Theme: TEDxReykjavík 2019. Times of Change - Celebrating X years of Ideas

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).

Háskólabío
Hagatorg
Reykjavík, Reykjavík, 107
Iceland

Edda Björgvinsdóttir

Actress, comedian, writer, director and international speaker

Edda Bjorgvinsdottir is an actress at The National Theatre in Iceland. She is a renowned artist in her country and has widespread recognition and national acclaim as an accomplished actress, director, writer, lecturer and international speaker. For the last three decades she has been this country´s most beloved comedienne of stage, television, radio and film.

Eunsan Huh

Writer, illustrator

Eunsan Huh is a writer and illustrator based in New York. She fell in love with Iceland in 2011 and began learning Icelandic shortly thereafter. Her design project, Every Single Word in Icelandic, explores the semantics of the Icelandic language in a visual, iconographic way, with the goal of sharing the beauty and imagination behind how Icelandic is constructed.

Hafdis Hanna Ægisdóttir

Director of the Land Restoration Training Programme

Hafdis Hanna Ægisdóttir is a plant ecologist (PhD) and a keen environmental communicator based in Iceland. Much of her work has focused on land restoration and leadership development for specialists in Africa and Central Asia. She sits on advisory committees on environmental issues, and has been a keynote speaker at UN level on environmental education, land restoration, sustainable land management and climate change issues. Hafdis Hanna has participated in ecological field expeditions in diverse ecosystems, from Svalbard in the Arctic to the Galapagos Islands at the Equator, and was the first Icelandic woman to be selected for the global leadership programme for women in science, Homeward Bound, in which she travelled to Antarctica for a 3-week expedition in January 2019. For the past decade she has served as the Director of the Land Restoration Training Programme.

Logan Lee Sigurðsson

Chair of Stop the Traffik:Iceland, student

Logan Lee Sigurðsson holds double bachelor degrees in Asian Studies and Peace and Social Justice, and is currently pursuing her Masters degree in International Affairs at the University of Iceland. A human trafficking survivor herself, Logan has studied and worked on the issue of human trafficking for 6 years in the United States, Mexico, Japan, and now Iceland. Logan chairs Iceland's only anti-trafficking organization, Stop The Traffik:Iceland, where she researched the local trafficking manifestations and available eradication efforts.

Michelle Spinei

Travel writer, researcher, co-founder of Koride

Michelle Spinei is a travel writer and researcher focusing on adventure travel and the Nordic region. She is the CEO and co-founder of Koride, an online platform connecting travelers.

Sigursteinn Robert Masson

Author, advocate

Sigursteinn Robert Masson is a journalist by profession. In 1996 he was making a documentary film about the Geirfinnur- & Gudmundur criminal case that was broadcasted on RUV, the Icelandic national Television, and it opened the eyes of the Icelandic public to the serious miscarriage of justice in this case. He was diagnosed with manic depression in 1996, an event which changed his life course. He has been mainly working on human- and animal welfare issues since. From 2001-2006 & 2008-2010 he was the President of The Icelandic Mental Health Alliance, chair of the National Organization of Disabled People in Iceland 2005-2008 and in 2003-2005 & 2008-2019 he represented the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Iceland & Norway. He is the author of four books.

Tanit Karolys

Founder & Instructor

Tanit Karolys is a transformational coach and co-founder of ANDRI ICELAND. She specializes in ancient techniques for self-improvement, mental and emotional healing as well as physical health. Tanit comes from a long corporate background where her own burnout experience led her to understand the importance of a balanced life and strong connection to our own inner abilities. She blends Cold Therapy, the power of the mind, ancient techniques and physical therapy in her work.

Vanda Sigurgeirsdóttir

Lector at the University of Iceland, coach and co-owner of KVAN

Vanda Sigurgeirsdóttir is a Lector at the School of Education, University of Iceland. She is an expert in bullying prevention and intervention. Coach and one of four owners of KVAN, a company that specializes in coaching and teaching leadership skills, personal growth, team-work and social skills. Vanda is a former player, captain and coach of the Icelandic women's national football team.

Ymir Vigfusson

Professor, hacker, entrepreneur

Ymir Vigfusson is a professor, hacker, and entrepreneur. With his students at the SimBioSys lab at Emory University, he performs research into large-scale distributed systems (how should we build large systems?), cybersecurity education (how do we make the world more secure?), and data science (how do we exploit data to monitor epidemics?) He earned his B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Iceland in 2005, and PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University in 2009. In 2013, Ymir co-founded Syndis, now the leading cybersecurity company in Iceland, and the online cybersecurity training platform adversary.io in 2019.