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).

138 N Main Street
Dayton, Ohio, 45402
United States

PipeShop

The men of PipeShop started singing together in August of 2015. They have entertained audiences and parties across southwest Ohio and had a bit of fun along the way. All four singers are long-standing members of the Barbershop Harmony Society. Tenor Alan Green lives in Germantown where he takes care of his elderly parents. Lead Marty Mulhall runs the blast furnace at AK Steel in Middletown. After retiring from the Air Force, bass Jim Fry works as a physician's assistant in Cincinnati. Baritone David Short works for a contractor at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. If you see the four of them together, chances are they are either singing or talking about singing.

A. Slate

A. Slate is a poet, spoken word artist, recording artist, author, and actress. A. Slate has performed at University of Dayton’s ARTStreet Events and at the Off Broadway Theatrical Revue of Urban Creative Arts, “The Signature: A Poetic Medley Show,” held at The Loft Theatre. Slate founded The WRITElife Village, which provides local students with a safe platform to express themselves freely and creatively without bias, fear, or judgment. Owner and Operator of Slatehouse Ink Publishing, she recently published her first collection of poetry, Lifelines and Legacies. “Life is a poem, which everyone is writing. I am just a slate.”

Anna Baugham

Anna Baugham is a singer-songwriter born and raised in the Gem City. With her love of folk-acoustic and soul, Anna uses her music to bring people together. She has been singing and playing the baritone ukulele for the past four years and recently signed with Invention City Records. When she’s not playing on her uke, you can find her in her kitchen, making a mean strawberry pie. Anna is a sophomore at Wright State and is pursuing a nursing degree. Follow her on instagram @anna_marie_music and on Facebook at Anna Marie Music.

Ben Holmes

Ben Holmes is a data scientist specializing in machine learning/artificial intelligence. He has worked in a wide range of fields, from research for new clinical therapeutic techniques, DNA analysis for use in the legal system and mapping of neurons in the hippocampus, to fraud prevention for large banks and network security. His particular interests are in the philosophy of science and the current state of machine learning research.

Brandy Foster

Brandy Foster leveraged her Master’s in Literature and love of Jane Austen into becoming a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Wright State University. Her unique trajectory included a stint as a freelance technical editor, which provided an extensive breadth of knowledge across many disciplines, yielding rare perspective from which to identify novel connections and contexts across domains. The pinnacles of her career include leading a multi-organization team pursuing a $100M grant and attracting a corporate gift of $675,000 to found The ONEIL Center at Wright State, a first-of-its-kind experiential learning enterprise that supports the startup and research communities.

Brandy Foster

Brandy Foster leveraged her Master’s in Literature and love of Jane Austen into becoming a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Wright State University. Her unique trajectory included a stint as a freelance technical editor, which provided an extensive breadth of knowledge across many disciplines, yielding rare perspective from which to identify novel connections and contexts across domains. The pinnacles of her career include leading a multi-organization team pursuing a $100M grant and attracting a corporate gift of $675,000 to found The ONEIL Center at Wright State, a first-of-its-kind experiential learning enterprise that supports the startup and research communities.

Connie Vaughn

Connie Vaughn, a Cincinnati native, has known she’s a math person since she fell in love with Algebra in Mrs. Gunthner’s eighth grade math class. She studied Mathematics and Statistics at Miami of Ohio summa cum laude, and taught at Loyola Chicago. Connie became aware of the strength of math stereotypes early in her career in marketing analytics, when she was asked to produce the code to prove her resumé—something the recruiter told her the male applicants had never been asked. She is passionate about showing people how they’re so much more than they think they are, mathematically and otherwise. connievaughn.com

Criswell Davis

Criswell Davis, President of Mighty Oaks Consulting in Louisville, Kentucky, is an internationally recognized American hardwood expert, speaker and hardwood specification consultant. He advises some of the largest architecture and design firms in the world, inspiring the use of sustainable American hardwoods in design. He has been in the American hardwood industry for over 31 years, representing the American Hardwood Export Council internationally. A founding Director of the Timber and Forestry Foundation, Criswell is a passionate brand ambassador for the American hardwood industry. He believes that designing with American hardwoods will improve our personal health and the health of the planet.

Crystal Phillips

Crystal is a lifelong educator that has served as teacher, administrator, principal and education consultant. She graduated Cum Laude, from Alabama State University where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. Crystal earned her master’s degree in educational leadership from University of Dayton, and her Ph.D. in Leadership, Curriculum, and Culture from Miami University. In 2016, she created Black Girl Leadership, an organization to build character and self-image, and create scholarships and professional connections to support women and girls. Crystal is a mother, grandmother, daughter, and devoted friend. She believes "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me!"

Daunielle Rasmussen

Daunielle Rasmussen is a multi-disciplinary theater director, choreographer and community artist. She worked professionally in the San Francisco Bay Area from 2005 to 2015 before relocating to Cincinnati, Ohio to take on the role of Director of Education and Community Engagement for the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where she is currently working on a series of interactive theater art experiences designed for Young Professionals. She believes that all people should be given the opportunity to participate in the creation of theater and engage with their own creativity. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Inquiry, Interdisciplinary Arts from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

Dayton Salsa Project

The Dayton Salsa Project was born from the vibrant, growing Hispanic population of Dayton, the interest of Daytonians in Latin-American culture, and a love of music that brings people together. Founded in August 2018 by local musicians, half of the group is Dayton-born with the rest hailing from Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Peru. The mission of the Dayton Salsa Project is to use music as the means to break barriers and promote inclusion by showcasing how musicians from diverse traditions and cultural backgrounds can get together in one accord. Many of them would perform in neighboring large cities like Columbus and Cincinnati, only to meet people from Dayton who traveled in search of Salsa music and dancing. It made sense to make Dayton their official band hometown where they can celebrate the Golden Age of Salsa.

