At this time tickets are sold out. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, you can email lead@echo.rutgers.edu.
Save the Date: Mark Leadership Conference
Saturday, March 4, 2023
The MARK Conference is America’s largest and most immersive student-run leadership event, hosted by Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, part of Student Centers and Activities. We combine 20+ diverse speakers who have made their “mark” on society, extraordinary storytelling, and unique activities to create a virtual experience that inspires students to act, think creatively, and empower their communities. Follow us at @markconference and stay connected using the hashtag #MyMark.
Tickets are now live!
Tickets are first come, first serve and have sold out every year, so be sure to get your tickets from http://bit.ly/MARK22TIX
IN-PERSON TICKETS: Attendees join us at the Livingston Student Center where they have a full day (9AM-6PM) event with mainstages showcasing a range of speakers and student IGNITE stories along with breakout sessions, energizers, lunch, and giveaways! This is the full, interactive and immersive MARK conference experience. Tickets (valued at $150) are $25 for Rutgers students and $60 for non-Rutgers students and the general public. All attendees need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours.
VIRTUAL TICKETS: Our virtual option highlights the best of our conference with live streams of our mainstages and access to a limited selection of our breakout sessions throughout the day. Tickets are $25 for both students and the general public to join us virtually.
The Mark Conference Planning team is dedicated to creating an open environment for all attendees and providing the necessary accommodations to individuals with disabilities and others special needs during the event. If you need any accommodations, please feel free to reach out to us at sd1259@echo.rutgers.edu.
Individuals seeking financial assistance to attend the MARK Conference should email sd1259@echo.rutgers.edu with the subject line: Mark Conference Financial Assistance.
Are you a visiting school or a Rutgers organization looking for group tickets? Please email sd1259@echo.rutgers.edu for more information.
Rutgers Students
$25
Current Rutgers Students
Includes:
Mainstage Sessions
Lunch
Total 12 Breakout Sessions
Interactive Energizer Sessions
Giveaway
General Admission
$60
Non-Rutgers Students/Staff/Faculty/Public
Includes:
Mainstage Sessions
Lunch
Total 12 Breakout Sessions
Interactive Energizer Sessions
Giveaway
Virtual
$25
Digital Access Only
Includes:
Mainstage Sessions
Selected Breakout Sessions
Virtual Access Via Cadence
Interested in group ticket sales? We offer group ticket packages at $60 for 1-5 tickets,
$55 for 6-11 tickets, and $50 for 12+ tickets for regional institutions and visiting students.
2022 Mainstage Speakers
Terrence Floyd
Terrence Floyd is a social activist who speaks not only to honor the life and legacy of his brother George Floyd who was murdered in May 2020 by Minneapolis Police, but also to use his voice to uplift and galvanize a worldwide racial justice movement. He also founded WeAreFloyd, based in Brooklyn, which uses community service and leadership development to provide young people of color hope for the future.
Dr. Ivonne Diaz-Classe
Dr. Ivonne Díaz-Claisse is the founder and CEO of HISPA (Hispanics Inspiring Student’s Performance and Achievement). This nonprofit aims to inspire Lantino students to discover their potential and ignite their desires to embrace education and achieve success by mobilizing Latino professionals to serve as role models for programs in the communities they live and work.
Karlito Almeda
Karlito Almeda was inspired to become a civic activist due to his connection to the environment. As an organizer for Environment New Jersey, he spent the summer knocking on thousands of doors to protect NJ’s clean air, water, and land. He currently serves as Chief of Staff in the New Jersey General Assembly. He knows leaving a legacy is easier said than done, but is passionately working to create the new generation of leadership in politics.
Jackie Fabulous
Jackie Fabulous is a stand-up comedian, actress, and writer who has been featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, The Arsenio Hall Show, Last Comic Standing, and America’s Got Talent. Prior to comedy, she was a former lawyer who has lived an incredibly full life filled with love, tragedy, embarrassing moments, and hard lessons that she channels into her material. More than just a funny lady, she is on a mission to inspire and empower women all over the world to Find the Funny in Their Flaws.
Larry Jacobs
Larry Jacobs is the program director for Rutgers’ Career Exploration & Success, a Career Advisor for the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and a Healthcare Professor in Psychology. He was born deaf, but believes that a positive attitude is everything and will carry you far! He has been a featured TEDx speaker twice, founded NJ’s largest playground called Kidstreet, and carried the Torch for the 1996 Olympic Games.
Kristen Gibbons Feden
Kristen Gibbons Feden is a nationally renowned sex abuse attorney and known as one of the leading litigators of the #MeToo movement. She prosecuted against many crimes including: homicides, sexual abuse, child pornography, and elder and domestic violent crimes. She was one of the lead prosecutors in both trials of William H. Cosby. She has represented survivors of institutional sexual abuse nationwide as well as advocates for survivors of sexual abuse with victims rights organizations and as a commentator for NBC.
