Theme: Brave New World

"A Brave New World" is the theme for TEDxSaltLakeCity 2017.

Shakespeare, arguably one of the greatest writers of all time, penned the words: "Oh, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in 't!" and we couldn't agree more.

Join us on September 9, 2017, as we explore a future of possibilities and what brave new world we might create right here in Salt Lake City.

Kingsbury Hall
1395 Presidents Circle
Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112
United States

Amy Shaffer

Director and co-creator of The Wonderment

Amy is an intuitive creative facilitator (a role she calls a “Friend of Ideas”) whose path has woven through marketing, technology, education and cause-based work. Her focus centers around the notion that ideas and creativity are more than the products or results they generate—they are an essential medium for human connection, meaning and growth. For the last ten years, she has developed tools and ways to understand and apply this truth, most recently as the creative director and co-creator of The Wonderment. This nonprofit digital platform and global community, based in Salt Lake City, has allowed thousands of kids from over 25 countries to take creative action that has connected and impacted communities all over the world.

Ashley Finley

Ashley Finley is a performance poet who grew up in the diverse neighborhoods of Southern California. At a young age, she began to use poetry as a way to process her experiences as an adopted, African-American girl, growing up in the melting pot of Los Angeles. As an adult, Ashley strives to empower those in under-served and underrepresented communities. Ashley uses her platform to remind these communities that their stories and their voices are powerful and that through unity and passion, they can create change.

Chris Manfre

Designer

Chris Manfre is a multidisciplinary designer who is passionate about the learning process and teaching others. He is a 3D digital illustrator, graphic designer and teacher at the non-profit organization Spy Hop. He has recently become slightly obsessed with science and is currently pursuing a degree in Biomedical Communication and Design at Westminster College.

Christopher Gregg

Assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy and Human Genetics at the University of Utah School of Medicine

Dr. Gregg performed his Ph.D. studies at the University of Calgary in Canada in the field of neural stem cell biology. He was awarded the University of Calgary Chancellor’s Medal for his work on regenerative therapies and co-founded a biotechnology company called Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. In 2006, he moved to Harvard University and was awarded a Human Frontiers Fellowship. At Harvard, he performed postdoctoral studies focused on developing genome analysis methods that can distinguish the expression of maternal and paternal gene copies in the brain. He was awarded the Eppendorf & Science Prize in Neurobiology in 2010 and his work was selected as one of the “Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year” by the National Institutes of Mental Health Research. Dr. Gregg’s lab is developing new technologies and approaches to discover how the genome creates complex behavioral traits and is elucidating new mechanisms that contribute to brain disorders and diseases.

DJ Diggabeatz

Kaleidoscope Music producer and DJ Diggabeatz has been a staple in the Utah DJ/EDM/Hip Hop culture for over 20 years. Known for his classic old-school scratching style and his energetic pop-locking stage presence, Digga has toured the nation many times over bringing the funk to the masses. He performed with Earth, Wind and Fire in the 2002 Winter Olympics closing ceremonies and even made a cameo appearance in High School Musical 3! Most recently, his collaboration track with the world-famous Huda Hudia, "Rockin 2 the Beat" hit the Beatport Breaks Top 10 charts at number 7.

Dr. Sunnie Giles

President of Quantum Leadership Group

Dr. Sunnie Giles is President of Quantum Leadership Group. She catalyzes leaders to produce radical innovation and redefine the game as individuals and organizations. Her upcoming book on radical innovation will be published in April, 2018. Dr. Giles received her MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth school of Business and a PhD in systemic psychology from Brigham Young University. She is an advisor at the Stanford Business School Institute of Innovation in Developing Economies. Her recent research on global leadership for innovation has been published by Harvard Business Review.

