Roni Jo Draper, 2022 Affirmation International Conference
Roni Jo Draper speaking at the 2022 Affirmation International Conference on October 8th, 2022, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
About Roni Jo Draper
Roni Jo Draper, Ph.D. (Yurok|she.her) is a storyteller, educator, filmmaker, and activist. In her recent work she has turned to Indigenous storytelling and other art forms to share stories that center the lives of Indigenous peoples. She produced the film Scenes from the Glittering World, about the in- and out-of-school lives of three Navajo young people attending a remote high school on the Navajo Nation, which premiered at the 2021 Full Frame Film Festival and is currently streaming on PBS. Roni Jo is also a writer, producer, and director of the documentary Fire Tender, which centers the lives of Yurok fire practitioners as they use cultural fire to heal the world. She spoke at SXSW 2022 about the nature of Indigenous art and filmmaking and the need to decenter western approaches to artmaking and storytelling. Prior to her work as a filmmaker, Roni Jo was a professor of education and taught courses in multicultural education and global women’s studies at Brigham Young University. Additionally, Roni Jo works as an advocate for social justice in her community where she serves as the Chair of the Board of the ACLU of Utah, the Vice-President of PFLAG Provo/Utah County, and as a past member of the National Board of the ACLU.
About the Affirmation International Conference
The Affirmation International Conference is an annual conference hosted by Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families & Friends for the worldwide LGBTQIA+ Latter-day Saint community.
About Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families & Friends
Affirmation creates worldwide communities of safety, love, and hope and promotes understanding, acceptance, and self-determination of individuals of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions. We affirm the inherent self-worth of LGBTQIA+ individuals as complete, equal, and valuable persons and support them as they define their individual spirituality and intersection with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Affirmation’s vision is to be a refuge to land, heal, share, and be authentic.