Tuesday, February 20th

1:30 - 2:45 pm in the Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Library 1520)

Brianna James

Brianna James (Theatre & Dance Alum), Founder & CEO, Tru Xpression LLC

Sacramento native and Founder of Tru Xpression LCC, Brianna James has served as a community and arts advocate since 2013. Her professional journey began as a Team leader at Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center where she discovered her love for teaching dance and building relationships through performing arts. She proceeded to grow within the organization as a Program Manager before starting a new career at the Greater Sacramento Urban League. There she would serve three years as the Youth and Young Adult Job Coach and Program Coordinator. She graduated from Sacramento State University with her bachelors in Sociology and associates in Theater and Dance. She went on to attain her master’s in leadership from Saint Mary’s College. Brianna continues to serve as a community resource, performer, choreographer, business professional and more. Her current projects include being a recipient of the City of Sacramento's Seeding Creative for Individual Artist program, choreographing for Celebration Arts “For Colored Girls” production, and teaching weekly afro vibes classes at Sac Dance Lab. This is in addition to her business, Tru Xpression, being a supplemental provider for the Another Choice Another Chance, and Sacramento City Unified School District, where she uses her performing arts curriculum for developmental learning. She continues her artistry as she is actively booking opportunities as a performer and/or choreographer.

Ember de Boer

Ember de Boer (Art Alum), Studio Practitioner, Ember's Forge

Ember de Boer is a multidisciplinary artist with an emphasis on sculpture and sustainability. Born and raised in Kansas City, de Boer completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture with a minor in Philosophy from CSU-Sacramento. Since graduation in 2021, de Boer has been involved in community development and cultivating the local art scene, as well continuing to grow her own body of work while launching a new studio practice named Ember’s Forge on Stockton Blvd.

Recently hired by the City of Sacramento, placed on the Community Engagement team, alongside four other artists in a Creative Corps Cohort with Office of Arts and Culture, to be innovators and cultural strategists involved in Sacramento's local government.

De Boer is Project Director of Community Shop Class, a not-for-profit Neighborhood Learning Center located in the heart of Oak Park. As the resident artist, de Boer is building a creative oasis where diverse and neurodivergent people can explore the connection between their passion and their community.

Tina Ross

Tina Ross (Graphic Design & Interior Architecture Alum), Founder, Soda Back

Tina Ross is a seasoned brand designer with a passion for crafting unforgettable bar and restaurant experiences. With 13 years immersed in the world of hospitality and degrees in Graphic Design and Interior Architecture, she possesses a unique blend of expertise as a consumer, team member and designer in the Food & Beverage Industry.

As a visionary creator, Ross specializes in concepting bars and restaurants, from the initial spark of an idea to the final, immersive experience. Her work transcends conventional boundaries, seamlessly integrating brand positioning and identity, menu experiences, and interior architecture to craft cohesive and captivating spaces. Her approach goes beyond aesthetics; it's a holistic theory-based exploration of how spaces and brands can function seamlessly while aesthetically resonating with and capturing their audience.

Thursday, February 29th

1:30 - 2:45 pm in the Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Library 1520)

Tina Cannon Leahy

Tina Cannon Leahy (French Alum), Attorney, State Water Resources Control Board

Tina Cannon Leahy is a senior attorney with the State Water Resources Control Board Office of the Chief Counsel where her primary duties include assisting with the amendment, implementation, and enforcement of the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary and serving as lead attorney to the Groundwater Management Program implementing California’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Before coming to the State Water Board, she was the Principal Consultant for the California Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee where, from 2010 through 2015, she served as the Assembly's water law and policy expert and helped draft SGMA. Prior to the Assembly, Ms. Leahy was Senior Staff Counsel at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife specializing in water law and natural resources issues, including California Endangered Species Act permitting, and an associate attorney in private practice counseling clients and litigating water, environmental quality, and endangered species matters. In addition to her duties with the State Water Board, Ms. Leahy is a water law Lecturer for the University of California, Davis, Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources. She is also Co-Chair of the Alumni Advisory Board for the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at King Hall, the UC Davis School of Law, and a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers.

Thursday, March 7th

1:30 - 2:45 pm in the Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Library 1520)

Joey Garcia

Joey Garcia (Journalism Alum), Author & Platform Coach

Joey Garcia is a book editor and author platform coach. She helps writers get known while they’re writing a book, so when it’s published, there’s an audience waiting to read it. Joey’s clients have been interviewed by, or have bylines in, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian magazine, Ms. magazine, CNN, and The Tamron Hall Show, among others. Joey is the author of When Your Heart Breaks, It’s Opening to Love and has been a featured Relationship Expert in HuffPost, USA Today, Deutsche Welle, KVIE public TV, Global Woman TV Sweden, Australia’s Ticker News and Slate’s Dear Prudence podcast. Her poetry, short stories, and essays have received awards and been published in Calyx, Mslexia, Hippocampus Creative Nonfiction magazine, Writer’s Digest, The Caribbean Writer, and Hypertext. In 2017, Joey established the first-ever literary fellowship in Belize, her birthplace. A professional speaker, Joey has wowed audiences in the U.S., Sweden, and Albania.