We Are: Speaker Series

I lost a night of sleep, and my five-month-old is only partly to blame. I’ll heap the rest on We Are: Speaker Series. After attending Volume I at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge on the evening of October 12, even hours later I had the hardest time quieting my mind. The night—organized by Charly Genco, Kristen Seneca Grizzaffi, Laura Siu Nguyen, and Rebekah Ross in the space of a few feverish weeks, as they tell it—was intended to celebrate women, but not in a “Here’s where the ladies can murmur while the gentlemen adjourn for snooker and brandy” sense. Instead, wine and beer flowed, local entrepreneurs exhibited their wares and services, impressive women told their stories, and I was intrigued by a dozen new people (women and men) in the space of three hours.

The featured speakers, Arts Council CEO Renee Chatelain and Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation CEO Jill Roshto, shared narratives that only occasionally touched on sexism or even traditional ideas of femininity. “My gender is not a qualifier,” said Chatelain, who warmly spoke of a career that blossomed out of a need to dance—and a desire to share that opportunity with others regardless of socioeconomic status. For Roshto, who recently left Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge for the Pennington position, exponential success and hindsight have told her this: “Never burn bridges.”

Between speakers, the BouillaBabes, Jamie Brown and Sydney Harkins, were interviewed by Genco on their relatively new catering partnership, where they relish designing their own trajectories as chefs and being “unapologetically female” in an industry where job opportunities are often rescinded due to “women being a distraction in the kitchen.” (And having had their food last night, particularly second helpings of the green curry shrimp and grits, I'd say any Baton Rouge chef is a fool for having turned them away.)

In her talk, Chatelain spoke of Baton Rouge’s ignorance, at times, of its own cultural assets—we sit on the Mighty Mississippi, for example, but rarely do we interact with riverfront. Likewise, an energized night driven by the charisma and care of Genco, Grizzaffi, Nguyen, and Ross; highlighting Chatelain and Roshto’s achievements; and nourished by the culinary talents of Brown and Harkins should not be a one-off occasion. For such a gifted city, we could do to be more grateful.

The We Are: Speaker Series has a spiritual partner in Assembly Required, the series led by creative agency ThreeSixtyEight, with both efforts looking to reinvigorate the idea of a conference and inspire the city. 

The next Assembly Required, “Masters of the Story,” will be held November 10 at BRCC’s Magnolia Theatre. $50. assemblyrequiredla.com. We Are: Speaker Series Volume II is scheduled for February 22, 2018. Stay up to date at wearespeakerseries.com.