Theme: Climate & Change

"Easier to destroy the world than to change capitalism even one little bit."

— Kim Stanley Robinson

Every year we pick a theme for our TEDx event. It is hard to pick a theme that is general enough to fit talks about so many subjects. Here our our past themes:

2010: Truth & Beauty

2011: Time & Change

2012: Edges & Experiences

2013: Fear & Loathing

2014: Rivers & Roads

2015: Empathy & Malice

2016: Discovery & Wonder

The theme has always been somewhat general and less poignant.

Not this year.

The 2017 theme is Climate & Change.

The world today is witness to a legislative changing of the guard with a home and a political tone that is full of heat. The Greenhouse Effect of a nation divided under one (un?)elected leader and a humankind facing the manifestation of a careless existence boils under the surface of all facets of living.

Join TEDxBoulder 2017: Climate & Change speaks to explore the human state on a planet melting and rising, in protest and in revelry. It won't just be about climate change, but, in 2017, is anything not?

"Men argue. Nature acts."

— Voltaire

Macky Concert Hall
285 University Avenue
Boulder, Colorado, 80302
United States

South of France

Indie-Pop Band

South Of France is an indie-pop band that was initially started by multi-intstrumentalist/producer/songwriter Jeff Cormack in 2012. Inspired by his love for retro guitar-pop, it began as a spare-time, lo-fi, garage rock project until Jeff was lucky enough to meet singer/songwriter Kelly Lueke in Los Angeles. They quickly realized they had astonishingly similar taste in music and decided to join forces to create dynamic, dreamy, dance-able, melody and guitar-driven indie-pop that is centered around their intertwining male and female vocal parts and lush layers of catchy, reverb-soaked harmonies.

Alejandro Fuentes Mena

DACAmented Teacher

Alejandro Fuentes Mena was born in Valparaiso, Chile and grew up in San Diego, California after the age of four. He received a B.A. in Psychology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Through Teach for America, Alejandro was one of the first two DACAmented teachers in the nation and is now in his fifth year of teaching in Colorado. He regularly performs in an a cappella group, the StoryTellers303, and sings in the band, the Pink Hawks.

Arthur Lee Land

Singer-Songwriter and Multi-Instrumentalist

Lyons Colorado based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Arthur Lee Land plays a modern eclectic fusion of Americana Rock and Progressive Bluegrass with a taste of Electronica. Known for his joy filled, innovative live performances, his mad guitar and live-looping skills, Arthur’s hands are full theses days writing, recording and performing with multiple projects. First as a solo artist, you have his unforgettable one-man act employing the Art of Live-Looping to create his Electro-Americana BAND of ONE featured in his last studio album release Cracked Open. Next, Arthur replaced Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon in the veteran Colorado Americana Jam-Band Great American Taxi. Then there is the new dynamic Arthur Lee Land TRIO crushing it live and gearing up for a new studio album.

Brenton Weyi

American Philosopher, Essayist and Creative Polymath

Brenton Weyi uses the power of the word and performance to help people cultivate a deeper humanity. He is a 1st generation American philosopher, essayist and creative polymath who has won numerous awards across several disciplines, and has been featured in many worldwide publications.

Diane Sieber

Professor in the Engineering College at the University of Colorado

Diane Sieber is a professor in the Engineering College at the University of Colorado, where she lives in a student residence hall with global engineers who speak many foreign languages. She also inhabits the intersection among information technologies, history, philosophy, literature, online games and punk rock.

Erin Weed

Authentic Communication Strategist and Founder/CEO of Evoso

Erin Weed is an authentic communication strategist and Founder/CEO of Evoso, where she has worked with hundreds of people and organizations to find epic clarity of their purpose and message. She is also is the founder of Girls Fight Back, a company that produces women’s safety and self-defense seminars across the world.

