Theme: Connect

From waterfalls and right swipes to powerlines and hugs, connections serve to accomplish various goals. Explore what it means to CONNECT.

How do neurons mirror each other? What can we take away from the intertwinings of Social Media? Or how about a different perspective on whistleblowers? All these topics, and more. Let's get in on this together. Come join us in San Francisco, CA for an amazing day full of speeches, performers, and new ideas!

TEDxUCDavisSF is an event created by the students of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. We put this day together in hopes of inspiring creative minds and innovative imaginations!

Come visit us at www.TEDxUCDavisSF.com for more information!

Marines' Memorial Theatre
609 Sutter Street
Second Level
San Francisco, California, 94102
United States

DLRN Feat. PRVLGS

Floating in the ether of golden era lyricism, dark, transluscent synths, and melodic harmonies — lies DLRN. Blending the crisp vocals of Sean LaMarr with Jon Reyes on the boards, the pair has managed to find a way to defy archetypes, and seamlessly blend varying styles to form a genre-bending musical experience that speaks to a wide range of audiences. Their music paints a cinematic portrait of the struggle that the everyday hero must face — trying to be everything to everyone. Weaving intricate tales of love, loss, and loathing, they expose you to the side of artists you never really see. The side that feels doubt. The side that feels hurt, and pain, and conversely, triumph. The human side. — PRVLGS inhabits the space between psychedelic & progressive guitars, classically borne key riffs, and funk & hip-hop influenced drums. For them, music is more than a collaboration — it’s a language, a way of communicating. Drummer Omar Gonzalez-Barjas, keyboardist Zach Hake and bassist Melissa Garcia each exhibit a unique musical fluency, the culmination of years spent individually recording, producing, writing, and touring. Together, they form PRVLGS. The result is smooth, danceable, impactful, and much greater than the sum of its parts

Victor Talledos & Jen Mayekawa

Victor Talledos is an independent artist, visual artist, dancer, dance teacher and choreographer based in San Francisco. He began his training at Conservatorio de Danza in Mexico City, graduated from Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza de Monterrey, Mexico and studied at the Ailey School in NYC. He has danced for different companies in Mexico and NYC. In the Bay Area, he has worked for Robert Moses’ KIN, Copious Dance Theater, RAW Dance SF, Labayen Dance SF, among others. Victor has shown his choreography in San Francisco and NYC and he has been a guest choreographer for Labayen Dance SF, Emote Dance Theater, and Copious Dance Theater. He has taught Horton, Modern, and Ballet at Alonzo King Lines Ballet San Francisco Dance Center, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Lone Star Ballet in Amarillo Texas, Westlake School for the Performing Arts, workshops in Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. Victor is currently faculty at Alonzo King Teens@Lines Program, Lines Ballet Training Program, Berkeley Ballet Theater and Artist in Residence for Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. Jen Mayekawa's love for dance began in her hometown of Overland Park, Kansas. She received her early training from Sharon Romine of DanceWorks Conservatory and later continued studying ballet with Joyce Yagerline at Kansas State University. After graduating, she focused on modern dance and trained at Kansas City Ballet under Suzanne Ryan Strati. Jen moved to San Francisco in 2014 and has since been working with local choreographers in various projects, including Stephanie Golden of Doré Dance Company, Victor Talledos, and Jamie Wright. She is currently dancing with The DanceWright Project and is also a registered nurse at UCSF Medical Center.

Cynthia Owyoung

Cynthia Owyoung is the Founder and CEO of Breaking Glass Forums, accelerating diverse leaders and inclusive organizations. She has established and led diversity and inclusion initiatives for nearly 15 years at organizations both large and small, including GitHub, Yahoo and Intuit. Cynthia is known for integrating a diversity and inclusion lens into all aspects of the business, from talent management to product development. Prior to her calling in human resources, Cynthia launched a strategic planning consultancy, increasing the capabilities of non- and for-profit organizations in organizational development, brand marketing and business strategy. She also built a decade-long career as a Brand Strategist for leading global brands and advertising agencies, developing campaigns for Microsoft, Levi Strauss and Apple. Cynthia currently serves on the Board of Directors for Abilities United, a non-profit dedicated to the advancement, inclusion and independence of people with developmental disabilities. She earned an MBA in human resources from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, a BS in marketing and finance from UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School and a BA in psychology, also from UC Berkeley.

