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).

Sister Caroline Collins, DC, Theater
Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory
1055 Ellis Street
San Francisco, California, 94109
United States

Aishani Aatresh

Aishani Aatresh, a freshman at Saint Francis High School, has loved leading, learning, and talking forever; she “taught” her stuffed animals as a toddler and was often reading or asking questions. As a teenager, only the scale of these activities has changed as she continues to play soccer and pursue music, along with other endeavors on and off campus. Aishani’s allergies to cashews and pistachios have also been with her from a young age. Her experiences with her allergies have surprisingly contributed to her life, driving her curiosity and otherwise unfathomable projects, especially for science fairs. Though she loves almost every subject at school, she currently aspires to work or teach in computational biology or biotechnology.

Alex Yeh

Alex Yeh is a junior at Lick-Wilmerding High School who loves the arts, reading, and nature. Because he almost lost his best friend to peer pressure, he wants to show how few things are more important than good friendships. He’s learned that meaningful lifelong relationships are a priority over rushed romantic ones, and he hopes that others can learn this too.

Anja Iyner

Anjana Iyer is a senior at Saint Francis High School. She has been an avid reader and a curious observer from a very young age. She often questioned and analyzed the characters in her favorite books or movies and enjoyed studying human behavior in school science projects. As a result, she is very interested in psychology. She also enjoys listening to film scores and loves learning more about her favorite composers’ musical styles. Her passion for both psychology and film scores have allowed her to dig deeper into each field and ask questions about the possibilities in medical research that come from a combination of the two. Anjana also enjoys dancing and watching films in her free time and is a member of her school’s varsity debate team

Anjana Iyer

Anjana Iyer is a senior at Saint Francis High School. She has been an avid reader and a curious observer from a very young age. She often questioned and analyzed the characters in her favorite books and movies and enjoyed studying human behavior in school science projects. As a result, she is very interested in psychology. She also enjoys listening to film scores and loves learning more about her favorite composers’ musical styles. Her passion for both psychology and film scores have allowed her to dig deeper into each field and explore the endless applications of bringing music into the world of medical care. Anjana also enjoys dancing and watching films in her free time and is a member of her school’s varsity debate team.

Anjana Iyner

Anjana Iyer is a senior at Saint Francis High School. She has been an avid reader and a curious observer from a very young age. She often questioned and analyzed the characters in her favorite books or movies and enjoyed studying human behavior in school science projects. As a result, she is very interested in psychology. She also enjoys listening to film scores and loves learning more about her favorite composers’ musical styles. Her passion for both psychology and film scores have allowed her to dig deeper into each field and ask questions about the possibilities in medical research that come from a combination of the two. Anjana also enjoys dancing and watching films in her free time and is a member of her school’s varsity debate team.

Audrey Moore

Audrey Moore is an adventurous and creative junior at Campolindo High School. She enjoys swimming, teaching kung fu, and exploring new places. Her fun-loving spirit and quirky sense of humor lead her into many different scenarios that give her great global perspective. Combined with her passion for helping others, Audrey is excited to spread her views on empathy's power to change the world. In the future, she hopes to continue having a positive impact on others, whether it be by sharing a smile or an insight.

Ben Makarechian

Ben Makarechian is an 8th grade student at Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, California. For the last two years, his passions have been playing sports, exercising, and computer programming. In his talk with Brian Underwood and Max Ptacek, he describes how his own experiences with programming were enhanced by connecting it to his passions. He and his group also outline how they hope others can enjoy learning to code by connecting projects to an existing passion.

Brian Underwood

Brian Underwood is currently an 8th grader at Hillbrook School. He has always had an interest in science, technology and coding, and has become even more interested with the releases of virtual reality headsets. In his TEDx Talk, he and his friends talk about empowering students through coding and what schools could do better to inspire kids to code. In his free time, Brian enjoys programming, water polo, and hanging out with his friends.

Catorina Black

Catriona Black is a junior at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco. She represents her school on the varsity soccer and lacrosse teams and has played sports from a young age. Growing up, she struggled with the conflict of how she can be considered an athlete and yet still be regarded as feminine. Through her talk, she wants to share her story of how she overcame this dilemma using role models from the athletic world that inspired her. She hopes to make people aware of the necessity of a broader definition of what it means to be feminine.

