Ideas form our everyday existence. From the way we interact with our loved ones to our professional aspirations; how we measure our self worth to the value we place on scientific discovery; how we choose to spend our money to how we choose to spend our time; we navigate the world based on the ideas we encounter. Our society is based on the values and relationships of its citizens, and, in this way, the ideas that we experience are a driving force in shaping our communities.

TEDxABQ 2017 is about confronting one question above all others: What is the future that we want to create? For ourselves, our children, and our communities, it is imperative that we take an active role in shaping the world into what we want it to be, not the world it might become.

Where do our actions begin? With the ideas we encounter–and, eventually, with the ideas we embrace and make our own.

ABQ Convention Center
401 2nd St NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87102
United States

DDAT

Jazz/Hip Hop/Funk Band

Funky. Poetic. Complex. Forward Thinking. Outside the Box. Bad Mothers. DDAT has been described using those words by national media. Blending Def-i’s intelligent and poetic words and hip hop style with the hard driving funk and jazz jams of Delbert Anderson (Trumpet), Nicholas Lucero (Drums) and Mike McCluhan (Bass), DDAT has carved their own path with Southwest-forged influences and world class musicianship.

National Institute of Flamenco

Flamenco Charter School Student Group

The mission of the National Institute of Flamenco is to preserve and promote flamenco’s artistry, history, and culture by presenting the finest flamenco in the world and by educating the American family in this art form while emphasizing the positive influence of art on family and community.

ReVóZo

Rumba Flamenca Band

Internationally renowned vocalist Vicente Griego has performed on stages throughout the world, collaborating with the most respected Flamenco artists of our time. A Northern New Mexico native, Griego brought together an astonishing lineup of New Mexico musicians to form Revozo: Ricardo Anglada and Mario Gebres on guitars, James Whiton on upright bass, each with a lifetime of experience and critical acclaim spanning a myriad of different genres.

Round Mountain

Multi-cultural Folk Band

Named for a place in the Pecos Wilderness they explored as children, Round Mountain was founded by Santa Fe brothers Robby and Char Rothschild in 2002. Joined by Nick Kunz on percussion, they play instruments from many cultures to bring original music that is founded in family and at home in the world. Having toured nationally between 2007 – 2013, they have now chosen to place their priority on a connectedness to the spirit of music, and on a non-nomadic lifestyle that honors their roles as fathers, husbands, sons, and members of a community – servicing pianos and teaching music.

Andrea Mammoli

Microgrid Expert

Andrea Mammoli is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of New Mexico, and director of the Center for Emerging Energy Technologies. Mammoli has been active in the field of distributed energy systems since 2005, with projects including solar-assisted HVAC in commercial buildings, building-scale energy storage, distribution-level PV and battery systems, and microgrids, in the context of optimization and controls leading to better economics and enhanced resilience. He conducts research in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute, Sandia National Laboratories, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Mammoli obtained a Ph.D. in mechanical and materials engineering in 1995 from the University of Western Australia, and was Director's Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory between 1995 and 1997 in the Energy and Process Engineering group, prior to joining UNM.

Andrea Romero

Ostrich Farmer

Andrea Romero has an obsession for fundamentals, looking to dinosaurs—ahem, ostriches—to help bring sustainable meat proteins to the market by raising desert birds in the high desert of New Mexico to fight climate change from factory farmed meat and find a food secure future in delicious ostrich meats. A business consultant during the standard workweek, this weekend ranchera loves to get amongst it, working with entrepreneurs, community leaders, policy-makers, dreamers, and go-getters. A Santa Fe native, she traveled the world, living in California (Stanford alumni), Mozambique, and Washington, DC. She’s back in NM to build businesses and make as much positive social impact as possible.

Barry Krakow

Sleep Scientist

A lifelong insomniac, Barry Krakow was fortunate to gain seven years of blessed relief—four years in medical school and three at UNM School of Medicine, completing an internal medicine residency. Soon after, divine providence guided him to a sleep medicine career as a clinical specialist and sleep researcher, studying and treating chronic nightmare and insomnia patients at Maimonides Sleep Arts & Sciences, sleep medical center, and Sleep & Human Health Institute, sleep research facility. In the 1990s, Dr. Krakow learned first-hand how unwanted bouts of sleeplessness (insomnia) were not caused solely by the standard explanations found in nearly all medical and psychological textbooks. Insomnia was far more complex and ultimately proved to be intricately linked to sleep breathing problems. Since then, his quarter of a century quest to map out connections between insomnia and sleep-disordered breathing yielded results beyond anything he would have dreamed possible.

