Being resilient means never having to say you are sorry.

Does anyone remember what happened in 2020? I sure do. That's the year my Positively Powerful Education Summit and Woman Awards went virtual because of the pandemic. It was a traumatic and challenging time in our lives. Nevertheless, the show went on. I had a vision for my event. I had given my word. And I learned lessons, whether I wanted to or not.

I was all set to have the event at ASU 365 Community Union that year, thanks to Colleen Jennings Roggensack,?Executive Director of Arizona State University Gammage, ASU Vice President for Cultural Affairs, Nichol Luoma, Vice President of University Business Services, and Lisa Loo, Senior Vice President & General Counsel and ASU Representative to Affiliated Entities at Arizona State University. They were Positively Powerful Honorees and shared my dream to have it in the Sun Devil Stadium, an amazing location for an education summit and woman's awards.

Shifting to a virtual space from my envisioned one was a humbling learning experience. It was a rough financial time for me, and three years later, I continue to be deeply grateful to the people who registered, the sponsors, the honorees, and the team, Susan Casper, Joy Johnson, and Reverend Sheriolyn Curry. They all stayed true.

From my frustration, uncertainty, and anxiety came the exciting realization of a dream made possible. I learned that dreams happen because of the outpouring of others' support, ideas, resources, faith, creativity, flexibility, affirmations, and resilience.

We were connected. The event flowed between the honorees Dr. Angela Allen, Nichol Luoma, Stephanie Vasquez, Claudia Kaercher, and Barbara H. Whye, to the Summit speakers Kimber Lanning, Deborah Bateman, LaCoya Shelton, and Dr. Eboni Chaffi and back again. Relatives from far away got to see their loved ones acknowledged. All this, thanks to an elevated refusal to quit and the virtual production mastery of TiaMarshae Johnson.

Being pushed to deliver inspired me in 2020. With gratitude, I was able to have the 2022 Awards at the ASU 365 Community Union in person. The dream was fulfilled. Every year is an exceptional learning experience for me, the founder and executive producer, and 2020 was magic. And this year's event will be a dream fulfilled of a different sort of that, I am certain.

Here's the link to the 2020 Positively Powerful video. Please enjoy: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/486246781