Theme: TEDxBergenCommunityCollege

This year we'll be looking at the idea of change and how you can make change happen.

Ciccone Theater
Bergen Community College
400 Paramus Road
Paramus, New Jersey, 07652
United States

Ashley Carmenatty

Ashley Carmenatty is a 25-year-old creative. Capturing images to create stories of her personal struggles suffering with Generalized Anxiety Disorder; she uses Instagram as an outlet for connection with a world she could never truly relate too. She hopes that her words, jumbled as they may be, could help someone who feels alone because they have a mental illness. She loves raising awareness for mental health and capturing raw deep emotions, all the while she tries to figure out what she wants to eat for dinner.

Cindy Nolte

After being asked for years by her clients and friends how she always seemed to remain at peace regardless of what was happening around her, Cindy Nolte was motivated to write her best-selling book, Finding Peace in an Out of Control World: A How-to Book on Being at Peace Regardless of What Life Throws Your Way. Only months after her book was published, she was tested to apply her principles when her husband was diagnosed with lung cancer. Stressing balance as a key factor in wellness, Cindy insists it is also paramount in productivity in the work place. She combines her 20 years of experience in training and development with her extensive studies in mindfulness to offer a unique approach to solving today’s organizational obstacles and to deliver uplifting keynote speeches. In October 2016, she was recognized as a finalist in NJ’s Leading Women Entrepreneurs by NJ Monthly Magazine.

Dana Spett

Dana Spett, MSW founded Pony Power in 2000 with four riders and one horse. Dana graduated from New York University and went on to get her Master’s in Social Work and practiced in schools. She has been an accomplished equestrian from a young age, and when one of Dana’s three daughters was diagnosed with sensory integration issues, she found a way to treat her daughter by combining her passions and becoming a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International-certified instructor. In 2003, Pony Power purchased Three Sisters Farm in Mahwah, NJ and dedicated the property to be an inclusive horse assisted activity center currently working with children and adults with a variety of special needs. In 2015, Dana was appointed to the Governor’s Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism.

Daniel Ally

Daniel Ally builds businesses, brands, and bank accounts. While attending college, he dropped out of graduate school to start his marketing and consulting business. As the Founder of The Ally Way, he has reached millions of people in every continent. Along the way, he's helped thousands of businesses blossom and dominate within their industries through Dignify Designs, his marketing company

Danielle Hark

Danielle Hark is a wellness writer, freelance photographer and photo editor, and certified life coach whose work has been featured in The Huffington Post, Psychology Today, Dr. Oz’s YouBeauty, The Mighty, and Upworthy, as well as various other publications and books. Danielle is also a mental health advocate who lives with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder. In the midst of her struggles, Danielle founded Broken Light Collective, a non-profit organization that empowers people living with or affected by mental illness using photography. She has been interviewed and featured by the New York Times, BBC News, NBC, Word Press, The Huffington Post, Upworthy, as well as the American Association of Suicidology. For more information, visit www.DanielleHark.com, www.BrokenLightCollective.com, and follow Danielle on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram @daniellehark.

David Jacome

Prof. Jacome is recognized as a lead General Physics contributor, patent holder, and scholarly researcher having attended numerous international proceedings in over 30 countries. Many of his ideas have been discussed in phisics articles and even appeared in Nature publications. one of those ideas lead to the discovery of the Hyperloop project by Elon Musk. Some areas of contribution include Quantum Teleportation, String Theory, Holograms for Teaching, Plasma Physics, and Science Education topics.

Gayle Kirschenbaum

Gayle Kirschenbaum is an Emmy-winning filmmaker/TV producer/writer. Called “the Nora Ephron of documentaries”, Gayle has turned the camera on herself in her recent feature documentary. LOOK AT US NOW, MOTHER! is about the transformation of a highly charged mother/daughter relationship from Mommie Dearest to Dear Mom. This is the “larger version” of her humorous short film, MY NOSE, in which we follow her mother’s relentless campaign to get her to have a nose job. Prior to this film, Kirschenbaum made a poignant and wacky film with her dog about the human/canine bond called A DOG'S LIFE: A DOGAMENTARY, which premiered on HBO. She created several reality shows that premiered on TLC and Discovery Health, and co-created JUDGMENT DAY that also aired on HBO.

Howard Godnick

Howard O. Godnick is a partner in the New York office of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, where he focuses his practice in the areas of complex securities and commercial litigation, including class actions and corporate control disputes and creditor rights litigation. A magna cum laude graduate of New York Law School, where he graduated first in his class, Howard was honored to receive the school’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for his pro bono work on behalf of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. As lead counsel in McWaters v. FEMA, a class action to secure the temporary housing assistance to which Katrina evacuees were entitled by law, he successfully obtained injunctive relief against FEMA, preventing the agency from evicting tens of thousands of hurricane victims from their federally funded hotel rooms pending determinations on their applications for benefits.

