Hello Echoers!
We've had a busy Spring and I have some exciting news for the Summer as well.
Spring first:
Because of all of your support, another class of students graduated from the Women in Action Development Project. I love seeing graduation videos and knowing that we all helped to make this happen. Esther sent me videos of this year's graduation ceremony. I have included some below with an additional video from Esther that we used at a special awareness raising event in Chicago this past April. More on Chicago in a moment, but first I really just wanted to say thank you all so much again for another successful year which included the "4000 for 40" fundraiser for my 40th birthday in August 2021. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of your donations. I often feel I cannot thank you all enough.
What was going on in Chicago? Mission Chicago is a Star Trek convention I attended to host a panel discussion called "Trektivism”an in-person version of the virtual panel I hosted last January mentioned in a previous blog update. As some of you likely already know, my other life is in science education where I work at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre Planetarium and the Trottier Observatory here in Vancouver. Science Fiction has been a huge inspiration in my life. Shows like Star Trek depicted a brighter future of equity, justice, and where humanity's needs were met allowing us to thrive.
The Mission Chicago Trektivism Panel Poster
Many fans of Star Trek attribute the show as to why they pursued sciences/engineering and indeed the show inspired my love of science and science education – but I also felt inspired to make this world seem more like that bright future. Esther's Echo is my way of contributing. While Esther's Echo itself has no direct connection to science fiction, I believe I can engage the science fiction community in supporting social causes such as ours. The "Trektivism" panel is a way to engage that community. The term “Trektivism” itself was coined by the TrekGeeks podcast network where I host a podcast and have been able to help champion the “Trektivism” cause, encouraging sci-fi fans to focus their fandom toward real-world social change.
At the panel in Chicago, I was joined by several Star Trek actors and fans on stage who have all championed various social causes. I showcased Esther's Women in Action school with a video of her explaining the program and the most recent graduation ceremony (note that graduating classes are named after their start year rather than their graduating year in Sierra Leone).
Trektivism Panel Selfie! L to R Noah Averbach-Katz, Chase Masterson, Randy Frank, Me (Matthew Cimone), Heather Rae, Jen Usellis,
I'll be speaking about Esther's Echo again in Las Vegas this month at another Star Trek convention. This time we'll also be running an online fundraiser to coincide with the talk beginning this week and culminating at the convention itself. We will keep you all posted on fundraiser and of course would be sincerely grateful for any donations.
Thank you all so much again for your support of Esther's vision and for helping people thrive in one of the most difficult places in the world to live. Here is that graduation video!
And here is the original virtual Trektivism Panel I hosted if you want to check it out!
And check out my friend’s organizations/projects featured at the “Trektivism” panel as well!
Noah Averback-Katz and T1 International supporting Insulin Access
Chase Masterson’s Pop Culture Hero Coalition an anti-bullying organization
Randy Frank with Lambda Quadrant promoting Queer representation in the Geek Space
Jen Usellis the Klingon Pop Warrior
Heather Rae’s project “Fans Give Back”