TEDxBillings is back for it's third year. Featuring dynamic speakers with today's most compelling ideas, TEDxBillings will challenge you to think about things in a whole new way. Among the presentations this year, we'll be challenging you to think about environmental technology from a new perspective, to consider how changing how we work with addiction and homelessness can change a community, to examine the concept of Food Justice and what loving with all of your heart looks like - in a way you might not expect.

Tickets go on sale Friday, December 4 at 7 am. Please visit TEDxBillings.com or like us on Facebook for more details.

Billings Studio Theater
1500 Rimrock Rd, Billings, MT 59102
Billings, Montana, 59102
United States

Anna Paige

Anna has played symphonic music on flute, punk rock on bass, and written her way out of the hard times as a journalist. There was never a time when Anna wasn’t involved in the music scene, first creating, then documenting. Anna built her skill set writing for area magazines, newspapers, and news and entertainment websites while studying the emerging digital media climate and pursuing her Master’s Degree in Creative Writing online from the University of Denver. During this time she also worked in corporate and nonprofit marketing, focused on brand development, digital strategy, and public relations. Anna is an instructor in the Big Sky Writing Workshops and active in the Montana slam poetry community. Anna holds the 2013 Montana Slam Grand Champion title, as well as the haunting honor of being the 2011 Walking Dead Poet Slam champ. She has been honored for Best Spoken Word Artist in Billings by the Magic City Music Awards in 2012, 2014, and 2015.

Ben Reed

After teaching Finance at the graduate and undergraduate level, Ben Reed started and has run Winpower West - a renewable energy (RE) focused business in Billings, for the last 27 years. He is a member of the Montana Renewable Energy Association, the Northern Plains Resource Council, and several other environmental and public policy groups in Montana. He has actively advocated for fair and balanced RE policy measures across the state and at the state legislature, and consults with utilities throughout the state about their RE policies. He currently serves on the Governor’s Main Street Montana Energy and Utilities Key Industry Network, and as a stakeholder/advisor for Northwestern Energy’s Community Solar Initiative.

Charles Ringer

Charles is a kinetic steel sculptor who has lived in Joliet for 45 years. He is self taught and considers his lifestyle his real art, and everything else is a byproduct of that. He is prolific, and has 5000 sculptures all over the world. He also does other things, like gardening and landscaping, construction projects, building cars, fixing stuff, and collecting interesting things and re-purposing them. Everything he does is interrelated between the trial and error method and the physical world.

Dave Pauli

Dave Pauli is a technically trained agricultural economist (BS 1985 University of Wisconsin-Madison) who has worked in the animal/wildlife protection field for 36 years. He has owned a wildlife damage control business, been the director of two animal care and control agencies, and is a licensed or permitted Wildlife Rehabilitation specialist throughout his career. For the last 25 years, he has been a national and international field responder to large scale capture projects and disaster responses for The Humane Society of the United States and Human Society International. He has gained “lessons learned” from working on projects in all fifty states and in the Bahamas, Canada, Costa Rica, Guam, Haiti, Philippines, Russia, Saipan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Trinidad, and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Kiah Abbey

Kiah Abbey is the Bozeman Program Director for Forward Montana, a homegrown, youth led organization that works to get young people involved in government. Kiah is passionate about creating a democracy that is inclusive and empowering for all Montanans.

Lynda Bourque Moss

Lynda Bourque Moss served in the Montana State Senate for two terms from 2005-2011. During her tenure in the legislature she sponsored Senate Bill 59 which established a mural in the Montana State Capitol honoring women as community builders. Senator Moss also sponsored legislation focused on social justice, public health, safety and historic preservation. Lynda lives in Billings, Montana and in 2013 she formed Moss Consulting. Moss has an MFA from Montana State University and is the Vice Chair of the Northwest Area Foundation.

Matt Lennick

Since 2014 Matt has worked as a Downtown Resource Officer for the Billings Police Dept, working with the businesses and residents of the downtown area. As part of the Community Innovations Team, and the Motivated Addiction Alternative Program, he assists at-risk individuals and deals with the unique challenges the City faces with individuals experiencing life on the street who may also have mental health, addiction issues and/or frequent interactions with law enforcement and emergency services.

Michael S Mulberry

Rev. Mike Mulberry is the Senior Minister at Billings First Church in downtown Billings. Mike has served as a missionary in Chiapas, Mexico, and on Witness for Peace delegations for the first return of Guatemalan refugees and an emergency delegation when the Oaxacan teachers’ strike exploded in violence. He led the effort to form the first-ever Family Promise chapter in New Hampshire. He also led delegations to Chiapas, Mexico, and Postville, Iowa, to develop solidarity, consciousness-raising, and understanding around issues of immigration, globalization, and food justice. In his last local church, he organized a food justice summit with the local chapter of Bread for the World in Rockford, Illinois. He has served on the United Church of Christ national immigration committee and as Chair of Illinois Maya Ministry in the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ. As a Biblical geek, he enjoys reading and discussion around Christian origins.

Roy Pack

Roy Pack is experienced in a vast range of business development as both founder and CEO of multiple organizations and has served as consultant assisting troubled organizations with turnaround efforts: His experience includes business development, image development, quality improvement plans, risk management plans, outcome assessments, workplace quality of life, employee retention, employee satisfaction and experiential team building for workplace safety and communication. Additionally Roy has participated in state regulatory advisory and co-authored The State of Montana Fair Housing Statutes, Wyoming Mental Health Rules and Wyoming Substitute Care Rules. Mr. Pack's passion for innovation has and will continue to be his motivation in life helping others create sustainable life styles, businesses and communities.

Sheryl Shandy

As the director of Billings Food Bank, no one knows the history of the formation and growth of the Billings Food Bank from inception to current times like Sheryle does. “Food for Today-Hope for Tomorrow” has been the organization’s ‘saying’ from the beginning, and it still guides their mission as they have grown from generating food for other programs to doing to so much more with the support of our community.