TEDxBradenton 2024 Speakers

Oscar Portillo-Meza is a Spanish-language Digital Research Analyst at ISD US, where he specializes in analyzing digital ecosystems and addressing online harms affecting diverse audiences in the US and Latin America. Oscar has worked with civil society groups, academic institutions, and various political entities to understand US public opinion on a broad range of issues, including immigration and democratic norms. Oscar has been featured in various local media outlets, discussing US elections and politics.

Michelle Grimsley Shindano is a dedicated public policy advocate and the current Director of Public Policy at the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates. A native of Bradenton, Florida, Michelle has built a robust career focused on legislative initiatives that promote health and social equity.

Previously, she served as a lobbyist for The Southern Group, where she worked to influence policy decisions at the state level. Her experience also includes time as legislative staff in the Florida House of Representatives, where she covered key issues across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Manatee counties.

In addition to her professional role, Michelle is dedicated to community service and is an active community leader. She is Chair of the Board for Manatee County Habitat for Humanity and serves on the boards of United Way Suncoast and the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College (ISPS).

Michelle embodies the principles of servant leadership, a value instilled in her by her parents. She is passionate about not only identifying challenges but also collaborating to find effective solutions for the greater good. As she puts it, “A lack of passion will yield lackluster results,” driving her to make meaningful contributions in her work and community.

Elizabeth Doud is the Curator of Performance at The Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, and has overseen the museum’s Art of Performance program since 2019. As a Florida- based arts professional, scholar and multi-disciplinary theater artist, she has over 20 years experience and presenter, educator and performance maker, with an emphasis on international cultural exchange and climate arts. She has worked extensively throughout the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean in the performing arts, and created Climakaze Miami with FUNDarte in 2015, an annual climate performance and dialogue platform. From 2005-2018, she led the Performing Americas Program of the National Performance Network, an international cultural exchange initiative between networks of cultural presenters and producers in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean for performing arts touring and residencies, and was the Artistic Director of the Cultura del Lobo Series at Miami Dade College from 2009-2011. Since 2014, Doud has been involved in several international exchangeand climate arts events leading workshops and teach-ins around creating effective narrative, and other issues of trans-national and cross disciplinary arts practice in New York, Florida, Louisiana, Oregon and Brazil, and is part of the Climate Commons for Theatre and Performance.

In 2017, she was visiting professor/practitioner at the Rapoport Center for Human Rights at the University of Texas in Austin and co-organized the HowlRound Challenge Convening Theatre in the Age of Climate Change at Emerson College in 2018. Her performance projects have toured in Brazil, Cuba, South Florida and have been commissioned and presented by Miami Light Project, FUNDarte (Miami), Diverse Works (Houston) and MACLA (San Jose) among other supporters. She has served as panelist and juror for USA Artists, Miami Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, CENA Aberta (Sao Paulo) and has worked as a development consultant and grant maker through targeted commissioning and touring programs. She currently serves as an artist coach for MAP Fund‘s SPA program, an national initiative that provides artists with coaching to improve their working conditions and express their visions. Among other awards and recognition, she received a Knight Foundation Arts Challenge Grant in 2018, multiple local, state and national project funding awards, has twice been an invited Associate Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and was awarded a State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship for 2011. In 2019, she co-led a climate arts working group through NYU’s Hemispheric Institute Encuentro in Mexico City. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Miami, and a PhD in Performing Arts from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. She has published several articles in English and Portuguese about climate arts, performance and bilingual composition.

Ashley was born and raised in the South - she was born in Georgia and was raised in West Virginia and South Carolina. She has a BA in Political Science from College of Charleston. Ashley started her career in manufacturing working for Westinghouse Electric in the large substation transformer division. She moved to Florida in 1999, when Ohio Transformer in Palmetto recruited her to be their Planning Manager.

Ashley started volunteering with the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) in 2000 as a computer tutor. In late 2002, Ohio Transformer sold, and, in the process, Ashley lost her job. At the time she was the Production Manager. It is interesting to note that she was the first female production manager in a transformer facility in the United States. She took the time to decide what her next career move would be and made the decision to apply for a job opening at WRC and was hired as the Finance/Development Manager. She has been with WRC ever since, becoming the Executive Director in April of 2003.

Ashley is an advocate for women; an innovative thought leader with a record of developing collaborative relationships with complimentary non-profit organizations, and educational, municipal, and private sector institutions; an experienced and respected motivator and team leader. Ashley has been with Women’s Resource Center for almost 20 years and is committedto creating a region where women and their families can thrive.

Ashley participates in other opportunities for leadership development and service including Leadership Florida (Cornerstone Class 31, Regional Council, Board of Directors, and Program Chair for the 2022-23 Cornerstone Class 40), Leadership Manatee, board member for Sarasota Women’s Alliance, board member for Ringling College Library Association, Past Chair of RCLA TOWN HALL and former board member for Manatee County League of Women Voters