Presentations and Speakers
Cordelia Anderson, MA
Impact of Pornography on Children, Youth, and Culture
Pornography is often viewed as a harmless form of sexual expression and arousal, or as a legitimate business for commercial profit. Some research
points to limited harm or to the importance of separating arousal and interest from action but there is a growing body of research that points to
harmful impact. This session particularly examines the impact of hyper-sexualized media and pornography on children, youth and culture beginning
with politics of definitions of pornography, the meaning of a public health model and then highlighting research related to children and youth and the
relevance of a pornified culture. It concludes with what is being done to address the great social experiment of exposure to web based pornography.
Objectives:
1) Participants will be able to: describe 3 varying approaches to defining pornography;
2) identify 3 studies that show harm;
3) and identify 2 efforts to counter the harm.
Bio:
Cordelia Anderson has worked to promote sexual health and prevent sexual abuse, exploitation & violence since 1976. In 1977 in the Hennepin
County Attorney’s office she began one of the country’s first Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs. She worked with Illusion Theater as
Prevention Director from 1980-1992 where she provided nationwide trainings and co-authored educational plays. In 1992 she founded Sensibilities,
her own Prevention Training & Consultation business based in Minneapolis, MN. Cordelia has conducted over 2,500 presentations nationally and
internationally on a wide range of topics including prevention of: sex trafficking, child sexual abuse, sexual violence, pornography, normalization of
sexual harm, child pornography, bullying, compassion fatigue, countering demand, engaging bystanders and promotion of sexual/relational health
and organizational standards for prevention. Through Prevent-Connect she co-hosts a national web conference series titled “Ending Child Sexual
Abuse.” Cordelia consults with MN Coalition Against Sexual Assault and through MNCASA wrote a play, Fired Up, based on interviews with and
stories of survivors who perform the piece. Cordelia is on the board of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, is on the ATSA
Prevention Committee, and is founding chair of the National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse/Exploitation. She’s a 2013 recipient of a
Visionary Award from NSVRC and author of “The Impact of Pornography on Children, Youth & Culture” from NEARI press. Cordelia is the proud
mother of a 22 year old and a 16 year old.
Donald L. Hilton, Jr., MD, FAANS, FACS
Pornography and the Brain: Understanding the Addictive Potential in the Context of Current Neuroscience
Pornography is a powerful agent for invoking neuroplastic change with learning. Current pornography fuses sexual learning with aggression and
misogyny. Understanding the neuroscience will allow us to view the harm pornography causes from emotional, behavioral, and relational
perspectives rather than simply from a moralistic viewpoint.
Objectives:
1) Participants will be able to: understand the impacts of pornography on the brain through a neuroscience lens;
2) and understand the potential emotional, behavioral, and relational impact results.
Bio:
Dr. Hilton is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center and serves as
director of neurosurgical training for the residency program at the Methodist Hospital rotation. He travels and speaks nationally and internationally,
and has published book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles, with special interest in minimally invasive spinal surgery and in neural
mechanisms involving addiction. He is currently listed in Best Doctors in America and as a Texas Super Doctor, is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha
Medical Honor Society, and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He has
written several papers on addiction in peer-reviewed journals: one published in 2011 in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (PNAS) which investigated the role of natural instinctive craving in addiction (co-author), and another published in 2013 in the journal
Socioaffective Neuroscience and Psychology titled “Pornography Addiction: A Supranormal Stimulus Considered in the Context of
Neuroplasticity.” He has spoken at the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH) in 2012 and at the International Institute for Trauma
and Addiction Professionals (IITAP) Symposium in 2014.
Jennifer A. Johnson, PhD
Chaos and Control: The Janus Face of the Online Commercial Pornography Industry
Using social network analysis, Dr. Johnson will illustrate how the online commercial pornography industry markets its products, recruits consumers
and (mis)represents itself as an open system driven by desire rather than profit.
Objectives:
1) Participants will be able to: describe the social network analysis process;
2) describe where the modern day pornography industry is;
3) and describe the profit tactics of the online commercial pornography industry.
Bio:
Dr. Johnson is an Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is the co-editor of an upcoming new
journal Sexualization, Media & Society. Professor Johnson’s research interests focus on areas of gender, sexuality and networks. Her present focus
lies in analyzing the political economy of the online commercial pornography network by mapping the organizational network of its economic
structure to better understand how it markets its product to men. Her work has appeared in Everyday Pornographies, International Journal of Media
and Cultural Politics, and Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Cindy Reed
Cindy Reed is the parent of two children ages 13 and 15. Prior to becoming a work at home parent, Cindy’s work history included Illusion Theater,
Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, The Bridge, and an alternative high school where she did mental health services.
Grant Snyder
Grant Snyder is a police officer with the city of Minneapolis and lead investigator for the Juvenile Sex Trafficking Team. Sgt. Snyder has trained law
enforcement and attorneys across the country about working cases of human trafficking.
Michaela Snyder
Michaela Snyder is a student in a local high school.
