Home
01
Join Us, In Saving Lives And Engineering The Future
We are a diverse team of talented people who are dedicated to building technology that radically improves human lives.
June 25, 2026 - June 25, 2026
Virtual Fireside
When Casey Harrell lost his voice to ALS, Levana Saxon, his partner and wife learned a different kind of listening. In this live conversation, she reflects on what it means to love someone through silence — and what changed the day a brain-computer interface gave Casey his unmistakable voice back.
Levana, joined by Blackrock Neurotech’s Taryn Southern, speaks on her experience at the center of his journey — a partner, a witness, and an advocate for the patients and families who deserve what her family has found.
Following global ALS/MND Awareness Day and its 2026 theme honoring caregivers, this conversation asks: What does it means to be human at the cutting-edge of neurotechnology and what does the future looks like when technology is available to the people who need it most?
Levana Saxon is a facilitator, strategist, and participatory educator with deep experience in community-led transformation. Rooted in Popular Education, Participatory Action Research (PAR), and Theatre of the Oppressed, she supports organizers to engage in rigorous social analysis through expressive and somatic tools, enabling groups to deepen trust, and co-create pathways toward justice and collective well-being.
As the co-founder of Partners for Collaborative Change, and lead author of Coliberate, Levana partners with community groups, coalitions, public agencies, and nonprofits to integrate equity, transparency, and creative engagement into strategic planning, and community-driven research. She designs and facilitates processes that center lived expertise, cultivate critical consciousness, and translate community wisdom into meaningful and sustainable action.
Her work spans sectors — from caregiving to environmental justice to housing, youth development, and arts-based organizing — always grounded in a commitment to liberation and community self-determination.
Levana lives in Oakland, California where she is a caregiver for her partner, Casey, and their daughter.
Taryn Southern is a storyteller, strategist, artist and speaker whose work explores the intersection of emerging technology and human potential.
Taryn released the world’s first AI-composed pop album (2017), directed and produced an award-winning documentary on brain-computer interfaces (2019), produced an award-winning Google VR series, and became one of the earliest content creators to create an AI-avatar of herself (2020.) Taryn is currently an advisor to Blackrock Neurotech and speaks at companies and conferences on how to use artificial intelligence to unlock creativity, productivity and possibility.
Taryn has always had a front row seat to the future. A pioneering YouTuber, she uploaded her first video to YouTube in 2007 — and it went viral. Ten years and 750 million views later, Taryn produced more than 1500 pieces of digital content for networks like Conde Naste, The Today Show, MTV, Snapchat, and Maker Studios, written for Business Insider and TechCrunch and served as a host for Discovery Channel’s #1 late night show.
