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).

McNamara Alumni Center
200 SE Oak St.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455
United States

Alec Fischer

Alec Fischer is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, digital content creator, and nationally featured LGBTQ+ advocate living in the Midwest. At age 17, he created a short documentary titled “Minnesota Nice?” addressing the rising suicide rates of high school students in Minnesota. The documentary led to legislative changes throughout the state and was screened in schools across the world. As a sophomore in college, Alec was named a Dalai Lama Fellow for his advocacy work and has since been featured by sites including MTV, Buzzfeed, The Washington Times, and USA Today. Now a 25 year-old digital influencer with over 50k+ followers across social platforms and founder of two media companies (Fischr Media and GenQ Media), he continues to use digital storytelling as a catalyst for conversation and change.

Chris Lundstrom

Chris has his Ph.D. in Kinesiology (2015), with an emphasis in exercise physiology, and did his dissertation on running performance. He has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and has co-authored over 20 conference abstracts. Along with coaching, he has been teaching for over 10 years at the University of Minnesota. He is currently a Lecturer in Kinesiology, and the Director of the M.Ed. Program in Sport and Exercise Science. In addition to teaching classes in sport science, exercise science techniques, physiology, and coaching, he developed the marathon training class and has taught some 800 novice marathoners. A native of Northfield, Minnesota, Chris competed on the NCAA DI powerhouse track and cross country teams at Stanford University in the late 1990s. Following his collegiate career, he was an original member in 2001 of the Team USA Minnesota Distance Training Center. During his years as a competitive runner, he finished third (2001) and then fourth (2006) in the USA Marathon Championships, was a three-time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (2004, 2008, 2012), and represented the U.S. in the 2007 Pan-American Games marathon and in the 2010 World Mountain Running Championships, with the team capturing the silver medal.

Erin Maye Quade

Marilyn Fairchild is a speech-language pathologist and clinical supervisor at the University of Minnesota (UMN). She has Masters degrees in teaching English as a Second Language and Communication Disorders. Her areas of experience include gender affirming voice and communication services for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, language difference vs. language disorder in culturally and linguistically diverse populations, literacy skills in children with speech/language issues, and formative assessment in clinical education. She served as co-author of Talk With Me: A Resource Guide for Speech Language Pathologists and Educators Working with Linguistically Diverse Young Children and their Families (2001, 2012). She is active in the Minnesota Speech, Language, Hearing Association, serving as a member of the Legislative Steering Committee, Policy Council, and Multicultural Affairs Committee. She is also Past Co-President of the association. Outside of work, she enjoys yoga, running, and spending time with her family and dogs.

Marilyn Fairchild

Marilyn Fairchild is a speech-language pathologist and clinical supervisor at the University of Minnesota (UMN). She has Masters degrees in teaching English as a Second Language and Communication Disorders. Her areas of experience include gender affirming voice and communication services for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, language difference vs. language disorder in culturally and linguistically diverse populations, literacy skills in children with speech/language issues, and formative assessment in clinical education. She served as co-author of Talk With Me: A Resource Guide for Speech Language Pathologists and Educators Working with Linguistically Diverse Young Children and their Families (2001, 2012). She is active in the Minnesota Speech, Language, Hearing Association, serving as a member of the Legislative Steering Committee, Policy Council, and Multicultural Affairs Committee. She is also Past Co-President of the association. Outside of work, she enjoys yoga, running, and spending time with her family and dogs.

Phil Xiao

Philip Xiao is the co-founder and CEO of Homi, a student-alumni marketplace reinventing the campus recruiting process. He started his career on Morgan Stanley’s high frequency trading desk in Hong Kong, but was inspired to build Homi by the alumni that helped him break into Wall Street. Homi is at 22 colleges in 6 states and partners with companies ranging from startups to F500 companies to open doors for under-represented and under-recruited talent. Phil has been featured in Minnesota Business Magazine’s Real Power 50 and Homi was nominated in Startups Most Likely to Succeed in 2018. Phil graduated from Carleton College with a degree in economics.

Rebecca Leighton

Rebecca Leighton is a Health Promotion Associate at Boynton Health working on addressing food and housing insecurity among college students as well as nutrition health promotion. She founded and now oversees the Nutritious U Food Pantry which provides fresh produce and staple foods to 1,000 students every month at the University of Minnesota. In addition to administering emergency food programs and advising a nutrition health promotion student group, she co-facilitates the Thrive: Basic Needs Coalition with the goal of addressing the root causes of food and housing insecurity at the University of Minnesota. Through her experience with organizing as a student and as an advisor of two student groups, she understands the importance of engaging and empowering students to create the changes they wish to see.

Sabina Saksena

Sabina has lived and worked across multiple continents, multiple industries. She held leadership positions at The Coca Cola Company, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, and the Tata Group before turning into a successful serial entrepreneur. She is currently the CEO and Founder of Cytilife, a smart campus company offering AI-based solutions to students and college administrators for a more effective campus life. She is a founding member of “Women in Wireless” and supports multiple causes related to academic excellence. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, a middle schooler, and a very opinionated Shih-Tsu!

Tricia Heuring

Tricia Heuring is a curator, arts organizer, and educator. Born in Thailand as a mixed-race American and raised in the Middle East, Tricia's life, work and identity have been shaped by dimensionality. Her curatorial practice is balanced between supporting emerging artists and building systemic change in the nonprofit arts sector. In 2012, Tricia co-founded Public Functionary, a groundbreaking arts platform and exhibition space. Tricia has been profiled by Star Tribune, Pollen Midwest, N Studio by NEMAA, Minnesota Monthly and honored as a “40 under 40” by Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. She has been a featured speaker and panelist for Creative Mornings, The American Swedish Institute, The Minnesota Museum of American Art, Common Field, The Coven and more. She teaches arts entrepreneurship and curatorial practice at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the University of Minnesota. Currently, Tricia serves as the Board Chair of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. Her free time is spent traveling the world in search of breathtaking art and a deeper understanding of culture.