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).

Piazza Gentile da Fabriano
Rome, Lazio
Italy

ALIA MAHMOUD

Alia Mahmoud is one of the “99 most influential foreign policy leaders under 33″, according to a statement from the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy and the Diplomatic Courier. Originally from New York City, she has returned to Tunisia after the revolution to make a contribution to her country. She graduated from New York University with a Master in International Business and Economics of Development and currently she works in Tunisia for Microsoft Tunisia as Corporate Citizenship Manager and Director of the Microsoft Innovation Center.

ANGELO BELLOBONO

Angelo Bellobono is an artist and ski coach. The ice and mountains are frequent metaphorical elements in his work; ice representing the planet’s archival memory, and mountains depicted as hinges and not barriers, connecting cultures. His works explore the concepts of identity, borders and how social and geopolitical changes have effected people. He created the Atla(s)Now project in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a community platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration where art and skiing are used as a means of social and economic development. Bellobono’s works have been extensively exhibited, including the IV and V Marrakech Biennal, the XV Quadriennale of Rome, Macro Museum in Rome, Museum of Modern Art of New Delhi and Cairo City, Volume foundation and many galleries such Wunderkammern in Rome and Envoy gallery in New York. In 2005 he won the Celeste Prize for painting. In 2014 began a new shared project in New York with the community of Native Americans Ramapough Lenape.

ANTONIOS VAVOULIOTIS

Antonios Vavouliotis, aerospace scientist, is a source of pride for the aerospatial industry in his country, Greece. He is the co-founder of Adamant Composites Ltd. a Greek company that provides the aerospace industry with high-added-value quality products and services for nano-enabling composite materials throughout their product cycle. He has worked in various aerospace research activities funded by the ESA and the European Commission.

CHLOE TEEVAN

Chloe grew up in a family of arts managers and volunteered on numerous cultural events from a young age. After receiving her BA from Trinity College Dublin, Chloe worked on several festivals and events in Dublin and London, before moving to Cairo in October 2012, where she worked for two years as festival coordinator for Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF). She is currently pursuing an MA in Arab Studies at Georgetown University in Washington DC, with a focus on culture and urban development.

DAVID MUNIR NABTI

DMN works to support high impact innovation & entrepreneurship, for youth in the digital world. He is Co-founder and CEO of AltCity.me, a new media/tech/social impact collaboration space, a sort of co-working space for startup in Beirut. He worked at his first tech startup at 18 and he has been involved in technology, new media, and social entrepreneurship ever since. He grew up between California and Beirut and studied at UC Berkeley (political economy), worked at the UN-FAO in Syria, at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and in Google.

DEFNE KORYUREK

Slow Food International Councillor for Turkey, Defne Koryürek is famous in her country and around the world for her campaigns for the protection of the Bosporus marine fauna. Her Slow Food convivium, called Fikir Sahibi Damaklar, works to protect and promote local food traditions. Defne is a leading guru of sustainable food in Turkey and in the Middle East.

ENRICA ARENA

Born and raised in Catania, she is CMO e Co-Founder of Orange Fiber, a startup based on the “out of the box” idea of Adriana Santanocito (her dear friend from Sicily) to create a new vitamin and sustainable tissue using the skin of oranges! Enrica is specialized in Communication and International Cooperation, and after a first experience in Egypt as PR and Project Management for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, she started her adventure passionate about entrepreneurship and sustainability becoming the voice of Orange Fiber.

FRANCESCO VEZZOLI

Francesco Vezzoli is one of the most influential and well-known international contemporary artists, working in a variety of media ranging from embroidery to performances, from advertising to films. His work investigates , often with sharp irony, the concept of celebrity and communication stereotypes , involving in his productions some of the superstars of our time (such as Catherine Deneuve, Lady Gaga, Kate Blanchett, and Roman Polanski, just to name a few). His works have been exhibited in the most important museums in the world – including The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, MOMA PS1, Tate Modern, MOCA, MAXXI and Castello di Rivoli – as well as at the Venice Biennale.

GIANLUCA PELUFFO

ILANA EFRATI

Ilana Efrati is an Israeli designer. In 1985, she established in Tel Aviv her independent label for women’s fashion. Since 2005, Ilana divides her time between Tel Aviv and Umbria, where she creates multi-media projects in ceramics, textile design, fashion and video-art.

JEAN-PIERRE DARNIS

Born in the South of France, after studying in Toulouse and Milan, he discussed his PHD in human science in Paris. He wrote his post-graduate thesis hosted by the library of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in Rome, a leading italian NPO for international studies. Today he is deputy-director of IAI’s security and defence program and coordinator for “France-Italy strategic forum”. He teaches at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and is a columnist for Il Foglio newspaper.

