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).

International School of Panama
International School of Panama
Golf Club Road, Cerro Viento Rural, San Miguelito
Panama City, Panamá
Panama

Andrea Donayre

Andrea Donayre is a humanitarian in the making! At the age of ten, she was able to understand the benefits that injustice brings to aggressors. Since then she has decided to redefine what justice means and wants to empower young individuals and adults to speak up and begin their rebellions to end the battles present in everyday life. In her case, she rebelled against domestic violence and the Panamanian Judicial system. Her experience with dealing with the Panamanian Judicial system for the last seven years of her life has made her understand the harsh realities of seeking justice in Panama and Latin America. She will study International Development at Mcgill University in Canada with the hope of developing more skills to inspire and motivate individuals to fight their battles and not let their battles fight

Andrea Kleiman

Born in Mexico City, and soon off to Vancouver to study Psychology, Andrea Kleiman is an advocate for challenges, culture, and self-discovery. At just the age of 19, she has produced a play raising over $9,000 for Aid for Aids Panama. She recently worked for six months in a non-profit organization where got the opportunity to perform, volunteer, and travel to 6 different countries. She has lived with 16 host families and 18 different roommates from all over the world for the past semester, and has had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform for Pope Francis and an audience of 19,000 people on live Vatican TV, as well as another performance at the Spanish Steps in Rome for over 30,000 people. After experiencing what is the unimaginable, Andrea wants to share how daring to step out of your comfort zone can enrich your life in ways beyond your beliefs.

Camila Sosa

Camila is a mental health activist and an 18 year old senior at Balboa Academy. She likes to help others in any way possible. Camila was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder 2 years ago. Although she had been familiar with mental illnesses as she grew up, life hit her hard. As she was learning how to cope with her mental illness, she discovered that writing was a way to express how you feel and try to give other people a piece of your mind. She became part of the best writer's community at a website called The Mighty and has a blog where she shares her experiences. She is determined that she can make a change about Panamanian society's stigma when it comes to mental illnesses. She would like to share her story in order to inspire people to be themselves no matter what society tells you.

Diego Estevez

Diego Estevez is a 17 year old tech developer and entrepreneur who believes that change is possible through innovation and hard work. He has been the core developer of multiple projects and is currently founding his second startup, a social network. Moreover, he gave multiple talks about teenage empowerment and how we can help make the world better by pursuing our passions; some of these include TEDxYouth@Madrid 2016 and BlueBBVA Challenge 2017, amongst others. Despite currently living in Panama, he was born and raised in Argentina and lived for two years in Spain. During all that time, he always managed to find a gap in his agenda to work on his projects; building things from scratch that can have a big impact. He says he wants to devote his life to that passion.

Dixie Waigel

Dixie Waigel is Swiss-Ecuadorian senior with passions for activism, computer science, and language-learning. Having worked as the webdesigner for the last TEDxYouth@ISP, she was inspired by the talks that took place and dreamed of doing her own one day. Having participated in the fight for equality for several issues, especially in regards to gender and the LGBT+ community, she hopes to convey some of the impacts that closed-mindedness in our societies creates. Not only will she use anecdotes from her own life, such as co-founding her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, but retell the experiences of those around her whose voices have yet to be heard.

Ezrah Dormon

Ezrah Dormon is a 12 year old apprenticing tattoo artist. He began his love for tattooing at the age of 11 and has assisted in 17 tattoos before his 12th birthday. During this year, Ezrah and his mentor have opened Honolulu Tattoos where he spends at least 2 hours a day drawing, painting, and seeing customers. Born in Toronto, Canada and living in Panama since he was 3, he is a sports and music lover spending 4 nights a week after school in the skate park and weekends surfing. He also is a JR black belt in Hapkido and plays the piano and drums. Ezrah loves to share his views on how to live happy and set examples for other kids on not being afraid to try things and think out of the box. His views on life are deep for a child his age and if you ask him what's important to him he will freely express how parents should trust their kids to do extraordinary things. Ezrah’s artistic name is Ez The Shark.

Felipe Félix

Felipe is a Panamanian-Uruguayan senior at the International School of Panama and a social justice activist serving as the Director of Development of Redefy. Having discussed global issues in Model United Nations and Debate for the past five years, Felipe decided to experience the policy process first-hand, so he interned at the Panamanian National Assembly. Reflecting on the system that he saw from within and the contrasts of his native Panama, Felipe will address the role of youth in driving positive change in society – especially to empower the voiceless.

Inés Quihillalt

Inés Quihillalt es una joven extremadamente curiosa que a lo largo de la secundaria aprendió a animarse a probar cosas nuevas. En el marco de una educación liberal y permisiva, “Ine”, siempre supo tomar decisiones independientes respecto a sus gustos y estilo de vida, pero no fue hasta que llegó a Panamá donde aprovechó las oportunidades a su alrededor para descubrir quién ella es. A través del deporte supo forjar una personalidad fuerte que la ayudó a vencer su temor al desafío y no darse por vencida. Esta resiliencia le fue vital en su inserción en el mundo de la ciencia y tecnología; campos donde las mujeres son poco común. En esta charla Ine reflexionará sobre la subrepresentación de las mujeres en el mundo de la investigación, la implicación de esta diferencia de género en la sociedad y la lucha por igualdad de oportunidades en el siglo XXI que los jóvenes debemos defender.

Raquel Sherman

As a current sixteen-year-old tenth grader in the International School of Panama, Raquel loves expressing her ideas and beliefs through painting, debate, Model United Nations, and writing. She is a Panamanian-American who despite being born in Miami, Florida, has been living in Panama almost her whole life. She is a firm believer that youth participation isn’t just another check off an organization's checklist, rather an invitation to work with us as peers--equals. She experienced this first hand last year, when she was one of the sixty kids who were able to participate in the Global Network of Religions for Children’s fifth forum. She was able to express her ideas to hundreds of successful individuals, as an equal. She loves being able to listen to other stories, and hopes that her story is able to push others, from both sides of the spectrum, to listen and learn from each other.

Samantha Saldivia

Samantha Saldivia is a senior student in the International School of Panama. She is from Venezuela and has been living in Panama, with her grandparents, since 2013. Before coming to ISP she attended a boarding school in England for three years, and before that she went to a Catholic school in Caracas. She has been involved in many activities in the school such as soccer, theater, student council, and debate, and wishes for her diversity to keep expanding through her future. She considers herself a very fortunate person for having experienced a tragedy that marked her life since the age of 10. In this conference, Samantha will be expressing her deep beliefs about living in the present and taking advantage of new opportunities.

YES THEORY

Yes Theory is a multi-platform media brand created in 2015 with over 1 million followers. They believe that the path given to them by society is outdated. So, they make videos about seeking discomfort and challenging what most people consider normal. Their videos have been seen by over 500 million people, they have a show on Snapchat with 5-6 million viewers, and have worked with brands like Google, Amazon, and Shopify to spread their message.