Boston Millennials Take the Mic

Overview

City Year
287 Columbus Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
United States

Saturday, 22 September 2018 - 12:00pm to 1:15pm

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Details

Boston Toastmasters (BTM) is excited to be part of the Fierce Urgency of Now festival. The Boston Foundation and City Awake’s City of Millennials reports shows that Greater Boston’s millennial population is more racially and ethnically diverse and more educated than ever before. However, it also exposed the many barriers that population faces in Boston as well. That is why Fierce Urgency of Now is so important. We are proud to partner with City Awake for this cause.
 

Join us for an afternoon of storytelling about the millennial of color experience in Boston. During this workshop style meeting, seasoned Toastmasters will present speeches about their personal challenges and triumphs as minorities or allies to minorities, and will be supportively evaluated. We invite you to come hear relatable stories, and practice public speaking yourself by sharing your story during an impromptu speaking exercise.
 

Boston Toastmasters is a diverse community of individuals who meet to practice communication skills in an inclusive environment. Our members come from different countries, cultures, religions, and sexual identities.
 

Lunch will be provided!


Speakers & Boston Toastmasters team:
 

Jazz Dottin, President, Boston Toastmasters
Regional Program Manager, Road Scholar
 

Jazz has been a member of BTM for two years. In this time she earned the Competent Communicator award, and served as VP of Public Relations for the 2016-2017 Toastmaster year. She has worked in the tourism industry for 10 years, leading tour groups, developing and operating tour itineraries, selling travel packages and more. Clear communication is a commonality among all of these jobs. Jazz joined the club to focus on sharpening communication skills, and because she simply loves talking in front of groups.
 

While Jazz joined with the purpose of personal development, it is now observing club members gain confidence as speakers that keeps her engaged. Her personal passion is learning about people, places and cultures unlike her own, and BTM fulfills this curiosity every Tuesday night with the unique speeches members present.
 

Kristen Chin, Content Writer and Strategist, Kai Alpha LLC
 

Kristen is a Boston-based travel writer and food entrepreneur. Her dream is to unite people by cooking and educating them about authentic international food. She first started speaking in public over five years ago when working at the New England aquarium. She has also performed stand-up comedy at ImprovBoston.
 

Tristen Grannum, English Teacher, Boston Public Schools


Tristen was born and raised in Boston, attending Boston Public Schools and eventually attending Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Currently living in the West End, his life experience in Boston is a reflection of the transformation of Boston and the challenges and traumas Boston has faced. He currently teaches middle and high school English in the Boston Public Schools. 
 

Jackie Riso, Vice President, Membership, Boston Toastmasters
Sr. Project Manager, Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator, Boston Children's Hospital 
 

Jackie joined BTM as part of her personal development goals to improve her public speaking and shake off her fears. She immediately fell in love with the BTM experience, club, and community. It is one of her favorite days of the week where she looks forward to taking on leadership roles, speaking, and hearing other members share their stories.
 

Jackie’s mission in life is to inspire positivity and strength in others. She has started a movement, A Glass Half Full, to help others conquer their mindset, get out of their own way, and works towards being their best selves. You can find Jackie speaking, sharing her voice on her vlog & blog, and building a supportive and empowering community by leading workshops and events.
 

In addition, Jackie is a Senior Project Manager on the Innovation and Digital Health Accelerator at Boston Children’s Hospital. She has worked for Boston Children’s for over 7 years and enjoys her role managing innovative projects at the hospital to improve the patient and provider experience.
 

Jesse Welty, Vice President, Education, Boston Toastmasters
 

Jesse joined Boston Toastmasters to grow professionally when it became clear that his career path will always involve language and communication.
 

As Vice President of Education, Jesse aims to convince you of the power of goal-setting. He earned his first communication award the year he joined and continued to grow by exploring advanced speaking and by taking leadership roles within Boston Toastmasters and its parent district. He is currently working for District 31 (Eastern MA and RI) as a Pathways Guide, training and supporting other Toastmasters clubs as they begin using Toastmasters International’s new e-learning program, Pathways. He has begun using Pathways and is currently working in the Visionary Communication path.
 

Within Boston Toastmasters, he is co-VP of Education, supporting Evan. He offers his experience as a past officer and one of the longest-participating Boston Toastmasters members.

 

More generally, his aims as a Toastmaster are to improve his speech writing and to add more flexibility to his speaking style. He believes that everyone deserves a supportive and encouraging environment in which to improve his or her communication skills. In his work with Toastmasters, Jesse aims create that environment for his club’s members.

 

+ more BTM members coming soon!