Theme: Toward a global community

The world is becoming a smaller place. It’s easier now than ever before to move commerce around the globe; to study on foreign soil; and most of all to share ideas. This year’s TEDxHanoi conference will explore the theme of humanity living as one globalized community.

The era of the online homo-sapiens has ushered in a golden age of internet memes, cat videos, and being forced to relive embarrassing memories years after they occurred.

However, it has also provided the platform from which this conference can later be watched by thousands of curious minds around the world. It has opened the doors to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs, researchers and artists, who can share their visions with one another in a web of information.

Our world has become inextricably linked together. So how do we ensure the best for our local community in this larger web? How do we ensure the best for this global community as a whole?

Throughout June 2nd, our lineup of expert speakers will share their visions for their local communities, and for the wider one that we are all a part of. From their unique backgrounds in business, education, research, tech and the arts, their perspectives will each offer a piece of the puzzle to the riddle of how we manage and participate in a community of such scale.

The United Nations International School Hanoi
Atlas St, Phu Thuong, Tay Ho, Hanoi
Hanoi, Ha Noi, 100000
Vietnam

Ann Morgan

Writer

Ann Morgan is a UK-based writer, editor and Royal Literary Fund fellow. Following the success of her project to read a book from every country in 2012, which led to a TED talk and the non-fiction book Reading the World, Ann continues to blog about international literature at ayearofreadingtheworld.com. Her debut novel, Beside Myself, has been translated into nine languages.

Celine Chee

Pianist

Celine is a senior at United Nations International School of Hanoi. An IB Music student, additionally, was one of the performers at United Nations 2018 ceremony and other concert events.

Do Minh Quan

Poetry translator

Minh Quan Do, a student at United Nations International School of Hanoi (UNIS), is an aspiring poet and translator of poetry. He has been working for a series of years on projects involving translation of poetry and crafting original works. His current project, “Gained In Translation,” seeks to explore the effect of translation on language and meaning through a process called back-translation. In addition to his work with poetry, he also is working with a franchise startup, Pablo Vietnam, and another food and beverage startup with the aim of promoting a healthier lifestyle. In his spare time, he is a co-founder of the Vietnam Youth Leaders (VYL), a networking group with the aim of connecting engaged youth in Vietnam. He is additionally a member of the student-led charity SANSE which seeks to promote the local education systems in mountainous regions.

Doug Snyder

Environmentalist

Douglas Snyder is a lifelong environmentalist. Like all children he was fascinated with nature, and he followed this passion to get his environmental science bachelor degree at university and eventually work in sustainable development and green building. He currently is deputy director of sustainable design at ARDOR Green, a Vietnamese green building consulting firm. Doug also enjoys teaching and has lectured in business management at the National University of Vietnam since 2012. In the non-profit sphere, he serves as director of Keep Hanoi Clean, an entrepreneurial volunteer effort that aims to improve Hanoi’s land, air, and water quality through grassroots work and partnering with like-minded organizations and the government.

Giang Le

Artist

Born 1988 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Le Giang pursued her B.A in Art Education at Vietnam University of Fine Art and M.A in Studio Practice at Camberwell College, University of the Arts London, UK. Le Giang explores the hypothesis that there could be a future with no humanity, with only barren structures and ruined remnants of human being. She practices with different mediums such as installations, sculptures to drawings and painting with the subjects range from found artifacts to ruin architectures. Le Giang is also an art educator. In 2013, she founded Blossom Art House - an art center focusing on educating arts to local community. In 2015, Le Giang co-founded Six Space, an artist run initiative endeavours to provide diversity in approaches and perspectives to art and creative practices in Hanoi.

Hui Woon Tan

Founder & Managing Partner, Alley 51 Ventures

In a span of 12 years, Hui Woon has worn several hats as Strategist Marketeer, Business Consultant, Entrepreneur and Investor. Her first venture in Vietnam 7 years back began as a consulting firm, where she worked closely with startup CEOs and Founders ranging from F&B, FMCG, real estate and retail to tap into new market and business opportunties. Hence when founding Mash and The Purpose Group in 2013, she dedicated herself with a bold vision: changing the game of brand-building through unconventional yet purposeful solutions and campaigns. Most recently she founded Alley 51 Ventures, an up-and-coming Venture Builder that aims to rapidly build startups that aren’t only profitable but exists to solve hard problems in SEA and emerging markets. At Alley 51 Ventures, Hui Woon focuses on empowering young entrepreneurs and strengthening the Vietnam startup ecosystem. Hui Woon graduated with honors from University of Technology, Malaysia with a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering.

Hyunjoon Choi

Yo-yo player

Hyunjoon is a yo-yo player from South Korea and has been playing for seven years. He enjoys playing yo-yo at a competitive level, participating in national competitions and other events.

