Our theme for Friday, March 21 is “The Olympics of Life: The Journey to Greatness, Healing, and Moral Courage.” This exceptional program will feature three distinguished women who have faced monumental challenges with determination and resilience. Focusing on mental toughness, bold leadership, and the power of storytelling with integrity and courage, our speakers will inspire and motivate you to embrace change and strive for greatness.
Caroline Caroline Silby, Ph.D., CMPC is a nationally recognized expert on the development of elite athletes, Head of Sport Psychology for US Figure Skating High Performance, is the 2023 United States Olympic Committee Service Provider of the Year Award Winner and has been recognized by the USOPC for her service to numerous Olympic Teams. Caroline will TEACH us the Keys to Thriving under Pressure and Prepping the Mind for Peak Performance.
Beth Ann Dorman is the CEO of For All Seasons, a behavioral Health, and Rape Crisis Center. Beth is a seasoned executive and demonstrated leadership expert on topics ranging from sexual assault, mental health and wellness and community resilience. Widely recognized as a “Dare to Lead” master trainer, Beth Ann will GIVE us a glimpse on how she has led her organization to provide critical services to over 200,000 Marylanders.
Asra Nomani – is an investigative reporter, journalist, author, educator, editor and a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Asra is also the Founder of the Pearl Project, a nonprofit initiative doing journalism in the public interest and dedicated to the investigation of the murder of, and to honor the memory of her friend and colleague Daniel Pearl. Asra will INSPIRE us with her journey to seek the truth.
Beth Anne – Teach Speaker
Beth Anne Dorman is a seasoned executive with demonstrated expertise in person-first leadership, nonprofit standards of excellence, organizational sustainability and agility, and mental health administration. Dorman is also a highly sought-after trainer certified to train audiences in topics related to mental health and wellness, sexual assault, community resilience, and leadership skills. Beth Ann has the distinction of being one of less than 250 people who have been trained by Leadership powerhouse and renowned author, Brene Brown, in Browns “Dare to Lead” leadership programs.
Beth Anne’s is the President & CEO of For All Seasons, a behavioral health agency and rape crisis center that is a critical lifeline for over 200,000 rural Marylanders on the eastern shore.
Beth Anne is also a leader shaping the administration and funding of mental health and victim services throughout Maryland. Dorman has provided leadership on multiple statewide Boards and commissions, including the Maryland Commission for Women, Maryland Legislative Agenda for Women, and it the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MCASA). In 2016, Beth Anne Dorman and Maryland Delegate Jeff Ghrist co-authored a bill to decrease barriers to mental health care signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan.
Prior to leading For All Seasons, Dorman’s leadership was vital in developing, growing, and expanding programs in Higher Education for over 15 years.
Dorman’s professional achievements have prompted organizations and leaders to seek her expertise through individual coaching, leadership development consulting, and hands-on workshops.
Beth Anne resides on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where she co-parents a blended family of four sons alongside her husband Matt.
ASRA NOMANI – Give Speaker
An accomplished author, journalist and former reporter for the Wall Street Journal, is widely recognized for her insightful commentary and thought-provoking analysis across prominent media platforms, from MSNBC and CNN to Fox News, the Washington Post and BBC, among others.
Born in Bombay, India, in 1965 and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Ms. Nomani embodies a courageous voice of authenticity, reason and integrity.
Arriving in the United States in 1969 without knowing a word of English at the age of four, Ms. Nomani became a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in 1988 at the age of 23, covering the airline industry, airplane crashes, cultural zeitgeist, lobbying, international trade, travel and other areas at the intersection of money, politics and society.
Following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, she reported from Pakistan for Salon magazine, earning an Online Journalists Award for feature reporting.
On Jan. 23, 2002, her friend and Wall Street Journal colleague Daniel Pearl left a home she was renting in Karachi, Pakistan, and was kidnapped and later murdered. Her efforts to find Mr. Pearl are captured in the film “A Mighty Heart,” featuring actress Angelina Jolie. The actress Archie Panjabi played Ms. Nomani’s role.
Shaken by the tragedy of her friend’s murder, she authored “Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love,” published by HarperCollins’ HarperOne in 2003, about her study of Buddhism and Hinduism, her search for identity and the existential lessons learned with her friend’s murder. She wrote movingly about finding divine love as a single mother, discovering she was pregnant during the search for Mr. Pearl and returning to America to give birth to her son.
Moving to the opinion pages as a writer to advocate for an Islam of grace in op-eds in the Washington Post, Ms. Nomani wrote, “Standing Alone: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam,” published by HarperOne in 2005, about her journey to to Mecca, Saudi America, and her transformation as an advocate for women’s rights and human rights as a Muslim feminist and reformer. Her family’s struggle to fight for women’s rights at their local mosque in Morgantown was featured in an award-winning PBS documentary, “The Mosque in Morgantown.”
In 2007, Ms Nomani founded the Pearl Project, an investigative journalism initiative named for her friend, Mr. Pearl, and she co-led a faculty-student investigation at Georgetown University as a professor in the practice of journalism, uncovering details into Mr. Pearl’s tragic murder. The class published a landmark book into Mr. Pearl’s case, “The Truth Left Behind,” published by the Center for Public Integrity.
As a subject matter expert on issues of terrorism and extremism, Ms. Nomani was a lead trainer in a cultural training courses to military, law enforcement and diplomatic officials from the Defense Intelligence Agency, FBI and State Department, before their deployments to Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight the “War on Terror.”
In 2015, as terrorists attacked innocents at the Bataclan music hall in Paris, she appeared on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” to advocate for Muslim reform. She published an award-winning article in Washingtonian magazine, detailing the transformative impact of Mr. Pearl’s murder on her life and her journey of post-traumatic growth.
She leads the Pearl Project today, mentoring young journalists and pioneering important local journalism as an investigative reporter and editor at the Fairfax County Times in Northern Virginia, leading groundbreaking coverage of education and politics.
Ms. Nomani is a registered private investigator.
