Speakers

Melinda took a giant leap of faith and jumped ship from her success in corporate America to follow a dream. Recognizing the gifts she was given and skills she developed over the years in a successful career had a higher purpose, Melinda surrendered to the unfolding of a bigger life vision: to lift women who were less fortunate. In the open space created by that brave jump into the unknown, she began the process of bringing BLOOMHERE – a space and place of empowerment for women survivors— to life. In summer 2019, BLOOMHERE opened the first brick and mortar home where women who’ve been released from prison, are leaving halfway houses, shelters or domestic violence safe houses can come to heal, to learn, to grow their own vision and path to a fresh start and a new life. Under this roof, BLOOMHERE will provide services, classes and training: from resume writing and interview skills to nutrition counseling; yoga and meditation to personal hygiene and beauty guidance. BLOOMHERE seeks to empower women who’ve been challenged by difficult paths, events or life choices to recognize there is always a chance to bloom again, and with the right support, take their own leaps to a better life. Melinda’s long-term vision for BLOOMHERE is to have multiple BLOOMHERE centers in cities across the country to serve women in need. We look to not only provide necessary life skills and self-care tools to those who’ve not been offered them before, but to encourage successful, gifted women to share their knowledge, wisdom and experience to lift and empower others. We only rise when we rise together. Melinda is known for her sense of humor, her passion for life, her ability to talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything and make those who are lucky enough to share space with her to feel loved and at home. She is thrilled to bring this vision to life.

Facebook: bloomhere
Twitter: @Bloomhereorg
Instagram: @bloomhereorg
LinkedIn: bloomhere
 

CEO and Co-Founder of Aware Senior Care Managing and leading the business aspects of Aware Senior Care, Tim is an alumnus of the Villanova University School of Engineering. He served our country as a U.S. Navy Submarine Officer, and spent much of his career as an executive in the technology industry.

His vision for an in-home care organization stems from the struggles following his own father’s stroke and time in a nursing facility. That experience led Tim to ensure his mother could stay in her home, despite difficulties with memory loss and household maintenance. Tim’s intimate understanding of the stresses of a loved one’s need for independence makes him uniquely qualified to recruit only the best caregivers and manage the day-to-day operations at Aware Senior Care.

Since starting Aware with his wife and RN Director Gina Murray in October of 2014, the company is currently the most awarded and reviewed home care agency in the Triangle achieving Home Care Pulse’s highest award as a 2019 Leadership recipient along with best home care from Senioradvisor.com as well as earning a caring star as best home care from caring.com. Tim is currently a board member of the Dementia Alliance of North Carolina and a member of the Cary-Kildaire Rotary Club.

Links to other speaker-related info: https://awareseniorcare.com/aware-senior-care-blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awareseniorcare/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/murraytim/

Jamie Vernon is executive director and CEO at Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society and publisher of American Scientist magazine. From 2014 to 2017, he served as Sigma Xi's director of science communications and publications and editor-in-chief of American Scientist. He was also Sigma Xi's co-director of operations from 2014 to 2015. Earlier, Jamie spent more than a decade conducting cell and molecular biology discovery research as a student and research fellow developing genetic engineering tools, designing and analyzing HIV-neutralizing antibodies for vaccine production, and studying the effects of gene duplication on vertebrate evolution and development. An award-winning science educator, he started communicating science to non-academic audiences in 2004 as a public speaker and independent blogger. While pursuing a career in biotechnology, he regularly contributed articles to The Intersection, a Discover magazine blog about science and policy. He changed his career emphasis from research to science policy and communications by serving as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellow and subsequently as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). His primary role at DOE was to improve the measurement and communication of the economic impacts of the Department’s $2.7 billion annual investment in clean and efficient energy technologies. In 2011, he helped launch the DOE's National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition. He was co-chair of digital media, from 2012 to 2013, for an interagency climate communications working group within the White House’s U.S. Global Change Research Program. In 2014, he co-founded Potential Energy DC, an energy business startup accelerator, based in Washington, DC. Jamie holds a B.S in Zoology from North Carolina State University, an M.S. in Biotechnology from East Carolina University, and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

https://www.sigmaxi.org/news/news-archive/2017/05/25/sigma-xi-names-a-new-executive-director-and-ceo https://www.sigmaxi.org/about/contact-us/staff-directory

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlvernon/

Twitter: @SigmaXiCEO

Robert J. Higdon, Jr. was nominated to be the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina by President Donald Trump on August 2, 2017. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 28, 2017. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Higdon is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Eastern District of North Carolina, which includes the 44 eastern most counties of North Carolina. He oversees a staff of 108 employees, including 51 attorneys and 57 non-attorney support personnel. The office also partners with some 20 Special Assistant United States Attorneys from branches of the United States military, local District Attorneys offices and federal and state regulatory agencies. Each of these Special Assistants also works in federal court under the United States Attorney’s supervision.

The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes affecting the district, including crimes related to terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, firearms, and narcotics. The office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States.

Mr. Higdon, a Greensboro native, spent nearly 24 years as a federal prosecutor, including serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in both the Western and Eastern Districts of North Carolina. From 2002 until 2013, he served the Eastern District as Chief of the Criminal Division. And, from 2013 until 2015 he served as Senior Trial Counsel for the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. He has supervised and prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases, including drug trafficking cases, white-collar and public corruption matters, mail and wire fraud, bribery, false statements, Foreign Corrupt Practices, violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act, violations of import/export regulations, money laundering, theft of government property and violations involving government contracting and programs. Mr. Higdon received his J.D. in 1989 from the Wake Forest University School of Law and his B.A. in 1985 from Wake Forest University. He is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and the State Bar of Georgia. Prior to assuming his role as United States Attorney, Mr. Higdon was a partner with Williams, Mullen, Clark and Dobbins.

Twitter: @USAO_EDNC

Justice Mark A. Davis was appointed to the Supreme Court of North Carolina in March 2019. Prior to that, he served as an Associate Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals for over six years. He worked as a Special Deputy Attorney General in the North Carolina Department of Justice for five years. He spent thirteen years as an attorney at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice where he was a Member of the firm in the Litigation Section. He also served as General Counsel in the Office of the Governor for approximately two years. Justice Davis received his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and served on the North Carolina Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Upon graduation from law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Franklin T. Dupree, Jr. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Justice Davis has been active in the North Carolina Bar Association, serving as a Vice-President and as a member of the Appellate Rules Committee and the Bench-Bar Liaison Committee. In 2018, he received a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in Judicial Studies from the Duke University School of Law. He is also a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Justice Davis has given presentations at numerous Continuing Legal Education seminars in North Carolina on the subject of appellate advocacy. Justice Davis is the author of a book on the North Carolina Supreme Court titled A Warren Court of Our Own: The Exum Court and the Expansion of Individual Rights in North Carolina. He and his wife Marcia have been married since 1992 and have three children.

Twitter@JudgeMarkDavis

Facebook: JudgeMarkDavis