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).

National Library of Latvia
Mūkusalas iela 3
Riga, Rīga, LV-1423
Latvia

Alan Melikdjanian

YouTube Filmmaker

With the dual blades of visual creativity and offbeat humor, Alan Melikdjanian has been successfully defending his place on the pedestal of web video relevance for over a decade. As a filmmaker, visual effects artist, writer and performer, Alan Melikdjanian has produced many videos explaining hoaxes and illusions on YouTube. Through his online persona of a ragtag, sarcastic superhero Captain Disillusion, he focuses on illustrating abstract technical concepts in an entertaining way, while also satirizing pop culture and social media. His methodical approach to creating polished work in a medium not usually associated with finely crafted content has proven effective over over a decade, as his YouTube channel continues to grow.

Aleksander Tõnnisson

Engineer, builder, startup investor

Aleksander has always been involved in the tech, IT, and startup scene. He is currently a venture partner in .Cocoon, which is a startup de-acceleration program that focuses on startup founders’ personal development instead of the company’s. He is also managing partner in the Buildit Seed Fund for IoT and co-founder of the Buildit Hardware Accelerator, the first startup accelerator in Northern and Eastern Europe investing in hardware startups. He has invested in 60+ hardware companies with founders from 17 countries. He previously developed hardware and software solutions for the German navy fight and transportation helicopter and airplane simulators as well as air traffic control simulators for the German Air Forces.

Andris Gauja

Film director

Andris Gauja is a Latvian film director with an interesting ability for finding unusual subjects and characters. His films have been praised by audiences and critics alike, impressive in their ability to navigate uncomfortable ethical and social issues and relationships. Andris is well known for his documentary "Family Instinct”, a film about incest, which has received several prestigious awards and international recognition. Despite that, he decided to switch to fiction and directed the drama “The Lesson” on teacher-student relationship, which was the most watched Latvian film in 2014. This year the director finished a 5 year project, “Nothing Can Stop Us Now”, a visually stunning film dealing with crisis of masculinity, which has already received nine nominations for "Lielais Kristaps", the Latvian National Film Awards.

Anna Ķirse

Composer

Anna Ķirse is regarded as one of the brightest young composers in Latvia. Her work flourishes outside the walls of conventional concert halls and crosses the boundaries of different genres. Anna’s most recent opera, ‘'Tree Opera. Wind Throws.’’, premiered in August in Finland and has been hailed as a phenomenon of both culture and nature. Her achievements have not gone unnoticed. Her composition ‘’Radices'' represented Latvia in the prestigious international contest ‘’Rostrum,'' she was nominated for the Latvian Contemporary Art Prize - the Purvītis Prize, and received the Latvian Academy of Music and LMT Annual Award for outstanding achievements in music and creativity. She has just finished her master’s degree in composition at the Latvian Academy of Music and is currently working on commissions by the Icelandic ensemble ‘'Nordic Affect’’, the Swedish Paetzold flute player Anna Petrini and on a composition for the State Choir Latvia that’s set to premiere next year in Switzerland.

Arnis Sauka

Professor, economist

Arnis Sauka is a professor and director of the Centre for Sustainable Business at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. Arnis has been extensively involved in applied research for organizations like the OECD and European Commission, among others, and his work has been published in leading international journals and several books. He is co- author of the annual Shadow Economy Index for the Baltic Countries and author of the annual FICIL (Foreign Investors Council in Latvia) Sentiment Index and study on the Shadow Economy in the Construction Industry in Latvia. Arnis has also been involved in management and consultancy activities, including serving as Vice Rector for Studies and Research at Ventspils University College and board member of FICIL and NGO BASE (Business Against the Shadow Economy). He has organized various academic and applied conferences, workshops, seminars, etc., as well as is a frequent speaker in the national media commenting economic and business-related issues.

