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COSGA 2023 Keynote Speakers
Reagan Pugh
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Reagan has designed and taught leadership courses for Texas State University, Trinity University, and Angelo State University. From 2009-2011 he served as a 10th grade English teacher with Teach for America on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. During that time he also launched a theater program which, in its inaugural year, won the state one-act play competition for the first time in school history.
Reagan is invested in the work of the Epilepsy Foundation, occasionally performs improv around Austin, and probably knows more about Batman than you do. He lives in Austin, Texas with his fiancé, Elle, and helps her with her online greenery boutique business when his brain gets foggy. Their fur-baby is Lily and they’re obsessed with her.
Carlotta Walls LaNier
In 1957, fourteen-year-old Carlotta Walls was the youngest Little Rock Nine member to integrate Central High School. She and eight other Black students faced angry mobs, racist elected officials, and federal intervention by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to escort the Nine safely into the building. Little did she realize that day that this was the beginning of a journey that would challenge prevailing attitudes, break down barriers, and forever change the social landscape of America. Overcoming her initial need to forget her turbulent past, Carlotta Walls LaNier has told her dramatic story for the first time in A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School. An adaptation of the book for young readers is scheduled for publication in early 2023.
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Tara Storch
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Opening up about her journey of finding hope and purpose after the loss of her daughter Taylor, she speaks publicly across the nation and shares her powerful “Outlive Yourself” message. Sharing her journey on Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Ellen Show, People Magazine and other national and international media, she brings a message of inspiration that has touched lives around the world.