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).

6832 Phillips Mill Road
New Hope, Pennsylvania, 18938
United States

Beth Olanoff

Beth Olanoff is the Program Director of Vision 2020, an initiative of the Institute for Women's Health and Leadership, Drexel University College of Medicine. Vision 2020 is a national coalition of organizations and individuals united in the commitment to achieve women's economic and social equality. Previously, Beth served as the Director of the Office of Policy in the Pennsylvania Department of Education during the administration of Governor Ed Rendell.

J.R. Madey

J.R. Madey has vast array of interests including running, the environment, and politics. Most notably, J.R. spent two years taking part in Solebury School’s Teach2Serve program, a two year course that teaches high school students to address social and environmental problems in our world through social innovation and service projects. In the first year, J.R. and his teammate Afrah based their community service efforts around food insecurity. Together, they organized food drives and planned service trips benefiting local food pantries in addition to creating an educational video about food insecurity in the Bucks County area. During the summer, he served an internship with Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, a local non-profit which works to combat food insecurity in the tri-county area. J.R. also volunteered at Roots to River Farm, an organic farm and CSA in New Hope, Pennsylvania, to learn more about his interest of organic foods and agriculture.

Jodi Lessner

Jodi Lessner is in eleventh grade at Wilmington Friends School in Delaware. She is the Editor-in-Chief of her school's newspaper and captain of the Mock Trial team. Jodi co-clerks the Amnesty International committee, which aims to raise awareness of human rights crises abroad. She also co-clerks the Half the Sky committee, which educates students about the injustices and inequalities faced by women and raises money to create positive change for women worldwide. Last year, the club focused on girls' education in Cambodia raising $300 to support a girl going to school. This year, Half the Sky raised over $1,700 in jewelry sales through the organization Bead for Life to support an entrepreneurship program for women in Uganda.

Kevin Cook

Kevin Cook is a documentary photographer and photojournalist based in his hometown of Philadelphia. His work has been published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer and others. He was named one of the top Photojournalists under 25 by the Boston Globe and one of Philadelphia's top 13 Instagrammers by Philly.com. Kevin has his master's degree in Photojournalism from the University of Missouri. Kevin is the Photography teacher at Solebury School.

Lauren NeFesha

Lauren is an artist, musician, poet, and teacher with a great love for spreading positive thoughts through her music and poetry. Whether working as the Arts Director at Orange Korner Arts in Philadelphia or performing in concert, NeFesha puts her heart into her work of helping youth grow and mature through creativity and the arts.

Navarrow Wright

Navarrow Wright has emerged as one of the distinctive and insightful voices in America and a premier expert on how the convergence of technology, the Internet, mass media and social media can change lives, businesses and society. A change agent in the digital space for 20 years, using his unique combination of technology acumen, business sense and understanding of how to address audiences has allowed him to create and grow new business opportunities in every position he's held.

Patricia Moss-Vreeland

Patricia Moss-Vreeland's works have been exhibited nationally at institutions including Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY and Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia. Her works reside in many permanent collections, including Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. After winning a national competition, Moss-Vreeland designed the Memorial Room, Holocaust Museum Houston, a permanent installation, earning the American Institute of Architects Honor Award in Design, among other international awards. Moss-Vreeland went on to create "Memory-Connections Matter" as the Millennial Art-in-Science commission for EKG, University City Science Center, Philadelphia, exploring the role of memory in how we learn and its connections to creativity. This exhibit traveled to the University of St. Thomas, with a conference, Fields of Mind, where Moss-Vreeland was the keynote speaker. These became the inspiration for her book, A Place for Memory, Where Art and Science Meet.

Rekha Dhillon-Richardson

Rekha Dhillon-Richardson is a tenth grade student at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, originally from British Columbia, Canada. She has a deep passion for environmental science and the natural world. Rekha enjoys skiing, hiking, rock-climbing, rowing - basically anything outside! In the summer of 2012, she was given the incredible opportunity to participate in a joint internship at the David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) and Justice for Girls.

Victoria Markhoff

Sixteen year old Victoria Markhoff is a Solebury School junior, immigrant, activist, and filmmaker, and she is apt to speak of a typically taboo topic: mental illness. She battles with depression and anxiety herself and still has achieved success in both high school and the University of Pennsylvania’s Young Scholars Program.