Elizabeth Katherine Gamarra

Student

Elizabeth Katherine Gamarra, born in Lima, Perú and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah recently graduated from the University's College of Social Work with an emphasis in Global Women’s Health. She founded the Academic Journal for Mentorship Across Cultures and Disciplines and the Mentor Compass Project at the University of Utah. Elizabeth has recently been awarded a Fulbright Grant at the Instituto de Empresa (IE) University of Madrid and Segovia in Spain. Her work as Utah’s Student Activist Coordinator for Amnesty International USA, researcher at the Center for Research on Migration and Refugee Integration (CRMRI), and founder of the non-profit Generations of Latinos in Higher Education, have provided her a broad and comprehensive understanding of the challenges rooted in integration, conflict, economic inequality, and education; particularly in communities of color.

Emily Motzkus

Chief Innovation Expert at UrgeLife

Emily Motzkus, Ph.D., has her doctorate in Literature and Creative Writing from The University of Denver; a MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and a BS in Psychology from the University of Utah. Motzkus travels the country as Chief Innovation Expert at UrgeLife, helping CEOs and other leaders increase their life satisfaction and meaning-making margins. In tandem, Motzkus pours love into her passion project, pōm spiritual poetics, a series of webinars and online courses that aim to rethink the way Americans learn about and experience poetry. In her spare time Emily enjoys teaching fitness at 9th and 9th Pilates in Salt Lake City, UT.

Geoff Tabin

Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Director of the Division of International Ophthalmology at the John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah

Dr. Geoff Tabin, Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Director of the Division of International Ophthalmology at the John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, is also Co-Founder of the Himalayan Cataract Project. Dr. Tabin spends a considerable part of the year working abroad, both in Nepal and throughout the Himalayas, as well as in Africa. Tabin graduated from Yale University and then earned an MA in Philosophy at Oxford University on a Marshall Scholarship. From there, he earned his MD at Harvard Medical School in 1985. After completing an ophthalmology residency at Brown University and a fellowship in corneal surgery in Melbourne, Australia, Dr. Tabin returned to Nepal to work with Dr. Sanduk Ruit. Dr. Tabin adopted Ruit’s methods for delivering high quality cataract surgery at a very low cost and began teaching other Nepali ophthalmologists while running the eye hospital in Biratnagar, Nepal’s second largest city.

Isael Torres

Advocate for education access and equality

Isael Torres was born in Logan, Utah as the proud son of Mexican immigrants. Mr. Torres received his master's from the University of Utah, College of Education in the department of Education, Culture and Society. From early in his college career, Mr. Torres has dedicated his efforts to advocate for education access and equality for communities that are often overlooked and underserved. Mr. Torres believes that in life and in education, when resiliency meets opportunity, all students can succeed.

Jeff Christensen

Entrepreneur

Jeff Christensen is an entrepreneur who has been a partner in multiple start-ups. Currently, Christensen is the President of EntryPoint Networks where he oversees research & development, business development and strategic partnerships. EntryPoint provides a Software Defined Network Management Platform designed to make broadband networks open to competition and innovation. Christensen is also the Principal Investigator for a U.S. Department of Energy Grant on Edge Intelligence for Virtualization and Security in Open Networks. Christensen was formerly the Chief Operating Officer for FVTech, and V.P. of Operations at Emdeon. Christensen has a B.S., degree in Psychology from the University of Utah (1988) and a M.S. degree in Human Resource Management / Organizational Behavior from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University (1991).

Lindsay Kite

Lindsay Kite is a scholar and advocate of positive body image.

Lindsay Kite is a scholar and advocate of positive body image. She holds a master’s and Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Utah, specializing in the study of media representation of women and female body image. In 2009, she co-founded the nonprofit Beauty Redefined along with her identical twin sister, Lexie Kite, and began giving presentations for schools, treatment centers, religious congregations across the U.S. on the power of recognizing, rejecting and resisting harmful messages about bodies and women’s worth in popular culture. Through engaging online education and activism, Lindsay and Lexie’s work reaches millions of people online each year where they share the core message of Beauty Redefined: Women are more than just bodies. See more. Be more.Lindsay’s passion for promoting and teaching body image resilience is both an academic and personal one.

