Posted on March 6, 2019
ADAO 15th Annual International Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference
“Where Knowledge and Action Unite”
April 5 – 7, 2019
Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel
2019 Conference Info | Know Before You Go | Registration | Marriott Reservations | Agenda | RSVP for Events | Friday – March for Justice and Remembrance | Friday – Trolley Tour | Friday – Casual Dinner | Saturday “Meet the Artists” Reception and Gala Awards Dinner | Sunday Brunch | Honorees | Speakers | Speaker Information | Tributes | Sponsors | Media | Meet the Speakers Blog Series | 2019 Livestream | Previous Conferences
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is proud to present a new weekly series “Meet the Speakers and Honorees,” which will highlight esteemed participants of our highly anticipated 15th Annual International Asbestos Awareness & Prevention Conference! The ADAO conference, which will take place on April 5-7, 2019 in Washington, D.C., combines 30 expert opinions, victims’ stories, and new technological advancements from 10 countries across the globe into one united voice raising awareness about asbestos. ADAO is the only U.S. nonprofit that organizes annual conferences dedicated solely to preventing asbestos exposure and eliminating asbestos-caused diseases. Register Here Today! 
Session 5 Speakers: Felipe Rico Atara, Zack Johnson, Daniel Lambo, Conor B. Lewis, and Paolo Monico
Session 5 Moderator: Mark Catlin
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Felipe Rico Atara (Bogotá, 1983) is Audiovisual / Multimedia Director with 10 years of experience. Bachelor of Social Communication – emphasis in Audiovisual, with postgraduate studies in Digital Creation and Visual Arts & Multimedia. During his career he has made dozens of institutional videos, some short films and a feature documentary film called “Inextinguible” that tells the story behind the social movement Colombia without Asbestos. Inextinguible was premiered in the most important private channel in the country, transmitted by its international signal (reaching more than 25 countries) and awarded with the Honorable Mention at the Green Film Festival of Barichara (2018). It has also been projected in various spaces around the country becoming an important piece of awareness about this problem.
Mark Catlin is the former Occupational Health and Safety Director (retired) for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), representing two million healthcare, service and public workers in the United States and Canada. An industrial hygienist and health and safety activist, since 1981, he has been involved with asbestos issues over his entire career, from investigating asbestos problems at worksites, schools and homes to conducting EPA and OSHA asbestos training for thousands of workers and managers. Mark has advocated for strong public policies to eliminate asbestos use and exposure. In the early 1990s, he was the clinic industrial hygienist for the Harborview Occupational Medicine Clinic at the University of Washington and conducted many occupational histories for workers with asbestos-related disease. Mark is honored to serve on the ADAO Prevention Advisory Board.
Zack Johnson is a filmmaker and adventurer from Alton, Illinois. Since a young age he has always had a video camera in his hand but he never thought it would take him anywhere. A natural storyteller, Zack is always looking to give and get a good laugh – he realized a video camera was another way to make that happen. A simple guy who wants and needs for very little just lives his life to be a story worth listening to in the end. He is a friend of nature and finds great peace when hunting, fishing, and trapping – most often with his dog Doc.
Daniel Lambo is a Belgian film director. He creates films on themes as human rights, social inequality and poverty. Lambo’s first feature film, Miss Homeless (2010), was written, produced, directed, filmed and edited entirely by himself. This docufiction about homeless people in Brussels premiered in twelve different countries on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Dry Branches of Iran (2012) deals with censorship during the Green Revolution in Iran and De Figurant (2016) takes on racial stereotypes with a story about a drug dealer who has acting ambitions. In his latest feature, the documentary Breathless, Lambo investigates the delocalization of the asbestos industry to developing countries.
Conor B. Lewis, after Lewis obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts, he began his career in digital media at an agency in St. Louis, Missouri. Here he cut his teeth, shooting productions for large national and international corporations. After several years spent in agency life, Lewis was recruited by a large metropolitan St. Louis firm, to manage their in-house creative team. This move created the flexibility to shoot “Dirty Laundry”, the 2018 asbestos documentary. Lewis grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where he resides today with his wife Molly, his daughter Elizabeth and his dog George. He spends his free time riding bikes and on his other “full time job” as a painter.
Paolo Monico has been running an enduring and successful career in directing commercials and music videos for the past 20 years. He writes, directs and produces short films and web content through his NY-based production company and he is currently developing “The Suit,” a limited series based on “The Mother,” his award-winning short film inspired by the mystery surrounding the death of his father, Sandro, who passed away in 2002 from mesothelioma. Born and raised in Italy, in 2006 Paolo moved to the US, became an American citizen and a proud member of the Directors Guild of America.
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Check back next week for the sixth installment of “Meet the Speakers and Honorees” featuring our 2019 Sunday Unity and Remembrance Brunch speakers and performers.
In Unity,
Linda