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).

Cathedral and John Connon School
6 Purushottamdas Thakurdas Marg
Fort
Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400001
India

Andaleeb Qureshi

A Human Library: a library where you don’t read books but humans. This organisation and movement was first started in Copenhagen Denmark more than 18 years ago and was founded by Ronnie Abergel. Through his guidance and Andaleeb Qureshi was able to bring The Human Library to the metropolitan of Mumbai. She is the reason this organisation has been so successful in India. It was thanks to her efforts that the Human Library has been able to set up workshops, include more people from this country into the organization, and break the orthodox mindset a majority of the public is accustomed to. The human library works towards creating a dialogue between an anonymous ‘book’ and an anonymous ‘reader’ to challenge stereotypes. society which was earlier denied to them. The human library works on the principal that facing our fears, confronting stereotypes, and embracing the diversity of this world will help us be more comfortable in it.

Arzan Khambatta

Sculptor and artist Arzan Khambatta has designed some of the most prominent public sculptures in the city. With a befitting company name ‘Chisel Hands’, his sculptures and works of art find pride of place across mantels, lobbies and in several places in India and overseas. He is well known for his humorous puns on his sculptures including Suit yourself , The Rhino, Think Tank , Julius Scizzor.

Colonel A.R. Khader

Colonel A.R. Khader is a dynamic professional with 32 years of exhaustive experience in spearheading all aspects of operation and administrations in HR and allied roles. He worked in the Indian Army and has an inspiring story to talk about what a soldier actually faces and goes through while he is at war, with a particular reference to the Kargil War – the ground reality as he was actively participating in the military operations – Colonel has bravely lead many Kargil War and counter terrorist operations in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Working with the Indian army and sacrificing your life everyday, to protect ours is an extremely noble job, and Colonel is a living inspiration for so many of us.

Jason Kothari

President of Infibeam Avenues; former CSIO of Snapdeal; former CEO of Housing.com; former CEO of FreeCharge; former CEO of Valiant Entertainment Jason Kothari is an entrepreneur and business leader that is known as a specialist at turning around companies and strategic deals. Starting his journey while a college student at Wharton, he became the co-founder & CEO of superhero character company Valiant Entertainment, where he led the acquisition out of bankruptcy and turnaround of the company resulting in a record return in the industry and a sale for $100 million to Hollywood & China-based DMG Entertainment. The Company was named Publisher of the Yearand completed a five-movie partnership with Sony Pictures and Original Film (Fast and the Furious franchise) with the first movie “Bloodshot” currently in production with Vin Diesel in the starring role. Following this, he took over as CEO of Softbank-backed troubled online real estate company Housing.com, where he led the turnaround of the company and merger with News Corp’s PropTiger to create India’s largest online-to-offline real estate services company valued in aggregate at $350 million. The Company’s revenues increased by 400%, costs reduced by 80%, and Housing.com became the most popular platform for buying and selling homes in India. Subsequently, he was the Chief Strategy & Investment Officer of Snapdeal, where he led the turnaround of the Company with the founders. He led the creation of Snapdeal 2.0 and the restructuring of the Company, which resulted in a revenue increase of 15% while cash burn reduced from $20 million per month to zero or cash flow break-even, a first for a consumer e-commerce company in India. In addition, he led the sale of non-core assets, which generated $100 million for the Company. He was also the CEO of digital payments company FreeCharge and led the Company from a position of distress to a sale to Axis Bank, a key strategic deal in the space. Recently, he became President of leading B2B e-commerce company Infibeam Avenues, which offers end-to-end e-commerce technology and payment solutions to businesses and the government. It is India’s only publicly listed e-commerce company valued at over $1.5 billion. He is also on the Board of Directors of Emaar India, one of India’s largest real estate developers, and has been an advisor to various companies, including Softbank, the largest technology investor, and Noon.com, a new Middle East e-commerce company that raised $1 billion. He holds a B.S. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Kanchan Pamnani

Kanchan Pamnani is an inspiration to us all. Pamnani was born with low vision, and lost her vision slowly, later through the years. However, her zest for life can be felt as she speaks rapidly and is full of words and enthusiasm. She was detected with congenital cataract when she was three months old and had to go through several surgeries for it as well as for retinal detachment during the later years. Pamnani was a student at Walsingham High School where she was always a first bencher because of her vision. Later, she completed a degree in Law Kanchan from Government Law College and went on to do her Masters degree, Solicitor’s course from Bombay Incorporated Law Society and Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test from The Law Society, England. Pamnani mainly works for Corporate and Disability Law and has been instrumental in working towards changing several policies pertaining to the law. Apart from her career, she is committed to many social causes. She initiated and drafted the representation on behalf of the visually challenged to National Securities Depository Limited and the Indian Banks Association, which has resulted in guidelines that have benefited thousands of disabled people. Her interaction with the Reserve Bank of India prompted them to issue a circular on the issue of facilities and services to the visually impaired.

Naveen Richard

Naveen Richard is one of India’s most versatile comedians, webseries writer and actor. Richard is known for his sci-fi themed web series, Star Boyz, mockumentary web series, Better Life Foundation (BLF), Pushpavalli (2017) and Die Trying (2018). He has also toured the country for his first solo special, Don’t Make that Face.