Jedikiah Mai

Performing artist

Jed is 17 years old. He loves to sing and paint. One interesting thing about Jed is that he’s vegan!

Jieun Baek

Debater

Jieun (Judy) Baek is a junior at United Nations International School. She is a part of Vietnam Youth Leaders, a service group at UNIS Hanoi established under the aim of becoming a local hub of communication in the Vietnamese Hanoi society. She is also a member of the Vietnamese debate national team for World Schools Debate Championships, one of the most prestigious competitions in the debate society. She started debate when she was in grade 2, and has been in and out of the activity ever since. In her free time, she translates sponsor letters from sponsored children to their sponsors. She has taught English to students as a student mentor at the schools she has been to, since grade 6.

Jiyoon Kang

Dancer

Jiyoon is a grade 10, Korean student. She is not a professional dancer but she believes that she is a bit talented.

Joshua Scott

Percussionist

His passion for the performing arts has grown over the years he has spent at UNIS.

Khuyen Bui

"Gieo" means "to sow". Khuyen Bui is a member of Gieo project with the idea of spreading the seed of luck instead of lucky money for the kids during Vietnamese TET holiday.

Kourosh Kayvani

Professor

Professor Kourosh Kayvani is the Global Managing Director – Design, Innovation & Eminence at Aurecon, covering a team of 7,000 people in engineering and infrastructure advisory practices across 25 countries. Kourosh is a passionate champion of the engineering profession and its responsibility in shaping our collective future. As the Founding Dean of Aurecon’s Design Academy, he is developing the next generation of master engineer, who can integrate both design thinking with hard science. In his 30 years as an engineer, Kourosh has played key roles in the engineering of many innovative, complex structures across the globe, including Wembley Stadium (UK), West Kowloon Terminus (Hong Kong), Barito Suspension Bridge (Indonesia) and in such projects in Australia as ANSTO OPAL nuclear reactor, the Sydney Hockey Stadium, and Melbourne Star Observation Wheel etc. He specialises in long-span structures, tall buildings, stadiums, seismic design and forensic engineering.

Laura Sheehan

Career Strategist

Laura E.P. Sheehan - Career Strategist and Founder of E.P. Career Strategies Laura is a U.S. lawyer turned expat career strategist who stumbled upon her life’s calling whilst living in Hanoi. Having decided years ago to accompany her husband in his international career moves, Laura has lived in seven countries over the span of 15 years. Mere weeks into her time in Hanoi, Laura seized upon a new opportunity to utilize her experiences to empower the wider global community of “trailing spouses.” In the two short years that she has been in Vietnam, she has successfully made a full transition into the role of a global career strategist. Laura was recently recognized by the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW) as a top nominee for the 2017 “Champion of Career Enhancement for Eligible Family Members (CCE-EFM)” Award and was featured in the AAFSW’s January 2018 edition of Global Link.

Lê Nguyễn Thiên Hương

Environmental activist

Lê Nguyễn Thiên Hương is an educator by day and an environmental activist by night. She has been working in the field of education for a decade at different roles - a tutor, a teaching assistant, a teacher, a counselor, an admissions officer, etc. On the other hand, traveling has always been a big part of her life. And her expedition to Sơn Đoòng in 2014 has marked a big turning point for her. At the time, Hương was in the process of applying to graduate school for the major of Educational Psychology. But what she found out at Sơn Đoòng has changed her direction completely. Her #SaveSonDoong campaign earned her a scholarship to Brandeis University, where she did two Master degrees in Nonprofit Management and Sustainable Development.

Maia Wallace

Singer

Maia Wallace is a graduate from the United Nations International School and is recognized as an avid singer and performer within her community. Performing since the age of 9, Maia has been involved in school productions and evolved into a singer/songwriter. She uses her passion for service and performance to organize benefit concerts, and collaborate with NGOs to spread awareness of global issues.

Minh Giang

PhD in Food Science and Nutrition

Dr. Giang Thuy Minh (Minh Giang) holds a Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition from AgroParisTech, Paris, France. Her main research interests include human nutrition, healthy food including their digestion and absorption, food anthropology, food education and formation. After finishing her Ph.D. thesis on lipid digestion and absorption, she is now a lecturer at the Department of Food Technology and Nutrition of Hoa Sen University. Currently, she is working on a research about antioxidant determining and characterizing in Vietnamese vegetables. Besides her academic career, she is also very active in publicly promoting good lipid consumption by writing news on social media. She is also running a non-government organization in education called Vietnam Journal of Science, created and contributed by a team of young Vietnamese experts from various disciplines. This serves as an online science magazine that popularizes science news and knowledge for everybody, especially young people.

