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).

Lincoln School
19 kenard Road
brookline, Massachusetts, 02445
United States

Aadhya Puttur

Aadhya Puttur is a high school student at Chelmsford High School and she has found her passion for computer science through creating and competing at hackathons. By being a leader in her after-school activities, she hopes for others in her school to find their passion. Founding a coding team and co-founding a robotics team, Aadhya has helped take STEM outside of classrooms and out in the real world. She wants others to see that creating the impossible is possible for anyone. A new way of thinking and learning: project-based learning.

Ali Castro

Ali Castro is a mental health activist, musician and student at Nobles and Greenough.

Amanda Strawhacker

Amanda is a Ph.D. student at Tufts University in the DevTech Research Group. She completed her Master’s in Child Development at Eliot-Pearson in 2013 and received the Eliot-Pearson Research-Practice Integration Award (2013) for her research with a Boston public school on programming interfaces in kindergarten classrooms. Previously, she has served as the Project Coordinator of the ScratchJr Research Project, and as the DevTech Lab Manager from 2013-2015. Currently, Amanda’s research focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating tools to support foundational bioengineering learning in early childhood education (K-2). Amanda finished her B.A. in Biological Anthropology at Tufts in 2011. Her interests in early childhood education include child-computer interaction, developmentally appropriate technology, computational thinking, and creative problem solving.

Armani Thomas

Armani Thomas has been an artist ever since he figured out what art is. He uses art in its various mediums to illustrate who he is and to tell his story in hopes that the stories he tells will bring people together. Whether it be illustrations, paintings, writing, graphic design, apparel or architecture, his mission is to build relations between people who would otherwise see themselves as existing in a completely different world from those around them. The atmosphere that Boston provides does nothing but amplify his creative process.

Barmak Heshmat

Barmak Heshmat is the head of optics at Meta, a silicon valley startup that manufactures augmented reality displays for professional use case. Prior to Meta, Dr. Heshmat was a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for four years where he invented the time-folded optics which allows designing optics in the time dimension. His other works include reading through closed books using THz batch scanning technique and Imaging through complex geometries using time-of-flight cameras. Dr. Heshmat has given invited talks at five TEDx events, and numerous other venues and academic institutions. He has published 22 journal papers and filed 15 US patents. Some of these papers and inventions have been featured on MIT cover page, BBC, TechCrunch and many other media outlets. Dr. Heshmat is also the founder of the ‘Imaginarium of Technology’ (iMT) which is a technical illustration service company that illustrates future technologies

Danny Koo

Described as “unstinting in energetic projection every step of the way” (Calgary Herald), violinist Danny Koo has carved out a distinctive professional profile as a chamber musician, soloist, and recitalist in appearances throughout the world. Upcoming performances until January 2019 include recitals at Snape Maltings (UK), Mazzoleni Hall (Canada), COC Richard Bradshaw Ampitheatre (Canada), 10 city-tour of South Korea with Bach’s A minor Concerto, duo recitals with double bassist, Minje Sung and violinist, Stefan Jackiw. Arvo Part ‘Tabula Rasa’ with Toronto’s 21c festival. An avid and sought-after chamber musician, Danny has most recently collaborated with Kim Kashkashian, Jaime Laredo, Andres Diaz, Roberto Diaz, Clive Greensmith, Soovin Kim, Lluis Claret, Joseph Kalichstein, Barry Shiffman, Vivian and Donald Weilerstein. He regularly performs with leading ensembles including ECCO, DITTO, Kafka Quartet, Music Street, Wellesley Chamber Players, duo Punch, Constantia, and the Chameleon Arts Ensemble. In addition, Danny has been participated in a number of high-profile music festivals, including the Transatlantic Encounters at Snape Maltings, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Summerfest at La Jolla, Perlman Chamber Music Program, and Banff Chamber Music Program. He has also presented acclaimed recitals in the US such at the Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, Fanneuil Hall, and Old South Meeting Place. An outgoing and engaging personality, Danny is well-known media personality and has been profiled on Korean television media such as JTBC “Classic Today,” Mnet “Classic Dominant,” Arirang “Heart to Heart,” and in print media, Marie Claire Korea, and was Playbill’s Choice in Scene Playbill Magazine. He has also garnered worldwide attention as a speaker, giving lectures in Korea sponsored by Lotte and the COEX Starfield Library. Most recently, Danny shared his artistry and commentary at a TEDxBeaconStreet conference, held at the historic Fenway Park. Music education is a priority for Danny; he has taught at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School, and leads Toronto’s Academy Chamber Orchestra alongside Barry Shiffman at the Royal Conservatory of Music. In Korea, he has also been featured with Korea’s “Sesame Street” equivalent, the character “Pinkfong” to educate and excite the youngest generation of our world about the impact of music. A strong believer in creating a tangible change in the world through the arts, Danny was a regular participant of Kim Kashkashian’s “Music for Food”, a community project in which musicians volunteer their performances, and audience donations go to a local food pantry. He has done this since its inception, serving as a coordinator for the (organizing performers to share their music with the wonderful ladies at the shelter) Women’s Lunch Place Concert Series for five years. In addition, he is a proud representative of OXFAM Korea. Danny’s personal interests include taking long walks, drinking tea, listening to jazz (dreams of jamming with Bill Evans) loves food and is in search of the perfect Bibimbap. (His love for Asian cuisine forces his regular appearance at the gym.) Born in Chicago in 1991, Danny is currently a Rebanks Fellow at the Royal Conseratory of Music under the direction of Barry Shiffman. Danny holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he studied with Donald Weilerstein, Soovin Kim, and Malcolm Lowe. He plays on a violin made in Naples by Vincenzo Postiglione in 1901. Danny is represented in Korea by Credia International (크레디아 인터내셔널).

