Theme: What's Your Perspective?

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

St James Theatre
77-87 Courtenay Pl
Wellington, Wellington, 6011
New Zealand

CoLiberate

Bop Murdoch, Jody Burrell and Sarah Tuck have been making theatre together for six years, opening community dialogue and connecting people through storytelling. They are addicted to the personal transformation that comes with a good creative process, and in 2015 they redirected their mahi towards making that level of people-care available to all kinds of people! After graduating from Inspiring Stories’ accelerator programme ‘Live The Dream’, they have launched CoLiberate, a social enterprise helping people to feel their best.

Clare Christian

Clare co-owned an art gallery for seven years before moving to London where she was musical director at a rock academy working with youth at risk, and formed a band that (fun fact!) included the founding guitarist of Pink Floyd. On her return in 2010 she worked as a baker, which led her to develop NZ’s first paleo bread which she distributed throughout the country. Alongside her position as project manager, Clare works regularly with her band Jeep Rd.

Irene Wakefield

During her childhood the words “history repeating itself” were used to describe a woman in an abusive relationship. Prepair NZ has a vision to empower and inspire young women across the country to create history that is absolutely worth repeating itself.

Jack Candlish

Jack is an industrial designer who loves the outdoors. To Jack, sustainability means living in a way that allows his children and grandchildren to enjoy the same outdoor activities that he did growing up. When he realised the impact his surfboards had on the environment he set out to develop an alternative.

Jason Long

Jason Long is a composer, sound artist and researcher from Christchurch, New Zealand. He studied at the University of Canterbury, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht in the Netherlands, Tokyo University of the Arts in Japan, and is currently undertaking a PhD in sonic engineering at Victoria University of Wellington, focusing on musical robotics. His musical and research publications have been featured internationally in academic journals and conferences, vinyl records and CDs, and his research into historical computer music was recently published in The Turing Guide (Oxford University Press).

Jo Cribb

Jo has worked on some of New Zealand’s toughest problems including child poverty, violence against women and child abuse, as a senior leader in government and NGO volunteer. Most recently she was the chief executive of the Ministry for Women and deputy children’s commissioner. She currently has a portfolio career that remains focused on addressing the tough issues we face as a nation. Jo is the proud mother of two, avid supporter of their Saturday morning sport, likes to bake and sews Guide and Scout badges onto blankets when required.

John Cockrem

John Cockrem, professor of comparative endocrinology at Massey University, is a penguin biologist who has worked with penguins ranging from the largest, the emperor penguin in Antarctica, to the smallest, the korora (little penguin).

Marjan van den Belt

Marjan loves to make change and broker complex dialogues. Her work at Victoria University as assistant vice-chancellor (sustainability) allows her to facilitate a transition towards a more sustainable future. Life has been an international adventure and included co-founding an eco-village in the USA, running a Research Centre for Ecological Economics in New Zealand, founding consultancies on ‘Mediated Modelling’ in the USA, on waste reduction in Sweden and advising a sustainability- oriented start-up hedge fund in the Netherlands. She earned a Master’s of business economics in the Netherlands and a PhD in marine, estuarine and environmental science in the USA.

Melissa Marquez

Melissa Cristina Marquez is a Latina marine biologist and wildlife educator with a BA (Hons) in marine ecology and conservation from New College of Florida, USA and an MSc in marine biology from Victoria University of Wellington, NZ. She is a freelance environmental contributor, and founder of The Fins United Initiative, a programme that brings attention to the unusual and diverse sharks (and their relatives) of the world and the threats they face. She regularly hosts #STEMSaturdays on Twitter to provide career guidance and advice to young women in STEM worldwide.

Nik Curry

Nik’s passion is helping people to use their bodies well. At 56, he’s been a physio since 1984 and now works as a posture and movement specialist. Nik has developed an alternate approach to body wellness, Postural Patterning, over the last 25 years since being unable to solve his own movement problems in the conventional way after leukaemia and bilateral hip replacements when he was 28. This is educational, not treatment- based. His first book Common Sense for your Body came out last year and Nik is currently finishing the second. He works with individuals and groups from the Wellness Studio in Raumati.

Phil Sage

Discovering and innovating the world’s best play experiences, Phil’s craft is channelled through building next-generation leaders, new processes and industry-best products. A toy designer and technologist with a passion for driving incremental business, his career talents and curiosity were evident at a young age. Compiling RC car motors, shing wire and batteries into elaborate duct tape bound lawnmowers, his love affair with the most magical of industries has spanned 15+ years. He is constantly innovating, evolving his global philosophy of partnering with the world’s experts and bringing the best opportunities to market which ignite consumers’ creativity and imagination.

Rebecca Stewart

Rebecca Stewart is the co-founder and general manager of Pomegranate Kitchen, a social enterprise that trains and employs cooks from a refugee background. Language barriers and lack of local experience can make it difficult for former refugees to and the right job opportunities, and Pomegranate Kitchen provides a way for them to use their existing skills and enter the job market. Rebecca was born in Wellington and has returned after working for not-for-profits in Australia, India and Fiji, in areas such as sexual health and Indigenous youth justice. She studied at Victoria University (BA) and University of Melbourne (MPH).

Tuaine-Nurse Tamarua Robati

Tuaine-Nurse Tamarua Robati is from the Cook Islands and is an educator with a MEd from Victoria University in Wellington. He is currently the artistic director and tour director at the Whitireia ‘Bachelor of Applied Arts’ programme based at the Performance Centre in Vivian Street.