Gia Medeiros

Founder and Chief Strategic Officer of 520 Collective

Gia Medeiros, Founder and Chief Strategic Officer of 520 Collective, is a cultural strategist specializing in brand strategy, innovation and organizational transformation. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her family and has worked across the country and around the world with a diverse range of clients including Major League Baseball, Kaiser Permanente, Coca Cola, Redfin, and Oprah Winfrey (OWN). Her work with Hillary Clinton in 2005 was her first and so far only foray into politics (that obviously ended badly), but she has eternal hope for our collective future which she will share in her talk.

Ginny Mules

Band

"Holy friggin' harmonies! It's almost distracting how good the vocals are on the Ginny Mules debut release" (Marquee Magazine). Ginny Mules released their self-titled, debut album in December of 2016 and it's filled with hot pickin' and original songs that carry that high lonesome sound into a new era.

Isabel von Rittberg

Founder of the AscenDance Project

Isabel von Rittberg was born and raised in a small village in Germany, Beyenburger Freiheit. After graduating with a BA in Latin American Studies and French from the University of Santa Barbara, CA she founded the AscenDance Project, a troupe that performs choreographed climbing to music. Joining her onstage will be Jenna Blumenfeld Kelsey Wales Kara Turner Gordon Graham Chris Hopper

Julie Comerford

Assistant Professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado, Boulder

Julie Comerford is an Assistant Professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She uses telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope to study colliding galaxies and their supermassive black holes.

Kaley Klemp

Speaker, YPO Facilitator, and Transformational Executive Coach

Kaley Warner Klemp is a sought-after speaker, YPO Facilitator, and transformational executive coach. She advises leaders on how to uncover and address core challenges in communication, trust, and culture. She has a BA and MA from Stanford University and has co-authored three books.

Kate Nicholson

Lawyer & Author

Kate Nicholson served in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for more than 20 years, practicing health-related civil rights law and securing powerful victories including in the U.S. Supreme Court. She is currently writing a book about her personal experiences with severe chronic pain. Kate is also an arts writer and enthusiast who helped found the new non-profit, Tilt West, www.tiltwest.org, recently named by Westword as the “best think tank for arts and culture” in the area. Kate was a Senior Fellow at Dartmouth College and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Laura Hockenbury

Sales Specialist at REI

Laura’s work as a Sales Specialist at REI inspired her thesis for Upaya Zen Center's Buddhist Chaplaincy Program and her TEDx talk. Drawing from her own experience, Laura’s talk takes a systems approach in exploration of our relationships with people working in the customer service industry.

Peter Newton

Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado Boulder

Peter Newton is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he teaches classes on food systems and the environment. He conducts research in the US and Brazil, where he studies the impacts of policies and programs that affect food systems, tropical forests, and rural livelihoods.

Sean Davis

Research Scientist at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory

Sean was born and raised in Oklahoma, where he developed a deep appreciation of the atmosphere and extreme weather that ultimately lead him to pursue a Ph.D. in atmospheric science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is currently a Research Scientist at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, where he studies the climate impacts from human-caused changes of the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

Tania V. Chairez

Community Organizer & Student Advisor

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Tania Chairez came to the United States with her parents to live the American Dream. Tania received a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University. As a publicly undocumented immigrant, Tania has been a community organizer centered around immigrant rights since 2011, taught 7th and 8th grade English, and is now an advisor for college students who have graduated from KIPP Colorado Schools. Tania has been featured on the cover of TIME Magazine and was named one of 12 Inspiring Latinas Under 25 by Latina Magazine.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Founder and Chair of Youth Without Borders

My name is Yassmin Abdel-Magied and I have the blessing of associating with multiple identities. First and foremost, I am a Muslim, Alhamdulillah. I was born in Sudan and raised in Australia. I am the Founder and Chair of an organisation based in Australia, Youth Without Borders. I am also a mechanical engineer, with a passion for adventures, football, boxing, and motorsport. Working with community, hours spent in endless philosophy discussions (sprinkled with terrible puns) and debates on international relations are also pastimes that keep me happily occupied.