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).

Reno Convention Center
4590 S Virginia St
Reno, Nevada, 89502
United States

Auburn Harrison

Nonprofit Volunteer

Auburn Harrison serves as a nonprofit executive director for nonprofit dropout prevention program for at-risk youth, Communities In Schools of Western Nevada. Her organization provides basic needs and case management to local students living in poverty, including wraparound student support services such as mentoring, tutoring and resources to help students stay in school, graduate and achieve life success. Auburn has been involved in the Northern Nevada non-profit and philanthropic and nonprofit community for over a decade. Auburn spent five years as an on-air television reporter at at KOLO 8 News Now, and five more years as an enlisted journalist in the US Navy. She holds a master's degree in Writing from University of Nevada, Reno. In 2019, Auburn was named one of the Top Twenty Young Professionals Under 40 by the Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Network. Auburn lives in Reno with her husband and three little boys.

Bengt Washburn

Comedian

Bengt Washburn grew up in a large Utah town (1,200 people) as the fifth child in a small Mormon family (7 children). He and his wife, a retired U.S. Air Force officer, have lived in 6 different cities, (and 2 countries) over the last 16 years. Since Winning the San Francisco International Comedy Competition in 2001, Bengt has performed in 48 states and 10 countries and made appearances on Comedy Central, The Late Late Show with Craig Fergusen and Conan O’Brien. Most people who know Bengt would say he is a logistically impaired ditz, but his comedy is usually described as intelligent, surprisingly universal, and profoundly funny.

Caitlyn Collins

Sociologist

Dr. Caitlyn Collins is a leading authority on gender inequality. She is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis and award-winning author of the recent book, Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving (2019, Princeton University Press). Dr. Collins has written for The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, and Slate. She lectures around the world to engage parents and children, employers and employees, policymakers and thought leaders alike in cross-national conversations about how best to support women and their families. Her work is featured in outlets including ABC, Al Jazeera, BBC, Forbes, Good Morning America, The Guardian, National Public Radio, Parents Magazine, Politico, Psychology Today, Scientific American, USA Today, Vox, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Emily Hand

Assistant Professor

Dr. Emily Hand is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is the director of the Machine Perception Lab -- machineperceptionlab.com. Her research focuses on the intersection of machine learning and human perception, with a long-term goal of improving social interactions for people with visual impairments and those on the Autism spectrum. Dr. Hand is involved in significant outreach activities in the community in an effort to increase representation of girls and women in computer science.

Jen Robinson

Rescuer

Jen holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno. She and Melissa Holland co-founded Awaken in 2011. Jen is currently co-chairperson of the Prevention committee on the State of Nevada’s Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Coalition. Jen enjoys building strong, trust-filled relationships with the women and children Awaken serves. She is dedicated and passionate, and truly believes she will see commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking eradicated in northern Nevada and around the world.

Jonah Yoelin

University Student

Jonah Yoelin was born in Gresham, Oregon in 1999, and moved to Nevada in 2005. Growing up, he was heavily immersed in the arts. As a painter, jazz guitarist, and actor, Jonah has enjoyed art his entire life, but has also been fascinated with business and entrepreneurship. This led to his choice to attend the University of Nevada, Reno to obtain a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration with a major in Marketing. He hopes to use the skills he’s learned in business school to bring a new essence of collaboration to the worlds of art and business.

Karin Hilgersom

Community College President

Dr. Karin Hilgersom is president of a 2-year college in Northern Nevada. She has spent 35 years working to provide inspirational education for students of all ages, backgrounds, and aspirations.

Kathryn Lukas

Microbe Evangelist

Microbe Evangelist Kathryn Lukas is the founder of Farmhouse Culture, a company that makes fermented live-cultured foods and beverages and the bestselling author of The Farmhouse Culture Guide to Fermenting. Kathryn fell in love with fermentation at her restaurant in Germany and upon her return to the U.S., learned how to make live-culture ferments. Obsessed, she traveled the globe in pursuit of ancient fermentation techniques and in 2008 founded her company. She now shares her love and knowledge of fermented, live-culture foods and their powerful healing qualities through workshops and retreats worldwide.

Keith Payne

Psychologist

Keith Payne, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, where studies the behavioral effects of social inequalities. He is author of The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die.

Kjerstin Gruys

Sociologist

Dr. Kjerstin Gruys is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of Nevada, Reno and author of Mirror, Mirror, OFF the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body By Not Looking at It for a Year (Avery, 2013), which received a coveted "starred review" from Publisher's Weekly. Her sociological research broadly explores the relationship between physical appearance and social inequality, with a particular focus on gender as it intersects with race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, and age.

Leah Ochs

Pilot

Leah Ochs is a STEM professional working in the Aerospace and Defense industry as a Manufacturing Engineer. She holds a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno. An aviation enthusiast, Leah has a private pilot license and is highly active in the community helping to raise money for local flying scholarships and working to build the local general aviation community. A strong advocate for STEM education, Leah founded a nonprofit, Gearing Up 4 STEM, with a mission to create easily accessible resources for STEM educators in Northern Nevada.

