in Atlanta with over 20 years experience working with communities as a teaching artist, poet, performance artist and community activist. She believes impromptu spectacles and site specific installations can bring awareness to social justice issues that paralyze our communities. Tricia has research interests that include black liberation theology, womanism and somatics. Her work has been seen with Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, Columbia College Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre, United States Peace Corps and Google Chicago. Tricia has a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Eastern Illinois University and a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Her current project is The Nap Ministry, a community installation that examines that liberating power of rest by curating safe spaces for community to nap together.
Nusaiba Baker was born in Fresno, California to a Mexican immigrant and an Iraqi immigrant. She attended the Johns Hopkins University, where she double majored in Neuroscience and Molecular and Cellular Biology. She was also accepted into the dual BS/MS program, where she received her Masters in Biology by the age of 20. During her undergraduate career, she founded the Babylon Preparatory Center for Widows and Orphans in Iraq, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing resources and opportunities for those most in need in the war-torn country. She also received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award in 2014 for her commitment to outreach in the Baltimore community. She’s currently pursuing an MD/PhD at Emory University, with a PhD focused in Biomedical Engineering.
Curious and investigative by nature, Sarah Fankhauser has always been a lover of all things science. Sarah received her B.S. in biology from Ga Tech and her PhD in microbiology and immunobiology from Harvard University. Sarah is one of the founders and the board chairman of the science journal and education non-profit, Journal of Emerging Investigators. She is also an assistant professor of biology at Oxford College of Emory University where she shares her thrill and passion for science with her students. Both in her professional and personal life Sarah advocates for effective and clear communication of science with the public.
Alison Hastings is a queer sober yogi artist. She is a full time yoga and meditation instructor / part time theatre actor and director in Atlanta, GA. She is a senior teacher at Kashi Atlanta Urban Ashram where she helps run a yoga teacher training program and also teaches all over the city including at the Georgia Aquarium, CNN and the Dekalb County Jail. She co-wrote the critically acclaimed - woke AF - sketch comedy, U Up? for Dad’s Garage Theatre in 2017, has performed in dozens of plays in the Dirty South and has won the Creative Loafing’s Readers Pick for Best Female Actor a handful of times. She is an advocate for transgender rights and is a devotee of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati.
Mike Evans was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and obtained a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Kentucky and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois. Since 2013, he has served as the Laboratory Coordinator for First-year Chemistry at Georgia Tech, where he also teaches courses in organic chemistry. In his spare time he enjoys watching his toddler create mental models of reality, running, chess, and home brewing.