Our reflection sessions will be led by the Radical Optimist Collective. The collective was formed by a circle of practitioners from a wide diversity of backgrounds and areas of expertise three years ago to support and guide individuals and groups doing intentional racial awareness and racial healing work as prompted by experiences in Montgomery, AL at the Equal Justice Initiative’s (EJI) Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Their process is grounded by racial healing and trauma-informed frameworks that recognize the need for holding individuals in their personal journeys, while supporting a group’s shared experience. They do this work honoring and acknowledging that each individual comes with their own lived experience, ancestral history, trauma and current context that require an individualized approach within the bounds of an organizational session. Click here to learn more about the individuals of the Radical Optimist Collective.

Rev. Alexis Tardy, D.Min., lecturer

Alexis will give our opening lecture on Thursday, September 19. She joined the Alliance staff in the summer of 2023, working with our THRIVE cohort. She also serves as Coordinator for Ministry with Youth and Young Adults with Disciples Home Missions and previously was an Organizing Associate with the Children’s Defense Fund. Before returning to Indianapolis in 2020, Alexis led as the Program Director at Faith and For the Sake of All, where she organized trainings and workshops to end racial disparities in Saint Louis. While in St. Louis, Alexis was deeply impacted by the protest in Ferguson following the death of Michael Brown, Jr. As a consultant for Urban Strategies, she mentored youth and worked with families and community leaders in Ferguson, Missouri. Alexis earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, a Master of Divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri, and a Doctor of Ministry in Womanist Preaching at Memphis Theological Seminary. Alexis is deeply committed to justice and Black and Latinx families while working toward equitable communities. She resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with her dog KoKo.