Mackenzie Nicole

Performer

In the Spring of 2018, singer, songwriter, producer, and Strange Main (the pop music division of Strange Music) flagship artist Mackenzie Nicole unveiled her full-length debut album, The Edge, to critical acclaim. Its songs tallied over 1 million Spotify streams, and her videos totaled 8 million-plus views as she played to sold-out crowds. On a deeper level, she suffered a mental breakdown and fell into thoughts of suicide. Through a combination of self-actualization and therapy, she returned stronger than ever before. “When my psychiatrist diagnosed me with bipolar I disorder, I felt a sense of relief. This was the best news of my life,” explains Mackenzie. Now, she shares this struggle and subsequent victory by way of her latest album Mystic. The 12-track album Mystic tells Mackenzie’s story in a beautifully, reflective and vocally stunning way that begs for more than one listen.

Marilyn York

Attorney

Marilyn D. York is a Men's Rights Divorce Attorney, licensed in California since 1998 and Nevada since 1999, where she is a Certified Family Law Specialist. Since 2001, Marilyn has owned her law firm in Reno, Nevada, where she and her 9 female employees specifically represent men in divorce and family law battles. Marilyn chose her career because of her passion for children and relationships but most of all, Marilyn is driven to help underdogs. While the laws are improving for men, not all laws are yet gender equal and the interpretation and enforcement of those that are, have a long way to go. Despite her focus on representing men, Marilyn has a deep compassion for women in need as well. It isn't lost on Marilyn that women remain disadvantaged outside Family Court. She serves that need as Board President for a local housing program for homeless young women, Nevada Youth Empowerment Project, or NYEP.

Michael Bungay Stanier

Author

Michael Bungay Stanier’s most recent book is The Advice Trap, a follow-up to 2016's Coaching Habit which has become the best-selling on coaching of the century with more than ¾ million copies sold. He is the Founder of Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps organizations transform from advice-driven to curiosity-led. He is Australian, was a Rhodes Scholar, and lives in Toronto. He can be found at MBS.works.

Ondra Berry

General

“Every human being is under construction and has unlimited potential.” This principle has inspired Ondra Berry to commit his life to inspire those within his sphere of influence to realize and actualize their hidden potential. Ondra’s skills were refined in a celebrated 25-year career in the Reno Police Department, where he retired as the Assistant Chief of Police over-seeing the administrative division. He continues his public service to his state and country as a Brigadier General in the Nevada Air National Guard as the Adjutant General for the State of Nevada. Ondra lives by the mantra “For Such A Time As This, I am committed to being a Servant Leader."

Pat Heist

Bourbon Distiller

Dr. Heist is well known in the beverage alcohol industry for problem solving skills relative to the microbiology and biochemistry of fermentation. Education includes B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Kentucky in Plant Pathology and microbiology-related fields. Dr. Heist spent 6 years as a Medical Microbiology Professor at Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine before co-founding Ferm Solutions, Inc., a provider of yeast, fermentation products and technical services to hundreds of distilleries in the U.S. and worldwide. Dr. Heist and his research team collaborate with industrial and academic partners on projects related to controlling bacterial contamination during alcohol production and yeast strain selection and improvement for Bourbon and other distilled spirits and have published multiple times. In 2013, Dr. Heist, along with his business partner Shane Baker, co-founded Wilderness Trail Distillery, a fast growing bourbon whiskey distillery.

Patrick Lencioni

Author

Patrick Lencioni is founder of The Table Group and the pioneer of the organizational health movement. Lencioni’s passion for organizations and teams is reflected in his writing, speaking and executive consulting. He is the author of 12 books, which have sold over six million copies and have been translated into more than 30 languages. His capstone book, The Advantage, is the pre-eminent source on organizational health. After eighteen years in print, his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, remains a weekly fixture on national best-seller lists. Other notable Lencioni classics include The Ideal Team Player, The Truth About Employee Engagement, and his most recent release, The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities.

Robin Brockelsby

Entrepreneur

Robin Brockelsby is an Entrepreneur, Speaker, Fitness Enthusiast, and proud wife and mom to 3 teenagers. As Founder of Embrace the PATH (www.embracethepath.com) & Past President of Crisis Support Services of Nevada, Robin believes passionately in inspiring and empowering others to succeed by helping them to conquering their challenges & fears. Following her 2018 TEDx talk on overcoming fear, Robin was featured by Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle in their “Inspired By” campaign.

Sarah Porter

Marketer

Sarah Porter is the principal and owner of Porterhouse Marketing. She has a keen ability to analyze multiple sets of information and data inputs in order to develop a clear strategy that takes her client’s marketing efforts to a new level. Sarah devises marketing plans and implements tactics that will achieve client goals efficiently while improving brand presence and positioning. As a seasoned marketing professional, Sarah has worked with regional and national clients in the industries of healthcare, events, travel and tourism, and manufacturing. She was named Rising Star of the Year for Creative Services by NCET in 2014, and won 20 Under 40 in 2019.