Theme: Balance

In today’s high speed, high pressure and high-stress world, there are so many things that we have to balance in our lives – work, family, play, leisure, caring for others, caring for ourselves, social consciousness, political consciousness, environmental consciousness, and the list goes on. It’s easy to understand why we need balance and why we are searching for it, but why are we having so much trouble finding and sustaining it?

When a system is in balance, there is harmony, health, and vitality. When it is out of balance, there is the opposite: volatility and instability. Finding balance is an ongoing process. How we interact with our planet, and with one another, drawing from and giving energy to each other, creates balance and harmony. Balance is an essential ingredient to success – in life, health, business, finance, relationships.

Join us for TEDxSonomaCounty: BALANCE to explore dimensions of balance and the opportunities and possibilities that greater balance has on our human experience. Be inspired by thought-provoking ideas that are larger than ourselves and help reframe our vision of what is possible.

Jackson Theater at Sonoma Country Day School
4400 Day School Place
Santa Rosa, California, 95403
United States

Adam Rosendahl

Facilitator and Experience Designer

Adam Rosendahl is a social artist, facilitator, and experience designer. Through his experiential workshops and trainings, he fuses art, music, and dialogue as a vehicle to breathe more imagination and connection into teams, organizations, and conferences. As the Founder and Chief Experience Officer of LATE NITE ART®, he and his team of expert facilitators design and deliver unique learning and development programs across 12 countries for clients like Apple, Pixar, Google, Instagram, and Southwest Airlines, as well as government agencies, universities, and conferences across the globe. These days, Adam is also a visiting lecturer at Stanford University’s Life Design Lab, and enjoys nothing more than lighting the creative spark in the people and places that need it most.

Andra Keay

Robotics Industry Influencer

Andra Keay is the Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics, the non-profit industry group supporting innovation and commercialization of robotics technologies. Andra is also founder of the Robot Launch global startup competition, Robot Garden maker space, Women in Robotics and is a mentor, investor and advisor to startups, accelerators and think tanks, with a strong interest in commercializing socially positive robotics and AI. She joins CITRIS People and Robots Research Group as a Visiting Scholar.

Anne Devereux-Mills

Community Builder

An accomplished CEO, entrepreneur and documentary film executive, Anne Devereux-Mills is the Founder of Parlay House, a global modern “salon” designed to spark authentic conversations and build meaningful, supportive relationships across a diverse range of women. It currently has over 5,000 participants and operates in seven cities across the US and Europe. Soon to release her book, The Parlay Effect: How Female Connection Can Change the World, Anne is building communities where authentic conversations can happen and cascades of change are ignited in a way that provides hope at a time of intense conflict.

Bobbie LaPorte

Writer, Leadership Consultant

Bobbie LaPorte, is Founder and CEO of Bobbie LaPorte & Associates, a Bay Area consulting firm providing leadership and organizational development services to Fortune 500 companies, global organizations and promising start-ups. Before founding her consultancy, Ms. LaPorte served in CEO, COO and CMO roles in several Fortune 50 companies and also led two healthcare technology start-ups. She has an MBA from Harvard, and a Master’s in Positive Leadership and Strategy from IE in Madrid. Her current focus is on helping leaders and organizations manage through change and uncertainty. Drawing on positive psychology, neuroscience and behavioral science, she provides a practical approach to building the confidence and personal resilience leaders need to be ready for anything.

Frank Olivier

Comedian Juggler and Magician

Frank Olivier developed his unique off-beat brand of humor in San Francisco starting off on the streets entertaining tourists, and quickly moving into the Bay Area’s numerous comedy clubs. He was soon sharing the bill with Dana Carvey, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, and others. Olivier has a growing number of television appearances including The Tonight Show, HBO’s ‘Just for Laughs’, Comic Strip Live, and shows for PBS, HBO, BBC, Disney and more. Frank is also well known for his grace in handling volunteers onstage, and has brought up such luminaries as Henry Kissinger, Bill Murray, Sandra Day O’Connor, Kid Rock, Clarence Thomas, Jim Belushi, George Shultz, and hundreds of CEOs. He’s grand handling people with the same ease and humor, and have everyone cheering. Cheering not only for Frank but the stages’ new “stars”.

