In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

1615 Stanley Street
CCSU
New Britain, Connecticut, 06053
United States

Barry Sponder

Professor Barry Sponder has been training students and teachers to use educational technology in the classroom for almost forty years. He is a founding member of the Flipped Learning Global Initiative Faculty. His current focus is training educators to flip instruction using the latest methods, technology, and the internet.

Brian Nance Elsa Jones

Elsa E. Jones, M.A. is an Early Childhood Education Consultant and a Freedom School Consultant. Brian Nance is a Freedom School Lead Teacher. Elsa jones, a daughter of the Civil Rights Movement, is an Early Childhood and Adult Educator with 32 years of broad-ranging experience. Her career started as a Head Start teacher and center director. A staunch advocate for authentic family engagement and culturally responsive education, she has been blessed to direct a Hartford-based Children’s Defense Fund Schools for the past two summers. Brian Nance, grandson of Baptist Preacher and Civil Rights Leader William Augustus Jones, is currently working on his Masters in Public Policy at Trinity College where he received his Bachelor's degree in 2016. Mr. Nance attended The Loomis Chaffee High School where he helped pioneer a peer mentoring program for Hartford children. He has continued mentoring annually throughout his Trinity years. Active with the CDF Freedom Movement for nearly three years, he has served as a Freedom School Servant Leader Intern in Harlem, NY, and site Coordinator in Hartford, CT, and is a member of the CDF Defender Fellowship. The CDF Freedom Schools provide summer and after-school enrichment through a model curriculum that supports children and families around five essential components: high quality academic enrichment, parent and family involvement, civic engagement and social action, intergenerational leadership development, and nutrition, health, and mental health. They work in partnership with community based organizations, faith institutions, schools, colleges, and universities.

Darla Shaw

Professor Shaw has taught Education and Women's Studies for 61 years. She teaches her undergraduate classes off campus in elementary classrooms. Humanitarian travel to third world countries, role playing historical characters, and stand-up comedy also fill her time. She is what is called a Great Character still growing into new shoes.

Johnny Eric Williams

Johnny E. Williams is a Professor of Sociology. He specializes in social movements, political sociology, cultural sociology, racism, science and religion. Professor Williams' primary area of research investigates how culture (i.e., shared beliefs, values and meaning systems) sustains and challenges social order. He is the author of two books: African American Religion and the Civil Rights Movement in Arkansas (University of Mississippi Press 2003) and Decoding Racial Ideology in Genomics (Lexington Books 2016). He has also authored numerous articles about the role of culture in politics, social movement mobilization and specific knowledge production.

Kurt Love

Dr. Love focuses his work on issues of social justice and sustainability in education. He is currently working on a book entitled "Reclaiming Education for Regenerative Sustainability and Peace: A Pedagogy of Ecological Regeneration, Social and Cultural Peace, and Economic Prosperity" focusing on recontextualizing education in a framework of ecological, social, cultural, and economic sustainability, while critiquing the limitations of the current neoliberal context of "global competitiveness."

Noel Casiano

Dr. Noel Casiano was born and raised in Hartford, CT. He graduated from the Hartford Public School system and obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Sociology/Criminal Justice and a Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from CCSU. He is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist. Dr. Casiano also obtained a Doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology from California Southern University. He is a clinical fellow with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and the Program Coordinator for the CCSU/ Ana Grace Project's School Based Clinical Services Program. Dr. Casiano oversees and supervises the research, clinical work, and implementation with the six designated Love Wins schools in New Britain.

Steven Singer

Steven Singer is a middle school language arts teacher. He is a husband, father, teacher, education advocate, author and blogger. You can find his blog at: https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/