Dean Waggenspack

Career Coach

Dean Waggenspack is a career/life coach, speaker and blogger about careers. Coaching is his third career, having worked for nearly 30 years in the corporate world and taught high school previously. Dean’s passion is to “encourage others to look inside themselves so that they realize as much of their potential as they are ready for, at this time”. A curiosity about what a person currently does, and the opportunity to discover “what’s next” for them in life, are what drive him. He and his wife, Rose, live in Kettering and have four grown children.

Donna Sanchez

Donna Sanchez is a writer, speaker, caregiver, President of her local Toastmasters club, Celebrate Recovery leader, and ADHD advocate. She passionately pursues personal growth and seeks to inspire others to embrace both weaknesses and strengths in order to use them to make the world a better place. All her life, Donna has strived to help and better understand those around her through words and actions. Until her month-long challenge, she never realized how much her talking prevented effective communication and how connected we can become with both ourselves and others through silence.

Estelle Gibson

Estelle Gibson is a CPA and Financial and Business Coach. She helps her clients break free from financial dependency by teaching them powerful money strategies. Estelle helps them transform their money stories and limiting beliefs by using new tools, allowing them to break free from fear, confusion and self-sabotage. She has over 35 years of professional experience as a CPA in Finance, Purchasing and Management working with individuals, including small, privately owned businesses and Fortune 500 companies.

Herbert Woodward Martin

Herbert Woodward Martin has spent three decades of his teaching career at the University of Dayton teaching English, Creative Writing, and African American Literature. In an equal amount of time, he has edited three volumes of the work of Paul Laurence Dunbar, including In His Own Voice: The Uncollected Works of Paul Laurence Dunbar. For his scholarship, he has been awarded four Honorary Doctorate Degrees. He was the librettist for Common Ground, an opera about Dunbar. He is the author of ten published volumes of poetry.

Jad Mubaslat

Jad Mubaslat has been passionate about Bitcoin for several years. He founded BitQuick.co while attending The Ohio State University in 2013. The Bitcoin trading platform was accepted into leading Bitcoin accelerator, Boost.VC in 2014; BitQuick.co was then later acquired in 2016. Since then, Jad has remained an active advisor to the company, organizes a meetup for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in the Dayton area, and now works at Rain Financial, the first regulated cryptocurrency exchange in the Middle East. Jad received a BS in Biomedical Engineering in 2015 at Ohio State and an MS in Human Factors Engineering in 2018 at Wright State.

Jennie Hempstead

Jennie is a creative content professional from Dayton, with 15+ years of experience in design, communications and marketing. Her career supporting scientists and engineers often has her visually translating high-tech concepts into impactful pieces of communication that empower teams and enable research. She has worked with clients such as the U.S. Air Force, The Ohio State University, the University of Dayton, Butler Tech and The Child Poverty Collaborative – Cincinnati. She’s a member of the International Forum for Visual Practitioners (IFVP), the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) and is passionate about visual literacy in education.

Kenston Henderson Sr.

A hope dealer is what he is called, whose passion is to ignite, inspire and empower people to not just exist but to live with purpose. Kenston Henderson Sr., is the Training & Development Coordinator with the City of Columbus and the founder and CEO of Live With Lyfe, LLC. Kenston is a certified John Maxwell team member and Culture Transformation Champion. He is a motivational speaker, corporate trainer and accomplished musician with two instrumental albums Breathe (2016) and Oasis (2018). In 2018, he also wrote the book “Parenting Like a Boss: Intentionally Committed” which landed on Amazon’s Best Seller list.

Luther Palmer

Luther Palmer, Ph.D. has dedicated his life to spreading the good news about the transformative and life-saving power of Mathematics and Science. As a minister of Math, Dr. Palmer truly believes that no one has wandered too far away from Math to reconnect with its beauty and promise. Dr. Palmer’s current mission field is the Electrical Engineering Department at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, where he is a professor and robotics researcher. He is a constant crusader for the utility of Math and Science in our everyday lives and enjoys engaging with the young and old about what this can look like.

Mary Rogero

Kitchens aren't just for cooking. Mary Rogero shares how the modern kitchen lets families come together to form lifelong memories of food and community. At the age of 18, Mary had big aspirations: to be a full-time sculptor and a singer in a rock band, but things got a little sidetracked for her. For 15 years, Mary worked to positively impact the Miami Valley through her architecture firm. Now, as an Associate Professor, Architecture and Interior Design, at Miami University, she teaches students how to design beautiful and energy efficient sculptures.

Sid Thatham

Sid Thatham was born in Chennai and raised in New Delhi, in India. He moved to Ohio to go to grad school where he was a distinguished student. He graduated in 2017 with a Master’s in Chemical Engineering, an MBA and a series of awards and honors. He enjoys photography, drinking coffee, spending time at the gym and listening to rock and rap music. He is now an Energy Engineer and an adjunct assistant professor by day; and as a Meme-Lord by night, he makes and shares memes with his friends on demand and online.

Wright State University Dance Ensemble (WSUDE)

Wright State University Dance Ensemble, the resident company of Wright State Dance, provides an artistic outlet with varied performance opportunities for WSU dance majors with a passion and commitment to dance. Three full concerts are performed each year where students are provided opportunities to create and perform both their own works, as well as the creative works of seasoned and current choreographers and guest artists. WSUDE members demonstrate their versatility and high professionalism by dancing works of renowned choreographers that include Dwight Rhoden, Ray Mercer and Broadway choreographer Greg Graham, along with works by WSU faculty. Dynamic, passionate and committed!