Hillary Wicht

Voice and Presence Expert

Hillary Wicht, a voice and presence expert, first learned about the power of voice and presence as a stage actress and voice performer. As a session singer, she has lent her voice to with American Idol Winner Kelly Clarkson, Broadway star Idina Menzel, hip-hop legend LL Cool J, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Leonard Cohen. As a voice over talent, Hillary has worked on commercial projects for McDonald’s, Mattel, AT&T, and Toyota, among other companies. Coupling her performance career with an academic background in behavioral psychology led her Somatic Leadership Coaching, the psychology of body language and influential communication, allowing her to uncover deep patterns of speech and behavior. She now supports leaders in the boardroom, courtroom, in high-stakes conversations and on the stage to leverage communication cues to generate greater influence so that their messages are heard, their purposes are valued, and the right people take notice.

James Kelly

World Champion Skateboarder

When James Kelly graduated high school in 2008, he was well on his way to reaching his dream of being a professional longboard skateboard racer. He spent the next decade traveling the world competing in races on every continent. He was the 2012 International Gravity Sports Association (IGSA) World Champion of longboard racing. A superb athlete and ambassador to the sport, James traveled to Lebanon in 2015 with UNICEF and a philanthropic group called Right to Play. He visited refugee camps and introduced children to skateboards. He returned to Europe and started Skate United – a US nonprofit that holds skateboard sessions in refugee camps in Europe to promote assimilation of refugee children into their new culture and to promote acceptance and equality. James has retired from longboard skateboard racing but remains active in the longboarding community. He is currently designing a limited line of signature boards and new adventures on the horizon, James Kelly style!

Radhika Dirks

CEO of XLabs

A quantum physicist-turned-entrepreneur, Dr. Radhika Dirks is CEO and founder at XLabs: the only company in the world making artificial intelligence moonshots a reality. Prior to XLabs, Dirks was CEO of Seldn, an AI that predicted global socio-economic disruptions in 12 countries. With a Ph.D. in quantum computing and a M.S. in nanotechnology Dirks has been named as one of the top rising women entrepreneurs in the US. She has authored 22 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 290 citations on next-gen computing and technology. She frequently advises Heads of States and Fortune 100 companies on the future of disruptive technologies. Dirks is a lecturer at Singularity University in AI, quantum, and exponential technologies for their executive programs. She is responsible for having built the world’s best source of entangled photons for quantum computing, and her doctoral thesis featured a whole chapter on teleportation. Dirks is a poetess, philosopher and rock climber.

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

SFCM's Roots, Jazz, and American Music

At the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, we give students the framework and foundation to succeed throughout their studies and careers, creating a path of lifelong learning. Our core mission is to transform our students: artistically, intellectually, professionally, and individually. Our focus is our students, and through an innovative and unique experience, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music prepares its graduates for a lifetime of achievement and success. The musicians for TEDxSonomaCounty are compiled of students from SFCM’s Roots, Jazz, and American Music department, a first-of-its-kind program that links a world-class music conservatory to an award-winning jazz concert venue and its resident all-star ensemble.

Song of Sonoma

Singing A Capella for Joy

From its inception just 9 years ago, this chorus has been dedicated to educating its members in the American art form of barbershop, a cappella harmony and in performance skills by producing shows and by competing. The lifeblood of this amazing ensemble is its ability to empower women by bringing out their confidence and humor – all through the sharing of their gift of voice. We are Song of Sonoma.

Zahra Noorbakhsh

Iranian-American Comedian

Zahra Noorbakhsh is comedian and cohost of the award-winning podcast, #GoodMuslimBadMuslim. The podcast was listed as a “must listen” by Oprah Magazine and she was invited to the Obama Whitehouse to record an episode. Her solo performance, “All Atheists are Muslim: A Romantic Comedy” was originally directed by W. Kamau Bell (CNN’s United Shades of America) and dubbed a highlight of the The New York International Fringe Theater Festival by the The New Yorker. Her debut comedy special, “On Behalf of All Muslims,” drew an audience of 700 people to its theatrical world premiere. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times and on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.