Dāvids Kļaviņš

Piano builder

Dāvids Kļaviņš is a musical engineer, pushing the boundaries of how pianos are made. He builds vertical concert grand pianos, which are the largest in the world. His forray into building musical instruments started at the age of 15, when he quit school to do something more hands-on and ended up as an apprentice at the Schimmel Pianos factory. Uninspired by the status quo of piano building, Dāvids set out to discover improvements to the already globally-accepted grand piano. In 1987 he presented his first creation – 3.7 meter high piano the ‘Giant'. Though it took another 20 years to find the market and financial support to continue this endeavour. In 2018 in Berlin he presented a 4.5 meter high vertical piano, which served as a kickoff point his growing business. Now his pianos are used in studio recordings, digital sound libraries, and are being built into concert halls around the world.

Ilga Gedrovica

Food innovator

Ilga Gedrovica is someone who cares about what we eat. After getting her PhD in Food Quality and Technology, Ilga started working closely with entrepreneurs and many new innovative foods products have been created together – cereals, fruit, berry and vegetable snacks, crispbread, bread pastilles, etc. As the result of her work, she was awarded the Latvian Academy of Sciences Award for “The Most Significant Achievement of Latvian Science in Practical Applications in 2015”. As an associate professor and leading researcher of the Faculty of Food Technologies of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Ilga analyses the characteristics of many different food sources, traditional and exotic. Her recent work may make some squirm – Ilga is exploring how various insects and larvae may be used to meet our dietary needs in the future. By examining the characteristics of similar products on the global market, she is discovering what Latvia could bring to the table in the future.

Ilvija Pūce

Lawyer, human rights advocate

Ilvija Pūce is a lawyer and staunch human rights advocate with a focus on the prevention of torture and ill-treatment. With over twenty years of experience, she has worked at both national and international levels, building expertise on human rights law and systems. Her main focus is the situation in closed institutions. She has participated in field missions assessing conditions of detainee treatment in many countries, including Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Malta, etc., and has shared her expertise with stakeholders in Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Montenegro, Armenia etc. After serving for 12 years as a member of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture, she has most recently been elected to the UN Committee against Torture.

Indriķis Krams

Biologist

Indriķis Krams is a biologist, professor at the University of Tartu, researcher at Daugavpils University and associate professor at the University of Latvia. He deals with the evolution of cooperation, molecular ecology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary medical science, biological conservation and physiology of birds, insects and humans. He was a grant recipient of the Fulbright Program from the US Department of State and has carried out research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Harvard University. Throughout his career, Indriķis has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

Jānis Erts

Civic activist, marketing practitioner

While marketing may be Jānis’ profession, helping people is his passion. Jānis is one of the partners of the Marketing Academy company and previously worked at the Inspired marketing agency and Latvian Radio, where he gained experience and knowledge in marketing and, more importantly, started the charity marathon Dod Pieci in 2014. Currently, he is the strategic director of the PLECS fund, an organization working to eliminate orphanages and ensure that every child in Latvia can grow up in a family setting. Janis is a strategic partner at Iespējamā Misija (Mission Possible), a part of the Teach for All network, helping implement a new approach to preparing teachers. Jānis is also the co-creator of the Mana Balss (My Voice) initiative, a civic organization that provides the citizens of Latvia a platform to promote initiatives, and ultimately have them discussed in parliament.

Jānis Kreilis

Entrepreneur

Jānis Kreilis is the founder and manager of Your Move, a job platform helping attract global talent to Latvia. He's also the founder of "Ar pasaules pieredzi Latvijā" (With Global Experience in Latvia), a community for re-emigrants and expats living in Latvia. While born and raised in Riga, Jānis himself is a re-emigrant having spent about a third of his life abroad. He has studied in the US, earning his bachelor’s degree with highest distinction at the University of Pennsylvania and master’s degree at Columbia University, and worked in West Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia in the energy industry. Since returning home in 2016, he's been focusing his own energy on dispelling myths about Latvia as a great place to live and work, and he believes in entrepreneurship as a sustainable way to change things.