Catriona Black

Catriona Black is a junior at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco. She represents her school on the varsity soccer and lacrosse teams and has played sports from a young age. Growing up, she struggled with the conflict of how she can be considered an athlete and yet still be regarded as feminine. Through her talk, she wants to share her story of how she overcame this dilemma using role models from the athletic world that inspired her. She hopes to make people aware of the necessity of a broader definition of what it means to be feminine.

Ce-Lai Fong

Ce-Lai Fong is a junior at San Ramon Valley High School and a writer for Affinity Magazine, a social justice publication. Ce-Lai’s journey with bullying has caused her to be passionate about helping others and it pushed her to embrace living as the most authentic version of herself. By sharing her story, Ce-Lai hopes to inspire others to live as the truest versions of themselves.

Edelbert Claudio

Edelbert Claudio is a senior at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco, California. Inspired by his mom who is an intensive care unit nurse, he is drawn to learning more about the advancement and future of our growing medical field, immersing himself into the world of healthcare. It was his experience at CPMC as a medical volunteer that initially taught him the fundamentals and values of human health care, including the focus on human dignity and compassion. In his free time, Edelbert enjoys running with his track team, reading books about psychology and philosophy, playing the drums, and spending time with his friends and family. By sharing his talk, he hopes to inspire others as well to seek their passions and find their essence in life.

Emily Fukuda

Emily Fukuda is a junior at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, where she has branched out into all things Visual and Performing Arts. Prioritizing friends and family over everything else, she wants to share her story to warn others how peer pressure can easily manipulate and destroy meaningful relationships. Through her experience, she hopes others can learn the value of friendship.

Leah Graves

Leah Graves is a Sophomore at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Leah self identifies as a “highly sensitive person” and has struggled emotionally to understand what that means for her. Her own difficulties with her emotional development prompted her to tell her story and share what helped, and hindered her on the journey.

Max Ptacek

Max Ptacek is an 8th grader at Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, California. He loves all things technological and mechanical, and he has always loved the concept of VR. His passion for video games led him to join his friends in creating their own game. In his talk, he and his friends will talk about empowering kids through code, how schools are teaching kids coding wrong, and how that can be fixed. He hopes he can inspire children and adults alike to try their hand at coding.

Mei Tam

Mei Tam is a senior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, California. As a Chinese-American attending a predominately white high school, she has come to realize the importance of keeping one's own identity despite being a minority. She hopes to help Asian Americans redefine their identity that many, including herself, has struggled with growing up. Mei hopes that once Asian-Americans can change how they view themselves, the community will become more comfortable with themselves and they will have the confidence to raise their voices.

Naliyah Martinez-Truso

Naliyah Martinez-Truso is a senior at San Lorenzo high school in San Lorenzo, California. Dedicated and deeply passionate to advocating peace, she created the Youth Consciousness and Intersectional feminist clubs at her school as well as taking part in the Black student Union. Her inspiration comes from being a cabin leader and kids board director at The Mosaic Project where she taught the three keys to peace: empath, assertiveness, and listening. Her work towards transforming the self perpetuated pyramid of violence in society into a pyramid of peace has inspired her to curate this talk which she hopes you will take a piece with you.

Nicole Kim

Mei Tam is a senior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, California. As a Chinese-American attending a predominately white high school, she has come to realize the importance of keeping one's own identity despite being a minority. She hopes to help Asian Americans redefine their identity that many, including herself, has struggled with growing up. Mei hopes that once Asian-Americans can change how they view themselves, the community will become more comfortable with themselves and they will have the confidence to raise their voices.

Purva Joshi

Purva Joshi is currently a sophomore in high school and she has witnessed firsthand how it feels like to be a young adult in a world where there is always something to be afraid of. But now she shares the story of how a simple change in perspective allowed her to control the seemingly insurmountable power of fear.

Tiffany Cabrera

Tiffany Cabrera is currently a senior at Saint Francis, Mountain View. She has a love for all things creative and spends much of her free time teaching herself skills such as video editing, user interface design and digital photography. In her talk, she will discuss her deep love for learning and how other students can also take initiative over their own education.