Theme: Invented Here

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

GIBS
26 Mellville Road
Sandton
Johannesburg, 2146
South Africa

Barbara Holtmann

Barbara Holtmann works with fragile social systems, facilitating a transformational approach in complex settings where change typically requires long-term collaboration. She aims to influence a shift from linear, singular interventions to an optimistic, achievable goal of sustainable, safe communities in which everyone is useful.

Kwanele Asante-Shongwe

Kwanele Asante-Shongwe is founder of BreastSens, a breast cancer advocacy group that works with poor, rural and peri-urban communities. Driven by her sense of justice, she uses her legal background to empower and to educate affected women on their rights as consumers of health-care services.

Marli Hoffman

Marli Hoffman is co-owner of Little Ashford, a Johannesburg preschool renowned for its pioneering use of iPad technology in the classroom. With branches in the northern suburbs and plans to move into the continent, Little Ashford has already begun the process of scaling their idea worth spreading.

Hema Vallabh

Hema Vallabh runs SAWomEng, a non-profit, volunteer organisation aimed at attracting and nurturing the next generation of women engineering leaders in South Africa. Her infectious passion for change is credited as the catalyst for the remarkable growth of the organisation’s GirlEng division.

Desray Clark

Desray Clark helps companies understand the underlying forces that create barriers for women in the corporate world. She offers solutions on how corporations can turn this situation around and cultivate environments that allow women to flourish in all aspects of their lives.

Gillian Schutte

Writer and filmmaker Gillian Schutte fearlessly and creatively tackles issues of race, identity, sexuality and social justice. She is founding member of Media for Justice and co-owner of handHeld Films and online reality TV show ‘The Schutte Singiswas – A South African Love Story’

Anice Barnard Kruger

Anice Barnard Kruger is the mother of Pippie Kruger, the brave little girl who is successfully recovering from severe burns after receiving a brand new cloned skin in a groundbreaking operation performed by a team of dedicated surgeons here in South Africa.

Mpho Ivy Raborife

25 Year-old Wits University student Mpho Ivy Raborife is developing computational models to optimise group purchasing power for small enterprises in the virtual market. Her efforts have earned her recognition from the L’Oréal-UNESCO Regional Fellowships for Women in Science (FWIS) in sub-Saharan Africa initiative.

Shareen Richter

In her own search for happiness and joy, Shareen Richter discovered Laughter Coaching. She went on and studied with the founder of laughter yoga, a medical doctor in India. She has since expanded on this work, incorporating findings from Harvard University and elsewhere in the world.

Hanli Geyser

Hanli Geyser’s coursework at Wits School of Arts introduces students to the technical, conceptual and critical foundations needed to enter game design. Her PhD research focuses on visual and interactive narratives – including digital games, hypertext fiction, comic books, film, and adaptation studies.

Diane Coetzer

Diane Coetzer writes about music. She is the contributing music editor at Rolling Stone South Africa and has written for Wanted, Sunday Times Magazine, entertainmentafrica, and Daily Maverick. She was also South African correspondent for Billboard magazine in the United States for over ten years.

Maria McCloy

Maria McCloy is an accesories addict and a glittering icon of the Johannesburg urban culture scene. Influenced by her varied travels – she was born in the UK, lived all over Africa, settled in Lesotho, then moved to her beloved Johannesburg – she has turned her heritage into a neat little business.

Claire Reid

At the age of 16, Claire Reid invented Reel Gardening, a simple solution that saves up to 80% water in the germination phase and makes gardening easy for everyone. Now a qualified architect and full-time social entrepreneur, she continues to tinker with innovations that promise to make life better for all.