Krists Saržants

Pianist, composer

Krists Saržants is a Latvian composer who takes his inspiration from classical, jazz, and film music. He studied jazz piano and composition with Raimonds Petrauskis, Andris Dzenītis, Madars Kalniņš, Tuomo Uusitalo and Søren Møller at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music and The Royal Academy of Music in Aalborg, Denmark. In 2018 Krists was nominated for the Nic Gotham Award for the contribution to jazz music and jazz culture in Latvia, as well as represented the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music at the International Association of Schools of Jazz in Viljandi, Estonia. In collaboration with Orchestra “Rīga”, Kenneth Dahl Knudsen (double bass), Rob Duguay (double bass), Yacine Boularès (saxophone), and others, Krists has performed in Latvia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, USA, the Netherlands, and more. His recordings were distributed worldwide at the largest European jazz gathering “Jazzahead! 2017” and included in the official “Jazz in Latvia 2018” CD compilation.

Laura Arnicāne

Minimalist

Feeling weighed down by the demands of life? There never seems to be enough money, time, or energy to go around. Laura Arnicāne suggests that it might be that these resources are being spent in the wrong places – on things that don't make us happy. Laura is constantly exploring new ways to apply the fundamental principles of Zero Waste and Minimalism in life. Over the years she has gained a readership on her blog, Seek the Simple, where she shares her experiences, reflection, and, yes, sometimes failures in living a more environmentally conscious and less emotionally taxing lifestyle. Laura also shares her insights at lectures for companies and organizations that inspire people to seek a calmer, happier, greener lifestyle. For Laura, this means getting rid of all that is superfluous. Through hands-on exercise and personal examples, participants learn ways to get rid of the excess in their home, office and digital environments.

Liene Ozoliņa

Political sociologist

Liene Ozolina is a political sociologist who has written on post-socialist democratisation, neoliberalism, and politics of time. She holds a PhD in sociology from the London School of Economics, where she currently teaches sociology, and has also studied social theory at the University of Amsterdam and sociology and humanities at the Latvian Academy of Culture. Liene recently published her first book, “Politics of Waiting: Workfare, Post-Soviet Austerity, and Ethics of Freedom,” which examines the austerity regime that followed the 2008 global economic crisis. The book offers a sociological critique of the Latvian “success story”.

Mark Rittenberg

Communication specialist, cross-cultural communicator

For over 30 years, Dr. Mark Rittenberg has helped organizations create communities of excellence and empower individuals to become true leaders. He believes that important personal, social, and business problems can be effectively addressed using his Active Communicating methodology. His experience extends around the globe and across cultures and industries, with extensive experience in the Middle East and South Africa. In 2009, he founded the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute, certifying over 300 executive coaches and training over 4,000 executives in authentic leadership, leadership communication, storytelling, coaching and more. Dr. Rittenberg is a Distinguished Teaching Fellow at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business where he received the Earl F. Cheit Award For Excellence In Teaching. He holds a Doctorate in International and Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco and earned a Master’s in Interdisciplinary Studies in Education from San Francisco State.

Ņikita Bezborodovs

Child psychiatrist

Ņikita is a child psychiatrist, working in the Children's Clinical University Hospital in Riga. He has served as acting director of the largest child psychiatry clinic in Latvia since 2016. He is particularly interested in the diagnosis, rehabilitation and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) etc.) in children, adolescents and adults, as well as early recognition and intervention for various mental disorders of childhood and adolescence. He not only practices child psychiatry but also teaches in the Rīga Stradiņš University Department of Psychiatry and Narcology and is a member of the board of the Latvian Psychiatric Association. Ņikita is engaged in research in the field of public mental health, is published in international journals, and is one of the co-authors of Latvia’s clinical guidelines in the field of psychiatry.

