Speaker Nights is our foundational series, held 5 times throughout the membership season (Oct., Nov., Mar., Apr., May) at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, the 1st Monday of the month, 7-9:00 p.m. The Forum provides a delicious meal, wine and other beverages, followed by a 45-minute speaker - all complimentary for Forum members.

We welcome non-members to attend for $35 per evening. Guests who join during the month they attended the Speaker event can apply the $35 fee toward the $165 annual membership dues. Our Forum Season runs from Oct. 1 to Sep 30.

Please join us as a guest! Simply RSVP to newtonwomensforum@gmail.com by the Sunday before the Speaker event. We look forward to meeting you!

2024-2025 Speakers

October 7, 2024	True Crime Podcast Sarah Alcorn and Laura Rodrigues McDonald, co-hosts of the true crime podcast Ivy League Murders. Sarah is a private investigator and owner of Greystones Investigation. Sarah is also a Harvard alumna and previously worked in the film industry.
November 4, 2024	Rescue Dogs and Healing Marianne Leone, an actor-writer-activist and native of Newton’s village of Nonantum that everybody called “the Lake”. She has appeared in film (Goodfellas), television (The Sopranos) and has written three books. Her newest book out in September is Five-Dog Epiphany about grief, rescue dogs and mutual healing.
March 3, 2025	Love Fashion History Michelle Tolini Finamore, fashion historian, curator and author. She has curated numerous exhibitions, including the recent Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour, as well as the groundbreaking Gender Bending Fashion, #techstyle, Hollywood Glamour: Fashion and Jewelry from the Silver Screen, and Think Pink at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
April 7, 2025	Women's Football Chanté Bonds, athlete and educator, played 11 seasons in the Women’s Football Association, including nine for the Boston Renegades, and was MVP of the 2018 National Championship game. Previous to her professional football career, she was an outstanding high school and college basketball player, as well as a basketball coach. She currently teaches in the Boston Public Schools.
May 5, 2025	Artificial Intelligence Greta Tuckute was named one of MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 for her work in Artificial Intelligence. What is currently referred to as AI are Large Language Models (LLMs) produced in Silicon Valley. But are they “intelligent”? Are they really thinking? Greta studies how the human brain processes sounds and sentences, exploring the connection between language and thought.