Inspire Sonoma

Haleigh Washington

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

7 PM | Student Center - Ballroom A

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Haleigh Washington

Haleigh is a two-time Olympic gold and silver medalist for the United States Women’s Indoor Volleyball team. Following a decorated junior career, she attended Penn State University on a full volleyball scholarship and competed in the NCAA for four years. It was during her freshman year with the Nittany Lions that she started for the 2014 NCAA Championship team, helping to win the 7th championship title in program history. It was also during her freshman campaign that she was named the Big Ten Conference's freshman of the year. Throughout her college career, the Colorado native was a three-time Academic and Athletic All American. During her senior year, she was named the Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and given the Senior CLASS Award, honoring student athlete achievements in sports and in the classroom.

Immediately upon graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, she moved to Italy to begin her professional athletic career. In Italy, she played for five different volleyball clubs, most recently Savino Del Bene Scandicci volleyball club from 2022 to 2024. Throughout her professional career, she was a part of a variety of medals and accolades in domestic and international tournaments including a CEV Championship in 2023. Since 2020 she has been a founding athlete for America’s next major sports league, LeagueOne Volleyball. And as of 2025, she has competed in this new USA based professional volleyball league playing for the LOVB Salt Lake team. 

Since 2018, she has been a member of USA’s Women’s Indoor Volleyball Team. It is with this team that she won silver medals at the 2019 NORCECA tournament and 2019 World Cup. She also helped the team win gold medals at the 2018 Pan-American Cup, as well as the 2019 and 2021 FIVB Nations League Tournaments. In 2021, she was a starter for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympic Games and it was there that she not only won the United States’ first ever gold medal for Indoor Women’s Volleyball but was also named the Best Middle Blocker for the Olympic games. At the recently completed 2024 Paris Olympic Games, she was again a starter for Team USA and added an Olympic silver medal to her trophy case.

Amina Azhar

Thursday, September 17, 2026

7 PM | Student Center - Ballroom A

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Amina Azhar

Amina Azhar is an Investigator with the Central Habeas Unit at the Federal Defender and has dedicated more than 15 years to representing indigent clients in complex felony and capital cases at both the trial and post-conviction levels. Originally from Sweden, she immigrated to California to attend Sacramento State. Fluent in Swedish, she brings both an international and cross-cultural perspective to her work and has collaborated on criminal justice initiatives in the United States and Sweden.

Her work takes a holistic approach to criminal defense, integrating factual investigation with an understanding of family history, trauma, competency, and mental health to pursue justice, healing, and restoration for clients, victims, and communities.

Her commitment to justice began early in her career as a paralegal, where she represented Indian citizens—primarily Sikhs—who had experienced torture by law enforcement, as well as Pakistani nationals seeking asylum in the United States based on persecution for their sexual orientation.

Today, Amina continues her work defending individuals facing the death penalty while exploring the human stories that shape crime, justice, and resilience. Her expertise and compassionate approach offer a unique perspective on criminal justice, human rights, and the power of understanding the lived experiences behind every case.

Henry Kaku

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

12 PM | Student Center - Ballroom A

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Henry Kaku

During WWII Henry's entire family, Parents, Grandparents, Brother and Sister were all put in America's Concentration Camp for over 4years. They were in prison during the duration of the War and beyond for 6 months. After the War, his entire family was deported to Japan even though they were American citizens born in the United States.

Henry keeps the story alive by giving presentations to High Schools, Colleges and community groups.  Born in Japan in 1948 his family came home to the U.S. in 1956 after regaining their U.S. Citizenship.

He recently had a short film made about his family from the National Geographics, titled "Loyal American"  

After Pearl Harbor, Keige Kaku was discharged from the U.S. Army, imprisoned in a Japanese concentration camp, or so-called “internment camp”, and deported. Eighty years later, Keige’s son Henry retraces his father’s footsteps to confront the question: What does it mean to be a Loyal American?

