Theme: What Matters Now

“Because when you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worth while.” - Lucy Maud Montgomery

In light of change – however uncomfortable, necessary, or unanticipated – people across the globe grapple with ever-important questions as they look toward the future. The questions we ask ourselves prompt us to search for, do, and be better in pursuit of a world we can be proud of. Millions of people’s passions and ideas lead them to dedicate countless hours to various causes, and their collective action helps to inspire others.

TEDxCUNY 2019 will celebrate how and why these passionate and determined individuals are seeking out more than themselves, all while encouraging others to do the same. Whether in engineering, politics, art, science, or entrepreneurship, people decide what is meaningful to them - and they act. Across disciplines, we all wonder what matters now. What matters to you?

Gerald W Lynch Theater
524 W 59th St
New York, New York, 10019
United States

Adrian Turcato

Senior Associate at Transsolar Engineering

Adrian Turcato is a Senior Associate at Transsolar Engineering in New York City. At Transsolar Adrian is deeply involved in the engineering analysis, project management, and tools development that drives forward Transsolar’s contribution to some of the present moment’s most innovative high-performance buildings. Adrian’s expertise includes thermal and daylighting simulation, building and façade systems designs, web-app development, and data visualization. Adrian has a Master of Applied Science (MASc) in Building Sciences from Ryerson University.

Afrika Owes

Community leader and Activist

Afrika works at The Center for Constitutional Rights as an Administrative Associate, supporting the legal director and department as a whole. She continues to volunteer in her community as a member of Community Board 10, mentoring young women of color, and assisting high school students applying to college. She is a poet, writer, community leader, activist, and teacher who uses her personal experiences to speak truth to power and to help provide her community with the tools to empower themselves against oppressive systems that exist to break them.

Alina Camejo

Health Educator

Alina Camejo is a sophomore at Baruch College majoring in Communication Studies with a minor in Journalism. She currently volunteers as a Health Educator for Peer Health Exchange where she facilitates weekly workshops to a classroom of ninth graders. Along with her passion to advocate for comprehensive sexual health education, Alina is actively pursuing opportunities in the media and entertainment industries. She has interned in some of the top entertainment companies such as Roc Nation and First Access Entertainment while also receiving offers from Turner, NBCUniversal and more. She hopes to combine her interests within marketing, social media, visual storytelling and sexual health in order to cultivate an open environment for young women of color to express themselves.

Camryn Bruno

Poet

Camryn Bruno is also the 2017 Trinidad and Tobago First Citizens National Poetry Slam Holder , The 2017 Ms. Tobago Heritage Personality and a 2-time participant of the Brave New Voices International Poetry Festival. She is known for being a young Caribbean poet with the 'Trini' accent. You can find out more about her on her website- www.camrynbruno.com

Carlos Maza

Journalist and Video Producer

Carlos Maza is a video producer at Vox.com where he produces a series called Strikethrough, focusing on journalism in the age of Trump. Prior to joining Vox, he was research fellow at Media Matters, where he produced videos and led the organization's LGBT work. He graduated from Wake Forest University in 2010.

Hebh Jamal

Activist

At the young age of fifteen Hebh Jamal became a widely-regarded advocate for education reform; she known for her impact toward tackling injustice and her vision for the possibility of a transformed society. Hebh was featured in the NY Times in “Young Muslim Americans Are Feeling the Strain of Suspicion” for her perspective on the impact of Islamophobia on young Muslims. She made a huge buzz in 2017, when she organized a city-wide student walk out to protest Trump’s “Muslim Ban.” Since then, she co-created the first ever City-Wide Youth Council on School Integration run by IntegrateNYC. Currently, she’s the VP of her college’s Students for Justice in Palestine and the Youth Director of Muslim American Society of NY.

Lavar Thomas

Founder of Empower for Greatness and U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lavar’s desire to create global impact and transform communities has taken him around the world. Lavar has dedicated the last 10 years of his life to transformational leadership and self-development. He is the founder of “Empower for Greatness”, a program that helps aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs overcome fear and develop habits of success. He has also served as U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Rwanda, East Africa and through his non-profit organization Leaders of the Free World, provides leadership development and international experiences to young black men.

Lin Liang

Doula

Lin is a doula and aspiring nurse midwife. She studied philosophy at Skidmore College and now studies nursing at the College of Staten Island. As a mom of two boys and two girls, she is juggling diaper duty in between classes all the while pursuing her passion for life and supporting people.

Linda Martín Alcoff

Author and Professor of Philosophy

Linda Martín Alcoff is Professor of Philosophy at Hunter College and the Graduate School, C.U.N.Y. She is a past President of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division. Recent books include Rape and Resistance (Polity 2018); The Future of Whiteness (Polity 2015) and Visible Identities: Race, Gender and the Self (Oxford 2006), that won the Frantz Fanon Award for 2009.

Linnette Attai

Author and Founder of PlayWell, LLC

As founder of PlayWell, LLC, the global compliance consulting firm, Linnette Attai guides organizations through the complex obligations governing data privacy, marketing, and content. Linnette brings more than 25 years of experience to the work, navigating compliance challenges, building compliance frameworks, and developing compliant monetization models. She also serves as virtual chief privacy officer and GDPR data protection officer to a range of organizations. As a recognized expert in youth and education privacy, Linnette speaks nationally on data privacy matters and is author of the books, “Student Data Privacy: Building a School Compliance Program” and “Protecting Student Data Privacy: Classroom Fundamentals.”

Mohammed Ashour

Co-founder and CEO of Aspire Food Group

Mohammed Ashour is the co-founder and CEO of Aspire Food Group, a leader in commercially farming food-grade insects and processing them into all-natural, high-quality superfood ingredients and consumer products. A US$1million Hult Prize laureate and Forbes 30 under 30 honoree, Mohammed is regarded as a leading voice on social enterprise and alternative protein. Mohammed pursued MD, MBA, and MSc degrees from McGill University and holds a B.Sc. degree from the University of Toronto.