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).

Ace Hotel Pittsburgh
120 S Whitfield St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15206
United States

Amy Camp

Amy Camp offers nature-based coaching to early- to mid-career professionals. She believes in the power of nature and the potential of people, which is why she holds her coaching programs outside whenever possible. She works with individuals and groups on topics that matter to them, drawing upon the restorative and energizing qualities of nature. Amy received her Professional Coach certification through Duquesne University and her Associate Certified Coach credential through the International Coach Federation (ICF). She is First Aid/CPR certified and loves to spend time outside hiking, biking, skiing, and sitting around watching stars and fireflies. She serves on the board of ICF Pittsburgh and also consults communities on how to better connect to their trail systems.

Jamilka Borges

As the Executive Chef at Independent Hospitality Group, oversees Independent, Hidden Harbor and Lorelei kitchens. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico she developed an interest in Art and Food early in her life. She has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation as a Rising Star Chef Semifinalist, honored as Best Chefs America’s Rising Star Chef, and named Pittsburgh Magazine’s Chef of the Year. All recognizing her commitment with her community, culinary skills and voluntarism. Currently she works with 412 Food Rescue, a non-profit organization that is looking to eliminate hunger while reducing food waste, and is also a James Beard Boot Camp for Policy and Change alumna.

Joanne Rogers

Joanne Byrd Rogers began her musical training at age five and received the Bachelor of Music degree from Rollins College, where she and her husband, Fred Rogers, met. She received the Master of Music degree from The Florida State University, where she held a graduate fellowship for piano study with Ernst von Dohnanyi, the renowned Hungarian composer, pianist, and conductor. Fred and Joanne Rogers were married in 1952 in New York City, and in 1953 they moved to Pittsburgh, where Fred joined the founders of the public television station, WQED. She retired from public performance in 2008. Mrs. Rogers is currently serving as the Honorary Chair of the Advisory Council for The Fred M. Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media, and is also Chair of the Board of Directors of The Fred Rogers Company, the non-profit organization Fred Rogers founded in 1971. Through these two organizations, she is actively invested in carrying on Fred's legacy—working with families and children. "

M. Bernardine Dias

M. Bernardine Dias, Ph.D., is a roboticist committed to technology innovation that serves disadvantaged people. Dias has decades of experience in a range of robotics research projects, with over a decade of dedicated experience in applying robotics and automation technology to address challenges faced by underserved communities. Her most recent undertaking is the founding and leadership of Diyunu Consulting, LLC that seeks to create innovative technology solutions. Dias also served as an Associate Research Professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University for over a decade, where she developed international recognition as a lead researcher on a range of topics including assistive technology, educational technology, technology for underserved communities, and autonomous team coordination. At Carnegie Mellon, Dias was primarily affiliated with the Field Robotics Center, where she founded and directed the TechBridgeWorld research group that explored innovative technology solutions in partnership with underserved communities around the globe, and trained over a hundred students to be leaders in TechBridgeWorld’s methodology of compassionate engineering. Dias has received several honors and awards including the Anita Borg Early Career Award and the Louis Braille Touch of Genius prize for innovation. She actively encourages women in science and technology, and was also a founding member of, and graduate faculty advisor to the women@SCS group at Carnegie Mellon University. She earned her B.A. from Hamilton College, Clinton NY, with a dual concentration in Physics and Computer Science and a minor in Women’s Studies in 1998, followed by a M.S. (2000) and Ph.D. (2004) in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Nicole Heller

Dr. Nicole Heller is a conservation ecologist and communication specialist. Her work is focused on sustaining the resilience of biodiversity and human communities in the face of global environmental change. Heller’s research promotes novel theories and actions for nature conservation, including pioneering data tools and social practices to promote better, more just, land stewardship in cities and wildlands. In her work, she has collaborated closely with treehoppers, ants, plants, gorillas, and many diverse human people.

Priya Amin

Priya, who holds an MBA from the University of Arizona, and worked as a product and brand manager at corporations such as IBM and Nestle, left her high powered career to be home with her two boys, and never looked back. After successfully launching and running a marketing consulting firm called ROKI, she began looking for ways to continue fostering creativity and entrepreneurship among women. She launched Flexable, LLC in 2016 with her partner Jessica Strong, and was accepted to the 16th cohort of the AlphaLab Accelerator program in 2016. Flexable has gained regional and national attention for providing innovative childcare solutions, most notably on-site childcare at offices and events.

Sara Innamorato

Sara Innamorato is the recently elected member of the Pennsylvania House for District 21. It was deemed an “impossible task” to challenge a 10-year Democratic incumbent but Sara’s combination of business knowledge, community work, strategic communications background, and her genuine concern for those around her that helped Sara build an unbeatable coalition that knocked on 28,864 doors in the 21st District and won the primary by getting 63% of the vote.

Summer Lee

Summer Lee is a lawyer and the State Representative for the 34th District of PA. Summer attended Woodland Hills High School and the Howard University School of Law. Summer worked with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where she was an Oliver White Hill Fellow, and in the Office of the General Counsel for the District of Columbia Public Schools. She also served as a student attorney in the Howard University School of Law Civil Rights Clinic, representing and assisting clients with civil rights complaints.

The Clarion Quartet

Made up of Jennifer Orchard, Marta Krechkovsky, Tatjana Mead Chamis, and Bronwyn Banerdt, the Clarion Quartet restores to life music by composers whose works were once banned. The force of political oppression denied these compositions their rightful place in the chamber music repertoire, but now their rediscovery serves as a clarion call, giving voice to works of genius. The Clarion Quartet binds artistic virtuosity with humanitarian purpose in presenting great works that are gradually entering the standard repertoire. The Clarion mission embraces three principles: offering performances for all audiences to hear and appreciate this music; providing educational presentations and master classes for emerging artists in conservatories; and advocating among professional musicians for suppressed works to be included in the canon of chamber music performed today. The members of the Clarion Quartet, colleagues in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, have joined together to share their passion for chamber music and their particular interest in exploring Entartete Musik, works that were termed “degenerate” by the Nazis and banned during the years leading up to the Holocaust through the immediate aftermath of the World War II. The highlight of the Quartet’s 2016 debut season was a unique performance during an international tour with the Pittsburgh Symphony. The Clarion Quartet traveled to the former Theresienstadt (Terezín) concentration camp in the present-day Czech Republic, and they performed a program on this site to honor those composers whose creativity was stifled, who suffered abuses ranging from exile to execution. The Quartet seeks to immortalize the victims and their art through empathetic performances of relevant mid-twentieth century masterpieces. With thanks to an Alumni Entrepreneur Grant from the Curtis Institute of Music as well as a grant from the Fine Foundation, the ensemble is turning its sights to the future with plans for many more performances and an ever-expanding repertoire. Through a yearning to bring justice to creative voices that have been silenced, the Clarion Quartet is dedicated to providing renewal, hope, and healing through its music and work.