Theme: Agency

At UCLA, incredible ideas are happening #AllTheTime. Join UCLA Residential Life and UCLA Extension on Saturday May 15 to experience AGENCY, the TEDxUCLA 2021 Virtual conference.
Register today for FREE at tedx.ucla.edu

Virtual Conference
417 Charles E Young Drive West
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Los Angeles, California, 90095
United States

Devin Mallory

UCLA Student/UCLA Dance Team Performer

My name is Devin Mallory, I am 20 years old, and I am a third year Dance major, with a minor in Food Studies and Nutrition. I come from a biracial upbringing through African American and Filipino culture, which has posed many conflicts in finding my identity growing up. Facing adversity at a young age, as well, my upbringing served as a time in maturing quickly. I was led down a path of depression and anxiety through struggles with my schooling, family, and my self-identity. At the age of 10, I found a love and passion for dance. Dance became an outlet for expression that I was not initially exposed to during such negatives times in my childhood.

George Shenusay

UCLA Student

George Shenusay is a New Yorker who has moved to Los Angeles to pursue his passion for sustainability. He accidentally inbread thousands of mealworms in middle school and now he’s found himself here. He’s studying environmental science at UCLA and is currently leading a research team with a focus on mealworms and their ability to eat plastic. George and his research team currently do their work at UCLA’s MIC (Molecular Instrumentation Center) and the BHS lab. They have been working on this project since 2018.

Harmony Grillo

Social Activist

Victim of exploitation turned UCLA honor student, in 2003, Harmony founded Treasures to help women and girls entrenched in sexual exploitation find freedom. She has provided training for the Department of Justice and the FBI and has helped launch outreaches in 120 cities worldwide. Her story has been featured on NPR, in Glamour and in her memoir, Scars and Stilettos.

Kitty Felde

Journalist/NPR Talk Show Host

Kitty is host and executive producer of the Book Club for Kids podcast – named one of the top podcasts for kids in the world by The Times of London. The show is winner of the DC Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Humanities and the California Library Association Technology Award. Kitty Felde’s award-winning debut novel “Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza” is published (2019) by Black Rose Writing. It has been adapted to an 8-part dramatic podcast The Fina Mendoza Mysteries available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc. As a journalist, Kitty won more than a dozen Golden Mike Awards for her work covering baseball, politics, high profile trials, riots, earthquakes, and immigration. She was named “Journalist of the Year” three times in three years by the LA Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists. She hosted Southern California Public Radio KPCC’s afternoon talk show “Talk of the City” for nearly a decade. She covered Capitol Hill for half a dozen years.

Laura Ritchie

Professor of Learning and Teaching at the University of Chichester, UK

Laura Ritchie is Professor of Learning and Teaching at the University of Chichester, UK. She is vibrant in her teaching, research, music-making, and in life; she embodies a ‘yes’ attitude. Her enthusiasm is contagious and inspires people to realize their goals through positive achievement and reach beyond their dreams.

Nikita Gupta

UCLA RISE Program Director

Nikita Gupta specializes in Transforming Trauma through Healing and Resiliency in educational as well as public and private settings. She is a recognized leader and educator and has worked nationally with at-risk communities, educational leaders and community service providers. Nikita is the founder of the innovative GRIT Coaching program at University of California, Los Angeles. The GRIT (Guidance, Resilience, Integrity, and Transformation) Program is nationally recognized as a model for excellence in mental health promotion, advocacy, and transformation for students, staff and faculty.