Theme: Age is no limit

TEDxKazimierz serves the Kazimierz community, giving great people, ideas and projects in Kazimierz a global stage, while bringing inspiring, relevant or/and wonderful people, ideas and projects to Kazimierz.

TEDxKazimierz aims to serve and build community among TED and TEDx fans in the area, and be an event that enables people who want to share, learn and contribute to Kazimierz to strengthen their existing connections and forge new ones.

The event will be run in the spirit of TED, of the free voluntary sharing of ideas worth spreading.

All team members must enter into the spirit of co-operation with other team members,
other TEDx-s in Krakow, Poland, and around the world.

If you want to help please take a look at the resources here www.ted.com/participate/organize-a-local-tedx-event
and fill in the form here https://goo.gl/SplrcF

Richard Lucas

Kazimierz
Krakow, Małopolskie
Poland

Agnieszka Kiela-Pałys

Born a passionate traveller, has already set her foot on all continents, is never tired of visiting new places though. A graduate of English philology and post-graduate MBA studies; currently works in HR department of an IT company. Restless spirit; spends all the free time travelling, diving (her greatest love beside the mountains), climbing, training, planning next expeditions... Preferably, she would be in several places at the same time, because there is still so much to see and experience, only there is never enough time for everything she wants. On 5th March 2011 she set up a women's record in ice scuba diving. On 4th January 2013 finished the 7summits.pl project, climbing Mt. Vinson in Antarctica. The project took 8 years of her life; during this period she climbed the highest mountains on all the continents.

Alex Carlin

In the early '70's Alex was an original member of "The Rubinoos", a group with hit records in the USA and the UK. They played Alex's song "Rock and Roll is Dead & We Don't Care" on the American rock TV program "American Bandstand". In the late 70's Alex played in the legendary American punk band "Psycotic Pineapple", playing joint concerts with the "Dead Kennedys", Jonathan Richman and Roky Erickson. In the 80's he founded "Alien Beach Head", which played a 6 month tour of the USSR. From '01, Alex, based in Krakow, Poland, has played more than 150 concerts per year. He has been performing solo, with his bands "Rut Host", "The Henchmen" and "Alex Carlin Band". In '12, Alex sang a famous duet with Steven Tyler (Aerosmith). In '09, in Radomsko, Poland, Alex was awarded the Guinness World Record for "The Longest Solo Concert" - playing and singing 32 hours of continuous classic rock-n-roll.

Edward Lucas

Edward Lucas is a senior editor at The Economist, the world’s foremost newsweekly. His expertise includes energy, cyber-security, espionage, Russian foreign and security policy and the politics and economics of Eastern Europe. He is also a senior fellow and contributing editor at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). In 2008 he wrote The New Cold War, a prescient account of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In 2011 he wrote Deception, an investigative account of east-west espionage. He has also contributed to books on religion and media ethics. An experienced broadcaster, public speaker, moderator and panelist, Edward Lucas has given public lectures at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and other leading universities. He is a regular contributor to the BBC’s Today and Newsnight programmes, and to NPR, CNN and Sky News. He is regularly cited by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the top 100 Twitterati.

Emi Maj

Emi is driving software products from inception through execution, working closely with designers and engineers to ensure that products amaze and delight end-users. She’s a designer with artistic background and a passion for technology. Day-to-day – previously at Applicake, Base CRM, now at Pilot – helps clients create functional and visually attractive applications. Constantly looking for UI diversities in different cultures, by working together with international teams or exploring diverse tech scenes. Coming up with initiatives to bring excluded communities into technology sector and recall changes in IT industry around the world. By various programmes: teaching women to code (WebMuses, Rails Girls), linking african society into global technology (AfricaHackTrip) or learn kids to understand computer science (Children's University) she represents the innovator path of making changes. Her ways of absorbing new ideas: getting lost in unknown towns, dancing and sleeping.

