Theme: Monumental

TEDxYouth@RVA will be held at the Collegiate School in Oates Theater on November 18th, 2017 from 5-9pm. This event is created by a team of high school students who have committed to studying Richmond to understand who and what makes it great, who has ideas worth spreading, and who is committed to serving the young people of Richmond.

This year's TEDxYouth@RVA will bring a multitude of speakers from around Richmond to speak to the Richmond community, and more specifically, the youth of Richmond. This year's theme, "Monumental," will provide the setting for an evening filled with awe-inspiring, important, and memorable speakers along with dinner and an Interactive Session provided at no cost.

TED is a global organization that uses its acronym (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) as a lens to share ideas in new ways. TEDx is a branch of the global organization where people like us create independently organized events.

We hope to see you there!

Oates Theater, Collegiate School
103 N Mooreland Road
Richmond, Virginia, 23229
United States

Future Prospect

Musicians

The newest addition to the Richmond, Virginia music scene, Future Prospect features a septet of the area’s finest and youngest musicians. Their music, rooted in the jazz tradition, is fused and intertwined with funk, R&B and hip hop, creating a balanced blend of flavor, high energy, and soulfulness. With appearances across the DMV area including the Richmond Jazz Festival, the Shenandoah Wine and Jazz Festival, and Washington D.C.’s Twins Jazz Club, the band promotes a sound that can be heard by all ages, and encourages a lively environment that invokes dancing and the occasional sing-a-long.

Me’Kel Williams and Marquis Davis

Hip-Hop Dancers, Choreographers

Me’Kel Williams and Marquis Davis have been spreading a message of Hope through Hip-Hop since 2005. They founded a hip-hop group named Elev8 and are essential team members of Richmond Urban Dance. They have traveled the country presenting an anti-drug / anti-gang violence message to teens in schools as well as detention centers. Their mission is to show the positive side of hip-hop culture and to provide a creative outlet to people who may not have the platform otherwise.

Alex Peavey

Counselor, Mindfulness Educator

Alex Peavey is in his 14th year at Collegiate School where he coached varsity basketball and, continues to work as a school counselor, boys’ varsity lacrosse coach, and mindfulness teacher. He has been practicing mindfulness since the age of 15, and with the knowledge that it can cultivate peace of mind as well as peak performance, Alex has been teaching these techniques to others for 10 years. In addition to introducing mindfulness at Collegiate School, Alex has brought it to “Mindful Mondays” at the CKG Foundation, colleges across the state, regional and international conferences, correctional facilities, corporations, and the federal government. After almost a lifetime of practicing mindfulness, Alex found these strategies to be of the utmost importance last March when he was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. Even in spite of the physical and mental challenges he has faced in the last year, mindfulness has allowed him to choose the path of joy over and over.

Angela Dominguez

Illustrator and Author

Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico City, grew up in the great state of Texas, and now resides on the east coast. She is the author and illustrator of several books for children including Maria Had a Little Llama, which received the American Library Association Pura Belpré Illustration Honor. Recently, she received her second Pura Belpré Honor for her illustrations in Mango, Abuela, and Me written by Meg Medina. When Angela is not in her studio, she teaches at the Academy of Art University, which honored her with their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013. Angela is a proud member of SCBWI, PEN America, and represented by Wernick and Pratt Literary Agency. As a child, she loved reading books and making a mess creating pictures. She’s delighted to still be doing both.

Bernard Means

Anthropologist

Bernard K. Means has a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in Physics from Occidental College, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Arizona State University, Tempe. Dr. Means currently teaches archaeology courses at the School of World Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and is director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory, which is creating three-dimensional (3D) digital models of archaeological objects used for teaching, research, and public outreach. Dr. Means is a leading expert in the application of 3D printing for cultural heritage applications, especially in public outreach, education, and research.

Cosmy Pellis

Senior at James River High School, TED-Ed Speaker

Cosmy Pellis is a 17 year old senior in the Leadership and International Relations Specialty Center at James River High School. A ballerina since the age of three, her interests include dance, politics, and journalism.

Free Egunfemi

Historian

Free Egunfemi is an independent historical strategist and founder of Untold RVA: The people’s choice for the creative advancement of Richmond’s most powerful Self Determination narratives, hidden in plain sight throughout our city’s historical urban landscape. Untold RVA was founded in 2013 as the winner of a democratically elected local startup competition. Since then, Free collaborates with the academia, public media, public art and community design sectors to introduce these Self Determination narratives into the historical record. As an influencer, Free points out how the accomplishments of Richmond’s ancestral freedom fighters have been deliberately submerged for generations through biased preservation methods. Untold RVA interrupts these systemic inequities with tactical urbanism installations that are highly visible yet work in harmony with the existing urban landscape.

George Dennehy

Instrumentalist, Storyteller

George Dennehy was born without arms and was placed in a Romanian orphanage straight from birth. After his adoption, George learned how to play music with his feet. Today, George travels the world as a motivational speaker, sharing the message that anything is possible when we never give up!

