Healers
Meet the inspiring speakers with healing and empowerment in their words at the Courageous Access Black Women's Conference (CABWC) 2026. Our lineup features powerful, loving Black women who do the work daily on themselves, in their communities, and in spaces we must occupy as leaders, change-makers, and advocates. They will share their knowledge, expertise, and insights to empower. If you attend and choose to be even somewhat present, October 10, 2026, will be your anniversary for a powerful new chapter for you and your legacy.
LAUREN H. COLLINS, PT, DPT,WCS, CLT @ LAUREN H. COLLINS WELLNESS
Morning Healer
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Trauma & the Body: How to Heal
Dr. Lauren is a nationally respected women’s health physical therapist, professor, and trauma-informed healer whose life’s work is restoring Black women’s bodies with clinical excellence, cultural reverence, and deep compassion. In this session, you’ll learn how trauma lives in the body—and leave with practical, body-based tools to regulate your nervous system, reduce pain, reclaim bodily autonomy, and begin healing in ways that feel safe, empowering, and real.
ORISHA A. BOWERS, PhD
@ ORIXA HEALING ARTS WELLNESS & SPIRITUAL CENTRE
Afternoon Healer
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Vibrations of Liberation: Healing through Sound, Arts, Ancient Medicine and Reproductive Justice
Dr. Bowers is a visionary leader who believes in utilizing her education and heritage to make sure those of us who get missed are seen and tended to. This session will explore breathwork, sound bowls, and creative reflection to reconnect with their bodies as sacred sites of resistance, joy, and new levels of healing. Read more
COURAGEOUS FIRE, CHW, BLACK WOMEN'S EMISSARY & FREEDOM ARCHITECT
Event Emcee
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Opening Healer: Sista Strength Hurts, Ask the Right Questions, & Power Gets You P.A.I.D.
Closing Healer: Group, Gains, and Greatness​
Courageous serves as Event Emcee and opening and closing keynote, guiding the day with clarity, care, and intention—preparing you for each healing speaker while creating space for rest, nourishment, privacy, and power. She equips Black women to retire Sista strength, ask the questions that keep them safe, and convert what they’ve endured into real options, stability, and generational power that lasts long after the last Sista leaves the building.
CLAUDINE A. CHEATEM, BS, MFA: STORYTELLER EXTRAORDINAIRE
Afternoon Healer
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Weep, Wail, Write
Claudine is a master storyteller, playwright, and woman inspirer who uses humor, truth, and language to help Black women name what hurts, laugh where they can, and reclaim authority over their own lives. Through this session, she creates a culturally affirming pause where grief is processed, clarity is restored, and women leave lighter, steadier, and more willing to choose themselves without apology.
ZAKIYA JENKINS, BS, MPA, FOUNDER @ NOURISHED BY FAITH
Evening Healer
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Nourishment as Resistance: Reclaiming Health, Healing, and Wholeness in Community
Zakiya is a seasoned public health leader and the founder of Nourished by Faith Wellness, known for blending food, movement, and faith into joyful, culturally grounded pathways to wellness. In this session, she shows Black women how caring for their bodies becomes an act of healing and power—leaving them with practical, shame-free tools to nourish themselves, their families, and their communities with confidence and ease. Read more