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).

Douglass Ballroom
University of Rochester
Rochester, New York, 14627
United States

Andrew Evans

Andrew Evans is an author, travel writer and TV host. Born in Texas and raised in Ohio, he has completed over 40 assignments for National Geographic, reporting live from all seven continents and over one hundred countries. He is the founder and editor of a blog, Letters From Earth. The Black Penguin, travel memoir, depicts his epic overland journey from National Geographic headquarters in Washington D.C. all the way to Antarctica, using public transportation. Aside from being the first person ever to live tweet his ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Andrew has broadcasted from a kayak, camelback, and helicopter—from atop arctic glaciers, the jungle, the middle of the ocean, and even from inside King Tut’s tomb. Including writing for National Geographic Traveler and NatGeo.com, Andrew has written for Afar, Outside, BBC Travel, Readers Digest, The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, The Times (London), and too many ephemeral websites to mention.

David Pilgrim

Dr. David Pilgrim is a dynamic public speaker and one of this country’s leading experts on issues relating to multiculturalism, diversity, and race relations. He has been interviewed by National Public Radio, Time magazine, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and dozens of newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times. He is best known as the founder and curator of the Jim Crow Museum—a 12,000-piece collection of racist artifacts located at Ferris State University. The museum uses objects of intolerance to teach tolerance and promote social justice. He is the author of Understanding Jim Crow (PM Press, 2015), and Watermelons, Nooses, and Straight Razors (PM Press, 2017). His other writings appear on the museum’s web site (www.ferris.edu/jimcrow). He has delivered lectures at many institutions. Dr. Pilgrim is an applied sociologist with a doctorate from The Ohio State University. He believes that racism can be objectively studied and creatively assailed. In 2004, he produced the documentary Jim Crow’s Museum to explain his approach to battling racism. The film won several awards including Best Documentary at the 2004 Flint Film Festival. Marc Haefele, a film critic at the Los Angeles Daily News called the documentary, a “grisly low-key masterpiece.” Jim Crow’s Museum is shown nationally on affiliates of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). He created two traveling exhibitions to take the Jim Crow Museum’s lessons to a national audience. Hateful Things is a 39-unit traveling exhibition of objects found in the Jim Crow Museum. The objects are accompanied by didactic panels that place the images in the proper historical context—offering insight into their past and present popularity—and effects. Hateful Things has traveled to many institutions, including Aquinas College, Delta College, Utah Valley State College, and the Black Holocaust Museum. Dr. Pilgrim, in 2005, created a second traveling exhibition, Them: Images of Separation, a 35-unit exhibition that deals with the stereotyping of women, poor Whites, gays, Jewish Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans—and others. He believes that Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was right when he said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Diversity is more than a black-white issue; more, indeed, than a racial issue. In 2006, Dr. Pilgrim served as a consultant to Will Smith (directorial debut) for the UPN television show, All of Us. Mr. Smith wanted to make sure that the episode—called “The N- Word”—dealt with issues of race and racism in a non-stereotypical fashion. Articulate, accomplished, and passionate, Dr. Pilgrim challenges audiences to think deeply about diversity and race relations. He is a gifted teacher—Ferris State University Distinguished Teacher for 2003—and a dynamic orator known for objective, insightful analysis—and a biting sense of humor. He is a wonderful storyteller. Dr. Pilgrim has spent his adult life using objects of intolerance to teach tolerance. It works. No audience is left unmoved. His goal is to get people talking about diversity and race relations in meaningful ways—and, then, to go and do something positive.

Gernot Wagner

At the time of his talk, Gernot Wagner was a research associate at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a lecturer on Environmental Science and Public Policy, the executive director of Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program, an associate at the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, and an associate at the Harvard University Center for the Environment. He worked for several years as the senior economist at the Environmental Defense Fund and is the author of the bestselling book, “Climate Shock.” He now teaches at New York University.

Imani Imani Olear

Imani Olear is the founder of Yoga 4 A Good Hood, "A nonprofit dedicated to the education and empowerment of people of color and communities that are living in poverty in order to realize their full potential through the transformative wisdom and practice of yoga, meditation, trainings and nutrition.” She is a long-time Rochester resident and is passionate about strengthening Rochester people and communities.

