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).

George School
1690 Newton Langhorne Road
Newtown, Pennsylvania, 18940
United States

Adam Finkel

Dr. Adam M. Finkel is currently executive director of the Penn Program on Regulation at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also a senior fellow at the Penn Law School, and is clinical professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. From 2004 to 2007, he was a visiting professor of public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. Adam holds an ScD in environmental health sciences from the Harvard School of Public Health, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, an AB in biology from Harvard College, and is a Certified Industrial Hygienist.

Allen Keller

Dr. Allen Keller is associate professor at NYU School of Medicine and attending physician at Bellevue, the nation’s oldest public hospital. He directs the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, the NYU Center for Health and Human Rights and co-chairs Bellevue’s Bioethics Committee. Allen has conducted groundbreaking research on the medical and social consequences of landmines, the health impacts of immigration detention and caring for torture survivors. Allen grew up in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. He completed his undergraduate studies in European history at the University of Pennsylvania and went on to graduate from NYU School of Medicine and complete his residency in primary care internal medicine at Bellevue/NYU Medical center. Allen is the recipient of many awards including the Hopi Foundation’s Barbara Chester Award, the Open Society Institutes, Soros Advocacy Medicine as a Profession fellowship and NYU’s distinguished alumnus award.

Ama Karikari-Yawson

Ama Karikari-Yawson '98 has a unique understanding of social issues, business and the law and become a relevant voice on issues as varied as race relations, women’s issues, dating, parenting, self-love, hair-bullying, and entrepreneurship. Her articles have been published in MSNBC’s The Grio, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic,Madame Noire, and other publications. Ama has also appeared on the Today show, Al Jazeera’s The Stream,The Nate Berkus Show, and Fox Business. She earned a BA cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard University, an MBA from the Wharton School and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is also the author of a best selling bullying prevention fable, Sunne’s Gift.

Brayton Shanley

Brayton Shanley has a MA in pastoral ministry from the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. He has a broad study and practice of Christian nonviolence and ministry with a specialty in interfaith perspectives on peace. Brayton has practiced peace by taking his faith into the streets with public vigil, protest, arrest, and noncooperation with what has become the American Empire, its death penalty, its wars, and its life-threating use of fossil fuels. He has been involved in green design and construction on the Agape Community buildings since 1987. He is coeditor of Agape’s journal, Servant Song. His essays on nonviolence, sustainable living, and the contemplative live have been published in numerous peace and contemplative journals.

Emily Falk

Emily Falk '99 is a faculty member at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Penn Communication Neuroscience Lab. Emily’s lab uses brain activity to predict behavior change following exposure to persuasive messages and other social influences and to understand what makes successful ideas spread (e.g. through social networks, through cultures). Her work has been published in top academic journals, covered by leading media outlets, and recognized with numerous awards. Falk’s work is funded by grants from NCI (National Cancer Institute), NICHD (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development), and the NIH (National Institutes of Health) Director’s New Innovator Award, as well as NSF (National Science Foundation), DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), HopeLab, and ONR (Office of Naval Research).

Emmy Laybourne

Emmy Laybourne '89 is a novelist, screenwriter and former character actress. Emmy’s Monument 14 trilogy has earned critical praise (“Frighteningly real… riveting” –New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice) and has been nominated by readers to the YALSA Teens Top Ten in 2013 and won the #5 spot in 2014. Emmy’s book SWEET was published in June 2015. It tells the story of a luxury cruise to launch a new diet sweetener that goes comically, then tragically, then terrifyingly wrong. Before her life as an author, Emmy performed original comedy on Comedy Central, MTV and VH1; and acted in the movies ”Superstar,” “The In-Laws”, and “Nancy Drew,” among others. Emmy lives outside New York City with her husband, two kids and a flock of 6 nifty chickens

Erica Nakajima

Erica Nakajima '04 attended Carleton College where she majored in Biology. During the course of her undergraduate years, she grew interested in biomedical research and assisted with the development of novel HIV therapies at Yale and Drexel Universities. She received her MD in May 2015 from the University of Pittsburgh, where she was a member of the Physician Scientist Training Program. During her medical school training, she performed research in the laboratory of Dr. Bennett Van Houten as a Howard Hughes Medical Fellow to investigate the impact of hypoxia upon head and neck cancer metabolism. She is about to begin her residency in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University, and plans to pursue a career in oncology clinical care and research.

Jake Malavsky

Jake Malavsky '15 is an International Baccalaureate diploma recipient and has been named to both the Honor Roll and Head of School’s lists throughout his time at George School. He has held several student leadership positions serving as Student Council Vice President, Student Council Treasurer, Prefect, Peer Group Leader, and class representative. Jake was very involved in the George School theater program performing in several main stage productions in leading roles, including Oedipus in Oedipus the King, Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, and Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jake will attend Bucknell University in the fall and study in the College of Arts and Sciences.

