Speaker Bios
9:45 am - How to Educate on Equity With Anti-Woke Legislation Looming?
Dr. Bilan Joseph, Moderator, Inclusivity
Dr. Bilan Joseph is the Executive Director of Thrive By Five Pinellas, a collective impact initiative that helps families become knowledgeable of and connect to resources that help support their child’s holistic on-time development. She has a master’s degree in secondary education and a doctorate of education, specializing in Reading and Literacy. Dr. Joseph also serves as an adjunct professor for Liberty University’s online School of Education, where she teaches graduate-level courses to aspiring teachers and reading specialists. She sits on several committees throughout the city that promotes race equity in government, education, and healthcare. Dr. Joseph also moderates and/or facilitates courageous conversations about race for Inclusivity LLC, Liberty Church, and The Carter G. Woodson Museum. She hopes these conversations will lead to collective healing and ultimate racial reconciliation. She is a native of St. Petersburg, where she resides with her husband and three children.
Brian Auld, Panelist, President, Tampa Bay Rays
Brian Auld begins his 17th season with the Rays and his eighth in his current position as
team president. Together, he and Matt Silverman lead the club’s operations both
internally and externally. In 2018, Auld and Silverman oversaw the Rays purchase of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, the USL soccer team based in St. Petersburg. They now also serve as vice chairmen of the Rowdies, overseeing all franchise operations.
Before joining the Rays, Auld attended Harvard Business School, where he earned his
MBA focusing on managing human capital, marketing, and finance. Auld’s previous work
experience includes serving as lead teacher and director of development for the East
Palo Alto Charter School in California. Born in Berkeley, Calif., Auld received a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University, where he also captained the lacrosse team. He currently serves on the Rays Baseball Foundation and several other boards of directors. Auld and his wife, Molly, reside in St. Petersburg and are proud parents of two daughters, Lucy and Mia, and a son, Jack.
Dawn Siler-Nixon, Panelist, DEI Partner, Ford Harrison, LLP
Dawn has spent two decades partnering with her clients to help guide and direct their employment decisions to avoid the time and expense of litigation and creating and executing a strategy to defend them through trial should the need arise. Dawn uses depth of knowledge and expertise to ensure that clients exceed their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion goals while avoiding legal landmines. She has extensive experience handling ADAAA, Family, and Medical Leave Act claims and has successfully litigated multiple plaintiff Age Discrimination claims in state and federal court.
Dawn is an Attorney at Law at FordHarrison LLP - Ius Laboris USA, with responsibility for overseeing and implementing the Firm's Diversity Strategic Plan. As the Firm's Diversity Partner, Dawn is a member of the Management Group and the Firm's seven (7) person Executive Committee, the Firm's highest governing body that sets policy and compensation. Dawn is recognized as a Certified Diversity Executive through the National Institute for Diversity Certification.
Nadine Smith, Panelist, President, Equality Florida
Nadine Smith is the Executive Director of Equality Florida, the state's largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
An award-winning journalist turned organizer, Nadine was one of four national co-chairs of the 1993 March on Washington. She was part of the historic meeting between then-President Clinton - the first Oval Office meeting between a sitting President and gay community leaders. She served on the founding board of the International Gay and Lesbian Youth Organization.
She is s a Florida Chamber Foundation Trustee and served on President Obama's National Finance Committee. Nadine has been named one of the state's "Most Powerful and Influential Women" by the Florida Diversity Council. She has received the League of Women Voter's Woman of Distinction Award and in 2018 was named one of the 100 Most Influential Floridians by Influence Magazine. She currently serves as chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Florida Advisory Committee. She lives in St. Petersburg with her wife Andrea and son Logan.