JESUS VEGA

Jesús Vega has worked as Managing Director for Zara-Inditex, the biggest and fast-growing fashion retail Group. Responsible for ten different fashion brands (Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius) and Head of Corporate Human Resources and Expansion. Previously his professional career was developed in Hewlett-Packard and Banco Santander, working in this Company as Human Resources Managing Director for Spain, LatinAmerica and USA . He is the most international Spanish speaker, working with the most prestigious companies and institutions (20 different countries in 4 different continents). He is an independent advisor in several companies (Retail, Fashion, Business strategy). Jesús is a blogger in Expansión, the most important economic newspaper in Spain. He is the writer of The Sensual Company, translated to 9 languages and published in more than 20 countries.

KHALED BICHARA

Khaled Bichara is the Co Chief Executive Officer of Accelero Capital. Prior to joining Accelero Capital he was Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology OTMT, Group President and Chief Operating Officer of VimpelCom Ltd. He is an active member of the Software Community in the Middle East, a founding member of the Egyptian Software Association and the lnternet Society of Egypt. Khaled Bichara is a leading expert in both telecommunications information technology, in addition to being known for its great expertise and entrepreneurial vision of the business.

LUIGI NALDINI

Luigi Naldini, world-renowned geneticist, is the great Italian scientist who has “domesticated” the virus that causes AIDS ( the HIV) in order to transform it in a powerful vehicle for tackling the disease, after having rendered it harmless. He is President of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, EMBO member since 2008, winner of an ERC Advanced Investigator Grant, received the Sapio Award for Italian research in 2012 and the Outstanding Investigator Award from’ American Society of Gene and Cell therapy in 2014. Professor of Histology and Cell and gene Therapy at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, as well as Director of the San Raffaele-Telethon.

MOUHANNAD MALEK

Scientist and Researcher, PhD in Cellular Biology and Oncology from Lyon University, France. Currently works as a scientist at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK. In 2012, he founded the ‘Syrian Researchers’ initiative to raise awareness about science in the Arabic world. Today, gathering 300 colleagues, it is the number one Arabic scientific website in the world (1M visits per month). His media brainchild seeks to convey the best of science and medical research in Arabic, but with a distinctively fun and engaging tone.

MYRIAM SOSEILOS

Myriam Soseilos is the entrepreneur behind cutting-edge jewellery brands MyriamSOS and Sosle. She is the winner of the 2013 “Designer of the year” award at London Jewellery Week and a finalist in the “New designer of the year” category for the UK Watch & Jewellery Awards 2014. Living in Cypro, drawing on her haute couture experiences and love for Art Deco, this dynamic mix lead to the creative use of space, movement and mechanics – simple shapes, surface textures, clean lines, ease of movement. Her transformable jewellery has taken the Industry by storm. Challenging conventional thinking, her pieces allow for more versatility than traditional “static” jewellery – with one transformable ring/pendant in particular changing into 18 different forms!

NASMA BOUCHELKIA

Nasma is graduate in chemical engineering from the National Polytechnic School of Algiers. She is the founder of SmellNat, Algerian start up that was recognized at the GIST (Global Innovation through Science and Technology funded by the U.S. Department of State) Startup Bootcamp Algeria taking the “Top Entrepreneur” award.

OLINKA VISTICA

Olinka Vištica is the co-founder of the Museum of Broken Relationship, producer of the World Festival of Animated Film Animafest Zagreb e co-founder of Hulahop. The Museum in 2011 won the Kenneth Hudson Award for the most innovative Museum, and was defined by TimeOutCroatia a “global cult” as it shows objects left after a relationship ends. Everyone can be part of the project giving to the Museum its material memories of a broken relationship.

PAOLO PETROCELLI

Paolo Petrocelli explores how music can bring positive changes in our world. He is a music diplomacy ambassador, violinist, musicologist, lecturer, UNESCO Expert in Music, Member of the Board of Directors of the Rome Opera House. As the Founder and the President of EMMA for Peace (Euro-Mediterranean Music Academy), he uses music as a powerful tool for dialogue and peace promotion in the Mediterranean and Middle East regions.

SALIHA MOULFI

Saliha MOULFI is 24 years old. A business management graduate . After participating in various entrepreneurship competitions, she decided to continue her studies in that field and now she has two Master degrees one in Project Management and another in Entrepreneurship. Her best entrepreneurial advice is to start.

SAMI ISMAIL

Sami Ismail is the founder of Intellect Events, a company that organizes events focused on Art, Science, Business and Technology in Damascus. Sami is focused on creating a cultural environment that promotes innovation in his country, bringing to his conferences national and international examples of innovation and progress. He is the founder of the first startup that has given access to a wide variety of books to educational institutions in the Middle East.