Dawry Ruiz

Dawry Ruiz is a 17 year old artist from East Boston. Throughout his High School career, he has formed a creative mission of focusing his art on: Youth voice, Racial Injustices, and community misrepresentation. He is an organizer: he has planned community events through the non-profit organization, ZUMIX, and put on all ages shows for teen artists in the greater Boston area through Yes Fest. He is a performer: a founding member of the Hip-Hop collective, Project Method, and a Slam Poet who has competed at Louder Than A Bomb. He aspires to use his art to continue to create positive change in his community.

Esther Lovett

Esther Lovett is a freshman at Georgetown University and recent graduate of Noble and Greenough School. Following a series of sports-related concussions, Esther has been dedicated to raising awareness about concussions and post-concussion syndrome (PCS). She does advocacy, public speaking, and/or research in affiliation with Boston Children’s Hospital, the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF), and the Boston University Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center, and has launched her own website Headstrong. Esther has been featured on NESN and The Today Show, and pledged her brain to science in 2017, becoming the youngest CLF brain pledge. Her focus has been making sports safer and providing resources for others with PCS and for future athletes. She devotes much of her time sharing insights with other PCS sufferers from high school students to NFL players. She lives in Cambridge, MA.

Ifetayo Ali-Landing

Ifetayo Ali-Landing, 15, began her musical studies on violin and switched to cello at the age of four. Her teachers and coaches have included Lucinda Ali-Landing, Megan Lauterbach, and Martine Benmann at the Hyde Park Suzuki Institute in Chicago, as well as Tahirah Whittington, Oleksa Mycyk, and Hans Jørgen Jensen. Additionally, she has studied with teachers at the summer music camps of the Chicago Suzuki Institute (Deerfield, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University, Sphinx Performance Academy, Meadowmount School of Music, and the Young Artists Program. Ifetayo is the Sphinx Competition Junior Division First-Place Laureate for 2017 and performed as soloist with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall in Detroit. At the 2016 Sphinx Competition, she was awarded Second-Place Laureate in the Junior Division. Ifetayo was also one of the winners of the 2016 DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers and performed as soloist with the Festival’s Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the Wilmington (NC) Symphony, New World Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, South Bend Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Elgin Symphony, and Chicago Sinfonietta. In 2013, at the age of ten, Ifetayo was honored at the Friends of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Rising Stars Showcase, where she recorded the 1st movement of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto (No. 1). To date, the video has over 88,000 YouTube views and over 11 million Facebook views. She also recorded “Celtic Hymn” by James MacMillan, who discovered the video and complimented Ifetayo via Twitter. Her most recent YouTube recordings are the first movement of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto (No. 1) and Pampeana No. 2 by Alberto Ginastera. Ifetayo also enjoys singing, dancing, and playing piano.

