Theme: Tolerance

TEDxGuildford began on April 13th 2017
We launched with a fantastic event for 100 people who gathered at the RGS Guildford to explore ideas on the theme of 'Be the best you can be'.

Over 723,890 views in 9 months
Our first year has delivered some pretty impressive stats. Our talks have had over 723,890 views in just 9 months and we already have over 5,500 followers on Twitter.

Following on from the success of last year's event we are delighted to be hosting TEDxGuildford again. This year's theme embraces all aspects of diversity and tolerance.

Within our community, we have uncovered an amazing cross-section of stimulating and thought-provoking speakers who have original and interesting interpretations on the theme.

The Royal Grammar School
High Street
Guildford
Surrey, Surrey, GU1 3BB
United Kingdom

Amy Johnstone

Davide is an electronic engineer who has worked both in the Aerospace sector on pioneering fly-by-wire projects, and in the Automotive business, which brought him to England as he joined McLaren Automotive where he now serves as a Project Manager. Davide is an explorer and life has drawn him to 27 different countries (and counting), four of which he has called home (Italy, England, Scotland and USA). Davide is an observer and a dreamer, and he spent the last two years constantly challenging himself to find the hidden beauty in the simplest aspects of everyday life, as he believes that often the best innovation is just in front of your eyes.

Bode Bamkole

Bode is an Economics Graduate from the University of Nottingham. He currently works at KPMG and is the founder of Study Streak, an Edtech company dedicated to addressing education disparities by race, income and gender through an innovative and comprehensive programme. Having benefited from a good education himself, he has made it a goal to make quality education accessible to as many people as possible. His energy and commitment have seen him turn this idea for better education into a rapidly growing project with quality content, supported by a growing team. Bode hopes to continue to develop his skills in the financial sector and use them to achieve Study Streak’s long-term vision of being a top quality education provider.

David Savage

David leads the construction and infrastructure sector at international law firm Charles Russell Speechlys and has a large following on social media for his commentary on construction law and technology issues. David has a particular interest in technology and digital disruption as it impacts the property and construction sectors. In 2016, David co-authored Charles Russell Speechlys’ report The New Real: Unlocking new gains through smart buildings: a research report showing the opportunities and gains to be made from smart buildings for anyone with an interest in commercial real estate. Much of the report focussed on the opportunities around data.

Davide Caffi

Davide is an electronic engineer who has worked both in the Aerospace sector on pioneering fly-by-wire projects, and in the Automotive business, which brought him to England as he joined McLaren Automotive where he now serves as a Project Manager. Davide is an explorer and life has drawn him to 27 different countries (and counting), four of which he has called home (Italy, England, Scotland and USA). Davide is an observer and a dreamer, and he spent the last two years constantly challenging himself to find the hidden beauty in the simplest aspects of everyday life, as he believes that often the best innovation is just in front of your eyes.

Emma Cole

Speaker

Gareth Davies Davies

Gareth is co-founder of The Bravest Path, a coaching and development company, which is one of only handful of organisations in Europe licensed to deliver the ground-breaking research of Dr Brené Brown as part of their leadership programmes. Prior to this, Gareth led specialist units within the Met Police, and this world class training has honed his ability to listen acutely, and provide his clients with a balance of support and accountability. Gareth coaches with strength and empathy, he is insightful and intuitive, with a rare ability to see the true, unique and often hidden depths of his clients. His robust and direct style provides a safe, confidential and challenging space in which he encourages his clients to lean into discomfort and grow with confidence.

Lucy Bushill Matthews

Lucy was aged sixteen when she met a Muslim for the first time. Whilst going on to study Economics at Cambridge University, she looked into Christianity and Islam, and unexpectedly found herself compelled by what she found to make a life-changing decision about her faith. Lucy now heads up Strategy, Policy and Research for the National Zakat Foundation, a thought-leading Muslim organisation in the UK. Lucy is author of "Welcome to Islam-a convert's tale" and has been a regular columnist in Emel lifestyle magazine. Separately, Lucy co-founded and ran a madrasah (Muslim after-school group) for many years, and now co-leads a youth group that teaches Muslim children and teenagers to think about their faith in context, and engage with it intellectually, practically, and through service to others. Lucy has 3 teenagers and a kitten who loves walking over the keyboard.

