Theme: Activate: Ideas in Motion

Take part in Pittsburgh’s premiere platform for showcasing the ideas, individuals and innovations that are redefining the Steel City: TEDxPittsburgh.

Our theme this year is Activate: Ideas in Motion. The art of the ripple effect. We’re focusing on speakers and topics that have encountered a challenge and created an idea to overcome it. The goal is for our audience to leave with new points of view and reinforcement of the central idea that everyone can make a difference.

Esteemed speakers will talk on a variety of topics in the fields of technology, entertainment, and design. Punctuated by performances and audience interaction, this event is all about community.

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall
4141 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213
United States

Candi Castleberry Singleton

Candi Castleberry Singleton is the founder and CEO of Dignity & Respect Inc, an organization that promotes dignity and respect for self, others, and communities. Candi partners with senior executives, business process owners, and community leaders to build sustainable practices for the workplace and marketplace. She has implemented successful initiatives as Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at UPMC, Vice President of Global Inclusion and Diversity at Motorola, and as leader of the Global Inclusion Center of Expertise at Sun Microsystems.

Casey Droege

Casey Droege is a cultural producer and artist, moving between social practice and curatorial ventures. She has founded projects like SIX x ATE and CSAPGH, curated the 2014 Pittsburgh Biennial at CMU, and worked to build a stronger arts community in Pittsburgh. All of her projects, including these examples, focus on creating an accessible art experience that is relevant to a national/international contemporary art conversation. Casey is also an Assistant Professor at AI Pittsburgh and Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

David Petrovic

David Petrovic is co-author of, Expect a Miracle: A Mother/Son Asperger Journey of Determination and Triumph. As an individual with autism and Tourette’s, David strives to increase awareness of autism and acceptance of differences through motivational speaking. He is also seeking his teacher certification, having recently graduated from Notre Dame College, and is involved in theater and choir.

Diwas Timsina

Diwas Timsina, a senior at Penn State Greater Allegheny campus, is Founder and President of Children of Shangri-Lost (COSL), a youth-based nonprofit with the mission to raise awareness and educate people about refugee and immigrant stories in Pittsburgh and across the country. Diwas is originally from the Kingdom of Bhutan, a landlocked country in East Asia, but was born and raised in a refugee camp in Nepal.

Gisele Fetterman

Gisele Fetterman, First Lady of Braddock, Pennsylvania, is the founder of the Braddock Freestore, where surplus and donated goods are received and then redistributed to neighbors in need. She is also co-founder of 412 Food Rescue, an organization that works with food retailers, wholesalers, restaurants and other food providers to rescue un-sellable but perfectly good food.

Jasmine Tate

Following in the sonic and social footsteps of Tracy Chapman and Lauryn Hill, Jasmine Tate is a singer/songwriter who has cultivated audiences with her voice and ability to tell captivating and raw stories through her songs. Whether she’s performing in front of thousands in a stadium or a few in a coffee shop, the goal is always the same – to infuse each person with hope.

Lindsey Smith

Lindsey Smith, known as the Food Mood Girl, is an award-winning author and speaker. Affected by anxiety from a young age, Lindsey reached out to coaches and mentors to help her reduce stress and understand the root cause of her attacks. She went from being hospitalized at age twelve for anxiety to teaching her peers stress management workshops in high school. She is dedicated to helping people live a vibrant life through self-love and guilt-free living.

Mike Capsambelis

Mike Capsambelis is co-founder of Awesome Pittsburgh, a branch of the global Awesome Foundation that supports passionate and innovative entrepreneurs. Mike is also the director of Connecting Urban Entrepreneurs (CUE), a program to equip entrepreneurs in emerging neighborhoods with the skills to take their online presence to the next level. Mike has led product development at several big and small tech companies in Pittsburgh and is currently a member of Google's product management team.

Paul Abernathy

Paul Abernathy is the Director of FOCUS Pittsburgh, an Orthodox Christian urban outreach ministry and branch of FOCUS North America. In addition to graduating from St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary and earning a Master's of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, Paul has served as a Non–Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Army and is a combat veteran of the Iraq War.

Raj Rajkumar

Raj Rajkumar is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He also holds a courtesy appointment in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon. In addition, he serves as Director of Real-Time and Multimedia Systems Lab, Co-Director of General Motors-Carnegie Mellon Information Technology Collaborative Research Lab, and Co-Director of General Motors-Carnegie Mellon Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab.

Steve Hackman

Conductor, composer, arranger, producer and songwriter Steve Hackman is increasingly in demand as one of the most compelling artists contributing to a new landscape in hybrid music. Fluent in both classical and popular repertoire, he crafts and conducts virtuosic, cross-genre works and performances that intrigue the established audience and engage an excited new one. He currently holds the positions of Creative Director and Conductor of FUSE at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and is founder/creative director of his music brand :STEREO HIDEOUT:.

Steve Shelton

Former naval aircraft electrician and jack of all trades, Steve Shelton is now the founder and Executive Director of the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh, a school dedicated to providing training and job placements for men and women facing challenges who are committed to changing their lives. Additionally, in 2002, Steve started Shelton Masonry, renowned for some of the finest new construction and restoration work in Pittsburgh.

Tracey McCants Lewis

Tracey McCants Lewis is an assistant clinical professor and pro bono program coordinator at Duquesne University School of Law. Her clinical work focuses on expungements and pardons to counter employment discrimination while her academic pursuits are focused on critical race theory, feminist legal theory, and the clinical applications of legal storytelling. Tracey was named recipient of the 2012 NAACP Pittsburgh - Homer S. Brown Award for Legal Service, the 2012 Urban League Young Professionals of Greater Pittsburgh - Decade of Dedication Award, the 2015 YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh Racial Justice Award honoree, and the 2015 Duquesne University School of Law Woman of the Year.