About Speakers

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  Rev. Dr. Robin Smith (Saturday Conference Session Speaker) is an ordained minister, national television personality, best-selling author, and licensed psychologist. Dr. Smith's relationship book, Lies At The Altar - The Truth About Great Marriages has been a #1 National Bestseller on the lists of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publisher's Weekly, Entertainment Weekly and many other publications. Dr. Robin has worked as a national and local television correspondent and appeared numerous times on news and entertainment television and radio programs. Her contributions include appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, NBC/The Today Show, ABC News/Good Morning America, CBS/The Early Show, MSNBC, The Fox News Channel, and many other news and talk show formats. Dr. Smith also hosted a five-day a week call-in program on Oprah Radio where listeners got their daily dose of Inspiration, Information and Empowerment.
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  Dr. Towanna Freeman (Friday Girls to Women Night Speaker) is a licensed minister, author, life coach, management consultant, and advocate for young women. As a licensed minister and teacher, Dr. Freeman conducts workshops and conferences where she imparts a life-changing message that presents hope and inspiration. The past 10 years has seen Freeman touch the lives of young women everywhere through voicing her views in many radio, television and print interviews. Her expertise concerning today's youth has compelled many organizations to seek her out as an advisor about the impact popular music, specifically hip-hop, has upon young people. She holds a reputation as a committed professional dedicated to teaching others to trust God and the direction in which He leads them. Freeman is the founder of the Young Women's Empowerment Network designed to help teen girls realize their potential to succeed in life, and in 2008 she launched a new empowerment conference called GIRL PREP that is designed for pre-teen girls. Freeman has recently been featured on AOL Black Voices, AT&T's "28 Days of Inspiration," and Essence.com.
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  Evangelist Dr. Cynthia Turner (Saturday Conference Session Speaker) is a licensed minister, author, and member of the accountancy faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the leader of the national recording gospel ensemble, Cynthia Turner and Heartspeak, and served as writer and co-producer on their two cd albums. A breast cancer survivor, Turner believes that during her period of healing, God used her physical battle as a spiritual classroom and wrote about the insights gained in her book entitled, "My Seven-Day Makeover: One Breast Cancer Survivor's Spiritual Journey." She ministers throughout the country and is passionate about preaching the Gospel, lecturing on God's design for healthy living, and serving in music ministry. Also a CPA, Turner is a summa cum laude graduate of North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, NC) with a BS in Accounting, and holds a MS and PhD in accounting from the Ohio State University (Columbus, OH). She is currently the director of the Women's Ministry at Canaan Baptist Church (Pastor B.J. Tatum) in Urbana, IL.
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  First Lady Barbara Tatum (Saturday Workshop Leader) is First Lady of Canaan Baptist Church, A Going Church For A Coming Christ, where her husband, Rev. B. J. Tatum, is Founding and Senior Pastor. She is Director of Christian Education; a Bible teacher; team-teacher with her husband on male and female differences; speaker at women's groups, retreats, seminars, and workshops throughout the United States and abroad; former writer of a weekly religious column in a Chicago community newspaper, The Woodlawn Observer. She is a former President of the Progressive Baptist Women's Auxiliary of Chicago and Vicinity; Church Administrative Secretary; former Administrative Secretary to the Mayor of Urbana; mother of 4 (one deceased), and grandmother of 5 grandsons. Above all, she is deliriously in love with Jesus Christ, our Savior!
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  Dr. Ollie Watts Davis (Saturday Workshop Leader) is Professor of Music and Music Director/Conductor of the award-winning University of Illinois Black Chorus. She is also founder of the Black Sacred Music Symposium, author of TALKS My Mother Never Had With Me (Volumes I and II), and executive producer for CD recordings, Here's One, and Have Thine Own Way, Lord. Her New York debut at Carnegie Hall was followed by National Public Radio broadcasts with the nation's leading orchestras, opera performances, and recitals at esteemed venues, including the West Virginia Governor's Mansion. International credits include performances in Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Dr. Davis conducts workshops for women, couples, and music departments. For over 30 years she has served at Canaan Baptist Church (Urbana, Illinois), where she is currently the Director of the Music Ministry. West Virginia native Ollie Watts Davis holds the Bachelor of Science (magna cum laude, 1994 Alumna of the Year, West Virginia Tech University); Master of Arts (West Virginia University); and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). In 2008, Dr. Davis was named University Scholar, the highest recognition bestowed upon a member of the faculty at the University of Illinois.
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  Evangelist Ruthann Lampkin (Saturday Workshop Leader) is a licensed minister and founder of Interfaith Connecting Ministry, a unique ministry to nursing home residents. She is the former Assistant Pastor of Mt. Calvary Miracle Temple Church (Tulsa, OK) and former Assistant Pastor and Director of Christian Education at Trinity Full Gospel Church (Muskogee, OK). While in Muskogee, Lampkin served as the State Coordinator for AARP's Health Advocacy Service, and was the first woman President of Muskogee Ministerial Alliance. She was a Chaplain for Muskogee Regional Medical Center for 12 years. Since moving to Urbana, she has served as a Deaconess and Small Group Coach at Urbana Assembly of God. She also worked as a nurse at Clark-Lindsay Village in the evenings. Currently, Lampkin works on staff at the Church of the Living God (Champaign, IL) as Sunday School Teacher, Sanctuary Nurse, and Associate Minister.
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  Evangelist Louise VanDyke (Saturday Workshop Leader) is founder of Sisters of CU, an organization that seeks to serve the spiritual needs of black women in the Champaign-Urbana community. VanDyke is a member of Mt. Olive Baptist Church (Champaign, IL) where the Late Rev. Dr. Lundy Savage was her pastor. She is currently director of Wednesday Night Bible Study at Mt. Olive. VanDyke was married to the Late Luchion VanDyke for 27 years. She is the mother of five children and the proud grandmother of 7. VanDyke states that when this journey is completed, her desire is to hear the Master say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant."
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  Dr. JoAnn Archey (Thursday Health Forum Panelist) is a family medicine physician at Christie Clinic in Rantoul, IL. Dr. Archey treats patients from birth to senior years for a variety of health conditions including (but not limited to) diabetes, blood pressure and high cholesterol problems. She is also the director of Canaan's Health Ministry and the facilitator of a health and fitness class focused on living a balanced life. Dr. Archey is the married mother of three adult sons.
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  Dr. Sharon Walker Watkins (Thursday Health Forum Panelist) is a board certified OB-GYN, with 25 years of experience specializing in women's health for all age ranges. A native of Michigan, Dr. Watkins currently practices in Davenport, IA and is the married mother of three.
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  Dr. Angela Black (Thursday Health Forum Panelist) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at The University of Illinois. As a gender-critical health disparities scientist, Dr. Black's research centers around understanding how stress emerging from black women's racial and gender experiences may lead to disparate health behaviors and health outcomes. Specifically, her goal is to translate black women's insight on the obligations and experiences of "strength" (the notion that black women have to "be strong" when faced with stressors and demands) into culturally-responsive interventions aimed at reducing health disparities among black women. Dr. Black received her undergraduate training in Psychology at Tulane University; doctoral training in Child and Family Development and Women's Studies at the University of Georgia; and CDC-funded postdoctoral training in Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is currently a Mentored Research Scientist on a study on stress, strength, and breast cancer screening intentions of black women, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).