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).

Fenway Park
4 Yawkey Way
Boston, Massachusetts, 02215
United States

Adam Wilber

As a keynote speaker and creative thinking workshop leader, Adam engages, challenges, and inspires audiences with the promise that everyone can learn how to be creative. The impacts of innovation range from success in business to personal fulfillment and happiness. Adam brings compelling energy to the stage with the perfect mix of magic entertainment and unique creativity concepts that will revolutionize the way that you think and dream. Adam performed his very first magic trick at the age of six and instantly fell in love with the art form. Magic is a wide category with dozens of specialties and he was eager to master all of them. Adam practiced diligently to perfect the classic, iconic tricks of mentalism, illusionism, and sleight of hand, but it wasn’t enough – the real thrill was rooted in invention and innovation. Upgraded magic tricks and brand-new illusions skyrocketed Adam’s career as a professional magician. The never-before-seen inventions and illusions were highlighted on national television shows, including Penn & Teller, and in front of thousands of awestruck audiences at private and corporate events. In addition to inventing tricks and props for himself, Adam is the GM of Ellusionist, a company that invents tricks for other magicians. With the creative capacity to think through both sides of the illusion, Adam not only fooled audiences, but he also stunned his fellow magicians. Today, Ellusionist is the world’s largest magic company with a line of must-have magic essentials. Adam sits at the helm as general manager with full creative control and marketing experience for multi-million dollar products. Magic gave Adam an outlet to grow, challenge, and refine his creative skills. Through every invention, revolutionary business decision, and real-time improvisational quip on stage, he cemented his position as the authority on creativity and innovation. Now, he’s on a mission to teach others and spark an inferno of creativity in every audience.

Alex Frankel

Alex Frankel is a NYC based opera singer and male model. As a former football player and salesperson, Alex’s journey to becoming an opera singer was an unorthodox one. In addition to singing, Alex is a male plus size model, and a Chess teacher to three year olds. It’s his goal to make opera more accessible to all, especially younger generations.

Andy Andres

Andy Andres teaches Biology and Mathematics at Boston University (mostly introductory courses in biology, physics, and human genetics), but also developed and teaches the highly successful MOOC “Sabermetrics 101: An Introduction to Baseball Analytics” to about 50,000 registered learners on the edX platform during its two runs in 2014 and 2015. In 2016 he was invited by Google to talk about Sabermetrics and Technology in his Talks at Google presentation. He is the Founder and former Chairman of the Educational Resources Committee for the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR), and winner of the SABR 2012 USA Today Sports Weekly Award for his research. As a Datacaster/Stringer for MLBAM, he is responsible for keeping score of games at Fenway Park for various Internet application like mlb.com’s Gameday and ESPN’s Gamecast. Professor Andres talks about the science of baseball in his TEDx talk: The Science of the Home Run, TedXYouth@Beacon Street. Andy lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife, the fabulous Kate Andres, and their three children, Maddie, Aubree, and Griffin.

Corey Pesaturo

Professional Accordionist Cory Pesaturo is an American musician from Cumberland, Rhode Island who has been playing the accordion since the age of nine. Cory has been winning accordion competitions all over the world and is a pioneer of jazz accordion. In 2002, became the youngest person to win the National Accordion Championship. He most recently won the 2011 Primus Ikaalinen World Championship and was the first ever American contestant. Additionally, Pesaturo won the Coupe Mondiale World Digital Accordion Championship in Auckland, New Zealand, and became the first American to win a World Accordion Championship since Peter Soave 25 years ago. In June 2009, he won the Leavenworth International Championship, and International Jazz Championship. Pesaturo performed in 5 different continents during 2009; some countries included Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Tunisia and Japan. Cory is one of only four accordionists in history to win a World Championship on both acoustic and electronic accordion, and is the only person to also win a world championship in jazz. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA where he studied Contemporary Improvisation and a variety of music styles, including Italian and French folk music, Bulgarian and Jewish music, Classical music and Jazz. He became the second person to major in and graduate as an accordionist at the New England Conservatory. He also plays the piano, clarinet, and saxophone. “If anyone can make the accordion hip – and that’s a tall order – it just might be Cory Pesaturo,” said the Boston Globe. “Pesaturo makes the instrument sound as natural and native to jazz as the saxophone or trumpet.”

