About Andrea Barrica
Andrea Barrica is the CEO and co-founder of O.school, a judgment-free media platform to learn about sexuality and pleasure. As a queer woman of color, she’s been fighting to bring more humanity to the tech industry, and her mission is to create the world’s most trusted sexual wellness brand to help people increase their sexual health, power, and confidence. Previously, Andrea co-founded the leading financial solution for growing startups, inDinero.com, which now employs 150+ employees globally. She also served as a venture partner at 500 Startups, a global venture capital fund, where she worked with hundreds of startup companies.
Andrea was raised in a religious, conservative Filipino family that only taught abstinence and she only had fear-based sex education in public schools. Seeking support and information, Barrica could not find reliable resources and experienced harassment online. Determined that no one else should have to struggle like she did, Barrica launched O.schoolin 2017 to change the way people learn about sexuality.
Andrea is the author of “Sextech Revolution: the Future of Sexual Wellness,” and has been published in the NYTimes, SELF,Forbes.com, and recognized on Fast Companies Queer 50 inaugural list.
The future of sex through tech…which is much closer than you may think
Opening Session: Monday, 11/16, 2:00 PM ET
Facilitator: Andrea Barrica | CEO & Co-founder of O.school, Author
From sexting, to dating apps, and watching porn, young people are connected to technology and digital media more than ever, and this connectivity is helping shape their virtual and physical relationships with others. For some educators it’s hard to imagine intimate relationships that started, matured, culminated, and ended all through the use of digital media. For others, it’s impossible not to think of digital media as a critical ingredient for meeting and connecting with potential partners.
Andrea Barrica, sextech entrepreneur and founder of O.school and the author of Sextech Revolution: the Future of Sexual Wellness will invite us to take a step into the world of how technology will continue to shape how we experience sexuality and relationships, and how we can take advantage of the platform it provides to promote sexual wellness for all, but mostly for sexual minorities often left out of traditional sexual health messaging.
Coming from a conservative, first-generation Filipino-American family, Andrea struggled with her own sexuality at a young age. As a queer, spirited entrepreneur, she founded O.school to fill the gap between traditional sex ed and porn by bringing judgment-free, medically accurate educational content online.
Andrea will take us on a tour exploring the current landscape of technology—the good and the concerning—that youth are engaging with and provide actionable ways for educators and youth advocates to meet youth where they are—which is often online in digital spaces.
Porn: A Conversation with Sex Workers and Sex Educators
Closing Plenary: Wednesday, 11/18, 3:45 PM ET
Moderator: Mia Little
Panelists: King Noire and Jet Setting Jasmine, Mani Bleechington, Avry Schellenbach | Health Connected, Gillian Silver | ETR (Education, Training and Research), Hilary Towle | Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, & Jessica Melendez | San Ysidro Health Center – Teen Clinic
Join adult film performer, sex worker, and sex ed workshop leader Mia Little for a provocative, interdisciplinary conversation with sex workers and sex educators. The topic: Pornography.
They will be joined by panelists who either produce porn, study porn, teach about it, or do some combination of the three: Mani Bleechington, King Noire, Jet Setting Jasmine, Jessica Melendez, Avry Schellenbach, Gillian Silver, and Hilary Towle.
And why not? Few topics are perhaps more relevant for understanding sexuality in the connected age than pornography. With fast connections and ubiquitous smartphones, today’s technologies make it easier than ever to interact with porn—and we know young people are. They, like people of all ages, look to it for sexual arousal, out of curiosity, and to find answers to their questions about sex.
During the course of our conversation, we’ll touch on the research we have* on young people and porn—why they use it, how they feel about it, and more. We’ll consider why sex ed should equip young people to “read” or “unpack,” porn using media literacy skills when they inevitably come across it or interact with it. You’ll be encouraged to reflect on how your values shape perceptions about young people’s porn use, and leave with tips for having effective conversations about porn.
About Mia Little
Mia Little is an adult film performer and sex worker leading sex education workshops at universities and online. They are a sex worker rights activist and former president of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee. They aim to combat the erasure and censorship of sex workers and queer trans people of color. Their workshops range from consent with medical professionals, nonmonogamy and kink, sexual health management, and the future of sex work in the United States.
About King Noire and Jet Setting Jasmine
Jet Setting Jasmine is a licensed clinical therapist with a strong emphasis on Intimacy Post Injury and Intimacy Post Illness. She is co-owner, with partner King Noire, of Award Winning, Royal Fetish Films and has over 20 years of experience as an adult entertainer, educator, and Master Fetish Trainer. King Noire is an accomplished writer, artist, MC and global activist using the proceeds of his album Music Is My Weapon to build a school, fresh water well, and medical clinic in Guinea Bissau, West Africa. The duo’s love of the arts, film and sex education are combined to produce erotica that stimulates and engages the audience to explore their sexual boundaries.