Lucy Bushmill - Matthews

Author

Sophie Thomas

Founder

Sophie is Founder of BornGloryUs - a progressive brand strategy and marketing consultancy that helps brands to connect meaningfully with their audience. As a female consumer expert; she’s fascinated with the redefinition of gender and what it means to be human, emotional connection, and how businesses can use their personality, brand purpose and communications to make positive change in the world.

The Scary Guy

Speaker

He’s been called many names, by many people – although it will surely pique your curiosity as to why at the top of that list are names such as Agent For Change, Urban Dalai Lama, Warrior For Peace and Mind-Waker. In the last 20 years on the road, The Scary Guy has worked with schools, police forces, military, and a host of communities and corporate organisations through his live training performances and across his active online networks – helping millions of people around the world to achieve personal peace and triumph in their lifetime.

Tom and Nic Ray

Tom Ray Resilienceand.co Tom is a writer and inspirational speaker on the subjects of sepsis, patient experience and resilience. In December 1999 was about to take up the reins as main breadwinner, as his wife Nicola was expecting their second child. Having previously worked as an actor and in Corporate Banking he was looking forward to becoming the main breadwinner again. Instead he developed sepsis from a routine dental examination and spent the best part of 2000 in hospital, including months in intensive care, reconstructive surgery and rehab. Tom lost his legs below the knee and arms below the elbow, as well as much of his face. In 2016 Nic and Tom’s story was made into a feature film, ‘Starfish’ starring Tom Riley. There is also a book, based on their diaries. Tom now uses his extraordinary experience and acting background to raise awareness of sepsis and help others deal with change and adversity. Nicola Ray (PhD) Resilienceand.co Nicola is a writer, artist and inspirational speaker on the subjects of sepsis, resilience and the carer’s experience. After spending the 1980’s and 90’s getting a PhD and setting up and running her own video production company, Nicola was on the point of having a much longed-for career break to look after her daughter Grace (3) and son Freddy, due in January 2000. Instead her husband Tom succumbed to sepsis, losing his arms and legs, and part of his face. Nic has spent the ensuing years keeping the family together, and dealing with the physical, financial and physiological fallout. In 2016 Nic and Tom’s story was made into a feature film, ‘Starfish’, in which she was played by ‘Joanne Froggatt’, and a book, based on their diaries. Nic now uses her unique experience and communications background to raise awareness of sepsis and help others deal with change and adversity. Tom and Nic are represented for speaking and resilience masterclasses by Maria Franzoni - https://mfl.global/

Walter Scott

Walter Scott has stammered since the age of three. He is a civil servant and Government communications specialist. His past jobs have included working as a speechwriter. In 2014 he co-founded the Defence Stammering Network to support military personnel and civil servants who stammer, to educate and raise awareness about the condition, and to campaign for better support. Stammering is a speech condition that is rooted in the white matter pathways connecting areas of the brain involved in speech. It affects 1% of the adult population, and roughly 70m adults worldwide. It shows in dysfluent, sometimes blocked speech, and avoidance behaviour, and it can have a significant impact on life experience, career prospects and mental health. Much of the challenge of living with a stammer stems from the cultural pressure to be fluent - or at least to appear fluent. Society, and its employers, broadcasters and educators generally set high standards for fluency. Yet for those who stammer, the effort to appear fluent and avoid stammering compounds the dysfluency. Walter's message is that if society can only relax its standards for fluency, and recognise that human speech is a miraculous gift that should not be taken for granted, life could be so much easier for those who stammer. In recent years Walter has written a series of articles and blog posts and given numerous public talks about stammering. He has recently published a collection of these in an Amazon Kindle ebook entitled A Few Quick Words, and filmed a series of short vlogs on stammering which can be watched on YouTube.