Christine Stark
Christine Stark is a speaker, organizer, trainer, and an award-winning writer and visual artist of Anishinaabe & Cherokee ancestry. Her first novel,
Nickels: A Tale of Dissociation was a Lambda Literary Finalist. Her essays, poems, and creative non-fiction have appeared in numerous publications,
including University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Florida Review, The Chalk Circle: Intercultural Prize Winning Essays, When We Become
Weavers: Queer Female Poets on the Midwest Experience, Hawk and Handsaw: The Journal of Creative Sustainability, and many others. Her poem,
“Momma’s Song”, was released by Fred Ho and the Afro Asian Music Ensemble as a double manga CD. She is also a co-editor of Not for Sale, an
international anthology about sexual violence and a co-author of the groundbreaking “Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native
Women in Minnesota”. Currently, she is completing “Gathering Our Stories: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women on the Ships in the
Duluth Harbor” and her second novel, Carnival Lights, will be published in 2015. She has an MFA and teaches writing part-time at a university.
Currently, she is a graduate student in the MSW program at the University of Minnesota at Duluth.
John J. Choi
John Choi is the Ramsey County Attorney. He was first elected in 2010, and is currently unopposed in his re-election effort. Prior to being elected
into office, Mr. Choi served as the Saint Paul City Attorney from 2006 to 2010. Mr. Choi also worked in private practice for over a decade, making
partner at the Minneapolis law firm of Kennedy & Graven within six years of graduating from Hamline University School of Law. Mr. Choi has a
distinguished record of public service and leadership which includes numerous innovative reforms in the criminal justice system that have produced
better public safety and justice outcomes for our community. He was honored by his colleagues in North America for his innovation and leadership
with the International Municipal Lawyers Association's top award for City Attorneys in 2009. Today, he continues his leadership as the Ramsey
County Attorney. He is a National leader in the fight against child sex trafficking. He introduced the use of GPS technology to keep domestic
violence victims safe in Minnesota; implemented new performance-based outcomes for juvenile diversion programs; developed the use of lethality
assessment protocols in domestic violence incidents by all law enforcement agencies countywide; created a pre-charge diversion program; and
established a Veteran’s Court in Ramsey County. John is married with two young children and lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Ed Heisler
Ed Heisler is Executive Director, Men As Peacemakers and co-Coordinator of the Minnesota Men's Action Network: Alliance to Prevent Sexual and
Domestic Violence (MN-MAN). Ed Heisler has extensive experience in developing violence and sexual violence prevention programming and
mobilizing and engaging men to reduce the violence and exploitation of women and girls. He accepted his current position in 2012, and has since
developed and expanded Men As Peacemakers (MAP) in Duluth, MN, receiving local and statewide recognition, including multiple recent awards
for MAP's innovative programming. A sought-after speaker and trainer, Ed's unique background in peacemaking and primary prevention stems from
his work as Community Education Coordinator with Safe Haven Shelter for Battered Women in Duluth, MN, as a former Prevention Specialist and
current Co-Coordinator of the Minnesota Men's Action Network: Alliance to Prevent Sexual and Domestic Violence (MN-MAN), and as a National
Resource Trainer for A Call To Men. Additionally, Ed specializes in gender and racial equality, engaging men alongside women, in developing and
implementing innovative community-driven violence prevention strategies. His current highlights include the creation and development of the
innovative BEST Party Model to prevent sexual violence in the college environment. Through BEST, he worked with college students to create a
peer education program focused on helping students build social environments that provide safety, equality, and respect for women. Ed is also
working with students and community members to develop a replicable BEST Bar Model focused on prevention of sexual violence through the
shaping of the bar/club environment. Utilizing the Spectrum of Prevention, a public health framework, Ed has also created a process for embedding
sexual and domestic violence prevention into athletic organizations. Ed serves on a numbers of local and statewide taskforces, advisory committees,
and steering committees related to restorative justice, youth programming, and the prevention of violence against women and children—including
trafficking. In addition to leadership at Men As Peacemakers, Ed is a Men's Non-Violence Class Facilitator at the Domestic Abuse Intervention
Project and coordinates efforts—including Men Against Sex Trafficking—to end the demand for exploited and trafficked women and children.
Jim McDonough
Jim McDonough is Commissioner of Ramsey County. Commissioner McDonough was born and raised on the East Side of St. Paul and continues to
live there today. Being a lifelong resident has given Jim a unique understanding of the qualities that his neighborhood embodies, including a strong
dedication to community and the importance of building relationships. Jim brings "East Side Pride" to all of the boards and committees he serves on.
Jim was elected Chair of the Board of Commissioners in January, 2014. Prior to that, he served as Chair of the Regional Rail Authority beginning in
2008 and worked tirelessly to bring more efficient and accessible transit to Ramsey County. He's been instrumental in re-establishing the Union
Depot not only as a multi-modal transportation hub, but also as a Ramsey County historical landmark. He is recognized as a national leader in the
area of transit and continues to advocate on a local, state and national level for support and revenue for projects within Ramsey County. Jim is also
dedicated to the prevention of sexual violence in our communities. He first became aware of the seriousness of this issue after attending a
presentation in 2007 by a renowned sexual violence prevention consultant. He encouraged all Ramsey County departments to assess their role in
sexual violence prevention and, in his capacity as President of the Association of Minnesota Counties at that time, urged all 87 Minnesota Counties to
assess their roles as well. In 2008, he was presented with an AWARE Award from the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault for "his
outstanding dedication to raising awareness about sexual violence." He continues to give voice to these silent victims today. In his tenure as
Commissioner, Jim has served on a variety of committees that include everything from youth services to mental health to supporting our aging
population. He and his wife, Carol, have four grown children and are proud grandparents of two granddaughters.