Chibbi
Chibbi is a Mexican-born, Texas-raised poet, actor, and host. He began performing poetry in 2006. Since then, he founded Laredo BorderSlam and was a founding member of Houston’s poetry spot, Write About Now, where he was their residential host for three years. He has also self-published two books, with his most recent being OTRO/PATRIA released in 2019 which takes a journey through the intersections of identity.
John Hulme
John Hulme is a New Jersey native writer and filmmaker. He directed the award-winning documentary Unknown Soldier: Searching For A Father on HBO as well as a series of films for the NJ Prison Justice Watch, American Civil Liberties Union, and Abolish The Drug War Coalition. Currently, John teaches Documentary Filmmaking and Social Justice Storytelling at Rutgers, and anxiously awaits the production of his first feature length horror screenplay, Bagman, which hopefully, will be shooting in Bulgaria this June.
Sohaila Abdulali
Sohaila Abdulali is an author and survivor advocate. She has written two novels, several children’s books, and an assortment of materials with the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Program, and more. She was a journalist and development worker in Philadelphia, Boston, Bombay, and New York. She wrote a op-ed in The New York Times which broke readership records in January 2013. Her latest book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape addresses the issue of rape on many levels, from international policy to bedroom dynamics.
Monti Washington
Author and
Motivational Speaker
Patrice Banks
Former Auto Airhead and Founder of Girls Auto Clinic
Ms. Iana J. Daniels
US Army Active Duty Major
Kimberly A. Brown
Founder of ManifestYourself.com
Dan Parris & David Peterka
Traveling Documentarians
Clint Smith
Acclaimed Spoken Word Poet
Award-winning Educator
Griffin Matthews & Matt Gould
Creators of Invisible Thread
Stephanie Klemons
Award-Winning Broadway Performer &
Choreographer from Hamilton
Nyle DiMarco
Winner of America’s Next Top Model &
Disability Rights Activist
Lexi & Alyse Scaffidi
Creators of BiteSizedFitness & The Body Confident
VS Fashion Show
Rowaida Abdelaziz
Journalist at Huffpost
Josh Rossi
Commercial Photographer and Viral Philanthropist
Fraidy Reiss
Founder and Executive Director of
Unchained at Last
Tamika D. Mallory
National Co-chair for the Women’s March
Angelo Pinto
Senior Attorney
2022 Ignite Speakers
Roja Vanaparthi
Roja Vanaparthi is a senior pursing both Finance and Supply Chain Management majors as a first-generation, South Asian student in the Rutgers Business School. She hopes to launch a non-profit aimed at preserving the environment by educating others and creating opportunities for change. Her passions are based in giving back and teaching others regarding social issues in an environment of learning. She hopes her story inspires listeners to challenge how they consider societal and cultural norms to explore a deeper aspect of their personal identities in regards to their relationships with others.
Tim Chung
Tim Chung is a senior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Digital Communication Information and Media (DCIM). He transferred from Bergen Community College in the Fall of 2019. Tim’s talk is about how his journey of growth and spirituality which inspired him to want to work with youth and adolescents in need. After graduation, Tim plans to continue his education by pursuing either a Masters in Public School Leadership Psy.D. in School Psychology to work with students, school, and youth leadership. Tim can often be found hanging out with the people he care about over cups of cortado or black coffee.
Areeba Sajid
Areeba Sajid is a senior majoring in Human Resource Management with a minor in Labor Studies. She grew up in Hudson County, NJ surrounded by her very loving and culturally dominant Pakistani family who taught her Urdu before English and spent more summers in Pakistan than America. After navigating ambiguity and the role her household and society pressures her into as a South Asian women, she hopes to share her story to inspire others to break the cycles of gender and cultural norms to encourage the growth and development of individuality instead.
Caitlin Uriarte
Caitlin Uriarte is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Health with a concentration in Social and Behavior Health Sciences. She graduated undergrad at Rutgers in 2019 with a double major in Public Health and Communications. Now, she is a health professional by day and a 24-year-old Scarlet Knight by night. She loves supporting local bands, long walks on Long Beach Island, and going to talk shows with her mom, boyfriend, and friends in New York City. She hopes her story will leave a MARK on the next generation of Scarlet Knights by inspiring them to embrace and celebrate change rather than fear it.
Tatyana Aguilar
Tatyana Aguilar is a senior majoring in Public Health with a minor in Africana Studies. She is a first-generation Latina college student with hopes of starting a Masters of Public Health program in Fall of 2022. She currently interns with HOPE as a sexual health advocate and works as an office manager for the Center for Social Justice Education and LGBTQ Communities. She is passionate about helping represent underrepresented communities, something she constantly fought for while battling her own mental health disorders. She hopes to share her mental health journey to inspires others to never give up.
Priya Ahmed
Priya Ahmed is a senior majoring in journalism. She is also an intern at ABC News and dreams to be a reporter for Good Morning America. Priya is a first-generation Bengali-American and is proud of her mixed heritage which she hopes to share more of in Western media. In her spare times she enjoys: women’s wrestling, piano, trying new foods and hanging with friends. She prides herself on her love for adventure and spontaneity. In sharing her story, she hopes listeners consider the role of both hardships and success in the journey of life to reflect on their purpose and influence for every individual.