Cory Pesaturo

Cory Pesaturo is an American musician from Cumberland, Rhode Island who has been playing the accordion since the age of nine. Cory has been winning accordion competitions all over the world and is a pioneer of jazz accordion. In 2002, became the youngest person to win the National Accordion Championship. He most recently won the 2011 Primus Ikaalinen World Championship and was the first ever American contestant. Additionally, Pesaturo won the Coupe Mondiale World Digital Accordion Championship in Auckland, New Zealand, and became the first American to win a World Accordion Championship since Peter Soave 25 years ago. In June 2009, he won the Leavenworth International Championship, and International Jazz Championship. Pesaturo performed in 5 different continents during 2009; some countries included Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Tunisia and Japan. Cory is one of only four accordionists in history to win a World Championship on both acoustic and electronic accordion, and is the only person to also win a world championship in jazz. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA where he studied Contemporary Improvisation and a variety of music styles, including Italian and French folk music, Bulgarian and Jewish music, Classical music and Jazz. He became the second person to major in and graduate as an accordionist at the New England Conservatory. He also plays the piano, clarinet, and saxophone. “If anyone can make the accordion hip – and that’s a tall order – it just might be Cory Pesaturo,” said the Boston Globe. “Pesaturo makes the instrument sound as natural and native to jazz as the saxophone or trumpet.”

Daniel Laby

Dr. Daniel Laby is an ophthalmologist in Boston, Massachusetts and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. He received his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years. Dr. Laby accepts several types of health insurance, listed below. He is one of 210 doctors at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and one of 428 at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai who specialize in Ophthalmology. He also speaks multiple languages, including Hebrew.

Danny Koo

An avid and sought after chamber musician, Danny has recently collaborated with Stephen Prutsman, Andres Diaz, Roberto Diaz, Clive Greensmith, Soovin Kim, Randall Scarlata, Johannes Moser, Lluis Claret, Kim Kashkashian, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Joseph Kalichstein, Barry Shiffman Vivian Weilerstein, Burt Hara, and Donald Weilerstein. He performs with with Kafka Quartet, Music Street, Wellesley Chamber Players, East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), Constantia, and the Chameleon Arts Ensemble. From 2016-2017, Danny was a member of Ensemble DITTO, and in April 2018, Danny partnered up with double bassist, Minje Sung, to begin their journey as duo ‘PUNCH’; garnering a lot of attention with their sold-out concert at the Seoul Arts Center and features on: JTBC ‘Classic Today’, Mnet ‘Classic Dominant’, and Marie Claire Korea. Danny was Playbills choice in Scene Playbill Magazine, featured on Mnet’s ‘Classic Dominant’, and featured on Arirang’s Heart to Heart TV show. His music has been featured on Korean radio and TV channels: KBS, Arirang, JTBC, Mnet, EBS, SBS, TVN. Danny has been invited to Music@Menlo (International Program), Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival (Kafka Quartet – Resident Ensemble), Summerfest at La Jolla, Perlman Chamber Music Program, Banff Chamber Program, and has given recitals at the Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, Fanneuil Hall, and Old South Meeting Place. In the summer of 2018, Danny will make his Rockport Music debut playing alongside Stephen Prutsman Barry Shiffman, Clive Greensmith, Roberto Diaz, and Andres Diaz. The Kafka Quartet will also be making their return as the Resident Ensemble at LCCMF. As someone that feels passionate about bringing a larger audience to the world of classical music, Danny is leading a project on Naver V Live (Korea’s Youtube) and has his own series, attracting thousands of viewers each show. A passionate teacher, Danny teaches at the New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School as well as privately in Boston and Korea. A strong believer in creating a tangible change in the world through music, Danny has been a part of Kim Kashkashian’s ‘Music for Food’ initiative since its inception and was the coordinator for the Women’s Lunch Place Concert Series for 5 years. Since summer 2017, Danny is a proud representative of OXFAM Korea. Born in Chicago and raised in Philadelphia, Danny started with the Suzuki program and eventually went on to be mentored by Helen Kwalwasser. Danny received his Bachelor and Masters degrees from New England Conservatory, studying with Donald Weilerstein, Soovin Kim, and Malcolm Lowe, and was the recipient of the Beneficent Society Scholarship and Vernon Scholarship. Danny plays on a 1901 Vincenzo Postiglione made in Napl