Mike Murray

Luthier

Mike Murray grew up on a small farm in Woodville, Idaho. He attended BYU-Hawaii and received a degree in business and a minor in art. After working in Human Resources for a time, Mike decided he needed a career that validated him in a different way and employed skills that allowed a more creative outlet. He excitedly attended the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City from September 2012-2015. It was the perfect fit! Mike officially graduated in April 2016 and received the certificate of Luthier. Since then he has continued learning and refining his skills as a repair and restoration technician at Peter Prier and Sons Violins.

Nathan Dryden

Nathan Dryden embodies a lifetime of wisdom gathered from studying, teaching and performing dance professionally around the world. He completed his MFA in Modern Dance at the University of Utah – with a thesis that illuminated the practice of passive sequencing as a way to bridge the steps between improvisation, setting choreography and final performance. He’s gathered a group of friends from different disciplines to share his love for contact improvisation dance and show how it can teach us all to listen to and move with each other in an ever-changing world.

Paria Shaun Ramos

Paria, otherwise know as Shaun Ramos, is a Salt Lake City native who fell in love with music at an early age. He has been making music since the fall of 2014 and has never thought of stopping. Shaun loves diversity and listens to a variety of genres, artists, and producers with a focus on hip hop, trap, and future edm. He hopes his music will continue to inspire future generations the way he was inspired. Some of his biggest inspirations are Cashmere Cat, xxyyxx, and Oshi. Shaun is excited to welcome you to a brave new world of music.

Phillip Bimstein

Phillip currently teaches “Composing a Community” (which explores music, dialogue and community) at the University of Utah.

Described by Outside Magazine as “America's only all-natural politician-composer,” Phillip Bimstein is an Emmy Award-winning composer, former Chicago punk rocker and mayor of Springdale, Utah. During his two terms, Springdale earned awards for preserving its small-town character in the face of enormous growth pressures. In “The Man Who Brought Civility Back to Town,” Parade Magazine portrayed Mayor Bimstein’s successful efforts to create harmony in his previously discordant community. Creating harmony is a way of life for this former mayor, for he also composes popular songs and classical music that includes sampled and orchestrated natural sounds from his environment, such as frogs, crickets and coyotes. Bimstein’s compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Spoleto and Aspen Music Festivals, London's Royal Opera House, and on NPR and MTV.

Rebecca Richards Steed

Doctoral student of Medical Geography at the University of Utah

Rebecca, only girl of 5 siblings, grew-up being taught the notion that the world is a big place and that through her actions she could impact it in a positive way. She has two bachelor’s degrees from Weber State University; one in Anthropology and another in Geography. She also has a master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems and is currently a doctoral student of Medical Geography at the University of Utah. Rebecca is married to an amazing husband and has one child.

Samantha Joel

Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Utah

Samantha Joel is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Utah. Her research examines how people make decisions about their romantic relationships. What are the processes through which people choose to pursue a new romantic interest, move in with a dating partner, or end a struggling relationship? Because people have such a high degree of control over the choices they make, Joel believes that relationship decisions are a promising avenue for helping people to improve their own relationship outcomes.

Sean Sevy

Mechanical Engineer

In 2011, Sean Sevy went to India as a Student Engineer to introduce innovative toilet systems called Soilets. Soilets are toilets which break down waste using earthworms. During that three-month humanitarian trip, his volunteer group built five Soilets. When Sean returned to India five years later, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that the original slum of five Soilets now had 150 Soilets. And most recently, the concept has been picked up by the government of India as a means to provide sanitation to communities lacking basic sewer resources. Sean is currently a Mechanical Engineer working at Hill Air Force Base. He also is the host for a podcast called Un-Uninformed, which covers the news via political poetry and interviews with social entrepreneurs. While making a living as an engineer is currently his top priority, Sean maintains that the Soilet Project is a “number two” priority that should not be neglected.