Women with Voices - "Voices of Courage"

Eight courageous women will share their personal stories and the challenges they have overcome. Come network, connect, and meet other amazing women while enjoying an evening filled with inspiring stories and meaningful conversations. Enjoy charcuterie, refreshments, and networking as you hear from courageous women sharing their personal journeys, challenges, and stories of finding strength and courage through difficult seasons. This is an opportunity to connect, be inspired, and celebrate the power of women supporting women. Come with an open heart, meet someone new, and leave inspired by the voices and stories of women who have found their courage. Dr. CJ Jackson founded the Phenomenal Woman Academy, a nonprofit dedicated to leadership development for women and girls, and Confidently Me! Coaching LLC, where she partners with organizations to strengthen executive leadership, team dynamics, and build organizational capability. She holds a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Oral Roberts University and created the Triplet Theory, a framework that explores self-worth, self-esteem, and self-confidence as interconnected pillars of personal leadership. She also oversees organizational development for a public utility serving the Omaha community, reflecting her belief that leadership development matters in every space, from the boardroom to the living room. A former Division I track and field athlete and breast cancer survivor, Dr. Jackson speaks with Candor about the discipline it takes to rebuild identity and confidence through life's hardest seasons. Dr. Shari Strong is a Workplace Consultant and creator of Decision DynamiX, an EQ assessment based on decision-making, an International Speaker, and an Author with a Doctorate of Strategic Leadership. She has shared the stage with Nick Vijic, Les Brown, and John Maxwell. Her personal mission is to help others Do More, Have More, and BE more! Recently, she founded The Josh Place, a non-profit in memory of her late son, who lived with paranoid schizophrenia for 13 years and went home to be with the Lord in 2022. The goal is to build long-term housing for individuals living with chronic mental illnesses who do not require full-time care, starting with 42 rooms here in Omaha. Her hobbies are spending time with her six grandkids and golfing! Stacie Spies-Matz, Psy.D., is a psychologist, coach, speaker, and founder of Level Up TO Health. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience helping people navigate stress, change, and life transitions, Stacie now helps people step off autopilot, reconnect with what matters, and live with greater intention. Her work blends mindfulness, self-compassion, values, and practical action to help people quiet the noise and build lives that feel as good on the inside as they look on the outside. Hayley Fischer is a passionate community advocate for children, women, and survivors. Through her active board involvement and personal commitment to mental health and resilience, she helps women find their voices, embrace their personal stories, and turn lived experience into purpose and hope. Sherri Griggs, APRN, AGPCNP-BC, is a board-certified nurse practitioner and hormone specialist based in Omaha. She founded Balanced Body Health and Wellness, where she helps patients feel like themselves again through personalized hormone care. Sherri earned her advanced nursing education at Walden University. Outside the clinic, she gives her heart to animal welfare, elderly care, and veteran support. Ashley Lynn is a Holistic Trauma Coach, Substance Abuse Counselor, author, speaker, and founder of Sunshine Academy, a transformational platform that helps women move from surviving to thriving. Through her own journey of adversity, loss, trauma, addiction, and resilience, Ashley transformed the experiences that once broke her into the foundation of a mission dedicated to helping women reclaim their confidence, reconnect with themselves, and create lives beyond survival mode. Through Sunshine Academy, Ashley blends trauma-informed coaching with holistic approaches to emotional wellness, nervous system regulation, chakra healing, inner-child work, manifestation, and personal growth. She created Fire & Flow, a nine-module transformational course designed to guide women through healing, self-discovery, emotional release, and personal transformation. Ashley is also an author and speaker who shares a powerful message of resilience, empowerment, healing, and becoming the woman you were always meant to be. Her mission is simple: to remind women that their story doesn’t end with what happened to them—it begins with what they choose to do next. Sunshine Academy — Healing with a little bit of fire For over two decades, Sarah has helped individuals, couples, and groups find Balance and restore mental and emotional well-being while navigating life's many challenges. She believes deeply in each person's inherent capacity for growth, healing, and meaningful change. Sarah brings both professional expertise and personal understanding to her work. She is a Breast Cancer survivor, and she is especially passionate about supporting others on their own journey with compassion, resilience, humor, and Hope. Nichole Mahoney is a mother, entrepreneur, and community advocate from Omaha, Nebraska, the "Professional Plot Twist Navigator" to people who know her best. She is co-owner of Challenge Island Omaha Northwest and founder of sum&substance, llc, where she brings financial clarity, organized systems, and confidence to business owners. Beyond her business roles, Nichole writes and speaks on dignity and degradation in relationships, drawing from her own life experience. Her essay "The Friend I Never Got to Keep" appears in Women With Voices, Volume One, where she recounts an unlikely bond she formed with her partner's late ex-wife. Her guiding belief: dignity isn't about staying in control; it's about choosing who you are, even when everything is being taken away from you.