pride panel: dallas hope charities
friday, 21 october
6.00 pm - 7:00 pm meet + mingle
7.00 pm - 8.00 pm panel discussion
join dallas hope charities and dallas contemporary as we sit down with young organizers who are making a positive change for lgbtq+ north texans. spend the first hour of this event exploring dallas contemporary’s new exhibition, then gather with us as we chat and learn more about how we can support these young leaders on their journey to make texas a better place for all.
rsvp'd receive a complimentary ticket for a dallas hope charities gift basket door prize, including two student-level memberships to dallas contemporary + more.
donate $5 on the day of the event to receive additional tickets. winners must be in attendance to claim their prize.
moderated by:
paul mcneal (he/him)
paul mcneal, owner at the crypto curator is a speaker, brand evangelist, and technologist. he was an early adopter of bitcoin, becoming aware of it in 2011, and has since continued to monitor the developments of blockchain technology. his curation is hand selected daily, helping others recognize the most important news of the day. as an influencer, he raises the awareness of brands within the digital asset industry. he is also the host of bitcoin is freedom and bitcoin & politics shows where he interviews thought leaders across the space.
mcneal spent the earlier part of his career serving in the united states navy submarine force working in communications. after 10 years serving his country, he held leadership positions at the defense threat reduction agency (dtra) overseeing the global wireless device program. he co-founded a content curation startup which grew rapidly and was recently acquired. previously, he mentored young entrepreneurs through the next gen summit. paul worked with groups of young entrepreneurs daily. he is passionate about helping encourage and inspire young people to achieve the best of themselves. for fun and fitness he loves playing ultimate frisbee and hiking the great outdoors. he currently resides in dallas, texas.
panelists:
chase mueller (he/him)
chase mueller is a 20-year-old transgender student at the university of texas at dallas and the president of pride@utd, a student organization that acts as a social hub for lgbtq+ students and allies on campus. in recent months, his activism has targeted homophobia and bigotry at the university, an issue which even gained state and nationwide attention in july of this year.
ash thye (he/they)
ash thye is a queer photographer and scholar-activist studying human rights, environmental anthropology, and photography at smu. he advocates for campus reform as an openly transgender student and strategic director of the smu human rights council, and he is also a leader for trans-inclusive messaging in the dallas menstrual equity space. this year, ash co-curated and photographed lgbt student life for the exhibit in search of belonging, which places current student activism within a wider lineage of campus activism for lgbt students, and he plans to continue similar public arts/education work with human rights and environmental justice in the future.
sophie ventimiglia (she/her)
sophie ventimiglia is a sophomore studying psychology at the university of texas at dallas. in her time at utd, she’s had the honor of becoming the vice president of the national organization for women on campus, allowing her to find her voice as an intersectional activist, working on boosting civic engagement as a field canvasser for move texas, learning how to organize in a post-roe texas with planned parenthood, and working with tea fund to spread information on crisis pregnancy centers.