It all begins with an idea

"When you put the magic glasses on you can't take them off" This talk is based on the iconic Dick Gregory magic glasses quote. What to do with the expanded awareness and Agency. From observer to active participant what imperatives does your I sights carry? Moudou Baqui is a recognized as a thought leader in Psychedelics. As the spokes person of the Detroit Psychedelic Society and founder of Per Ankh sanctuary (An Entheogenic church in Detroit, Michigan). Also serving as a National Board member of Decriminalize Nature, Moudou has helped organize decrim efforts in over 3 U.S. cities including his hometown Detroit Mich. Hes been a co-organizer of the Detroit Psychedelic conference 7th year. As a understudy of Kilindi Iyi, Moudou has traveled through the the U.S. Europe Africa and the islands teaching studying traditional approaches to sacred plant medicine. He has been a return speaker at Breaking convention. Working with The University of Miami he served as a research partner in several psychedelic research projects in Black and Brown communities. There first published results presented in 2021(Focusing on Black and Brown psychedelic users and relative morbidity rates related to COVID). He has been featured in Double Blind mag, Psychedelia (the mindfulness issue), Hyphae leaks amongst other publications.

Learn about the collaborative work behind the Center for Mycoanalytics and our mission to establish a community mushroom lab here in the city. This panel shares the vision, challenges, and breakthroughs of building accessible fungal science infrastructure from grassroots organizing to lab design.Join us to explore how citizen mycologists are shaping the future of community-based research.

This panel brings together Indigenous leaders and practitioners to share their lived experiences and relationships with psychedelic plant medicines. Through personal stories and collective insight, speakers will explore how these medicines have shaped their identities, supported healing, and strengthened connections to land, lineage, and community. The conversation will also touch on current and emerging initiatives within Indigenous communities, the supports needed to sustain them, and concerns about the broader psychedelic movement’s trajectory. Join us for an honest dialogue centered on cultural integrity, spiritual stewardship, and the enduring wisdom of Indigenous traditions.

Who Owns the Medicine? Psychedelics at the Crossroads of Empire and Earth As psychedelics enter mainstream discourse, they do so through frameworks shaped by Western ideologies and regulations that often sideline and appropriate Indigenous knowledge systems that have long held these medicines as sacred. This talk explores the complex tension that exists between the benefit of traditional healing practices and the institutionalization of psychedelics in Western pharmacotherapy. We will examine how the colonial gaze continues to shape what is considered legitimate healing, who is seen as a healer, and how medicines are extracted, commodified, and recontextualized for profit. Cailean Dakota MacColl is from the Lac La Ronge Indian Band in SK, Canada. They are a 2-Spirit MS4 at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a 2026 MD Candidate with special focus in Arts & Humanities. Dakota is an aspiring gender affirming dermatologist who strives to serve Indian Country and 2SLGBTQ+ communities. She received a BS in Biology with a minor in Chemistry, and a BA in Comparative Literature with special focus on film analysis from the University of Oregon. Dakota’s past research has included film analysis and ethnobotany, and current research areas include Indigenous medical ethics, medical education, dermatologic disparities in Indigiqueer and 2S communities, and addictions medicine. They are also passionate about coalescing aspects of traditional healing, ceremony, and western medicine. Dakota’s professional interests include adult education, sexual health and wellness, gender affirming care, harm reduction, healing informed care, and traditional plant medicine use.

This Panel digs into the transformative power of urban gardening as a tool for resilience, connection, and community care. Local growers and organizers will share how cultivating land in the city fosters food sovereignty, intergenerational knowledge-sharing, and deeper relationships with plants, people, and place.

This panel opens a space rarely made visible, where Muslim identity, ancestral longing, and psychedelic experience intersect. In a conversation rooted in vulnerability and reverence, panelists share personal stories of navigating conservative upbringings, self-policing, and spiritual disconnection, and how, through altered states and sacred medicines, they began to reclaim tenderness, presence, and spiritual spaciousness. Together, we explore what it means to return to ihsan (spiritual excellence) when the path has been blocked by fear, silence, and judgment. This is a rare and honest conversation. A gathering of Muslim voices who are unearthing silenced stories, softening hardened inner worlds, and courageously stepping through unseen doors. Join us for a powerful session of reflection, connection, and remembrance.

This panel explores the emerging above-ground psychedelic therapy space in Minnesota. Speakers will discuss the current landscape, clinical models, and how therapists and health professionals are beginning to integrate psychedelic-assisted care into their practices. Learn about the opportunities, challenges, and evolving best practices shaping this growing field.

My name is Bryan Ebert, and I am a pre-licensed therapist pursuing my LPCC. I received my Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Adler Graduate School. I draw upon a variety of approaches to therapy, wellness, and personal development. I have received training in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy from Polaris Insight Center. I have also completed the Phase 1 Brainspotting training, and have found this modality to be a powerful tool for healing. My current focus for continuing education is participating in a multi-year intensive psychedelic therapy training with the Grof Legacy Project.

Ian McLoone, MPS, LPCC, LADC is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor who has been working with people who have a problematic relationship with substances for his entire career. Ian is a Co-Founder and CEO at Expanse, a Minnesota mental health clinic in the Twin Cities offering progressive psychiatry, long-term psychotherapy, and psychedelic services that are eligible for in-network reimbursement. He’s passionate about making psychedelic therapy accessible to anyone who needs it – not just those who can afford it – and believes clinically- based, above-ground psychedelic medicine can play a vital role in expanding healing to more people and communities. In addition to his clinical work, Ian is a community faculty member and has taught courses at the University of Minnesota and Metropolitan State University, including Applied Psychopharmacology, person-centered practices, and harm reduction for clinical counselors.

Sarah Fox is a licensed therapist and clinical supervisor who provides long-term psychodynamic and attachment-focused psychotherapy, Brainspotting and other somatic modalities, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy at Expanse. She is also a published poet, a trained labor and delivery doula, and educator who taught poetry and creative writing for many years before becoming a therapist. She has a 30+ year history of personal practice with psychedelics and plant medicines, which has informed her creative process, her pathway to becoming a therapist, and her system of belief around individual, interpersonal, and collective healing. Sarah offers an abolitional, liberatory, and harm-reduction lens to her work with clients and to her own healing, and a decolonizing orientation to her engagement of the clinical space.

We will kick of symposium weekend by exploring the evolving psychedelic policy landscape in Minnesota through the lens of decriminalization, community advocacy, and legislative action. Hear from Jessica Nielson, Chair of the Minnesota Psychedelic Task Force as she shares updates, challenges, and visions for a more equitable approach to psychedelic reform. Learn how Minnesota is shaping its unique path forward and how you can get involved in building a future rooted in healing, justice, and community care. Come bearing questions!

Jessica is a neuroscientist and psychedelic researcher that has been exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for over 10 years. She has lead several psychedelic research studies at the University of Minnesota aiming to understand how psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin may help with post-traumatic stress and depression, mechanisms for how psilocybin changes the human brain, and survey studies about the unique perspectives of marginalized groups often excluded or not represented in psychedelic clinical trials. She is also the founder and Executive Director of the Psychedelic Society of Minnesota, the Innovation Alchemist at Big Psych, co-founder of the DecriMN Coalition that recently advised Mayor Frey on the Executive Order to deprioritize entheogenic plants and fungi in Minneapolis, and was recently appointed by Governor Walz and elected to serve as Chairperson on the Psychedelic Medicine Task Force in Minnesota.