Raving NEXT Keynote Announced: tai simpson – storyteller, antiracism activist and community leader

We gather at Raving NEXT to improve our communication and leadership skills, to expand our knowledge, to master new skills, to connect and learn from thought-leaders. The sessions are motivating, they give us personal and operational tools to propel our teams and organizations forward.

It’s also a gathering to celebrate.

It’s our tradition at Raving NEXT, during our signature keynote luncheon, to gather our entire audience of tribal and non-tribal leaders, gaming suppliers, presenters and experts. We put our pens down, quiet our busy brains and are reminded of why our work for tribal organizations matter. Why our hours and efforts go to something much more significant than a corporation’s bottom line. How our industry changes lives.

For this year’s very special keynote, we are delighted to welcome tai simpson. Her title? Storyteller. She speaks with authentic conviction about issues affecting marginalized communities, including race and the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP). Using both contemporary and traditional Indigenous storytelling, she shares the perspective of the “old ways” and how they serve to protect the sacred, strengthen communities, and maintain balance in nature.

“What are we doing to show the people in our lives that they are sacred and they matter and that they are protected? And what are we doing as acts of kindness to each other in our communities and strangers?” – tai simpson

Sponsored by Imagine This

What can you expect? tai’s vision for an indigenized world offers practical strategies to integrate radical ideas into meaningful innovation and positive change in tribal gaming and beyond.  She shares, “Together, we’ll journey through the intersection of storytelling, ancestral wisdom, and Indigenous industry leadership, paving a path for empathy, progress, and collective empowerment.”

Visit Raving NEXT to find out more and register for this important conference. Raving sponsors full paid tuition to this conference for eligible candidates through their Tribal Scholarship and Tribal Leader VIP Pass programs. Click here for more information.

Special thanks to Imagine This for sponsoring this keynote luncheon.

To find out more about tai simpson, visit her website and view her TED Talk here or watch above.

Keynote Luncheon: Indigenous Futurism: Radical Innovation in Indigenous Leadership – January 28, 2025 @ 12:15 PM 

Join us for an electrifying keynote that combines the transformative power of Indigenous Futurism with the evolution of modern tribal enterprise. Tai explores “radical” not just as a political or social stance, but as an act of deep care and courage that centers culture and language as our compass for collective futures.

This keynote is a love song to Tai’s ancestors, unveiling how our imagination, unshackled from settler-colonization, can transform our communities and industries. tai’s vision for an Indigenized world offers practical strategies to integrate radical ideas into meaningful innovation and positive change in Tribal gaming and beyond.

Together, we’ll journey through the intersection of storytelling, ancestral wisdom, and Indigenous industry leadership, paving a path for empathy, progress, and collective empowerment.

View our agenda page for full session details