Cecilia Ekholm

Thursday, October 1, 2026

12 PM | Student Center - Ballroom A

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Cecilia Ekholm

Cecilia Ekholm is Consul General for Sweden in San Francisco from 1 December 2025. She was previously Commissioner General for Sweden at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan 2024-2025. She has also held functions such as Special Envoy for Sustainable Business at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Swedish Ambassador to Peru. Cecilia Ekholm has a MSc in European Politics and Policy from the London School of Economics as well as a degree in Political Science from Lund University.

Lisa Feldman

Thursday, October 8, 2026

12 PM | Bennett Valley Room, Second Floor - Student Center

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Lisa Feldman

Lisa Feldman recently retired after 31 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Lisa was a member of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section for 16 years, where she prosecuted cases involving computer hacking, cyber-enabled fraud and cyber exploitation, as well as the trafficking of counterfeit goods. Lisa also served as the office’s Cyber Crime Outreach Coordinator, in which she regularly spoke to the public about cyber safety and transnational cyber fraud. Lisa previously was a supervisor in the General Crimes Section, where she trained new AUSAs. In retirement, Lisa is continuing her community outreach to help protect the public from increasingly sophisticated cyber scams. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lisa was a litigation associate in a large law firm in Los Angeles. Lisa obtained her J.D. from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of the Law) and her B.A. in Communication Studies from UCLA.

Martha Kenney

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

12 PM | Bennett Valley Room, Second Floor - Student Center

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Martha Kenney

Martha Kenney is Professor in Women and Gender Studies at San Francisco State University and co-founder of the SFSU Science, Technology, and Society Hub. Located in the tradition of feminist science studies, her research investigates how technoscientific narratives support, contest, and reconfigure collective visions of desirable futures. Professor Kenney is currently collaborating with anthropologist Martha Lincoln on the book Marthas Against AI: Inside the Fight for the Future of Higher Education, which critically examines the consequences of recent contracts between universities and AI firms. She teaches classes on the politics of science, feminist theory, digital media, and speculative fiction.
 

Ron Chrisley

Friday, October 16, 2026

12 PM | Stevenson 1400

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Ron Chrisley

Professor of Cognitive Science and AI at the University of Sussex, where he has worked at the intersection of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, philosophy, and computer science for more than three decades. His research explores the nature of mind—both natural and artificial—and spans reasoning, creativity, emotion, metacognition, machine consciousness, embodiment, AI ethics, computational models of cognition, social robotics, and quantum machine learning.

Alongside his academic career, he has consistently sought to translate research into practice through entrepreneurship, technology development, and scientific advising. I co-founded Tenyx, a voice-first generative AI company that was acquired by Salesforce in 2024, and I currently advise AI startups on research strategy, product direction, and responsible AI.

Professor Chrisley’s work has always combined theoretical foundations with practical applications. He has authored numerous publications, edited major reference works on artificial intelligence, secured research funding, collaborated across disciplines, and delivered invited talks internationally. He enjoys communicating complex ideas to audiences ranging from researchers and engineers to business leaders and the wider public.

Increasingly, his focus has been on questions that are becoming central to the future of AI: how advanced systems reason, learn, interact with people, and should be understood and governed. He is particularly interested in helping organisations developing frontier AI combine scientific rigour with practical innovation and responsible deployment.

He is interested in research leadership, scientific advisory, and strategic roles that bridge frontier AI research and real-world impact. I enjoy building collaborations across academia and industry and bringing together insights from AI, cognitive science, philosophy, and product development to tackle some of the most challenging questions in intelligence.

Ali Afshar

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

7 PM | Student Center - Ballroom A

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Ali Afshar

Ali Afshar is the founder and president of ESX Entertainment, where he has built a 29-film slate spanning action, drama, horror, and holiday features in close partnership with Warner Bros. As a professional race car driver first, Afshar entered Hollywood through deeply personal storytelling, most notably "American Wrestler: The Wizard," which chronicled his own family's journey and perseverance as immigrants from Iran. He is now in post-production on his most anticipated project to date, "Wind of Change," a biopic on the legendary band Scorpions slated for release in early 2027, and remains dedicated to sharing his unconventional path with the next generation of filmmakers.