Jonathan Copeland

Fashion Stylist, Publishing Entrepreneur

Jonathan Copeland is a freelance fashion stylist, and publishing entrepreneur. Having gained experience in fashion blogging and social media marketing for his brand “In My Fashion Styling”, visual merchandising and sales for affordable luxury fashion brands, as well as fashion show and photoshoot production, he strives to help others recognize fashion as a tool for empowerment and expand our perceptions regarding the meaning of beauty. Currently, he is a Visual Merchandising Team Lead for Target, Fashion Editor for CEO Magazine, Boutique Manager for Dress for Success Central Virginia, and has contributed to various publications including.He is sought after to organize fashion shows for various organizations, most recently collaborating with the VMFA and the annual Richmond Diner en Blanc soiree. He also is a fashion educator and program leader for the non-profit, ART180, and works closely with the VCU Fashion Department and other youth programs on special service learning projects.

Lauren DeSimone

Artist, Social Justice Advocate

Lauren was born enthusiastic and curious and raised in a small town on the water. From her small town rearing and ramblings, Lauren understands that it truly takes a village to raise the next generation. She believes that community is not only important but critically necessary for one’s wellbeing. Lauren also believes that to feel supported by their community people need to feel connected to each other. Lauren is an artist, social justice advocate, and lover of ideas. Most days she spends her time designing better ways for people to talk to each other. When not doing that she races sailboats, asks questions and is always on the lookout for new tchotchkes to add to her bag of tricks.

Mona Elrayah

Graduate Student, Virginia Commonwealth University, Wilder School Government and Public Affairs

Mona Elrayah is a 24 year old who was born and raised in the country of Sudan and currently in her last year of graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will be receiving her Master’s in Public Administration from the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs this coming May 2018. Since beginning with the MPA program, she has been interning and volunteering at several organizations and programs aimed at civil service including the Make a Wish Foundation, Richmond and Petersburg City Public Schools, Higher Achievement of Richmond and most recently the YMCA’s STAR program. The amount of poverty, famine, homelessness and lack thereof of resources in her home country of Sudan is heartbreaking. What she hopes to focus on most however, is the education system in third world countries. She would like to have the opportunity to spread education to youth who have limited access.

Tara Franzetti

Librarian

Tara Franzetti has been working in libraries since 2002 and is currently a branch manager at the Richmond Public Library. Her favorite things, besides libraries, are tofu from Ipanema Cafe, Disney World, punk rock, and chocolate. She and her husband Paul relocated to Richmond from Northern NJ five years ago and live in Bon Air with their toddler son, Patrick.

Tatenda Ndambakuwa

Senior, Virginia Commonwealth University, College of Humanities and Sciences

Tatenda was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe. She is passionate about the application of mathematics in technology, policy making, food security and global health. She is a senior at VCU majoring in Applied Mathematics and her ultimate goal is to be a data scientist for humanitarian efforts. Tatenda is currently developing shiri, an application allowing peer to peer communication for African farmers. She has also been involved in End7.org where she worked to raise the awareness of and funding for neglected tropical diseases. In her spare time she is an avid soccer player.

Thomas Bannard

Program Coordinator, Rams in Recovery

Tom Bannard, CADC, MBA, is the Program Coordinator for Rams in Recovery at Virginia Commonwealth University. Tom is a Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor and has spent most of his career working in homeless services at CARITAS. A person in long-term recovery, Tom is an advocate for people in recovery or who are struggling with a substance use disorder. Tom has played a key role in the growth of Collegiate Recovery at VCU spending his first 2 ½ years as a volunteer on the project team until he was hired in October 2015 as the program’s first coordinator. VCU’s program has grown rapidly in the past 18 months with more than 60 students attending meetings on weekly basis, and 14 weekly recovery groups on campus, recovery housing & coursework and 2 Family Education Programs. Tom is passionate about changing the way we treat substance use and firmly believes that we must improve our systems of care by focusing on long-term recovery supports, allowing easier access to treatment and recovery.

Unicia Buster

Textile artist, Graphic Designer, Illustrator

Unicia R. Buster is an award-winning textile artist and graphic designer from Richmond, Virginia. She has won a Visual Arts Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, second and third place awards for graphic design from the Virginia Press Association, and a “Best in Show” award in the National Arts Program. A professional artist for more than 15 years, Ms. Buster’s work has been featured on NBC Channel 12 local news and in the Richmond Free Press, the Richmond Times Dispatch and Style Magazine. Ms. Buster received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University and her Master of Arts degree from George Mason University. She has exhibited in numerous cities including Richmond, VA; Washington DC; and Rome, Italy. Ms. Buster is the illustrator of “Coloring Curls” and “Coloring Curls 2” both adult coloring books. She also has created several series of artwork including the “My Hair Naturally” series which celebrates the beauty of natural African-American hair.

Zachary Hodges

Manager at Peak Experiences

Zachary is a 30 year old who has spent his life unintentionally collecting other people’s stories. Zachary has worked in many different fields which has lead him to travel around the world for various reasons. He believes that everyone has their own unique path through life and is in the process of trying to share stories from those who in one way or another have found their purpose, who have found their line.