Ifrah Gurhan

Ifrah Gurhan is a student and First Generation STEM Engagement / Education Activist at Meridian Academy.

Jefferson Veillard

Jefferson Veillard was born in Haiti and spent 6 months there before he and his family came to the U.S. Jefferson’s family came to the U.S to establish a stable sense of prosperity. As he got older, Jefferson put himself in different circumstances where finding that prosperity was possible or seemed impossible. Going into a predominately white suburban middle school, Jefferson’s skin, income, and heritage had been aspects of himself that he used to be discouraged about because while society recognized him as a socioeconomic minority, he recognized myself as intellectual minority compared to other kids in his classes. However, in high school Jefferson learned that those traits don’t spell minority, they spell capacity. His low income means he had to work harder than others to attain success. His ethnicity means that he is a product of fighting for liberation and thriving. And therefore, he have the capacity to thrive in the U.S like anyone else. Jefferson wants other immigrants to understand this and benefit from this understanding as well.

Joan Dotruong

Joan Dotruong started her journey as a community organizer at the age of 16 when she joined the Steering Committee of a local Fields Corner, Dorchester mural that focused around the Vietnamese community and strong diversity of Dorchester. There, she was introduced to the Asian American Resource Workshop and continued to organize in the community focusing on housing work as well as youth advocacy. Today, she continues her organizing work through advocating for youth power, housing and immigration rights, while also empowering her peers inside and outside of school through social justice advocacy and reform.

Jordan Wells

Jordan Wells is a student at Boston Latin Academy. At Boston Latin, she’s a apart of the band and play the French Horn. Jordan also manages sports teams, loves to dance, plays basketball, and swims. At Boston Latin, Jordan is co-captain of a dance team. She’s participated in programs such as Achieve and Generation Citizens. Jordan loves advocating for students and hope to do so for many more.

Liz Roux

Liz embraces life through the rigors and rewards of running, with the utmost belief that we must run for a purpose, not from hardship. At Gulf Coast High School, Liz was varsity captain of her cross country and track teams, a Florida High School Athletic Association state representative, and a 2015 Footlocker Scholar Athlete. Now a senior at Harvard College, Liz is the women’s captain of the Harvard College Running Club and works a campus job as a run leader for Harvard On The Move. She also competes every December at the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend for the benefit of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of ‘Team David’, named after her little brother (heroes.stjude.org/liz_roux).

Manmeet Maggu

Manmeet Maggu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Trexo Robotics. His commitment to helping children with cerebral palsy walk drove the vision for Trexo and continues to guide his leadership style within the company. Manmeet co-founded Trexo during his MBA at the Rotman School of Management with the help of the University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Hatchery. Prior to the MBA, Manmeet completed a Mechatronics Engineering degree at the University of Waterloo and has worked at several corporations including Blackberry (RIM), Qualcomm and others. He also brings experience as a project manager at Tracan Electronics where he helped carry hardware projects through the entire product development lifestyle. Manmeet strongly believes in robotics for the betterment of limited technologies.

Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol

Grammy nominated composer and CMES Harvard University fellow (2013-15) Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol made his Carnegie Hall debut in April 2016 premiering his commissioned piece Harabat/The Intoxicated with the American Composers Orchestra. Other recent works have been heard at Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall and on A Far Cry string orchestra’s recording Dreams and Prayers. He hails from Cyprus and Turkey, and is DownBeat Magazine’s September 2016 Editor’s pick, JAZZIZ’s Top 10 Critics’ Choice 2014 pick, a Jazz pianist, a multi-instrumentalist, a singer, an ethnomusicologist as well as a full-time faculty member at New England Conservatory’s Music History/Musicology Department. Sanlıkol was a recipient of The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Performance Program Grant in 2016 with his unique jazz orchestra/combo, Whatsnext? and has been praised by critics all over the world for his unique, pluralist, multicultural and energetic musical voice. The Boston Globe noted that Sanlıkol’s “music is colorful, fanciful, full of rhythmic life, and full of feeling. The multiculturalism is not touristy, but rather sophisticated, informed, internalized; Sanlıkol is a citizen of the world”, “…and he (Sanlıkol) is another who could play decisive role in music’s future in the world.” A musical polymath, Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol has composed for, performed and toured with international stars and ensembles such as Dave Liebman, Bob Brookmeyer, Anat Cohen, Esperanza Spalding, Antonio Sanchez, Tiger Okoshi, The Boston Camerata, The Boston Cello Quartet, A Far Cry string orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Okay Temiz, Erkan Oğur and Brenna MacCrimmon. Sanlıkol’s unique blend of jazz composition and Turkish music has been praised by the Boston Globe as “a true fusion of jazz and folkloric Turkish language and colors.” Sanlıkol pairs Turkish instruments such as zurna (double reed wind), ney (end-blown flute), kös (large kettledrums) and nekkare (small kettledrums) with the jazz orchestra/combo to perform his Turkish music-influenced compositions, in which Turkish makam (mode) and usul (rhythmic cycles) are intertwined with modern jazz as well as specifically film noir influenced music. On the other hand, his “coffeehouse opera”, entitled Othello in the Seraglio: The Tragedy of Sümbül The Black Eunuch, which has been the recipient of the Paul R. Judy Center grant at Eastman School of Music in 2015, bridges the musical cultures of opera house and coffeehouse, Baroque Italy and Ottoman Turkey. This love story is designed to draw the audiences into a meditation on race, slavery, sexuality and the entwined histories of East and West. With music from 16th and 17th century European and Turkish sources, arranged, adapted and woven together with original music by Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, this unique opera has been performed 20 times since it’s premiere in 2015 on European period instruments and traditional Turkish instruments by an ensemble of specialists in those fields. Sanlıkol studied western classical piano with his mother Fethiye Sanlıkol and started giving piano recitals as early as age five. Later on he studied with the internationally acclaimed Turkish composer/pianist Aydın Esen and won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee Sanlıkol studied jazz composition with such accomplished composers like Herb Pomeroy and Ken Pullig. After studying with composers such as George Russell, Bob Brookmeyer and Lee Hyla, in the year 2004 Sanlıkol completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Composition at the New England Conservatory and helped find the organization DÜNYA based in Boston, Massachusetts. Sanlıkol is the president of DÜNYA, a musicians’ collective dedicated to contemporary presentations of Turkish traditions, alone and in interaction with other world traditions, through musical performance, publication, and educational activities. Since its founding Sanlıkol has produced, performed and delivered talks at over two hundred DÜNYA events. DÜNYA has also released 10 CDs, a single, a concert DVD and a documentary film featuring Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol both as a director/performer and a composer. The unique nature and the success of DÜNYA resulted with Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol going on the air numerous times on NPR and PRI. Sanlıkol is also the co-director of the Intercultural Institute at New England Conservatory as of Summer 2017. Sanlıkol actively delivers papers and talks at academic conferences such as International Conference on Analytical Approaches to World Music and Society for Ethnomusicology. Sanlıkol’s book, entitled The Musician Mehters, about the organization and the music of the Ottoman Janissary Bands has been published during 2011 in English by The ISIS press and in Turkish by Yapı Kredi Yayınları. Currently, he is the director of New England Conservatory’s Intercultural Institute.

Nathalie Diaz-Troncoso

Immigration Activist, Student at Boston Latin Academy

Novia Nguyen

Novia is a social justice and assimilation activist.

Peter Papesch

Peter Papesch, AIA, is an architect-developer and educator. He has been a regional planner, urban designer, and energy auditor. He chairs the BSA Sustainability Education Committee, and was founding chair of the USGBC-Massachusetts Chapter’s Education Committee. He is currently promoting the protection of all communities of the Metro Boston estuary against sea level rise and storm surge devastations.