Rashmi Sharma

Learning & Development Catalyst

Rashmi’s favorite word is antifragile – the skill of gaining from disorder, which she believes is key for thriving global communities. In her quest to be antifragile, her chance encounter with jazz dance led her to dancing across eight international locations while unlearning profound leadership lessons which inspired this talk. Currently she leads Learning and Wellbeing for South East Asia & Australasia for Unilever. Prior to that she was with IBM and Aon where she led & consulted with diverse leaders on unlocking people potential. She has been recipient of several coveted titles such as Top 25 HR professionals in India and one of the top 10 women in the Economic Times Young Leaders List. Rashmi enjoys being an idea catalyst and has been a thought leader at industry forums, most notably UN Youth Speak 2017 by AIESEC along with ministry of education. She has also co-authored transformation case study for Richard Ivey School of Business.

Sebastian Cortes

Performing artist

Sebastian Cortes is a student from the 2018 graduating class of UNIS. He has been performing within the school community for four years now, and is excited to play for TEDx Hanoi.

Swing Dance Hanoi

Dance group

Swing Dance Hanoi is a community of dancers that dance the original form of partnered swing dancing…the LINDY HOP! Lindy Hop is a highly “improvisable” dance which requires a balanced and dynamic connection and trust between the leader and the follower. The dance has its basic “moves”, however, they are often “improved-on” and lead by the leader. The follower in-turn would respond to this “lead” based on her/his own interpretation of it. The dynamics of the dance provide each dancer the freedom to be creative on their own and then come together when required. Today’s Lindy Hop presentation is of two fold. The first segment is choreographed and shows the “basics”. The second segment is completely improved and unrehearsed. As each couple takes the spot light the dance is lead and followed each step of the way; including when two leaders dance with each other alternatively taking the role of leading and following.

Tien Luong

Educator

Luong Trung Tien is the co-founder of Tay May To Mo, an educational YouTube channel. For years, Tay May To Mo has been providing quality science program for VIetnamese community. Through enjoyable videos, Tay May To Mo promoted the curiosity and the love for knowledge among young learners and educators. With the will to make possitive impact to Vietnamese education, Luong Trung Tien decided to become teacher at AmericanSTEM, an organization that provides STEM education for K-12 students in Vietnam.

Ton-Nu-Thi Ninh

President, Ho Chi Minh City Peace and Development Foundation Vice President, Viet Nam Peace Committee

Following ten years in academe in Paris and Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Madam Ninh served as a career diplomat specializing in global issues (international peace and security, development, environment, governance and human rights) and multilateral institutions before being elected to Viet Nam’s National Assembly where she continued to actively work to build bridges of understanding and cooperation between Viet Nam and the world, more particularly highlighting the National Assembly’s integral role in Viet Nam’s “Doi Moi” (Reform and Renewal) and democratization. Madam Ninh has been awarded the French Legion d’Honneur (Commandeur), the Belgian Order of Leopold II, and the Vietnamese Medal of Labor – First Class. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) has conferred upon her an Honorary Doctorate of Social Science.

Trang Nguyen

Wildlife conservationist

Trang Nguyen is a wildlife conservationist and research scientist. She is also a founder and director of a Vietnamese NGO called WildAct. Currently she is working closely with the polices and anti-poaching units in Africa, as well as authorities in Asia to map out the illegal wildlife trade between these two continents. In 2014, she was immortalized as an online game character to raise awareness about the African rhino crisis and drew more than 2 millions players to the plight of rhino conservation within the first two weeks of the game launch. In 2018, Trang was awarded as one of the three winners of Future for Nature Award - a well-respected award for wildlife conservationists across the globe. She was also awarded as one of the 30 young influential people under 30 years old by Forbes Vietnam. She published her book "Back to the wilderness" about her works on the wildlife crime in Asia and Africa.

Trung Mai

Architect & Urban designer

Trung is a Paris based architect, urban designer. He earned his bachelor and master in architecture with honors from ENSA Paris-Malaquais before becoming a French licensed architect at Ecole spéciale d'architecture, Paris. Trung also completed a civil engineering degree at Paul Sabatier University of ToulouseIII. Trung has been a recipient of the Erasmus scholarship for exchange programs at Leibniz University of Hanover, Germany and Architectural Association, UK. Trung has worked in different international offices and projects, in France, Iran, Senegal, Japan and Vietnam. Currently working for the international urban planning department of AREP Group, Paris, the largest architecture firm in France. In parallel, he has founded atelier MAI as an experimental design practice and urban research platform He has won VEX 2018, Spec Go Green International award 2017, Unbuilt Vision 2015, U.S, ASA International design competition 2015.

Truong My Anh - Truong Anh Quan

Performing artists

My Anh is a 10th grader from United Nations International School. She has been singing, performing and passionate with music since the age of 5. For her personal project, she self produced an album to raise money for music education.