Bill Gutman

Director of Aerospace Operations

Dr. Bill Gutman has been the Director of Aerospace Operations of Spaceport America since October 2009. He has provided technical support for the spaceport since the mid 1990s as a physicist with the New Mexico State University Physical Science Laboratory. His major responsibilities are to oversee launches and flight safety, to maintain the FAA Launch Site Operator License, and to assist customers as they bring their programs to the spaceport. He also is the principal contact person for Spaceport America’s STEM outreach program under which he inspires students around the state, including every sixth grader in the Las Cruces Public Schools. Dr. Gutman has worked on a wide variety of R&D and instrumentation development projects. These have included research in atmospheric propagation of laser radiation and advanced optical sensor systems. He has published dozens of scientific papers and reports.

Eyal Aharoni

Cognitive Scientist

Dr. Eyal Aharoni is a cognitive scientist best known for his research and scholarship on the human brain’s contribution to our understanding of impulsive, antisocial behavior. Aharoni has served as a behavioral scientist for the RAND Corporation with a focus on criminal justice reform. He is currently a professor of Psychology, Philosophy, and Neuroscience at Georgia State University where he applies interdisciplinary methods to the study of criminal and legal decision making. His research is made possible in part by the New Mexico Corrections Department and its incarcerated population, by the MacArthur Foundation, and by the Mind Research Network and its collaborators.

Henry Jake Foreman

Indigenous Educator

Henry Jake Foreman is a specialist in facilitation, development, and implementation of service learning experiences for students of all ages. Indigenous methodologies and epistemologies guide his philosophical and research approaches to working with youth and communities to promote the health of our biosphere. He recently graduated with his Masters from the UNM Community and Regional Planning program. Since graduating he has successfully completed his teacher licensure program, the Native Entrepreneur in Residence Program through New Mexico Community Capital and received 1st Place in the UNM Business Plan Competition. His diverse cultural, educational, and epistemological backgrounds provide the foundation of his passion for bridging worlds and promoting harmony and consciousness through Indigenous education.

Issa Nyaphaga

Performing Artist

Cameroonian artist and activist Issa Nyaphaga uses cartooning, performance art, and other media to promote free speech, political freedom, and other human rights across the world. He is convinced that the power of art can save lives.

Jannell MacAulay

Human Performance Expert

Dr. Janell MacAulay specializes in performance under stress and creating mindful leaders who thrive in their workspace and life space. She is a USAF Lieutenant Colonel, the director of Human Performance and Leadership for the 58th Special Operations Wing, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and an Air Force Profession of Arms Center of Excellence instructor. She previously commanded the 400-member joint 305th Operations Support Squadron. She is a US Air Force Academy graduate with a master’s in Exercise Physiology and a PhD focused in Strategic Health & Human Performance. Dr. MacAulay is also a wellness, yoga & mindfulness educator, holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition, and is the founder and president of the 501c3 non-profit organization, Healthy Body Healthy Life. She is a combat veteran with 3000 hours in the C-21, C-130, & KC-10 aircraft. She is a military spouse and mother of two active and veggie-loving kiddos.

Juli Hendren

International Theatre Festival Curator

Juli Hendren has a deep passion for cultural exchange and understanding through the performing arts. She is a founding member and artistic director of Tricklock Company, a devised theatre ensemble based in Albuquerque, with a focus on international touring. She is also curator of The Revolutions International Theatre Festival, an international festival founded in 2001 which produces performances, workshops, and cultural exchange events in New Mexico. She is a director, writer, actor, and teacher who has taught and performed across the United States, Canada, Europe as well as China, Uganda and Colombia. Hendren was a part of the Theatre Communications Group delegation to Cuba in 2015, Chile in 2017, and Spain in 2017 as a representative of New Mexico in the World Theatre Congress. Juli is a member of Theatre Without Borders and the Global Theatre Initiative.

Kina Murphy

Ecologist

Having grown up in state and National Parks, Dr. Kina Murphy has always had a love for wilderness. After watching many of the places she grew up in transformed into steel and concrete, she quickly realized that the only way to truly protect biodiversity is by engaging those that impact it the most: large corporations. Today, Kina focuses her work on how to increase biodiversity in areas that have been heavily impacted by resource extraction. She has decades of experience working in more than 10 countries where she has focused on everything from biodiversity monitoring and market-based approaches to conservation to community-based conservation planning and policy. She assists companies and lenders in adopting and promoting practices that benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services and coordinates with governments to support the establishment of policies and regulations that create opportunities for better conservation outcomes.

Lee Francis

Indigenerd

Dr. Lee Francis IV (Pueblo of Laguna) is the CEO and Managing Editor of Native Realities Press, an organization dedicated to the reimagination of Native and Indigenous people in pop culture. Dr. Francis is also an award winning performance poet and slam champion. He has been performing for more than thirty years and is a highly regarded storyteller.