John Norton

Norton Global provides a triggering event for change it calls leadership breakthrough seminars. These interventions help organizations change rapidly in response to serious challenges or threats brought on by fast changing world. It was through his experiences as an operator that John Norton developed this work product. Three times in his career he moved into organizations facing staggering threats and whose leaders needed help in driving behavior and performance change. Norton has come to believe that people in fact can change. And that many people even prosper during the change process

Mark Whitaker

Mark Whitaker ’75, is the former managing editor of CNN, Washington bureau chief for NBC News, and editor of Newsweek magazine, where he spent twenty-five years and rose to become the first African-American leader of a national newsweekly. He is the author of two books, the critically-acclaimed family memoir My Long Trip Home and the bestselling biography, Cosby: His Life and Times.He is currently working on a book about the historical legacy of black Pittsburgh.

Medard Gabel

Medard Gabel is the executive director of Pacem in Terris, a grassroots, non-violent, member-supported organization that works on global, national, and local peace and justice issues. He is the author of six books on global energy and food, planning methods, multi-national corporations, and global economic development. He worked with Buckminster Fuller for over twelve years and has been a consultant to UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research), the US State Department, Department of Agriculture, USAID (United States Agency for International Development), the governments of Tanzania, Costa Rica, Spain, and the Netherlands, the Governor’s Energy Council of Pennsylvania, GM (General Motors), Motorola, IBM, Novartis, Chase Manhattan Bank, and over thirty other Fortune 100 companies.

Natalie Nixon

Natalie Nixon is a hybrid thinker who integrates the creative and the analytical to arrive at innovative opportunities. A design thinking researcher, her background in anthropology and fashion has enriched her approaches as an educator and director of the Strategic Design MBA program at Philadelphia University. She holds the G. Allen Mebane IV ’52 Endowed Chair for Design Thinkers at Philadelphia University, is a regular contributor to INC.com online magazine , and was a featured speaker at TEDx Philadelphia. Natalie’s research and consulting interests are in improvisational organizations, optimizing creativity, and experiential service design. She earned her BA from Vassar College (Cum Laude); her MS from Philadelphia University/Shenkar in Israel/Reutlingen in Germany; and her PhD from the University of Westminster, London.

Ran'D Shine

Ran’D is a performer, producer, and educator of magic. He has entertained audiences in over fifteen countries and hundreds of American cities. In 2009, Ran’D premiered his show, Mysterious Ways at the South African Arts Festival with rave reviews. In that same year he was selected to perform at the Presidential Inauguration “Salute to Heroes” Ball. As a producer, Ran’D has produced and performed in several magic shows such as Collaboration, Parallax, and most notably the Heart & Soul of Magic, the first magic show in history to feature an entirely African-American cast of magicians. In addition to performing and producing magic shows, Ran’D also lectures about the history of magicians of African descent and the psychology of deception. He also served as a behavioral interventionist for the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. Ran’D was featured in the 2004 documentary The Art and Soul of Magic: The Stories of African American Magicians.

Sarahh Scher

Sarahh Scher received her MFA from New Mexico State University in 1998 and a PhD in art history in 2010 from Emory University. Her work focuses on the pre-Columbian cultures of the north coast of Peru, especially Moche ceramic art. She explores issues of identity, gender, and power, frequently through the lens of costume and costume representation. Sarahh has published articles in Acta Americana, Ceramics: TECHNICAL, and the Bulletin of the Institut Français d’Études Andines. She is also a chapter contributor to Pre-Columbian Pottery: A Thematic Approach to New World Ceramics, under contract from the University Press of Florida. She is an instructor at Salem State University and Upper Iowa University.

Setareh Ekhteraei

Setareh Ekhteraei '16 was born in Tehran, Iran, and moved to the United States at the age of six. Because her mother was occupied with work and study, and due to difficult circumstances, she grew up in a variety of diverse and multicultural households. In addition, Setareh became a part of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation as a Young Scholar in eighth grade. Today, Setareh is an enthusiastic member of the George School community and a part of the varsity volleyball team, the discipline committee, the ACT committee, and the peer-tutoring program. Outside of these activities, Setareh loves going to the beach and surfing, spending time with loved ones, and reading poetry in her three languages: English, Farsi, and Spanish. She also continues with her efforts to support her community in Iran, and is hoping to pursue neurology and medicine in college to aid her in better serving Iranian youth in reaching beyond their circumstances.

Tracey Ore

Tracy E. Ore is a professor of Sociology and chair of the Social Work Department at St. Cloud State University (SCSU). She received her PhD in sociology from the University of Michigan, is an active member of the American Sociological Association, and is past president of the Sociologists for Women in Society. Tracy does research in the areas of sustainable agriculture, oppression and inequality, and the development of effective teaching pedagogy. Her most recent text is The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality (sixth edition), published by McGraw-Hill in 2013. The connections between her scholarly work and activism are made real in the SCSU Community Garden, which she established in 2005.