Mark Insights
Mark Captains: Planning Team
Juhi Patel
Public Relations & Technical Captain
Juhi Patel (she/her) is a senior double majoring in Exercise Science & Political Science on the pre-law track; she will serve as the 2022 Public Relations & Technical Captain. She is the vice president of her fraternity, Alpha Zeta, the layout editor for The Examiner, Rutgers’ pre-health student journal, and a Resident Assistant on the College Ave. When she isn’t running between classes and extracurriculars, you can probably find her sitting at Passion Puddle or in the basement of Mabel Smith Douglass Library.
Aaron Thomas
Energizers Captain
Aaron Thomas (he/him) is a senior majoring in Business, Analytics, and Information Technology (BAIT) and minoring in Military Sciences; he will serve as the 2022 Energizers Captain. He is an Army ROTC Cadet hoping to commission as an active-duty Army officer after graduation, but while on campus he is a part of SCREAM Theater hoping to help educate people about sensitive topics. On campus, you might be able to spot Aaron somewhere deep in the Livingston ecological preserve or at the gym.
Emily Unverricht
Ignite Captain
Emily Unverricht (she/her) is a senior majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in Psychology on the pre-physician assistant track; she will serve as the 2022 Ignite Captain. She previously acted as a site leader for the Rutgers Alternative Breaks program after attending a trip her sophomore year. Emily also works at RWJ University Hospital as a Clinical Care Technician. She is hoping to use her experience working with people to help ignite a spark in other students and prepare them for their role on the mainstage.
Paolo Arante
HR & Outreach Captain
Paolo Arante (he/him) is a senior majoring in Marketing and minoring in Dance; he will serve as the 2022 HR & Outreach captain. He is highly involved in extracurriculars around campus such as Enactus, Career Exploration and Success, SCREAM Theater, Rutgers Association of Marketing and Strategy, and the Honors College. He is excited to work with the captain team after previously serving in the conference SWAT team. Paolo loves to stay active by bouldering, powerlifting, and practicing his handstands.
Rachael Carrión
Transformation of Space Captain
Rachael Carrión (she/her) is a junior majoring in Human Resource Management; she will serve as the 2022 Transformation of Space Captain. She loves working with other Rutgers students in her roles as a Resident Assistant and a Career Exploration and Success Ambassador. If she isn’t working or going to class, you’d be able to find her swimming laps at the College Ave Gym or grabbing a snack at the Cook Café.
Adam Fogarty
Co-Logistics Captain
Adam Fogarty (he/him) is a senior majoring in Economics; he will serve as the 2022 undergraduate MARK Intern and one of the Logistics captains. His latest project as been training himself to run a marathon. Adam loves to explore, from making travel plans to escaping into fictional worlds through film. This will be his fourth year working on the conference, second as part of the captain team, and he is ecstatic to see how it turns out!
Mustafa Akbari
Co-Logistics Captain
Mustafa Akbari (he/him) is a senior double majoring in Supply Chain Management and Marketing; he will serve as one of the 2022 Logistics captains. Mustafa enjoys eating sushi, playing video games, or picking up a volleyball game. On campus, you can probably find him pretending to study at the James Carr library or hanging out with his friends.
Tanvi Thigle
Co-Logistics Captain
Tanvi Thigle (she/her) is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science; she will serve as one of the 2022 Logistics captains. She enjoys applying what she learns by teaching elementary school kids how to code. Stepping away from her laptop, Himalayan hikes are one of her favorite adventures to embark on. This upcoming year, she is excited to step into a new position to build something new and significant alongside her MARK captains.
Sponsors
The Cultural Center Collaborative
Violence Prevention Victim Assistance (VPVA)
Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA)
Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb S.T.E.A.M. Women’s Empowerment Initiatives
Rutgers Commuter Student Association (RCSA)
Student Involvement and Leadership Week
Honors College
Rutgers University Alternative Breaks (RUAB)
If you are interested in partnering with the 2022 Mark Leadership Conference as a sponsor, email sd1259@echo.rutgers.edu for more information.
Location
The 2022 conference will allow attendees to have the option to attend in-person or virtually.
Livingston Student Center
84 Joyce Kilmer Avenue
Piscataway NJ 08854
If you are a visitor who needs to park (and do not have a Rutgers permit), we have reserved lots 105, 112, Green & Yellow near the Livingston Student Center (LSC), for the event.
Non-Rutgers attendees and speakers can park in this lot on the day of the conference without a permit. Please note, current Rutgers students must park in their permitted lot. View the weekend bus schedule here.
Contact Us
This conference is an initiative of Student Centers and Activities‘ Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, in the division of Student Affairs. Contact the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership at (848) 932-4093, sd1259@echo.rutgers.edu.
