Theme: Fearless Ideas

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).

University of Maryland College Park
Stamp Student Union
College Park, Maryland, 20740
United States

Aaron Pludwinski

Throughout his life, Aaron Pludwinski has always had an ambitious yearning to succeed at anything that he sets his mind to. Already at the age of 19, he is the CEO of his own company, president and co-founder of an on campus organization, and is currently speaking four languages fluently. After obtaining his undergraduate degree in finance, Aaron plans to build up his company up and then attend law school. Aaron’s uncanny optimism will undoubtedly lead him to a bright future.

Austin Lee

Austin is a graduate of the University of Maryland – College Park. He studied business at the Smith School and was a member of the QUEST program. Austin also co-founded and led the Net Impact chapter, an organization promoting students to drive transformational change in the workplace and the world. The University of Maryland chapter was recognized as national "Chapter of the Year" in 2013. Austin is currently an Associate Consultant at the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit that provides management consulting to mission-driven organizations and philanthropists. His interests range from education technology and building computers to singing and playing guitar.

David Allan

David G. Allan is the Managing Editor for Feature sections for BBC.com. His BBC column, Wise Up, is about applying philosophy and ideas to how we live. Prior to joining the BBC he was the online feature sections editor at The New York Times where he was also a frequent contributor. He has been an editor for Fodor’s travel guides and wrote two travel guides, to Ireland and Scotland, for Frommer’s. He was an editor at AOL, creator of a show on MTV, a former White House intern and has lived in Washington DC, San Francisco, Alaska, Dublin, Glasgow and Bangkok and spent a year travelling around the world with his wife before they settled in New York and started raising their two daughters. He graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1996 with two degrees, in Journalism and Philosophy, and was an editor and columnist for The Diamondback.

Elizabeth James

Elizabeth James is the Program Manager for the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan (DAAS). Elizabeth​ assists with scheduling, planning and implementing the department's many programs, as well as performs as its outreach coordinator including study abroad programs, and outreach initiatives across the country ​and serving as a committee member of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium, the largest academic celebration in the nation​. She most cherishes her extracurricular work as a third generation storyteller, along with ​serving as an adviser for the Black Student Union and the National Council of Negro Women and working with Camp Michitanki, the U-M's Transplant Center for young recipients like herself as the resident storyteller.

Gretta Gardner

Gretta Gardner, JD is the Family Violence Director for the Travis County Counseling and Education Services in Austin, TX and serves as the Chair of the Austin/Travis County Family Violence Task Force. Ms. Gardner’s career as a legal advisor for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault was inspired by her early work in the Domestic Violence Unit of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. She has worked for nearly two decades to help shape guidelines, policies, and procedures that communities can use to end violence against women. She received her BA in Psychology from Vassar College and her JD from the University of Maryland School of Law. Ms. Gardner is also a Steering Committee Member of the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community, and belongs to a multitude of local, state, and national committees that address violence against women and their children.

Jared Weiss

Jared Matthew Weiss is the Founder and CEO of Overture, a startup dedicated to helping the world get to know each other.Overture has made thousands of their trademark profile videos for individuals, companies, universities, and, notably, the Mayor of New York and Miss America. Jared has been helping people and companies discover and share their most inspiring stories for well over a decade. He has been featured on the Today Show, Tyra, and more. He had a monthly column in Shape magazine, and he's spoken about how to tell an inspiring life story for Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Ashoka, American Express, and more. He lives, works, and is still growing up in New York City.

Jattu Senesie

Dr Jattu Senesie is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and native of the Washington DC metropolitan area. She earned a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a medical degree from the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Senesie returned to the DC area after training and spent six years in a private obstetrics and gynecology practice in Maryland. Dr. Senesie retired from clinical practice in 2010 in an attempt to find a balance between maintaining her own wellness and living a life of service. Since leaving clinical medicine, Dr. Senesie has become a certified personal trainer and professional life coach. Her particular passion is coaching women who have spent a lot of time and energy getting credentials, certifications and degrees in order to be of service to others, yet are dissatisfied with their own lives. Dr. Senesie is also a speaker on a variety of wellness topics and blogs about overall well-being on her website

Kimberly Griffin

Kimberly A. Griffin is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland. Prior to becoming a faculty member, she served as a higher education administrator and student affairs professional, working in undergraduate and graduate admissions, promoting diverse and hospitable learning environments, and new student orientation. These professional experiences have greatly informed her work as a scholar, and her research focuses on three core topics: the persistence and success of underserved students; diversity within the Black community; and mentoring and developmental relationships. Professor Griffin is a recognized scholar in the area of higher education access and equity research. After completing her undergraduate work in Psychology at Stanford University, Dr. Griffin received her Master's degree from the University of Maryland. Her doctoral work in higher education and organizational change was completed at UCLA.