Jakub Bochinski

Jakub Bochinski is a professional astronomer and a science communicator at the Open University - one of the largest academic institutions in the world. His current research aims to help us understand how Earth was formed by seeking out and studying new planets outside of the Solar System. In recent years, Jakub contributed to discoveries of several new planets as a member of SuperWASP and PIRATE telescope programmes and is currently running his own project, attempting to look under the surface of an evaporating planet using the William Herschel Telescope located at La Palma, Canary Islands. Prior to the Open University, Jakub worked and studied at the University College London, contributing to the research carried out at the UCL Institute of Origins, UCL/Birkbeck Centre for Planetary Sciences and the University of London Observatory. Jakub serves as a chairman of the OU Astronomy Club and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Jerzy Bozyk

Jerzy Bożyk ( born May 7, 1941 in Lviv) - Krakow vocalist and composer. Graduated from High School of Music in Łódź in 1959. After graduation he started working with "The Jazz Five Boys", "Silver Jazz" and "Tiger Rag" bands. Till 1976 he performed his music on concerts in Czechoslovakia, Finland and Sweden. In 1977 he passed the state exam for singers. Then he started Theatre Studies at University of Łódź, and was graduated in 1985. Polish promoter of hitchiking and jazz. Linguist (translator of Slovak language), theatrologist, independence activist (KPN, Shooting Association "Sagittarius"), cyclist, avid mountain hiker. He is a guide to Małopolska and Nest Trail. Since 1982 he is a member of "Beale Street Band". Multiannual participant of Summer Jazz Festivan in Piwnica pod Baranami, the National Students Festival of Tourists Songs Yapa. Currently he is performing his music in Krakow's club "AWARIA".

Jim Williams

Born on the same day as Buster Keaton, Jim Williams grew up on a steady diet of American cartoons. He discovered mime when he was 15 and later began studying theater and dance to help him towards his ultimate goal of becoming a human cartoon. At age 21, Jim began performing internationally and continued to tour across the U.S. and Europe, developing his own unique brand of performance through working with groups such as KAPOOT (Chicago, IL, USA), The Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit (Chicago, IL, USA), Interkunst (Berlin, Germany), and his own creation Liquidmime. Since 2010, Liquidmime has dominated Polish comedy festivals, winning top awards and appearing several times on television. As a semi-finalist on Mam Talent he became one of the most recognizable foreigners in the country. Now, using a brilliant combination of physical and spoken-word comedy, it’s easy to see why Wroclaw Uncut called Famous Jim Williams a “comedy gem.”

Joanna Antonik

Associated with the Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakow as a volunteer for 5 years, also as a coordinator for one year. In addition to the work on the Festival, she started one-year project, about which she will tell at the TEDxKazimierz. PhD student of pedagogy at the Jagiellonian University, interested in non-formal education, cultural pedagogy, and everyday life sociology. Co-founder of the Student Research and Creative Education team at the Pedagogical University. She loves to watch the reality, especially this virtual one, passionately read blogs, watch vlogs and you can find her on Facebook almost always. Fan of street art and modern technology. Feminist and bookaholic. In the near future she would like to learn how to code.

John Scherer

As a former Combat Officer on a US Navy Destroyer, Lutheran Chaplain at Cornell University, Gestalt and Family Systems Therapist, Graduate School co-creator, author, successful consultant and entrepreneur, John brings a unique perspective to his life and work. From 1973-1982 John was co-creator and Core Faculty of the nation’s first competence-based Graduate Program in the applied behavioral sciences, and is an internationally-respected change consultant and leadership coach. Stephen Covey named him one of America’s Top 100 Thought Leaders in Personal/Leadership Development. His most recent best-selling book, Five Questions that Change Everything: Life Lessons at Work, called ‘the best business self-help book ever written’ by CEO Robert Middleton.

Jonathan Ornstein

Is the Director of the Jewish Community Centre – an organisation conceived of and opened by HRH, the Prince of Wales. Prior to the centre’s opening in 2008 Jonathan had lectured in Modern Hebrew at the Jagiellonian University’s Department of Jewish Studies for 6 years and founded the “Gesher” association for Polish–Israeli dialogue.

Karolina Liberka

Karolina Liberka is a deputy editor of the monthly press called Marketing w Praktyce (Marketing in Practice). Strongly related to the topic of women entrepreneurship, she worked in the Active Women Association for a few years, where she helped people to start their own businesses. Regular mentor on the startup workshops. She teaches marketing for people over 50, who have set up their own companies. She works with brands with '50 plus' communication strategies. After working hours, she loves running, traveling and reading... countless newspapers and books.