Olga Kotova

Entrepreneur, adventurer

Olga Kotova is a business developer, aviation entrepreneur, and personal development coach. Her successful business development experience of over 20 years stretches across the value chain from manufacturing to retail, leading projects internationally. After a successful career in the corporate sector, Olga took to the skies and launched her own business in aviation. She owns and leads Baltic Commercial Aviation Training, specialising in professional pilot training and aviation consulting for customers in Europe, CIS countries, and Asia. Olga Kotova is a member of the Steering Committee of the New Door NGO, and co-author of the program for the New Door Social Business Accelerator. She is passionate about social entrepreneurship as a method to move society forward. She gets her energy from climbing mountains and shares her knowledge and passions through mentoring, as a visiting lecturer at Riga Business School, and leading personal development workshops together with IR magazine.

Platons Buravickis

Composer

Platon Buravicky is a contemporary classical composer, pianist and improviser. Following his studies under the direction of Pēteris Vasks, he received a master’s degree in composition from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music under professor Selga Mence. Platon has devoted himself to both traditional areas like symphonic and chamber music, as well as electro-acoustic music. This entails composition of both musique concrète as well as works based on the synthesis of sounds from virtual instruments and modular algorithms. He has recently composed a number of works, including “Injector. Впрыск. Sprausla” composed specially for the Berlin philharmonic Sharoun Ensemble, as well as “Techno Opera” in collaboration with librettist Leo Līcis, which reflects Platon’s idea about how music will unite the world. However, Platon’s self-described most significant work of late is “Aesthetics of Disassembly,” which highlights the beauty of audacity and destruction.

PRAGAII - Performance

Experimental pop music project

"PRAGAII" is an experimental pop music project formed in 2015 by Aleksis Luriņš, ex-basist in Carnival Youth, and electronic music artist Kaspars Kubeckis aka "Kashuks". Despite initially not seeing eye to eye, the two musicians were brought closer together by mutually experienced life challenges and music. The duo oversees every component of their music making – from the first ideas, going through multiple creative sessions and technical corrections, even leveling out decibels at the end of the recording process. Their style is a mix of both musicians' individual musical preferences and experiences, brought together by a joint love of sound engineering and producing intriguing and yet unheard style of music. Their first album, "Sorry, Can't Talk Right Now" was released in November of 2019.

Ralfs Eilands

Musician, composer, actor, multifaceted entertainer

Wherever there is a microphone or camera, you're likely to find Ralfs, the self-taught Latvian musician, music producer, composer, TV & radio show host, entertainer and actor. With his band, PeR, Ralfs has performed the biggest festivals in the Baltics and many other performances across Europe. His band also represented Latvia in Eurovision 2013, and Ralfs has since been a member of Latvia's and Lithuania's international Eurovision juries. As a solo artist, Ralfs has worked numerous times with Raimonds Pauls and composed music for TV shows, movies and other musicians. In 2014 he won the televised contest “Your Face Sounds Familiar” in Latvia and became one of the most admired artists in the country. In 2018 you could see Ralfs on the big screen in Andrejs Ēķis’ movie “Swindlers” in cinemas all around Latvia. In 2019, Ralfs was touring with Latvian Radio’s big band and working with Re:Baltica as host of their investigative journalism show “By the Way”.

Rihards Plešanovs

Pianist

Rihards Plešanovs is an internationally acclaimed pianist. His extensive musical education includes graduating Sergejs Osokins’ Masters piano class at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, interning at the Hanover Academy of Theatre and Music and the Moscow Conservatory with professor Mikhail Voskresensky. He has performed as a soloist around the world and collaborates with a wide variety and style of musicians and artists. In 2019 he performed with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw musicians – viola player Santa Vižine and clarinet player Henri Wiedijk. He has collaborated with vibrophonist Jānis Bombizo Fedotovs through creating a jazz program dedicated to Chick Corea, and with double bass player Oskars Bokanovs developed a baroque and romanticism program. His repertoir spans a variety of styles and genres, ranging from classical pieces from Mozart and List, to contemporary pieces by Messiaen and Ligeti. He is also frequently enlisted to perform debut performances by new composers.