David Mellor

David R. Mellor is the Senior Director of Grounds for the Boston Red Sox Baseball team at Fenway Park where he oversees everything that involves the playing field. This includes anything from games and events, to field maintenance. As the leading innovator of elaborate patterns used on athletic turf, and turf in general articles about David’s work have been published in the New York Times and USA Today and he has appeared on numerous television and radio programs including ESPN's Dave and Drago and E:60 Fenway Keeper, the TODAY show, CBS Sunday Morning, and WEEI Sports Radio. His mowing patterns have been featured in the American Folk Art Museum and an international art exhibit. David has published two books on gardening and horticulture, Picture Perfect: Mowing Techniques for Lawns, Landscapes, and Sports (Hardcover, Wiley, 2001), and The Lawn Bible: How to Keep It Green, Groomed, and Growing Every Season of the Year (Paperback, Hyperion, 2003), both of which continue to be bestsellers in Amazon.com’s Home & Garden category. Picture Perfect is considered the text book for lawn patterns. He has co-authored or contributed to eleven other books and he just submitted his autobiography to the publisher. David has cared for some of the greenest lawns in the nation—the ballparks used by the California Angels, San Francisco Giants, Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, and of course, eighteen years with the Boston Red Sox. He has thirty-four seasons of Major League Baseball experience during which he also worked eight years for the Green Bay Packers games at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. David considers himself one of the luckiest people in the world, living by the old baseball saying, “one base at a time.” He buys a lottery ticket anytime the jackpot rises over one hundred million dollars as the statistics of winning millions of dollars is more likely than the chance of being hit by two different cars in two different cities.

Dick Flavin

Dick Flavin is the poet laureate and senior ambassador of the Boston Red Sox and voice of Fenway Park, serving as public address announcer for Red Sox day games. His television commentaries won seven New England Emmy Awards, he is a nationally known speaker, and is a member of the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He wrote and starred in According to Tip, the acclaimed one-man play about legendary Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Red Sox Rhymes: Verses and Curses, a collection of sixty-four humorous and nostalgic poems celebrating the Boston Red Sox. He lives in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Fabio Duarte

Fábio Duarte is a Research Scientist at MIT Senseable City Lab, a professor at PUCPR, Brazil. Fábio is interested on how can we use technologies to reimagine our cities. At MIT Senseable City Lab, he manages several projects — from deploying small robots into the sewage to building a fleet autonomous boats to Amsterdam. Fábio is author of Unplugging the City (Routledge, 2018).

John Moleman

2 time Boomerang World Champion John MoleMan Anthony shares some of his collection of boomerangs, stories, and feats, and show how boomerangs can be enjoyed by all.

Linda Henry

Linda Pizzuti Henry is the Member of the Board of Directors at The Engine. She is also the Managing Director at Boston Globe Media Partners. Ms. Henry is a Co-founder of HUBweek. She is also a Founder of the Boston Public Market and serves on the Advisory board of MassChallenge. Ms. Henry is also an early-stage impact investor. She get an Emmy award for television Producer and a community activist. Ms. Henry received her BS from Babson College and a master’s degree in real estate development from MIT.

