MESA Talks 2020 - Broken & Inequitable Systems

Marcus Bullock is an entrepreneur, justice reform advocate, and public speaker. Following his 2004 release from prison and running a successful construction business, Bullock launched Flikshop, an app that enables incarcerated people to receive personalized postcards from their families; building community and decreasing recidivism. He also founded the Flikshop School of Business, a program that teaches returning citizens life skills and entrepreneurship. He is a Techstars alumni and was selected as one of The Root’s 2019 100 Most Influential African Americans in the US. Shortly after, Bullock was named a 2020 Halcyon Incubator Fellow. He is a member of the Justice Policy Institute’s board of directors, Advisory Board member for Princeton University’s Prison Teaching Initiative, and serves as an advisor to the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and Aspen Institute’s Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund. Married with two children, Bullock’s story has received coverage from Forbes, CNN, Washington Post, Black Enterprise, and NPR.

Isabel’s love of the night sky started at a young age, but the idea of a career in STEM didn’t become viable until after she had dropped out of college as an undergraduate. During her four-year break from academia, Isabel began her work as an educator which would prepare her for later roles as a student leader, science communicator, and a mentor. She picked up her studies again at Portland State University where she became an LSAMP, Ronald E. McNair, and Oregon Space Grant Scholar. She was among the 2.7% of Black students to graduate with a B.S. in physics in 2018, and is now a Masters student at Oregon State University majoring in physics and minoring in ethnic studies. A Black feminist, writer, and science-fiction nerd, Isabel is interested in challenging systems of oppression to make STEM a more equitable and inclusive space.

Connor Morrow is a PhD student studying biomimetic robotics at Portland State University. Along with his mechanical engineering studies, he teaches freshman engineering courses and runs small engineering workshops for middle and high school students. He works towards making STEM education more accessible and spreads awareness of better education strategies for more inclusive and effective classrooms.

Launching a weather balloon 100,000 feet into the stratosphere (3.5 times taller than Mt. Everest) to capture images of the full solar eclipse that occurred in August of 2017, Rihana Mungin has defied the laws of possibility, both for herself and for engineering students at Portland State University. But it's been a journey getting there. Rihana Mungin is a graduate student in the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, specializing in mechanical engineering.