HEARTS Virtual Conference

About.

Helping Everyone Via Arts, HEARTS, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was founded to motivate individuals in society to raise awareness for real-world problems. With a drive to support others through the utilization of our artful skills, we have subsidized various charities and inspirited people to express themselves by spreading our love for the arts. We encompass many interests from coding to drama and dance in our workshops.

With this conference, our goal is to show individuals that a passion for art does not hinder a practical future. We are focusing on innovators in the professional field who use art in their daily lives and jobs. Our speakers discuss scientific exploration such as robotics and the importance of arts in early adolescence. They show us that art can enrich your life and career. We invite you to attend this two-day conference and expand your horizons.

Schedule.

Our event will run from October 10th to October 11th.

All times listed below are in Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Events

October 10th

October 11th

Speakers.

Here's a little bit about our speakers attending this conference!

Palaton “Paula” El Haoubi

Teacher, Child Development, SDMC

Paula El Haoubi’s family fled the Soviet-Afghan war in 1982 when she was two years old. The harsh and dangerous journey lasted too long, however . . .it opened the door to a new world that was full of promises. Since her family had eight brothers and sisters, her parents had enormous responsibilities with a low socioeconomic status. However, they were destined to thrive to a better position through education. El Haoubi became the first generation in her family graduating from high school and university. She earned a Masters in Science in Family and Human Development, BA in Social Science. She also obtained four Associate Degrees as follows: Sociology, Computer Information Systems, Transfer Studies, and Child Development. Additionally, El Haoubi has obtained a Site Supervisor Child Development Permit in the state of California and holding Designated Subjects Credential: Career Technical Education from the Commission of Teachers in California. These credentials and degrees allow her to teach different subjects for K-12 and adults in vocational and college-level settings.

Nandini Srinivasan

Vice President, Quality Engineering, PLEX Systems

Nandini is an accomplished Test Engineering executive, with years of leading Engineering teams across geographies, prioritizing Customer. . .adoption and then on Customer Success. She is a proud feminist, who keeps Women in Tech, Women in STEM and Women empowerment on top of her mind, with every innovative activity . Nandini is also a successful FIRST Robotics coach and avid animal lover.

Kiersay Murray

Marketing Manager at FLIK

Kiersay Murray is a Canadian-born creative, entrepreneur, and strong advocate for empowering women in business. Prior to launching her career at the intersection . . .of design, business, and entrepreneurship, she was a BComm student at the University of Calgary seeking a way to merge her entrepreneurial spirit, passion for business strategy, finance, marketing, and design with something purposeful that made an impact. Now, as the Marketing Manager at FLIK (the first female-identifying apprenticeship portal), a freelance designer, social media strategist, and an Instagram micro-influencer, Murray is carving her own dream career and hopes to inspire others to fearlessly discover their own!

Kiana Maillet

Professor, Child Development, SDMC

Kiana Maillet is a member of the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and an Adjunct Professor in Child Development . . .at Miramar and City Colleges. Her educational background includes degrees in Liberal Studies, Child Development, Psychology, Social Work, and Public Administration. She is also currently in the Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership through UCSD and CSUSM where she is researching Native American experiences with microaggressions and racism in early childhood education. She actively volunteers in both her Tribal community in Lone Pine, as well as here in Kumeyaay Land (otherwise known as San Diego), where she currently works and lives. Kiana is passionate about protecting and honoring her culture, the water and the land, as well as mentoring other Native people to further their education in both traditional and mainstream modalities in order to break cycles endured through a history of intergenerational trauma.

Deepali Bhandari

Principal Software Engineer

Bhandari graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master's Degree in Computer Science in 1998. She was . . .fortunate to be part of the Human Genome Sequencing project in 2000 and to have provided technical leadership for MassArray FDA approved diagnostic system in 2012. More recently, she works as a Principal Engineer in the Platform R and D team at Mitchell International that provides claims management solutions. Bhandari is also the founder of ideasAny LLC, a place to allow artists to upload their creations for sale or share. Her close friends and family would call her a juggler with multiple balls in the air. If it were not for that, she would be misequipped to dodge life's many curveballs.

Summer Hoss

Undergraduate Researcher, Student at MIT

Summer Hoss is a college sophomore studying Aerospace Engineering at MIT. She currently works on simulations of electric . . .thrusters for small spacecraft as an undergraduate in the MIT Space Propulsion Lab. Hoss wants to work as an engineer in the space industry in the future.

Michelle Kwok

Co-Founder and CEO of FLIK

Kwok is a born and raised Vancouverite - medical science student turned social entrepreneur. She co-founded FLIK (weareflik.com), an apprenticeship portal . . .connecting female founders/leaders to ambitious female students to facilitate relationships that lift communities of women. Beginning her career in medical sciences and initially volunteering her time to advance neuroimaging and pediatric gastroenterology research, Kwok has always had a passion for impact. When selected to Next 36, Canada's premier program for young entrepreneurs, she discovered her niche at the intersection of technology and impact, when realizing the gender disparity in entrepreneurship. Kwok has had the honour of speaking at universities and spaces across North America sharing her thoughts on entrepreneurship, women empowerment, diversity and inclusion, and breaking down barriers. She now serves on the alumni advisory council of League of Innovators and as an alumni rep for Next 36 to accelerate more youth entrepreneurs.

Saura Naderi

K-14 Outreach Director at Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at UCSD

Saura Naderi ‘07 earned her engineering degree from UC San Diego Jacobs School just as the recession hit. Not satisfied by the opportunities available to her, she . . .connecting female founders/leaders to ambitious female students to facilitate relationships that lift communities of women. created her own. She volunteered, later becoming an employee, to create a program at UC San Diego where undergraduates and K-12 students could play and explore science and technology with art-themed engineering-based projects. After receiving the exemplary employee award at UC San Diego and the Athena Pinnacle award and invited to do a TEDx talk, she was recruited by Qualcomm to create a similar program named – Thinkabit Lab. Upon leaving Qualcomm, Thinkabit Lab engaged 14,000+ middle school students and has been replicated in many different environments from libraries and schools to universities and companies. Saura was also a contestant on SyFy’s Robot Combat League, was an “Adventure Person” on Nerdist, and is the color commentator for the world’s first giant robot fight held in Japan. One of the creative projects she is most proud of is envisioning, and leading a team of engineers and artists to create, a robotic dress that hugs people. Saura is leading efforts to broaden participation in Data Science by designing creative ways to engage a diverse population.

Prizes.

Prizes coming soon...