Ilya Welfeld

Publicist, Seymour PR Change agent, entrepreneur, business owner and award winning communicator, Ilya Welfeld helps brands connect with consumers. Known for her positive and passionate approach and respected for strategic thought-leadership, Welfeld empowers others to enthusiastically drive towards personal and professional success. Welfeld runs Seymour Public Relations, a boutique agency with expertise in food and lifestyle brand communications. Seymour PR is based in Hackensack, NJ.

Lori Fredrics

SOPRANO LORI JOACHIM FREDRICS, a native of New York City, has been teaching singing since 1984, maintaining a private studio as well as teaching at William Paterson University, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Kingston University of London, and Brown University. Ms. Fredrics holds a BM from William Paterson University of New Jersey and a MM in Voice Performance from The University of Texas at Austin. A member of AGMA and A.E.A, Ms. Fredrics has performed many roles in opera, musical theatre and plays as well as appearing as a soloist in major international music festivals in the US, Canada, Scandinavia, Latin America and Asia.

Lucine Z. Kinoian

Lucine Z. Kinoian is a third-generation Armenian-American who is active in the respective New York and New Jersey Armenian communities. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Comparative Literature and Philosophy from Rutgers University and a Master’s degree in English Education from Columbia University. Kinoian currently works as an English teacher in the Tenafly, NJ school district.

Melanie Notkin

Melanie Notkin is a leading expert on the emerging demographic of childless, often single, women. She is founder and personality behind Savvy Auntie®, the beloved lifestyle brand celebrating modern aunthood, and national bestselling author of Savvy Auntie: The Ultimate Guide for Cool Aunts, Great-Aunts, Godmothers, and All Women Who Love Kids. In 2009, she established Auntie's Day® the first annual day to celebrate and honor aunts. Her 2014 reported memoir, Otherhood: Modern Women Finding a New Kind of Happiness, received a Booklist *Starred Review*. Notkin has shared her national research on the rising demographics of what she dubbed PANKs® - or, Professional Aunts No Kids, and Otherhood® - or, non-mothers, along with her popular voice on behalf of her cohorts as a keynote speaker to several consumer and corporate groups.

Melody Wilding

Melody Wilding teaches human behavior at The City University of New York and is a nationally recognized Master Coach who distills psychological insights into actionable career advice. A licensed social worker trained at Columbia University, she’s helped thousands of professional women and female entrepreneurs master their mindset and emotions for greater success. Melody has worked with CEOs and executives running top startups along with published authors and media personalities. Melody is syndicated columnist and regular contributor to Inc., Forbes, PsychCentral, and TheMuse.com. Her advice has been featured by dozens of major media outlets like New York Magazine, Fast Company, Entrepreneur and more. She holds a Masters from Columbia University and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Psychology from Rutgers University.

Nick Maccarone

A proud native of Oakland California, Nick Maccarone developed a love for performing at a very young age. As a child, he used theater and film as instruments of his imagination, emulating his favorite actors in countless home-video performances. With a nod to his father's Brooklyn origin, he enrolled in Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in Theater and studied under such venerable mentors as Kristin Linklater, Andre Serban, and Anne Bogart. Nick was a committed student, immersing himself in the Greeks, Sarah Kane, Shakespeare, Pinter, Ibsen, Brecht, Chekhov, Ionesco, Strindberg, and Tennessee Williams. One of his personal highlights was appearing in James Baldwin’s Another Country, directed by Diane Paulus.

Patrice Lenowitz

Patrice is a domestic violence survivor, victims’ rights advocate, activist, public speaker and playwright. Of paramount importance to her work is advocating for victims' rights, and to unravel why our courts routinely fail the most vulnerable in our society, women and children in crisis seeking a life free from abuse. Her passion and leadership have led to new child protection legislation in New Jersey, and it is built upon the premise that the rights, safety, health and wellbeing of our nation’s women and children must become our top priority in law and society.

Porter Smith

Porter Smith AKA P.S. Lutz is a Renaissance Man. His imagination flows widely and evenly in musical and literary directions. A new American Mythology author, playwright, and lecturer, an innovative composer, a searing romantic lyricist, and a heartfelt performer, he dedicates his creative work to bridging distances between people and places far and wide.

Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN

Rebecca Scritchfield is a well-being coach, registered dietitian nutritionist, certified health and fitness specialist and author of the book, Body Kindness, lauded by the New York Times Book Review as “simple and true” and Publisher’s Weekly calls “a rousing guide to better health.” Through her weight-neutral mindfulness-based counseling practice, she helps people create a better life with workable goals that fit individual interests. She is the co-founder of Dietitians for Body Confidence, www.RD4BC.com, a website and free bi-monthly e-mail dedicated to shared learning among dietitians and future RDNs to improve body image in people they serve.