Marsha Guenzler-Stevens

Marsha serves as the Director of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union – Center for Campus Life. Included in this vibrant Center, visited by over 18,000 people per day, are units including Leadership and Community Service-Learning, Graduate Student Life, the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs, student organizations and campus governance groups, Veteran Student Life, Student Engagement In 1993, Dr. Guenzler-Stevens was recognized as the Outstanding Associate Staff Member at the University of Maryland at College Park and in 1995 she was named one of the institution's "Women of Influence." Through out Marsha’s mentoring experiences with students and young adults she notice a similarity in the questions. Marsha will talk about the importance of focusing on the questions or present and not the answers or the future.

Orin Davis

Orin C. Davis is a self-actualization engineer who focuses on enabling people to do and be their best. His consulting work is centered on maximizing human capital and making workplaces great places to work, and his research specialties are self-actualization, flow, creativity, hypnosis, and mentoring. Dr. Davis is a lecturer in Critical and Creative Thinking at UMass Boston and an adjunct professor of Psychology at Baruch College. He is also the principal investigator of the Quality of Life Laboratory, the Chief Science Officer of Self Spark, and a science advisor to Happify. He earned the first doctorate in Positive Psychology from Claremont Graduate University and did his baccalaureate degree in Neuroscience at Brandeis University.

Quentin Williams

Quentin Williams is an attorney, prolific international speaker, former FBI Agent, former federal prosecutor and has held positions as an executive with the NFL and NBA. He currently serves as a business adviser/strategist and legal expert with a wealth of knowledge and experience in wide-ranging areas of business. With more than 25 years of established business expertise and over 20 years of legal experience, he is a trusted confidant and well-respected educator with a lengthy record of successful deal-making and community advocacy. In a world which is money driven, many time people forget the value of an important relationship. Quentin will talk how relationships assisted him in becoming successful in his career.

Raul Oaida

Raul is an inventor and aspiring astronaut from a developing country in Eastern Europe. From his shed in Transylvania he built a spaceship, a jet bike and a full size lego car that runs on air. Despite humble beginnings, Web 2.0 gave him the tools to learn, build and connect with others bringing such implausible ideas to life. His creations have since been featured in every major news publication from around the world -- he is here to tell his story.

Shahab Kaviani

Shahab, a UMD alumni, is co-founder and CMO at Onevest, a startup investing platform. Prior to Onevest, Shahab was Co-Founder and CEO at CoFoundersLab where he built the largest community of entrepreneurs in the world. Prior to CoFoundersLab, Shahab co-founded and operated HyperOffice for over 7 years to become a leading cloud collaboration software company serving more than 150,000 customers worldwide before its successful exist.

Sharon Fries-Britt

Sharon Fries-Britt, Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Maryland is the current Director of the Higher Education, Student Affairs and International Education (HESI) Program in the department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education (CHSE). Her research examines the experiences of high achieving Blacks in higher education and underrepresented minorities (URMs) in STEM fields as well as the experiences of underrepresented faculty in higher education. Dr. Fries-Britt has published within peer-reviewed journals and her research has been funded and supported by the Lumina Foundation and the National Society of Black Physicists. For more than 30 years she has been a sought after speaker consulting extensively with colleges and universities; governmental agencies and private industry on issues of race, equity, diversity and effective leadership.

Tina Frundt

Ms. Frundt has been actively raising awareness of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) since 2000. A high profile national advocate on the issue of domestic sex trafficking and a survivor of CSEC, Ms. Frundt is deeply committed to helping other children and women who are living through experiences similar to her own. She has been featured on numerous national shows and publications, including the OWN Network’s Our America with Lisa Ling: 3AM Girls, which featured an undercover look into sex trafficking in Washington, DC, the CNN Freedom Project, and Redbook Magazine. In 2010, she became the first U.S. citizen to receive the Free the Slaves Freedom Awards-Frederick Douglas Award, which recognizes survivors of sex trafficking who use their life in freedom to help others. In 2012, she was honored with the Norma Hotaling Survivor-Centered Service Provider Award.

Yvonne Jih

Yvonne Jih is a senior Electrical Engineering major and Engineering Leadership Development minor graduating this December. Following graduation, she plans to work as an engineering professional on an international level. She has studied abroad in Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar and plans on continuing to explore the world one culture and culinary dish at a time. The way TED can deliver such enriching stories in such little time has always fascinated her, so to speak and share her voice at a conference has always been a goal of her's.