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).

Aston University Engineering Academy
1 Lister St
Ground floor
Birmingham, Warwickshire, B7 4AG
United Kingdom

Ajay Rose

Ajay Rose is the founder and editor of Plugsville, a media platform that documents culture in a way that never cuts corners, and freelance writer for Complex and Link Up TV. He is also a screenplay writer, and in this talk, he explains how to solve the problem of not having the experience to do the things you really want to do.

Hayden Taylor

Hayden Taylor, Managing Director of Unloc, UK One Young World Ambassador and Jo Cox Memorial Scholar Aged 21 – born in Portsmouth – attended ALNS from 2008-2013 Hayden set up his own business called Unloc after leaving ALNS at the age of 16. In 2013, at the age of just 17, Hayden was appointed as the Corporate Relationships and Accounts manager for a fast growing technology firm in London called Hubbub In 2014, at the age of 18, Hayden was selected to represent his company and the United Kingdom at the One Young World global summit in Dublin, the worlds pre-eminent global forum for young leaders from 196 countries. He has since attended the global forums in Bangkok (Thailand), Ottawa (Canada) and Bogota, (Colombia). Hayden’s focus attending such summits is to promote the work of his organisation Unloc and it’s aim to empower young people to become changemakers, in addition to working for the advancement of the UN’s Global Goal no. 4 – a quality education for every young person. In 2015, Hayden’s efforts to develop a more meaningful education system that empowers young people was recognised by the European Commission and he was invited to speak to hundreds of leaders and young people in Brussels In 2017, at the age of 20, Hayden was selected to be one of 10 UK Jo Cox Memorial Scholars. These young leaders are challenged with promoting the late MPs ‘more in common’ mantra. Hayden travelled to Washington DC this summer to spend two weeks in the states with the US Embassy. Hayden, now 21, is now focusing on his own business, Unloc, which provides programmes to 100 schools and colleges that helps young people make a difference through setting up a business or improving their community

Jeremy Walker

Jeremy Walker is an entrepreneur and software developer who specialises in building businesses that utilise artificial intelligence in the advancement of medicine and education. He is the CEO of Thalamus and CTO for a number of businesses that he co-owns including Reachora, Exercism, and Kaido. He previously co-founded Meducation, a medical education platform used by 15% of medical students worldwide. Jeremy has a degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Birmingham, is a respected Ruby developer and contributes to various open source projects. In his spare time he climbs, reads and thinks. He is driven by making the world fairer for everyone and passionate about creating amazing places to work.”

Jess Butcher

Entrepreneur, Non-Exec Director and Angel investor. Co-Founder of Blippar, one of Britain’s best-funded technology scale-ups and one of the world’s leading computer vision and augmented reality technology platforms. She is the recipient of numerous female entrepreneur and tech awards including BBC’s Top 100 Women and Fortune’s Most Powerful female entrepreneurs and is a passionate start-up mentor, public speaker and writer on subjects as diverse as women in technology, female entrepreneurialism, digital innovation, digital detox and work-life balance. She received an MBE in the 2018 New Years Honours List for her services to technology and entrepreneurship.

Josh Cook

I have supported children with special educational needs and disabilities in both primary and secondary environments. After witnessing first-hand the challenges that many children with ADHD face in education, I felt that we could do more to help. I believe that some of the current practices in schools are actually undermining our efforts to support these children. We need to move away from a over-reliance on praise and punishment. Through a mindset of curiosity and flexibility we can support young people with ADHD to develop the skills and resilience to meet the challenges of everyday life.

Marzana Rahman

Marzana Rahman is a Domestic Violence survivor turned activist. She escaped her violent marriage only 3 years ago and she is adamant in helping others like her. She is encouraging both men and women, specifically those from the Bengali community, to stand up against the cultural barriers we face and to speak up against the injustice.

Munir Al Akari

Munir Al Akari works in international policy, focusing on state-building in post-conflict societies. During his work in the Middle East region, Munir founded a platform for young people in post-conflict societies to foster their leadership skills through access to knowledge, skills and practice. Munir believes that societies thrive best when stimulated by an exceptionally strong culture of service and leadership, one that is ingrained in educational, economic and civil institutions. His programme combines the importance of the democratization of knowledge, intellectual curiosity, and access to information along with the ability to communicate ideas, messages and information into actionable results. Munir also worked with several UN and EU agencies, providing strategic advice on foreign policy challenges in the Middle East and North Africa. Munir also worked with private sector consulting firms, contributing to risk management consultations for Fortune 100 corporations on economic and geopolitical developments in the Middle East.

Nick Speakman

Nick is the Founder & Head of SPORF. A sports digital sports publishing brand with over 15 million fans. From creation in his University bedroom in 2012, to being today’s highest-followed digital sports publishing brand in the UK. Nick’s determination and creative mindset has allowed him to transform a hobby into an award-winning digital brand. His unique approach has been recognised industry-wide, having recently been inducted into the Sports Industry NextGen Leaders Class of 2018. Nick is on a journey to re-define the sports publishing space by ‘doing things differently’.

PJ Ellis

PJ co-founded the charity LoveBrum in 2014, which shines a light on the “hidden gem” projects of Birmingham and has funded over 50 local schemes so far. It now has over 2,500 individual members and over 100 corporate supporters and patrons. It recently received £250,000 funding from the National Lottery to build its infrastructure. PJ has helped raise over £750,000 for local charities and projects in the last 5 years and often mentors students and start-up businesses, helping 10 of the latter raise over £1 million in funding.