About Mani Bleechington
Mani Bleechington is a budding business manager, executive assistant, and serial entrepreneur since the age of 7. Mani has been featured in Oprah’s O Magazine and Tampa Bay’s top 50 under 20 for her kid–friendly travel review company, Omani‘s Opinion. Mani is the president of the Sex Positive Parenting Club, as the oldest daughter of three to adult performers Jet Setting Jasmine and King Noire. She travels internationally sharing her family’s experience in raising sexually confident children and advocating for consent and boundary setting in young adults.
About Avry Schellenbach
Avry Schellenbach (she/her/hers) works as a Senior Health Educator and Trainer with the nonprofit Health Connected, where she teaches comprehensive sexuality and relationship education. In her current role, she develops curriculum, trains teachers to implement in their own classrooms, and directly teaches young people throughout California. For the past four years, she has been developing the porn literacy lesson for all grade levels. Over the past seven years, she has facilitated workshops on pornography, pleasure, body image, fat positivity, and gay men’s sexual health throughout the Bay Area. She earned a Master’s degree at San Francisco State University in 2017, where she created and facilitated a workshop designed to improve students’ body image and inspire more body diversity acceptance.
About Gillian Silver
Gillian Silver, MPH, CHES, (they/them/theirs) is a project coordinator at ETR who works to develop organizational strategies to improve the reach and scope of ETR’s research in multiple fields of health equity and education. Gillian holds an MPH in Community Health Sciences from UCLA with a specialization in Health Education/Health Promotion. At UCLA, Gillian worked with the Bixby Center for Reproductive Health and supported development of a gender-affirming sexual health program for transgender youth at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Center for Transyouth Health and Development. Gillian earned their MPH after several years of work in the fields of sexual health education and intimate partner violence prevention and intervention. They are dedicated to supporting individuals to achieve the sexual health and relationship outcomes that they desire, and to uplifting LGBTQ communities and all individuals with marginalized identities. Gillian also holds a BA in Community Studies from UC Santa Cruz.
About Hilary Towle
Hilary Towle, EdM (she/her/hers) is the Professional Trainer at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM). In this position, she facilitates all research-based trainings associated with the PPLM-authored, evidence-based Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education that Works middle school and high school curricula, as well as develops and facilitates high-quality, research-based professional trainings on specific sexuality education topics to youth-serving professionals across the country. Hilary has worked in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights and education for nearly 10 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Meredith College and a Master of Education in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
About Jessica Melendez
Jess started teaching comprehensive sex education to youth in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015. At San Ysidro Health, Jess often facilitates workshops in middle and high schools. She is passionate about educating youth through a shame-free and non-judgmental perspective. Youth are exposed to different messages surrounding sex and sexuality throughout the media. Jess provides tools to help youth identify media and how to empower their lives. Jess had the opportunity to collaborate and create a high school porn literacy lesson that is now implemented in the Be Real Be Ready sexual health curriculum facilitated in the San Francisco Unified School District. Her main topics of focus include media and porn literacy, reproductive anatomy, HIV/AIDS, and sexual orientation.
About Valerie Sedivy
Valerie Sedivy, Ph.D., is the Director of Capacity Building and Evaluation at Healthy Teen Network, an organization focused on empowering all adolescents, including those who are pregnant or parenting, to thrive. She has over 25 years of experience in adolescent sexual health and currently supports adolescent health professionals through training, technical assistance, and resource development. She has provided professionals serving adolescents who are pregnant and parenting with trainings on a wide variety of topics, including collaboration, coparenting, improving programs, engaging fathers, and communicating with adolescents. She also supports a Baltimore-based project focused on gathering and sharing detailed information from service providers and young people about ways to improve services for adolescents who are pregnant and parenting, including young fathers.
About Ella Dorval Hall
Ella Dorval Hall dove headfirst into her career in sexuality when she barreled at full speed into the question, “Why don’t we learn about sexual pleasure?” Soon came other questions, like, “How has this impacted me, and other people?” and in the absence of learning about pleasure, “What ARE we learning about sex?” Ella’s collision into these questions gave birth to a sexual health website, where she used storytelling to share essential, honest information and cultivate a healthier relationship with sexuality. Ella’s approach has always been rooted in understanding how systemic, cultural, and personal factors impact a person’s sexual health, and she strongly believes in putting the experiences of young people at the center of her work.
**Sold Out** Sex Ed 101
Pre-Conference Session: Monday, 11/16, 9:00 AM ET
Cost: $99
Valerie Sedivy, PhD, & Ella Dorval Hall | Healthy Teen Network
Thank you for your interest in this event. At this time, registration is at capacity. If you would like to be added to the waiting list, please send an email to Carol Partonen. She will notify you if space becomes available.
Is it okay to laugh in sex ed?
When my student asks me, “When should a person have sex?” what are they really asking? And how do I respond?
What about sharing personal experiences…is that okay?
Join us for a four-hour pre-conference session to learn how to create and maintain an inclusive and affirming learning space. Whether you’re a newbie or looking for a refresher, this training has something for you. Know where to draw the line on sharing personal info, and build your confidence to run challenging activities, like role plays and answer all the kinds of questions we know young people are going to ask. Packed with interactive opportunities, you’ll be encouraged to engage and build your skills in this virtual training.
Space is limited, register early to reserve your spot.