An image with a bright yellow background featuring the text "A Conversation with Soledad O'Brien" in white and bold orange letters. On the right, a photograph of Soledad O'Brien is displayed, smiling and dressed in a black blazer. The event details appear to the right of her image: "Sunday, March 9, 2025, Mondavi Center, UC Davis," in bold navy blue text. A soft orange semicircle decorates the background.

A Conversation With Soledad O’Brien

Sunday, March 9, 2025
1:00 p.m.

Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis

 

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Join us for a symposium featuring an exclusive conversation with award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, alongside inspiring presentations by Anna Maria Chávez, former CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, and Dr. Amishi Jha, renowned neuroscientist and mindfulness expert. Be part of a thought-provoking event celebrating connection, leadership and impact.

An image with a bright yellow background. A photograph of Soledad O'Brien is displayed, smiling and dressed in a black blazer. A soft orange semicircle decorates the background.

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning documentarian, journalist, speaker, author, philanthropist and founder of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on a range of social issues. She anchors and produces Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien, a nationally syndicated Hearst Television public affairs news magazine that reaches 95% of U.S. markets. She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in May 2023.

O’Brien has a national impact through her podcasts, social media, speeches and books, including her critically acclaimed memoir The Next Big Story and her 1.3 million followers on X. She gave Congressional testimony on media disinformation and has anchored shows and specials on CNN, MSNBC, Nat Geo, BET, ABC, and CBS, co-anchored NBC’s Weekend Today, and reported for PBS NewsHour and HBO Real Sports.

Her most recent projects include her top-rated iHeart podcast Who Killed JFK with Rob Reiner and her documentary The End of Affirmative Action. She is the Executive Producer of the Peabody-Award-winning documentary The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and the multi-part series Black and Missing, which won the Independent Spirit and NAACP awards. She also works with major foundations, like the Ford Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to produce impactful documentaries on topics like hunger, race and education.

O’Brien’s work has been recognized with four Emmy awards, three times with the George Foster Peabody Award, four times with the Gracie Award, which honors women in media, twice with Cine Awards for her work in documentary films, twice with Telly Awards and with an Alfred I. DuPont Award.

She runs the PowHERful Foundation with her husband, helping dozens of young women get to and through college while also connecting thousands more with resources through regional mentoring conferences.

Also Speaking:

Anna Maria Chávez, former CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA

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The first woman of color to lead the iconic Girl Scouts of the USA in their 104-year-old history, Chávez is a renowned leadership expert who harnesses the power of technology and her passion for public service to transform organizations. She now serves as the president and CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation, where she continues to drive meaningful change.
 

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Dr. Amishi Jha, Ph.D. ’98, director of Contemplative Neuroscience and professor of Psychology at the University of Miami

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Dr. Jha leads groundbreaking research on the neural bases of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion, resilience and performance in education, corporate, elite sports, first-responder and military contexts. She is also the author of the national bestseller Peak Mind, which provides practical tools to improve focus and attention.
 

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Moderator

Pamela Wu ’95, director of news and media relations, UC Davis Health

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Pamela Wu’s career spans the fields of broadcast journalism, public relations, and communications training. 
 

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