Prince Charles Alexander

“Prince Charles and the City Beat Band” recorded three albums on Virgin Records from the early to mid 80’s, and achieved their biggest successes on the European charts. Charles fronted the group as the lead singer and multi instrumentalist. The futuristic wind synthesizer called the “Lyricon” was the instrument that made his brand of next generation p-funk unique, and the group’s sound incorporated many of the devices that would propel rap music to the forefront of the American music scene. As rap music became more popular, Prince Charles disbanded his funk group and began focusing on audio engineering. After the switch, “Prince Charles Alexander” became a multi-platinum producer, mixing engineer and recording engineer for a large client base including Mary J. Blige, the Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Usher, Boyz II Men, Brandy, Babyface, Sting, Aretha Franklin and many more. Sean “Puffy” Combs utilized Prince Charles’ technical expertise to launch and sustain the Bad Boy record label throughout the 90’s. Charles’ accolades include more than 40 Platinum and Gold certifications from the RIAA, 3 Grammy wins and 7 Grammy nominations from NARAS and a Victoire de la Musique (the French equivalent of a Grammy). Prince Charles is currently an active producer/engineer as well as a Professor in the Music Production & Engineering Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He also holds an Adjunct Instructor position at NYU’s Clive Davis Dept. of Recorded Music, teaching Music Production. Professor Alexander has also taught Audio Technology at the Institute of Audio Research in NYC and is a frequent lecturer at the City College of New York in Manhattan. He is a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Grammy Committee Board of Governors, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and the Musician’s Union Local 802 in NYC as well as managing up and coming talent through his production company Ark Angel Music, Inc.

Sarah Larbi

Sarah Larbi holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Boston University’s College of Arts and Science, and has significant experience working with tech related security, and programming languages such as Python and Java. Throughout her time in college, she was a program coordinator for CodeBreakers High School Security Program, which involved designing and developing a four-week computer science curriculum that focuses on cryptography and network security for high school girls. During her time at BU she was a Spark! Fellow at the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science, where her team built a mobile application for dancers in the Greater Boston Area. After her graduation this past May, Sarah joined Liberty Mutual as a Technology Associate where she focuses on broadening her technical knowledge in an enterprise environment. In addition to her role in the tech world, Sarah is an instructor at Corepower Yoga, where she teaches multiple classes a week and helps coach new yoga teachers in training.

Stephen Jimenez

Stephen Moreno Jimenez is a first generation student born and raised in Boston, MA by two immigrant parents from Ecuador. He is currently a rising junior, honor roll student at the Brimmer and May School ’20. One of his most meaningful experiences thus far has been been being an intern, Teaching Assistant at Steppingstone Foundation as an alum of the program. It was a very meaningful experience for him as he got to help children with very similar backgrounds as his own and give back to the community that helped change his life for the better. In his free time, Stephen enjoys the arts, especially singing, playing the piano, and writing poetry.

Sumaya Ibrahim

Sumaya connects us to the metaphor of the Fantastic Mr. Fox as a symbol for the risks and rewards of discovering and living true to one’s identity. As a scholar, athlete, peer leader, Muslim young woman of color. She is a student at the Beaver Country Day School and Steppingstone Academy ’13 scholar. At school, is involved with Model UN, Student Council, field hockey and stage management.

Sumeya Aden

Sumeya is a muslim youth activist, spoken word poet navigating racism. She is a Boston Pulse Poet, student at Ibryant High School.

Tim Warren

Tim Warren started his career as a researcher at NBC in New York with “Later with Bob Costas” and continued to climb the television ladder producing for “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and “Regis & Kathie Lee” as well as producing and directing live satellite remotes for FX on their flagship series “Breakfast Time” and “Personal fX”. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a sitcom writing career, Warren boarded the “reality train” ultimately show-running and/or directing unscripted programs for FOX, NBC, ABC, CW, FX, ESPN, TLC and SPIKE. Warren served as an executive producer/showrunner on such popular shows as “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “Bar Rescue”. He’s also been nominated twice by the DGA for his multi-camera directing achievements – first for “Pros vs. Joes” and later for “Ink Master” both for SPIKE. Under his Boomerang Productions Media banner, Warren directed, produced and edited his first feature-length documentary “High School 9-1-1” and executive-produced the crime thriller “Collusions” starring Tom Everett Scott.

Victoria Cadostin

Victoria is a youth organizer and activist based in Boston, Massachusetts . She immigrated from Haiti in 2010 and now works in immigration activism and social justice work.