Olivia Gatwood

Poet

Olivia Gatwood is a nationally touring poet, performer and educator from Albuquerque, New Mexico. As an advocate for Title IX Compliant education, Olivia travels nationwide, speaking at colleges, universities, middle and high schools, educating young people about consent, body image, sexism in the media, and poetry as a tool for social justice. Olivia's work has been featured on HBO, Verses & Flow, and The Huffington Post as well as Muzzle Magazine, Winter Tangerine, and Tinderbox, among others. She has been a finalist at the National Poetry Slam, Women of the World Poetry Slam, and Brave New Voices. Olivia firmly believes girl power, specifically that of teen girls, and has spent the majority of her career working to create spaces where young women feel validated, represented and empowered to exercise their voices. She is the author of Amazon bestseller, New American Best Friend.

Phoenix Avalon

Violinist

Phoenix Avalon was born passionate about music, and at age 1 1/2, he found his true love – the violin. Seemingly on a quest, he advanced from Santa Fe Talent Education at 3 to studying with Itzhak Perlman this summer at Perlman Music Program. He has studied with Carmelo de los Santos, Jan Mark Sloman, and Jamie Laredo. He has soloed with Arapahoe Philharmonic, Cleveland POPS Orchestra, Boulder Symphony, NM Philharmonic, Performance Santa Fe, and has been heard on national radio shows From the Top and Performance Today. Phoenix plays a Guadagnini violin, c. 1786, generously loaned by Kenneth Warren & Son Ltd. He is currently 16 years old.

Rick Allred

Photographer

Rick Allred, a graduate of New Mexico State University, is committed to people pursuing their passions. Allred’s passion for photography started back in 1986. He currently teaches photography workshops at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and classes at craftsy.com. He is passionate about growing as a human being and encourages others to explore and discover their humanity as a means to creating a life they love. His explorations have taken him from tracking navigation satellites in Thule, Greenland, to photographer specialist at the Space Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to head of the photography department at the Hui No’Eau Visual Art Center in Maui, Hawaii, and back to Santa Fe, while pursuing an MFA in photography in Maine. Allred finds that the beginning of adventure starts with that first step. In 2017, he took that first step by creating “In the Folds of Peace,” a project to start conversations and take one million paper cranes to Hiroshima, Japan.

Ronen Polsky

Biotech Inventor

Dr. Ronen Polsky was raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico and is a trained analytical chemist. He has over 60 publications and written three book chapters on subjects ranging from novel nanomaterials, three-dimensional battery electrodes and electrochemical biosensing devices. After a one-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he began working at Sandia National Laboratories in 2005. He recently began a program using microneedles for the transdermal sensing of physiological markers for human performance testing and in collaboration with the University of New Mexico Medical School is performing clinical trials for the technology.

Roslynn Gallegos

Cancer Survivor

Roslynn Gallegos received her MSW from New Mexico Highlands University School of Social Work. She is a licensed social worker currently working at MAS Charter School as a college and career counselor. She also co-owns a private practice in Albuquerque and provides assessments and services to the area. Roslynn is passionate about social justice and quality of life. She is a cancer survivor and has been in remission for a little over a year after battling Chordoma. She hopes to use her experience to bring members of her community together to promote a higher quality of life for citizens of New Mexico.

Shayai Lucero

Indigenous Entrepreneur

Shayai Lucero was born and raised on the reservations of the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna. She is a 2008 UNM graduate and a former Miss Indian World (1997). In 2011, Shayai was one of "40 Under 40" by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. Shayai is a lifelong student of the traditional Pueblo healing methods. In 2005, she received her Certificate in Traditional Mexican Healing and has integrated Curanderismo Medicine with traditional Pueblo healing. In 2016, Shayai was selected as a "Nominated Changemaker" to attend the United State of Women Summit hosted by The Obama White House. She was one of 49 Native American women out of 5000+ participants. A small business owner of Earth & Sky Floral Designs, Shayai has learned floral design elements and techniques to create her own quirky floral style that has recently been recognized by the international floral industry.

Tuesdy Horner

Pharmacist

Dr. Tuesdy Horner, a licensed pharmacist clinician and residency-trained Doctor of Pharmacy, believes less medication is best. She is President of Southwest Pharmacy Consulting and Clinical Instructor at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Her work includes Inpatient Clinical Pharmacy at Presbyterian Hospital where she serves as a preceptor, and guest lecturer for the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy.

Valorie Aquino

Science Advocate

Valorie Aquino is an anthropological archaeologist who contributes original research on human-environment interactions. In 2017, she found herself on the frontlines of science advocacy as a national co-chair of the March for Science, which created the largest known global event for science that drew more than 1.1 million people worldwide on April 22.