Light the Way for Change

A fundraiser benefiting WAVE Action Fund

Saturday, May 15, 2021

7:00pm – 8:15pm PDT

Location: On-line presentation and hosted screening parties

Hear from world renowned experts as we shine a spotlight on divisiveness and extremism. Learn how we can be the catalyst for change.

Our Speakers

This year’s program shines a spotlight on the societal issues of divisiveness and extremism and empowers us to be catalysts for change.

“From her story, we can learn things sorely needed in our age: empathy, openness, and how we can best build bridges across divided lines.”
— Chris Anderson, Head of TED

DISCUSSION – Loving and Leaving Extremism

Megan Phelps-Roper

Activist and Author, Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope

Megan Phelps-Roper was raised in the Westboro Baptist Church, the Topeka, Kansas church known internationally for its daily public protests against members of the LGBTQ community, Jews, other Christians, the military, and countless others. She participated in picketing almost daily and spearheaded the use of social media in the church. Dialogue with “enemies” online proved instrumental in her deradicalization, and she left the church and her entire way of life in November 2012. Since then she has become an advocate for people and ideas she was taught to despise — especially the value of empathy in dialogue with people across ideological lines.   Phelps-Roper’s life story exposes the dangers of black-and-white thinking and the need for true humility in a time of angry polarization.

DISCUSSION – The Roots of Hate

Dr. Pete Simi

Associate Professor, Chapman University

Dr. Pete Simi, Associate Professor of Sociology at Chapman University is a member of the Executive Committee for the National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center. He has studied political violence, hate, and extremism for over 25 years and has been embedded with white supremacist groups, racist skinheads, Klan members, neo-Nazis, and anti-government militias. He is co-author of an award-winning book American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate and has published more than 60 articles and book chapters on political extremism, street gangs, and juvenile delinquency. He provides regular consultation on criminal cases involving hate crimes and domestic terrorism and volunteers in efforts to develop prevention and intervention strategies for countering violent extremism. He is currently serving as a plaintiff’s expert in the landmark civil case, Sines v. Kessler, to hold the organizers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally accountable for the violence they helped incite and even commit in Charlottesville, VA.

DISCUSSION – Social Media: Cause and Cure?

Dr. Megan Squire

Professor of Computer Science, Elon University

Dr. Squire’s main research area is applying data science techniques to understand niche and extremist online communities, particularly radical right-wing groups on social media. Dr. Squire is the author of two books on data cleaning and data mining, and over 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, including several Best Paper awards. In 2017, she was named the Elon University Distinguished Scholar. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow for data analytics at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and as a Senior Fellow and head of the Technical Research Unit at the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right.

CALL TO ACTION – Uniting America

Braver Angels

Learn about the work of Braver Angels, a movement to depolarize politics and to re-imagine what it means to be an American. Inspired by the words of Abraham Lincoln, who not only called on Americans to summon the “better angels” of our nature — but called on us to find the courage needed to pursue a more perfect union, “with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right. We must challenge ourselves to work together when we disagree. We need bravery. We must restore our bonds as Americans.”
Join us, as we learn to do this.

Our Guiding Lights

This year, WAVE will be honoring as “Guiding Lights” four remarkable people who are lighting the way for change in our community through their activism and commitment to social justice.

Annee Della Donna

Attorney, Innocence Project

Providing pro bono legal services with UCI Law School students on the Innocence Project in Orange County, protecting the rights of the disadvantaged in the criminal justice system.

Mary Anne Foo

Executive Director, OCAPICA

Advocating for access to healthcare and social justice for Asian and Pacific Islanders in Orange County, and working to combat anti-Asian hate crimes in our community.

Arush Mehrotra

High School Student & Founder, OC Justice Project

Raising awareness of injustice in the criminal system, immigrant detention and other legal inequities.

Michael Sean Wright

Documentary Filmmaker, Former EMT and Founder, Wound Walk

Helping people experiencing homelessness cleanse their wounds and assisting them in finding proper healthcare at local facilities.

Funds raised from this event will be used to support WAVE Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that supports WAVE’s work in civic engagement, philanthropy, and community outreach. WAVE Action Fund currently supports six working action groups: Environment, Government Integrity, Gun Safety, Migrant Rights, Social Justice and Voter Mobilization. These working groups encourage citizen-advocates to bring about change through local initiatives and partner programs.

Individual Sponsors

Torch Bearer

Private Donor

Luminary

Rita & Howard Conn*
Bonnie & David Eastman*
Arlene Joyce & Joanna Weiss*
Karen & Andy Thorburn

Trail Blazer

Debbie Drucker & Lee Rocker
Betsy & Gary Jenkins
Michele Johnson*

Beacon

Charlotte Finklea*
Artyn Gardner
Cricket Jamet*
Sue Ellen & Paul O’Connor*
Audrey Prosser & Debra Quam*

Sunbeam

Helayne Angelus & Michael Freeman
Beth Daley Ullem*
Suzanne Gauntlett
Cathy Han*
Irene Kinoshita*
Deborah Lima
Debbie Liu*
Theresa & Bill O’Hare
Gena Reed*
Ed & Sue Connor
Susan Lew
Ashleigh Aitken
Crista & Chad Martin
Scott Rhinehart

Ray 0f Light

Amy & Chris Ainsworth
Janet Bays
Piper Benom
Michelle Bentcliff
Jennifer Boles
Carol & Gary Crane
Bobbi Dauderman
Toni Iseman*
Kathy & Julian Joshua
Judith Lukomski*
Ali Monge*
Kimberly Oswald
Jessica Pratt
Annie Quinn
Danea Riley*
Harley and Kaira Rouda
Nina Simonds
Talya Nevo-Hacohen
Peter Stein
Amy Capelle
Donna Layne
Kathleen Treseder*

*Advisory Council Member

Corporate Sponsors

Community Partners

ABOUT WAVE

WAVE (Women for American Values and Ethics ) is a diverse group of more than 2,300 nonpartisan people that engages, educates, and empowers our communities to advance progressive values and ethics. WAVE Action Fund is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit, social welfare organization that supports WAVE’s civic activism and community involvement.
WAVE commits significant (wo)manpower and resources toward supporting progressive values and ethics. There are six WAVE Working Groups: Environment, Government Integrity, Gun Safety, Migrant Rights, Social Justice and Voter Mobilization.