Theme: " > Me "

What happens when we aren't uploading ourselves, but uploading our community?
These days it’s not unusual for us to communicate with each other through sound bites and visual extracts of our selves, and our lives. We share success, smiles, intrigue, love- and we create a landscape characterized by the theme ‘me, me and more me'... what if we share something greater than just ‘I’ what can be possible? The ‘I’ in our identity is what sets us apart from others, what makes us unique. It is the "I" who plans our lives, decides who we will be, how we will get there… Developing as an empathetic human, means developing as "I". Writing our own story induces a synesthetic translation, making each "I" a central character in the story of our community... > me.

“When you have become selfless, you are secure in whatever you do” [Al-Rumi]

Al Manhal
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Shuwaikh Educational, Al Kuwayt (Al ٰĀşimah), Shuwaikh
Kuwait

Ali Hussain Al-Youha

Secretary General of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL)

Ali Al Youha is the Secretary General of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters in Kuwait. He believes strongly in bridging communication gaps through the promotion of cultural and media cooperation. Ali talks about how and why the story of culture has developed in Kuwait since he began his plan, and invites contribution from the TEDx Community to make it an even stronger experience for everyone!

Balsam AlAyoub

Fencing Champion / Sports Woman / Social Entrepeneur

Balsam grew up in an athletic family that believed in sports as tool for self development. Balsam was a professional fencer and champion, and today has turned her energy towards being a 'human investor' empowering young people in the Gulf region- especially young women.

Catherine Silliman

International Relations

Catherine is an American born in New York City. She spent her childhood moving around the USA, and also lived in Vicenza, Italy while her father served as a medical doctor in the U.S. Army. Her family eventually settled in the small town of Harvard, Massachusetts. Her horizons were further expanded after she participated in a high school summer exchange program in Turkey in 1976. She studied International Relations at Tufts University, and obtained a Masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. She worked as a reporter for the Saudi newspapers Arab News and Asharq Al-Awsat. After more than 30 years with the U.S. State Department, as a diplomat and diplomatic family member, she has lived in seven predominantly Muslim countries, and is writing a book about her experiences. She and her husband have raised two remarkable young men who share an openness to learn about the world and understand global perspectives.

Fatemah AlMosawi

Sustainability, Youth Development, Growing Communities

Fatemah AlMosawi is a community investor and has earned her doctorate in the genetics of familiar intellectual disability. She grew up in London, and returned to Kuwait bringing with her a passion for connecting people to things they are passionate about. She established Spread the Passion, a non profit organization that connects volunteers to opportunities while developing their skills in serving the community. Her youth initiative entitled “Spread the Passion Ambassador” won her the first prize with the National Youth Project in 2012 and a position in the executive office where she was recruited to manage volunteers and mentor the preparatory youth council to out reach to other youth in Kuwait. She received the first class distinction medal from His Highness the Amir of Kuwait in 2014 for youth care.

Hilal Al-Sayer

President of Kuwait Red Crescent Society & Chairperson and Medical Director of and Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice

Dr. Hilal Al-Sayer is the President of Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital (KACCH) and Chairperson & Medical Director of Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice (BACH). He is a former Minister of Health, Dean of the Medical School in Kuwait, President of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, and Chairperson of Dasman Diabetic Institute.

Margaret Al-Sayer

Director of the Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital and Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice

Margaret Al-Sayer is the Founding Director of the Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital (KACCH) and Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice (BACH). She is a former biology teacher and has devoted twenty-five years to raising awareness in Kuwait and the Middle East on the necessity of developing palliative care services for children.