Theme: Щастливците / Happy People

TEDxVitosha is the event which combines speakers, demonstrations, videos, live performances, delicious coffee breaks and unparalleled networking.

National Palace of Culture
1, Bulgaria Square
Sofia, Sofia-Grad, 1463
Bulgaria

Amitabh Vardhan

Cinema Entrepreneur

Investor in movie theatres, who has spent more than 15 years in building multiplexes and showing movies to people around the world. Before getting into the magic of cinemas he worked with companies like Unilever, Domino’s and Sheraton. He has enjoyed the experience of multicultural customer behavior and its finer details. He acknowledges that his biggest lessons have come from his family, customers, team members and his failures.

Ana Munteanu

Sand Artist

A sand artist whose impressive techniques led her to the finals of Romania’s got talent. Ana has participated in a number of national and international exhibitions including an event organized by UNESCO. Her sand art is featured in numerous private collections in the US, Italy, France, Romania, Czech Republic and Moldova. Ana will perform her art live at TEDxVitosha.

Armand Arton

Businessman and philanthropist

Аn entrepreneur, philanthropist and a Global Citizen. A father and a husband, Armand has made the world his playground and his mission to make a positive impact for generations to come. Curator of the Global Citizen Forum and the Global Citizen Foundation, Armand has founded a number of companies aligned to bring his mission to life.

Biliana Savova

Graphic Designer and Health Care Activist

Graphic designer and art director for EVA magazine, founder of “MS – Moga Sam” Foundation, mother of two daughters. She shares what she has learned after being diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis: “When I walk slowly and mindfully, I actually go faster and reach further.”

Evgeni Dimitrov

Photographer and an explorer of history

Photo journalist and founder of BulFoto, the biggest agency of its kind in the country. For 8 years he has been working on Expedition "Rediscover Bulgaria" which spreads the word about little known historical and archaeological monuments in the country. His team’s photos are part of the annual exhibition on Lovers' Bridge beside the National Palace of Culture in Sofia.

Lyubomir Slavilov

Game and software designer, physicist

He has a degree in Physics Engineering at Sofia University and has an affinity for quantum electronics and laser technology but he now works as a software engineer for one of the biggest online games on the Balkans. He is a self-taught drummer, guitarist, programmer and recently a motorcyclist. In his spare time he tries to be an inventor.

Madlena Komitova

Activist and carer for the elderly

She is the manager of Vienna’s homes for the elderly and takes care that the 15 000+ people there live out their days happy, active and with a smile on their face. She is also the captain of the Austrian national gourmet team, a former basketball player and now – an enthusiast dancer, hopping to songs from the Bulgarian folklore.

Margarita Georgieva

Ballet Dancer

At just 17, she is a ballerina with gold medals rated very highly by experts in the field and is considered to be one of the young hopes of Bulgaria. When she was 15-years-old she got a scholarship for a summer ballet academy in Seattle, in one of USA's best schools. Margarita's success so far is following the promise she made to herself when she was only 3: to become an even better dancer than the icon Maya Plisetskaya.

Maria Krajewska

Cosplay enthusiast

A student in 10th grade, Warsaw-born Maria has already lived in a number of cities, including Baku, Varna and now Sofia. She loves learning new languages so currently she’s trying her best at Spanish, Bulgarian and Swedish. Less than a year ago she discovered the world of cosplay – an adventure which has not only sparked her curiosity and creativity, but it has helped her become more confident.

Mario Hossen

Violinist

Austro-Bulgarian violinist known for performances, score editions and recordings of the works of Paganini. Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, he has performed in more than 35 countries worldwide.

Mariya Petrova

Health Care Attorney

Health care attorney and founder of Bulgaria’s first practice in this field, she is a licensed doctor and a lawyer but mostly she describes herself as an idealist who believes that law is the art of kindness and justice. Maria fights battles every day to prove that medicine requires humanity above all.

Momchil Kyurkchiev

IT Entrepreneur

A Silicon Valley entrepreneur, he is the co-founder of Leanplum, a rapidly growing startup with $93M raised in funding from top VCs. The company which is building the marketing cloud of the future has established offices across North America, Asia and Europe (including Bulgaria) and its clients include Tinder, Tesco and Zynga. Prior to Leanplum, Momchil spent five years at Google as a YouTube software engineer.

Peter Grudov

Journalist

He is one of the founders of the independent online men’s magazine Boyscout. He worked in PR and corporate communications for ten years before changing his career path entirely. Today he is learning to be dancer and to play the piano. He also writes and performs as a DJ. He has lived on four different continents and is a member of Mensa. He inherited his parents’ passion for yoga and sports.

Petko Anchev

Sustainability expert

Man of many talents, with experience in NGO’s, a tech company and a marketing agency. He has lived in The Hague, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon and Coventry and in the fall of 2015 he returns to Bulgaria to join public administration. Soon he becomes the youngest speech writer for the President of Bulgaria. Today Petko works on Sofia's sustainability policy.

Rozmari De Meo

Writer

Bestselling author of the most successful book, with over 50 000 copies sold in under a year – “God’s mastress”, she self-published, thus proving that a good book does not need a large name behind it and the only important element for its success are the readers. For years Rozmari has been teaching traditional folklore practices and holding seminars on them.

Star Jones

Diversity Advocate, TV Host, Health Care activist and Attorney

She is an Attorney, former New York City homicide prosecutor, business executive, best-selling author and an Emmy Award nominated TV host. She was involved in the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Star also presently serves as the President of Professional Diversity Network, which supports and advocates for diversity at the workplace.

Stefano Baldi

Diplomat

Career diplomat with a lifelong commitment to training and innovation, he is currently the Ambassador of Italy in Sofia. During his 30-year long career he has served in Dar es Salaam, Geneva, New York and Brussels and he has always been proactive in using new technologies for diplomatic practice. He has published several books about diplomacy with a special focus on soft skills, creativity and self-improvement.

Yavor Denchev

Microbiologist

Founder of ДНК (A Kids science class, which in Bulgarian spells out DNA), where with explosively interesting experiments he welcomes the youngest into the world of knowledge. Yavor’s parents are scientists and this inspired him as a child. In Canada he got his degree in Microbiology, making him feel like a plant microsurgeon, he says. His return to Bulgaria set him on the happiest path: the unbelieving eyes of the children when through science he introduces them to the wonders of our world.