Davis Nguyen

Davis Nguyen enjoys coaching other to succeed. Davis was raised by a single mother in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Atlanta before receiving full scholarships to Yale and Harvard Universities. He ultimately graduated from Yale with honors and a degree in economics, studying the tie between social connectedness and poverty. Today, Davis works at Bain & Company helping leaders better their organizations; his results include working with a biotech company to develop a launch strategy for a life-saving drug, a tech company to find over $100 million in annual savings, and a low-income school district to improve their teacher retention. Davis aspires to use his personal and professional experiences to help others thrive. Davis watched his first TED/TEDx video in 2010. To date, his favorite TED talk is The power of introverts by Susan Cain, a hero of his and whom he had the honor of working with for 2 years.

Emily Arnold-Fernández

Emily Arnold-Fernández is executive director of Asylum Access, the leading global refugee human rights organization. After learning that refugees spend on average 17 years in camps, Emily founded Asylum Access in 2005 to create a world where refugees can live safely, move freely, work and send children to school, and rebuild their lives. Today, Asylum Access has impacted more than a million refugees worldwide, working intensively in 17 offices across 6 countries as well as at the global level to dismantle barriers to refugees’ economic and civic participation and ensure all refugees have a fair chance at a new life. Emily’s achievements have earned her numerous accolades, including the Equality and Nondiscrimination Award from Mexico’s National Council to Prevent Discrimination (2016); the prestigious Grinnell Prize (2013); and recognition by the Dalai Lama as one of 50 “Unsung Heroes of Compassion” (2009). She has been featured in the New York Times and published in Forbes, among other media. Emily was selected as a Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Stanford University in Fall 2012, and currently serves on the Advisory Board of Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Pomona College.

Hassaan Tohid

Dr. Hassaan Tohid (CASN) is a neuroscientist, public speaker, medical professional, researcher, book editor and a published author. He is currently a Leadership Council member for American Cancer Society. Dr. Tohid is the Editor in Chief for five scientific peer reviewed journals and also serves as an editorial board member for around 100 scientific peer- reviewed journals . Moreover, he has written various scientific peer- reviewed articles. After graduating from Sindh Medical College, Karachi (Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan) as a medical doctor. He then moved to the US and started his career as a researcher in neurology & psychiatry. He had been affiliated with prestigious institutions like Napa State Hospital, UCLA & the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and still serves as a visiting neuroscientist at the Center of Mind & Brain (UC Davis). He is also involved in various research projects nationally and internationally in the countries like Australia and England. Tohid delivers lectures in Spanish, Urdu, Hindi and English languages.

Mary Willingham

Known by many as the whistleblower of the largest academic scandal in NCAA history, Mary Willingham is an author, educator, activist and human resources professional. In 2015, she co-authored the book, “Cheated: The UNC Scandal, The Education of Athletes, And The Future of Big-Time College Sports,” which unveiled a corrupt academic system for student-athletes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, home of the legendary Tar Heels. Her research includes studies on the NCAA and university admission procedures with regard to profit sport athletes, and their specific gaps in basic skill deficits. She is a co-owner of Paper Class Inc., a company dedicated to raising awareness about the need for NCAA reform and PCRead, a non-profit literacy organization. In 2014, she was in Taylor Branch’s Documentary, “Schooled: The Price of College Sport”, and has also appeared on HBO Real Sports and ESPN Outside the Lines. In 2015, Willingham was invited to brief congress over the failures of the NCAA to regulate college sport and the need for a commission – H.R. 2731. Last year, 2016, she appeared in Bob DeMar’s Documentary, “The Business of Amateurs”. Willingham currently works for KIPP Delta public schools as Regional Director of Literacy.

Michelle Lou Lan

Michelle Lou Lan is the Founder and President of MeshYoga, a celebrated yoga practice and clothing line. She is an instructor, an innovator, an entrepreneur, and a passionate yogi. Michelle is also recognized as a social media influencer, with a strong presence and devoted following on Instagram. With over twelve years of experience, Michelle is highly regarded as a trailblazer in the practice of yoga. She has taught all over the world and studied with many of the great masters. Her clients have included renowned celebrities and decorated Olympians. She currently operates MeshYoga out of New York, Los Angeles, and Maui. With her background as a professional dancer, Michelle believes in a practice focused on alignment and expressive body movement, breaking down each yoga pose to the basics and merging different styles and techniques. With each class, she blends alternative body expressions into her routines, incorporating elements of pilates, cycling, boxing, strength training, and more. She is always reinventing, and always with a focus on inclusivity for all. Michelle thinks differently and encourages her students to do the same. As someone who splits her time between nature in the jungle and the creative hustle-and-bustle of the city, she brings her spirit of fun and adventure to each class. With Michelle Lou Lan and MeshYoga, you can always expect something “a bit different.”