Rebekah_ Splain_Salwasser

in her role, she will help realize the ambitious vision of the Foundation, which is to make a difference in the lives of children, families, veterans, and communities in need by providing them with health, educational, and recreational opportunities. Paramount to the Foundation’s success are the strong relationships the Foundation and team have forged with Dana-Farber, Home Base and The Dimock Center. In addition to managing its key partnerships, Salwasser is responsible for the overall success of the Foundation’s giving strategy, programming, fundraising and sponsorships, capacity building, and various other events and projects that will help build the brand and strengthen the impact of the Foundation within the New England community. Salwasser was the Executive Director for Scholar Athletes, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support academic achievement through athletics. Founded in 2009 by Suffolk Construction’s CEO, John Fish, the organization aims to reduce the opportunity gap for Public High School students by utilizing private sector assets to benefit the public sector. It further leverages the power of sport to motivate and facilitate young people to perform better in school. By doing this, SA has the unique opportunity to make a significant impact on scholar-athlete’s social-emotional development, in addition to their academic success. Mrs. Salwasser oversaw a wide range of responsibilities, including the vision and strategy for SA, as well as building the SA brand as a clear leader in the nonprofit landscape. Salwasser oversaw the program’s budget, including the constant evaluation of revenue and expenses to ensure a sound fiscal model. Additionally, she was responsible for a successful development strategy, including execution against all Business, Strategic, and Fundraising Plans. Another responsibility for Salwasser included the cultivation and stewardship of relationships with key funders and community partners, such as the Mayor of Boston, Martin Walsh, and the Mayor of Springfield, Domenic Sarno, the Presidents of local universities and colleges and professional sports teams, and the Superintendent of public school districts. Prior to running Scholar Athletes, Salwasser was the Community Relations Director for the Boston Celtics for 5 years, overseeing charitable giving, community event, and player engagement for the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. Before the Celtics, she was the Executive Director of the Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center, a small non profit in Boston that provided academic & athletic assistance to local youth. In 2003, Salwasser was also a member of the Boston Breakers women’s professional soccer team.

Robert Lewis Jr.

Robert Lewis, Jr. is a nationally recognized thought leader, public speaker and passionate advocate for urban youth. Known as a bridge-builder and catalyst for collaboration between diverse business, civic and public sectors, Robert has deep experience with grassroots, community-based organizations throughout Greater Boston and government entities, colleges, sports franchises and philanthropic foundations throughout the country. A 2015 Boston Magazine cover story listed Robert among the city’s 50 Most Powerful Leaders, calling him “a tireless advocate for inner-city kids.” Robert’s impressive career trajectory has included important roles such as Executive Director of the Boston Centers for Youth and Families, President and Executive Director of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), Senior Vice President of City Year’s national operations and Executive Director of City Year Boston, and Vice President for Program at the Boston Foundation where he directed the distribution of $16 million+ in discretionary grants. He was the chief architect of two important initiatives during his tenure at the Boston Foundation: StreetSafe Boston – the country’s only privately-funded ($15m) gang program with a mission to dramatically reduce gun violence in the city; and CHAMPS Boston – which promotes positive youth development through sports by training over 5,000 youth sports coaches in Greater Boston. In 2013, Robert left his high profile position at The Boston Foundation to pursue a lifelong dream to launch The BASE. The BASE is a model and methodology that changes the paradigm for urban youth by providing student athletes with the opportunity, knowledge, skills and confidence needed to develop a winning game plan for success both on and off the field. The BASE embodies everything Robert learned as founder of the Boston Astros, a youth baseball team he launched in 1978. Legendary baseball writer Peter Gammons has called The Astros, “Hands-down the best urban baseball program in the country,” and Triple Crown Sports awarded the Astros the 2012 “Team of the Year” award from a field of 40,000. Robert is a highly sought-after public speaker, facilitator and spokesperson on the topic of urban issues and opportunities, addressing attendees at major national conferences and inspiring students and faculty on college campuses across the country. He has worked collaboratively with government and civic leaders in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and currently consults with a number of foundations and non-profits including California Wellness Foundation, Delaware Valley Grantmakers, and the Stoneleigh Foundation, offering leadership, critical and strategic thinking on urban youth development. Robert also worked with the Minister of Defense in Bermuda to launch StreetStafe Bermuda, and advised Prime Minister David Cameron during the tumultuous riots in the United Kingdom in 2011. Among his many awards and distinctions are the 2015 Sports Museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Boston Baseball Writer’s Annual Dinner, and an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Cambridge (MA) College. In addition, Robert served on MA Governor-elect Charlie Baker’s transition team, helping develop Baker’s statewide urban agenda. Robert has been profiled in 4 books: Developing Better Athletes, Better People, A Leader’s Guide To Transforming High School and Youth Sports into a Development Zone, authored by Jim Thompson, Do More Than Give, the 6 Practices of Donors Who Change the World, by Leslie Crutchfield, John Kania and Mark Kramer, 10 Who Mentor, by Denise Korn, Men Who Dare, authored by the late Katherine Martin.

Sharon Levy

Sharon Levy is a pediatrician that has evaluated and treated hundreds of teens with substance use disorders over the past two decades. She also works to support her colleagues in primary care to more competently identify and address adolescent substance use.