Dr. Heather Heimerl Brunold
President & CEO
Heather Heimerl Brunold, M.Ed., Ed.D., has been a thought leader in education, specializing in identity development and the science of learning for more than three decades. After completing her doctorate in education from the University of Southern California, Heather became passionate about utilizing her expertise outside the four walls of a classroom, and instead on behalf of the greater community. Seeing an opportunity to use the TED brand in support of the local good, Heather acquired the TEDxPasadena and TEDxPasadenaWomen licenses and has focused the brands as vehicles to positively influence our community’s approach to learning. This ultimately led her to establish Words2Action, a nonprofit organization that serves as the fiscal agent for our local TEDx efforts, but also whose mission is to transform the words we speak into tangible action. As an empath, Heather is by her nature a helper, healer and teacher. Her passion for learning and her love of relationship building are the reasons she enjoys serving our community.
Carrie Walker
Board Chair
In addition to owning and operating her real estate investment firm, Carrie is active in the Pasadena community, serving various organizations for nearly 20 years. Her early career began in event planning in Washington, DC. The skills learned in that area have been paramount to her local charity work. Over the last 20 years, she served in the Pasadena Children’s Guild, Circle of Friends (as President), Urban Compass Guild (as a founding member), and Huntington Hospital (as a volunteer in the Emergency Department). Carrie is also an active board member for both Kidspace Children’s Museum and Young & Healthy. She also dedicates time to her alma mater, Georgetown University as an alumni interviewer and class reunion coordinator. Carrie is the proud wife of Scott Walker and mother of three children. When not volunteering or running her company, Carrie enjoys spending time with her husband of 18 years, their children, and their extended family and friends. She is very excited to be a part of the Words2Action team after her years with TEDxPasadenaWomen.
Bernadette Capulong
Bernadette Capulong is the CEO & Founder of BC Design Haus, a WBENC and small business-certified, full-service design and branding agency in the Los Angeles area. They drive results by combining creativity and marketing data to bring smart branding solutions to customers.
Born in the Philippines, Bernadette’s parents immigrated to Portland, Oregon, when she was a child. She graduated high school with honors and attended California State University Long Beach, earning her a Bachelor of Art in Graphic Design.
After her education, it wasn’t long before she soared quickly up the ranks at corporations like IBM, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, and Mattel. She spearheaded global billion-dollar brands like Barbie, Crunch, and Minecraft, with innovations and sales records through her creative efforts.
In 2009, she founded BC Design Haus at the cusp of the recession. Bernadette’s vision was simple: high-quality work, in half the time then the competition, adding greater value while building long-term relationships.
Although she is meant to be an entrepreneur, she is also meant to be a mother, and a single one at that. Bernadette adopted her son in 2015, and found that motherhood sparked in her a desire to be an even more fearless, inspiring and determined leader than ever before.
Olivia Hudnut
Olivia Hudnut is a licensed attorney in California clerking in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. She also serves as the vice co-chair on the American Constitution Society’s Los Angeles Lawyer Chapter. Olivia began advocating for those with muted voices as a member of the University of Southern California Sexual Assault Task Force and Violence Outreach Intervention and Community Empowerment (V.O.I.C.E.) representative. She has used her legal skills to speak on behalf of and empower disenfranchised, marginalized members of our community as a student lawyer with the Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County’s Workers’ Rights and Reentry Clinics, University of Southern California International Human Rights Clinic, and as a legal fellow with the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Central District of California. As a recent addition to the Board of Words2Action, she hopes to bring her legal experience to bear in bolstering the foundation of the organization and serve its mission to transform good intentions into positive change.
Linda Hunter
Linda Hunter is a creative collaborator and banking professional with over 25 years in the retail and private banking industries. Her commitment to exceptional client experience, employee engagement, operational and brand integrity have been the bedrock of her career successes. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to giving back to the communities in which she’s served which allowed her to launch and participate in multiple volunteer opportunities including with Dress for Success, Team Impact, SCS Noonan Scholars and Junior Achievement. Linda has volunteered with TEDx Pasadena Since 2015.
Linda’s passion for dialog towards positive change and creating space for muted voices led her to the important mission of Words2Action.
Sydney Wright
Sydney Wright is a licensed attorney in California and currently practices Labor and Employment litigation at Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP. Sydney attended Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, where she graduated magna cum laude and further developed her passion for service and advocacy in the community. Prior to joining Constangy, Sydney began her legal career at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP where she gained valuable experience practicing general litigation and providing pro bono legal services to nonprofit organizations. As a third-generation Los Angeles native, Sydney wholeheartedly believes that diversity of perspective and experience is what makes a community strong. Sydney is motivated and inspired by Words2Action’s mission of helping muted voices be heard, and is thrilled to be a part of all the important work Words2Action will continue to do.
Bryan Kett
Bryan Kett is an award-winning educator turned writer and storyteller. He is a graduate of Chicago’s Second City Training Center writing program, and he received his Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from DePaul University. In addition to working as a Story Coach for Words2Action, Bryan also serves as a producer for The Story Collider, a nonprofit dedicated to sharing true personal stories about science; an instructor for The Story Studio, a New York-based organization dedicated to teaching the craft of personal storytelling; and as Story Coach for Unheard LA, an live-storytelling initiative of KPCC and Southern California Public Radio. In 2018, Bryan presented at TEDxPasadena, and his TEDx Talk was the first in license history to be featured on TED.com. His work has also been featured on The Moth Podcast, KCRW, Soulpancake, RISK!, and Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out (Virtually). Bryan firmly believes that impactful storytelling is something that everyone is capable of and that it’s something we need now more than ever.
Agnes Constante
Agnes Constante is a freelance journalist whose work focuses on the Asian American community. Her writing has appeared in NBC Asian America, TimesOC, Inquirer.net, Prism, and Asian Journal. She is a data and engagement fellow at USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism, where she is working on a project about the impact of COVID-19 on the Filipino American community. She was also a 2020 California fellow at the center, where she spearheaded a three-part series, published in TimesOC, about the lack of culturally-sensitive healthcare in Orange County’s Cambodian and Vietnamese communities. Agnes’ work has been recognized by the Los Angeles Press Club and Philippine American Press Club. She currently serves as secretary for the Los Angeles chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, was a youth mentor at the Watts Empowerment Center, and volunteered as social media coordinator for TEDxPasadena in 2017 and 2018. Agnes is deeply committed to amplifying voices that are often overlooked in media and seeks to bring that commitment to Words2Action. Outside of work, Agnes is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hiking and visiting national parks.