Peace Amadi

Dr. Peace Amadi (Psy.D) is a professor of psychology at Hope International University, a speaker and writer, and the founder of The Pink Couch – a blog and digital community that challenges women to “get to the heart of the matter” in their pursuit of love, happiness, and success. Additionally, she is the co-founder of The Ruby Project (a non-profit that empowers girl survivors of abuse & trauma, using the creative arts), a former beauty queen (Miss Nigeria in America 2007), and an emerging media personality. Equipped with a doctorate in psychology (PsyD) from Azusa Pacific University, and a BA in psychology from UCLA, Peace both travels around the country and finesses digital space to help women overcome roadblocks to self-esteem and self-worth, discover their purpose, and maximize their influence in a world that craves their unique contributions. With great vision, insight, and instincts for strategy, she aims to empower and prepare the world’s next influencers and leaders.

Regina Jackson

President and CEO Regina Jackson has set the strategic direction for the East Oakland Youth Development Center’s (EOYDC) national youth development model for more than 23 years. Focused on character-based leadership, her platform of youth-led initiatives have empowered thousands of young people to achieve lifelong academic and career success. A global thought leader for youth development, Ms. Jackson is often called upon as a subject matter expert to deliver workshops, presentations, and papers, both domestically and internationally. At the behest of U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Ms. Jackson recently led two delegations of student ambassadors to China in support of President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” and “100,000 Strong” initiatives. Since the beginning of her tenure, EOYDC’s staff, Board of Directors, community leaders, and clergy have described Ms. Jackson’s leadership as “a stabilizing force for EOYDC’s curriculum and a positive anchor for the challenges of the twenty-first century.” Her successful strategies have tremendously benefitted urban, multicultural, and even international youth. Dr. Jackson recently received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of San Francisco and has been featured on ABC-TV World News Tonight, Essence Magazine, and Parenting Magazine. Look for her upcoming TEDx on “Taking Risks to Transform” March, 2017. Dr. Jackson is the mother of two adult sons.

Shihan Van Clief

Along with being the 1st and only poet to have a poem named ‘download of the week’ on iTunes; this National Poetry Slam Champion and 4X National Poetry Slam Finalist has been featured on a variety of media outlets including 7 appearances on 6 seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry, NBC, Oxygen Network, Current TV, Nike Battlegrounds, Reebok, Adidas, NBA, CNN, ESPN, Complex and Billboard Magazine, several national commercial spots, 5 National Tours including the Tony Award Winning Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry Jam International Tour and 2 Spoken Word documentaries, SP!T and the sequel to 1997’s cult doc Slam Nation, Slam Planet. Shihan was also the 1st ‘Poet’ to sign an exclusive Sponsorship deal with Sports Giant, adidas and he was the voice for The Sprite Street Mix, a radio program broadcasted in over 14 countries in Africa. His abilities to transcend cultural and generational boundaries have made Shihan a much sought after talent. He is also a proud father of 3 and husband of 1.

Taylor Miller

Taylor Miller is a Senior in the Rutgers University School of Social Work and finds her passion in advocating against sexual assault. She is she is the Vice President of Rutgers NO MORE, the first affiliated organization under the National NO MORE campaign to combat sexual violence campus wide, a BSW Intern at the Center on Violence Against Women and Children, as well as sits on The End Sexual Violence Campaign and NJ Task Force Against Campus Sexual Assault Advisory Committee. Taylor believes in the power of her voice and sharing her story as she has previously spoke at the 2015 TEDxRutgers Talk, 2015 Rutgers University Students Affairs Conference, and The 2016 Mark Conference to start the conversation about this issue within society as a whole.

Tricia Walsh

Patricia “Tricia” Kim Walsh is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Certified Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapist. She has successfully held a full private practice located in Pleasant Hill for the last 6 years, working with individual adults, tweens, teens, couples and families. Tricia also works full-time as a Mental Health Specialist with Crossover Health and provides individual therapy to full-time employees of a large silicon valley employer. Her clinical areas of specialty are PTSD/trauma, depression, anxiety, stress management, grief and loss, self-exploration and relational conflict. She previously served as a faculty counselor and counseling outreach coordinator at the Student Health and Counseling Center of the California State University of East Bay for five years. During her time, she provided individual, couples and group therapy to the undergraduate and graduate students of CSUEB. Tricia received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis with a double major in Communication and Sociology of Law. She also holds a paralegal certificate and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University. When she is not in the therapy office, Tricia is spending time with husband and two cats, Loke & Mocha, and loves to travel, write, act, dance and sing.