Theme: "WHAT IF.... Reframing the Possible"

This is TEDxMarin's 7th year. This year we examine what might be our new normal? as we pose the question: “What If…”, to better explore the unexpected possibilities and bold ideas that may fundamentally shift our future. Once again, we will bring forward pioneering individuals representing powerful ideas of change. Whether it’s the search for meaning, joy, profession or purpose, or a desire to innovate and address global and cultural issues, TEDxMarin 2016 looks to inspire and illuminate our Marin community with thought-provoking ideas reframing our vision of what’s possible. Event includes Gala Attendee reception and the Live filming of our talks.

The College of Marin
835 College Ave
Kentfield, California, 94904
United States

Andrew Norelli

Numerous late night appearances including twice on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” where he was booked by Jimmy himself who said “because of how few slots we have available you have to be an A++ comedian to get booked on my show, and Andrew is.”  Other TV appearances include Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham,” and the nationally syndicated comedy round-table “Comics Unleashed,” where he also worked as a monologue joke writer.  His performance at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal was praised in Time Out New York.  International appearances include Sydney Australia’s Comedy Store where The Daily Telegraph remarked “his show features hair trigger laughs with a deadly aim, all the more so because while some comedians overestimate their own intelligence, Norelli never underestimates ours.”

Ashanti Branch

The Ever Forward Club and Ashanti were featured last year in the documentary, “The Mask You Live In,” which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Ashanti Branch works to change how young men of color interact with their education and how their schools interact with them. Raised in Oakland by a single mother on welfare, Ashanti left the inner city to study civil engineering at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. A construction project manager in his first career, his life changed after he tutored struggling students and realized his passion for teaching. During Ashanti’s first year teaching high school math, in 2004, he started The Ever Forward Club to provide support for African American and Latino males who were not achieving to their potential. Since then, Ever Forward has helped all of its more than 150 members graduate from high school, and 93% of them have gone on to attend two- or four-year colleges, military or trade school.

Dr. James Canton

Dr. James Canton is a leading global futurist, social scientist, keynote presenter, author, and visionary business advisor. For over 30 years, he has been insightfully predicting the key trends that have shaped our world. He is a leading authority on future trends with an emphasis on harnessing innovation. Dr. Canton has advised three White House Administrations and global business leaders.

Larry Brilliant

A medical officer for the UN's World Health Organization and member of the Central Team in smallpox eradication in India, he was the first executive director of Google.org, and currently serves as chairman of Skoll Global Threats Fund. Larry co-founded the The Seva Foundation, whose programs and partners have restored sight to more than 4 million blind in dozens of countries. He has worked with four Presidents, the UN, G8 and Chaired the National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee. He co-founded one of the first digital social networks, the Well. He and his wife Girija and their children live in Northern California. His new book “Sometimes Brilliant” has just been released (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S54VVII/ref=cm_sw_su_dp?tag=harpercollinsus-20) 

Mark Summer

Widely regarded as one of the outstanding cellists of our time, MarkSummer is a co-founder of the two-time Grammy®-winning Turtle Island Quartet, and was the quartet’s cellist for 30 years. He is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was a student of former principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra, Stephen Geber. In 2008, he was awarded a Distinguished Alumni award from CIM. Mark was a tenured member of the Winnipeg Symphony from 1981–1984, before leaving the orchestra to perform in several Canadian contemporary and Baroque ensembles, as well as his own group, The West-End String Band. Asked to perform at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 1985, the group went on to record Mark’s original music for CBC Radio. In the fall of 1985, Mark visited the Bay Area where he was invited by David Balakrishnan to help form Turtle Island Quartet.

Martha Fishburne

8th Grade Student, Ross, Ca

Mehri Dadgar

Mehri Dadgar joined the movement against the Shah and participated in the 1979 revolution in Iran. Two and a half years after the revolution she was arrested for distributing pro-democracy newspapers in the streets of Tehran. After she spent five years in political prison, she wasn’t allowed to leave the country for eight years until 1994. Before immigrating to the United States, she studied at the Art University in Tehran. Since living in America, she exhibited her paintings and received her MFA with honor from the California State University of Long Beach. After her research and years of Quran studies she began lecturing at universities and libraries about misconceptions in the practice of Islam and how false doctrines clash with the peaceful teachings of the Quran. She has recently published her memoir of prison, A Prison Story – Iran, a testimony of bravery and fear, honesty and betrayal and ultimately, hope and victory.

Robb Willer

Robb Willer is a professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior at Stanford University.  He received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Cornell University and his B.A. from the University of Iowa. He previously taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was the 2009 recipient of the Golden Apple Teaching award, the only teaching award given by the student body. Professor Willer’s research focuses on forces that bring people together (cooperation, morality, solidarity), forces that divide them (prejudice, competition), and settings featuring the complex interplay of the two (politics, organizations). A theme of his research is that many aspects of social life that are often viewed as antisocial – gossip, hierarchies, moral judgments – are in fact fundamental to social order.

Shamil Idriss

Shamil Idriss is the President of Search for Common Ground, a global conflict transformation organization with offices in 36 countries.  Search’s mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict – away from adversarial approaches and toward collaborative problem-solving.  Founded in 1982, Search works with local communities and leaders in some of the most challenging conflicts in the world, adapting creative approaches to build the trust and cooperation between divided communities that is essential to sustainable development. Search also facilitates high-level negotiations and Track II peace processes, playing an especially important role over the past 19 years in promoting US-Iran cooperation and support to the negotiation process between the countries.