David McCuan

Thursday, October 22, 2026

12 PM | Sonoma Valley Room, Second Floor - Student Center

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Dr. David McCuan

Dr. David McCuan, Professor of Political Science (promotion to Full Professor effective Fall 2012), joined the faculty of Sonoma State University during the historic California Recall election period in Fall 2003. His scholarly expertise rests in two broad areas - American politics and International Relations. His doctorate was granted from the University of California – Riverside in 2002. He previously completed two terms as Department Chair, Political Science. 

His teaching responsibilities include courses in both international and national politics, international security and terrorism, state and local politics, campaigns and elections, and political behavior. In the area of elections, Dr. McCuan’s research focuses on the general impact of ballot measures - direct democracy - in the state of California and across the nation. He has served as an expert witness in cases concerning direct legislation in both California and the state of Washington where he has presented his research. Professor McCuan also focuses on terrorism and political violence, working and studying in this area from venues as diverse as California, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Israel, the West Bank, and Europe. 

Currently, Dr. McCuan is an Affiliated Scholar with the SSU Wine Business Institute. He previously held a position as a joint faculty member with the U.C. Davis-Sonoma State Joint Doctorate Capital Area North Doctorate in Educational Leadership, Ed.D Program (CANDEL). He has extensive overseas experience that includes teaching and research in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Dr. McCuan was a Fulbright Teaching Scholar for the 2009-2010 Year, working in the Department of International Relations and European Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic. He has also taught “Campaigns and Elections” at Jeju National University (Korea) in 2012. He also served as a Schusterman Fellow, 2014-2015, Summer Program in Israel Studies, Brandeis University / Schusterman Institute Israel Studies (SIIS) Center. In 2019, Dr. McCuan, was invited to give a series of lectures for the Deutsch- Amerikanisches Institute (DAI) throughout Germany and was one of only twelve CSU Faculty selected for a CSU Faculty Partnership Seminar Honors Fellowship in Tubingen, Germany (2020-2023). Professor McCuan also provided sponsored lectures in Germany on the aftermath of both the 2022 U.S. Midterm Elections and the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Most recently, Dr. McCuan taught in both the 2023 and 2024 Summer Seminar Series at Stanford University on the “Electoral Politics of the 2024 Elections.” 

Dr. John P. Sullins

Thursday, October 29, 2026

12 PM | Sonoma Valley Room, Second Floor - Student Center

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Dr. John P. Sullins

John P. Sullins, (Ph.D., Binghamton University (SUNY), 2002) is a full professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Sonoma State University and the interim director of the Sonoma State University Center for Ethics Law and Society (CELS).  His specializations are: AI Ethics, philosophy of technology, philosophical issues of artificial intelligence/robotics, cognitive science, philosophy of science, engineering ethics, and computer ethics.  He is widely published and a sought after speaker on ethics and AI.

Darren Providence

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

7 PM | Student Center - Ballroom A

This event is hybrid. We warmly invite you to join us in person; however, for those who are unable to attend on campus, a virtual option will also be available via Zoom. Join the event via Zoom.

About Darren Providence

Darren Providence is an accomplished IT executive, veteran, and strategic leader with more than 25 years of experience driving innovation across healthcare information technology, enterprise program management, and organizational transformation. With over a decade of experience at the executive level, including roles as Executive Director and Associate Vice President (AVP), he has led large-scale IT integrations, product management initiatives, and enterprise project management offices (EPMO), consistently improving delivery timelines, enhancing service levels, and reducing operational costs.

Throughout his career, Darren has specialized in aligning technology strategy with business objectives, developing and executing IT roadmaps, leading complex system integrations, and driving business process improvements that create measurable impact. His expertise spans healthcare IT, oncology-focused software solutions, strategic planning, IT governance, product management, and enterprise change management. Known for his ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage high-stakes initiatives, he brings both technical depth and executive vision to every organization he serves.

He holds a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Norfolk State University. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds SAFe Agile Product Management certification.

In addition to his corporate leadership Darren proudly served for 10 years in the United States Army as a Captain and Operations Officer. During his service, he led teams of up to 97 personnel and held key leadership roles in Germany and the Middle East. Including assignments supporting the Patriot Missile Defense System. His military experience continues to inform his disciplined, mission-driven approach to leadership and execution.