Leszek Jodliński

Art historian, civil servant (The National School of Public Administration), manager of cultural institutions; from 2002 to 2003 Director of the Polish Year in Austria; Director of the Museum in Gliwice (2003-2008) and the Silesian Museum in Katowice (2008-2013). Member of the boards of museums in Pless and Opava, as well as Project Katowice Experts Council 2016 European Capital of Culture and Malopolska's Virtual Museums (2009-2012); author of the project aiming to make Polish painting galleries accessible to the blind (awarded in the Silesian Thing 2011 contest), initiatior and co-author of the rejected historical exhibition of Upper Silesia (2013), author of publications and articles on the history and history of art; lecturer at the University of Silesia and Jagiellonian University; as of 2014 employee of the Silesian Museum in Opava (Czech Republic).

Paweł Tkaczyk

Branding strategist who makes his living by telling stories. Author of two best-selling books. "Brand inside and out" won Marketing Book of the Year 2011 award. Public speaker and trainer. Named one of the top 10 marketing personalities of Polish internet by largest Polish internet portal.

Robert Desmond

Robert Desmond is a London Software Developer who has been living and working from Katowice with his girlfriend Basia for the last 18 months. He came to Poland, not by plane, but by bike, after a meaningful 25 day solo journey following a path of liberation that the allies took to end WWII in Europe. The trip ended in the disturbing camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau to end the memorial bike ride, however on seeing the thriving Jewish Community Centre in Krakow the next day, he realized that the death camp should not be the end of the journey; immediately Ride for the Living was created - an event not to only focus on the education of history, which is of course incredibly important, but to look at now and to ask the personally relevant questions - what can we learn and where do we go from here?

Samuel Cook

With the United States Army in Iraq he served as a civil affairs reconstruction officer in South Baghdad and as a Cavalry Troop Commander in Sharqat, Iraq. After his second tour in Iraq in 2008 Sam returned to attend New York University where he received a master's degree in fine arts in Russian and Slavic History. After finishing his degree Sam was selected to teach as an assistant professor of history at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he taught courses in Diplomatic History, Western Civilization, and Russian History. After completing his teaching Sam left the army to run a digital publishing company he founded full time. With staff stretched all over the world from Philippines to Australia to Paris. When Sam arrived in Poland in 2014 he was immediately smitten with the city of Kraków - its rich history and its bright future in technology proved irresistible for Sam and he decided to settle here to build his new publishing business James Cook Publishing.

Sonja Larson

Sonja Larson grew up on a farm in Western Minnesota and recently graduated with a degree in vocal performance from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wi, and is now researching in Krakow, Poland with the prestigious Fulbright Grant. She has established a website with faith meditations, prayers, and sacred poetry: www.leonarose.weebly.com. She has also developed Yachad, An International Choral Community. Through this organization she organized a Virtual Choral Festival, as well as a Choral Exchange Program that will bring students from the United States, Poland, and Israel to experience and perform in the Jewish Culture Festival, Krakow. She hopes to use her Fulbright project to develop a model of community building and cultural revitalization that can be applied to global communities damaged by war and genocide as well as underprivileged communities in the United States. For Sonja's blog, containing poetry, research, photography, and travel tips, please see her blog, Notes of Worth.

Wojciech Narębski

Born 14th of April, 1925 in Włocławek - polish geologist, specialized in geochemistry, petrology and mineralogical sciences of volcanics and metabasites. In 1941, Wojciech Narębski was arrested by NKWD and imprisoned. After the Polish Armed Forces formation, he went to the 2nd Corps, where he took part in the 22nd Artillery Supply Corp well known due to the presence of Wojtek the bear. He published many works on the activities of 2nd Corps in the Italian Campaign. For his participation in these battles he received the Cross of Monte Cassino Memorial. In 2004, "for his services to Veterans, for cultivating the tradition of Polish Armed Forces in the West" he received the Commander's Cros of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland. Besides a Military Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Order and the Deed of Combat Polish Armed Forces in the West, the Order of Merit of Italian Republic, Army Cross, Army Medal and other awards.