| Light Institute for Global Health and Transformation |
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On June 19, LIGHT (Leaders Igniting Generational Healing & Transformation) hosted its 4th annual LIGHT Festival in-person at Delmar DivINe and virtually via Zoom with a powerful call to action: Rebuilding Trust in Public Health. From the opening welcome to the final reflections, attendees were inspired by a dynamic lineup of artists, storytellers, wellness leaders, public health experts, and grassroots advocates who came together to explore how we can restore trust in public health through creativity, conversation, and community.
Festival Sessions
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Maryam Bukar Hassan (Alhanislam), award-winning performance poet, strategic communicator, and global advocate, moved audiences with poetry and personal storytelling, showcasing how creative expression can be a powerful path to healing and trust.
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Precious Barry, a youth activist and Washington University student, energized the crowd and explored how speaking up and sharing truth can build and strengthen communities.
- Stacey Russell, Missouri-based painter and illustrator, participated in a Q&A session sharing how art reflects—and transforms—community realities, especially in urban and rural settings.
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Ellen Tanner, executive director of Hearing the Helper, shared how writing for LIGHT's open call helped her confront mistrust in public health. A surprising experience in a 19th-century cemetery shifted her perspective—and invited us to do the same as we reflected on healing, trust, and the systems we hope to transform.
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Jayvn Solomon, creative strategist and founding director of Lotus Labs, activated joy and creativity through his "Play to Play Workshop," demonstrating how play and imagination can inspire new approaches to systemic challenges.
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Vitendo 4 Africa founder Geoffrey Soyiantet hosted an energizing "Rhythms of Unity" drum circle, connecting festival-goers across generations through the shared beat of community and cultural heritage.
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Dr. Beth Reese, educator and visual storyteller, led a virtual session blending mindfulness, movement, and visual expression, guiding participants to create and integrate with integrity in both personal and collective spaces.
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Dr. Seye Abimbola closed the festival with thought-provoking reflections on the relationship between art, knowledge, and equity in global health research, challenging participants to center marginalized voices as essential knowers and creators.
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Festival Sponsors
A special thanks to Jennifer Denny, holistic wellness specialist, whose presence and offerings include helping working professionals find balance through simple, grounding practices like breathwork, mindfulness, and reconnecting with nature.
We also recognize the powerful work of Healing the Helper, a storytelling project collecting frontline worker narratives to address burnout in healthcare, education, and social services—reminding us that healing must also extend to our helpers.
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A Note from the LIGHT Team
This year’s theme—Restoring Trust—wasn't just a question we posed in our open call. It is a call to action. At the LIGHT Festival, we witnessed how trust can be rebuilt: through rhythm and reflection, through stories that ache and heal, through poetry, play, and art that speaks when systems fall silent.
Your truth, your story, and your creativity all matter in the movement toward more just, human-centered public health systems. Trust doesn’t start with institutions. It starts with people. With you. With us.
On behalf of the entire LIGHT team, thank you to everyone who joined us in-person or virtually for this year’s LIGHT Festival.
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Light Institute for Global Health and Transformation |
Mailing Address: 660 S. Euclid Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63110
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4950 Children's Place | St. Louis, MO 63110 US
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