Featured Sessions and Speakers
Keynote Speaker
Begin Again: How Change Catalyzes Purpose with Rev. Dr. Monica Dawkins-Smith L’07, L’16
The Rev. Dr. Monica Dawkins-Smith L’07, L’16 is a semi-retired ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and currently serves as Interim Senior Minister at the historic East View UCC in Shaker Heights, Ohio—becoming the first woman to hold this role in the African American congregation. Throughout her vocation, she has stepped into groundbreaking positions across the denomination’s local, regional, and national settings, often as the first woman of color in senior leadership. She also continues to shape the wider church through her service on the Moravian University School of Theology Seminary Board of Trustees and the UCC Heartland Conference Board of Directors.
Before entering ministry as a second-career pastor, Dr. Dawkins-Smith built a successful corporate and nonprofit career in sales, marketing, management, and training across multiple industries. Across every chapter of her journey, she has remained committed to cultivating spaces where imagination, possibility, and innovation can flourish—embodying the power of change, the courage to begin again, and the transformative potential of being “the first.”
Drawing on this lived experience and leadership wisdom, Dr. Dawkins-Smith’s keynote reframes change—not as something to resist, but as a doorway into growth, resilience, and renewed purpose. She invites participants to explore how to recognize when it’s time to begin again, how to nurture resilience during periods of transition, and how to build strategic partnerships and diverse forms of mentorship that strengthen courage in seasons of uncertainty. Through her perspective, change becomes not a disruption, but an invitation into the deeper “more” we are created to pursue.
Breakout Sessions and Presenters
Information coming soon.