Imani Olear

Imani Olear is the founder of Yoga 4 A Good Hood, “A nonprofit dedicated to the education and empowerment of people of color and communities that are living in poverty in order to realize their full potential through the transformative wisdom and practice of yoga, meditation, trainings and nutrition.” She is a long-time Rochester resident and is passionate about strengthening Rochester people and communities.

Leslie Dewan

Dr. Leslie Dewan is the CEO of Tailfin, a conservation technology company based in San Francisco, CA that focuses on new nuclear power technology, carbon-free energy production, and applications of artificial intelligence for global good. She is also the co-founder of Transatomic Power, a company that designed safer nuclear reactors that leave behind less waste than conventional designs. Leslie received her Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT, and is a member of the MIT Corporation, MIT’s board of trustees. She was named a TIME Magazine "30 People Under 30 Changing the World," an MIT Technology Review "Innovator Under 35," a Forbes "30 Under 30,” a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Mathon Noi

Mathon Noi was nine years old when war broke out in his village of Mayen-Abun, Sudan (now South Sudan). He was one of the “Lost Boys” who fled to Ethiopia, but war began there within four years as well. Mathon, along with his cousin, Sebastian, spent a year walking over 1,000 miles across the hot desert to a refugee camp in Kenya. After nine years there, they were resettled in Rochester, New York. They became US citizens and after a visit back in Mayen-Abun, they founded "Building Minds in South Sudan," a non-profit dedicated to building schools and improving access to education in South Sudan.

Mira Amin Mostafa

Having grown up in the UK and Australia, with parents from Egypt, Mira Amin Mostafa developed a strong passion for exploring the world and a genuine interest in world affairs and international corporate business. Almost 3 years ago, Mira was fortunate enough to receive the Renaissance and Global Scholarship, providing her with the opportunity to attend the University of Rochester as an undergraduate. At the time of her talk, she was a Junior pursuing a triple major in Political Science, Business, and International Relations.

Peder Losnegård

A great artist adapts to the environment around them while embracing their own creative vision. Nothing truer can be said about Norwegian producer, singer, songwriter and recording artist Peder Losnegård, a.k.a Lido. The 26 year old multi-instrumentalist and virtuoso has fearlessly carved out his own creative stamp across multiple genres within the musical landscape. He has produced and remixed some of the most innovative music of the last decade with a long list of critically acclaimed chart-topping heavyweights including, Chance The Rapper, Mariah Carey, Jaden Smith, Banks, Ariana Grande, Bastille, Halsey and Disclosure. Entirely self-taught, Lido quickly became a piano prodigy while also excelling on the drums. He got to grips with production at the age of ten which allowed him to develop his own unique producing style. It’s a past that one can predict will inspire him to continue trailblazing the industry. The best part is, he's just getting started.

Steve Goldman

Steve Goldman is a professor of neuroscience and neurology and co-directs the Center for Translational Neuromedicine, which is a research center of both the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and the University of Rochester Medical Center in the US. The center is dedicated to the clinical translation of basic neuroscience discovery, and Goldman’s focus is on regeneration in the adult brain, particularly in regards to the use of stem cells in treating disorders such as multiple sclerosis and the neurodegenerative diseases. Goldman is a neurologist who also trained as a molecular neurobiologist, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), Cornell University (MD) and Rockefeller University (PhD). Besides his academic and clinical roles, he is also co-founder of a biotech company involved in the development of cell-based treatments for neurological disease, and so he brings the perspective of a practicing clinician to both the basic research and biotechnology worlds with which modern medicine necessarily interacts.

Sylvia Earle

Dr. Sylvia Earle is the founder of Mission Blue and DOER Marine Operations and has been a National Geographic Explorer in Residence since 1998. Dr. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She has earned a PhD from Duke University along with 32 honorary doctorates, and has served on numerous advisory boards including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Mote Marine Lab, and Duke Marine Lab. Dr. Earle’s academic accomplishments include 230 publications and more than 150 honors. Dr. Earle has over 7500 hours of diving experience, including the use of 30 submarines, and has contributed to over 195 publications including NGS Atlas of the Ocean, The World is Blue and Sea Change. She has won more than 100 national and international awards including the 2009 TED prize, the 2011 National Council for Science and the Environment Achievement Award, and Time Magazine’s First Hero for the Planet.