Theme: Odyssey

The theme of the TEDxTAMU 2021 Conference is "Odyssey" which we define as "a long journey that promotes profound change".

Rudder Complex
401 Joe Routt Blvd
College Station, Texas, 77843
United States

Cameron Ayala

Lymphedema Advocate

Cam Ayala is a former reality TV contestant and Lymphedema patient and advocate. He is now a Compression Therapy Consultant who educates doctors, researchers, and patients with Lymphedema, Chronic Venous Insufficiency, and Chronic Wounds.

Derek LaHair

Sexual Assault Awareness Advocate

Derek Lahair has a passion for speaking about and helping survivors of sexual abuse. He is involved in corporate education, where he teaches, trains, and coaches others.

Eden Gillott

Crisis Manager

After managing the message and the optics for household names and iconic brands, Eden takes you behind the scenes to teach the basics of how a professional fixer approaches any crisis. Eden Gillott brings her love of teaching beyond the classroom and uses her skills as a former professor to educate globally. She has appeared in The New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, USA Today, Inc., Forbes, the Washington Post, Financial Times, Hollywood Reporter Magazine, and Variety. She is the co-author of A Business Owner’s Guide to Crisis PR, A Board Member’s Guide to Crisis PR, and A Lawyer’s Guide to Crisis PR.

Ekansh Tambe

Photographer

Ekansh shares inspiring and heartbreaking stories from all over the world through photography. He is involved in several national public speaking engagements and community service events with the goal of presenting facts and promoting empathy, sympathy, and compassion.

Hector Chapa

Clinical Assistant Professor

Hector Chapa, M.D. is an internationally recognized speaker and published author in the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He currently is Clinical Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Texas A&M University College of Medicine.

Jonos Davis

Painter

Jonos is a Student from Texas A&M and self taught artist from Houston, Texas that is currently based in College Station and has been creating and selling artwork since August of 2017. He entered into the world of art as a painter and since then has branched out into fields like music and photography. Over time, he grew passionate about it and now wants to share his art with the world.

R. Bowen Loftin

Academic

While serving as President of Texas A&M University, Dr. Loftin oversaw the transition of Texas A&M to the SEC. He supervised the evacuation of Texas A&M-Galveston to College Station during Hurricane Ike and has received awards ranging from the NASA Invention of the Year Award to University of Houston-Downtown Awards for Excellence in Teaching and Service.

Rosemarie Fiore

Visual Artist

Rosemarie Fiore is a visual artist working in the Bronx, NY. Her work is included in the collections of Texas A&M University, US Embassy, Colombo, Sri Lanka, UBS, Fidelity, Weatherspoon Museum, NC, and the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas.

Saleema Vellani

International Development Innovator

Saleema is Founder and CEO of Ripple Impact, a business accelerator and community that helps entrepreneurs grow their companies and build their platforms. At the age of 21, Saleema co-founded and launched Brazil’s top-rated language school, and at 22, she co-founded an online translation agency to help companies expand their digital presence globally. She has co-founded seven ventures with three exits. In 2017, she co-led an award-winning study on addressing food insecurity in conflict-affected countries using climate-smart technologies, and is currently conducting research to promote a circular economy. She has co-authored fifteen research studies. Saleema is Adjunct Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at University Startups and teaches Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship at Johns Hopkins University. Saleema holds a BA from McGill University, an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French.

Sarita Menon

Magazine Creator and Researcher

Dr. Sarita Menon, driven by a mission to see better representation of women in STEM, launched international children’s science magazine Smore in 2017. Her purpose and passion lie in building scientific literacy skills in children and preparing them for a future of seen and unseen challenges.

Todd Dewett

Social Scientist

Todd Dewett has been a professor, a consultant, a radio host, an author, a dean, a business professional, and a social scientist, and he has created some of the most popular LinkedIn Learning courses. Over the years, he has gained deep insights into how people, teams, and organizations function, and he wants to spread the message that “more is always possible” at home, at work, and in life.