Theme: By Leaps and Bounds

We are proud to announce the 2020 TEDxUnionvilleHS event, "By Leaps and Bounds." This year, we will be featuring nine phenomenally talented speakers selected from the UHS student body as well as community members. Join us on the evening February 22nd, 2020 for invigorating conversations with our leaders of tomorrow. For more information, visit us at tedxunionvillehs.com. Be sure to RSVP now, as seating is limited! We hope to see you all out there!

TEDx UnionvilleHS
750 Unionvillle Road
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 19382
United States

Alex Benoit

Alex Benoit is a Franco-American high school Senior full-time dual-enrolled at the University of Georgia majoring in mathematics and microbiology. An alumnus of the Research Science Institute and the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program, Alex is fascinated by infectious diseases. He’s involved in several laboratories studying host-pathogen interactions and is an advocate for health equity in numerous organizations on campus. In high school he founded Miracle, an organization that raises money and awareness for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Most recently, he co-founded The Finch Podcast, a global media organization of 30 students that has interviewed over 50 experts, including US Ambassadors, former Cabinet members, and Nobel Prize Laureates, and has been featured on NPR, with listeners in over 20 countries. Alex enjoys playing soccer and squash, writing for several local newspapers, and learning languages. He’s interested in discussing the intersection between the life sciences, philosophy, and politics.

Brian Selander

Brian Selander is the President of the fintech company ownable that scaled within weeks of launch to a multimillion dollar monthly revenue rate while cleaning up an $8B rent to own market. He was previously the President and COO of a digital media company that was acquired in 2018, the "Offensive Coordinator" of a digital sports network from he grew to a nine figure valuation and was Managing Director at a management consulting firm acquired by a multi-billion dollar global IT company. Mr. Selander’s public service includes time as Chief Strategy Officer to a Governor, Communications Director to a United States Senator, multi-state director on a presidential campaign, state legislative aid and reporter at a Gannett-owned newspaper. He is on the boards of rapidly growing companies and the advisory boards of growth equity fund Catalyst and nonprofits DoSomething.org and the Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation. He was the first annual Entrepreneur in Residence at venture capital fund SeventySix Capital. Mr. Selander graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University, earned a Masters with a 4.0 from the University of Pennsylvania where he taught for several years and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program at Harvard.

Catherine Odom

Catherine Odom is a senior at Unionville High School. She is active in the school newspaper and speech and debate program. These activities have helped her develop her interest in storytelling and writing, and she hopes to use these skills to continue learning and help others. In her TEDx talk, she discusses the societal stigma surrounding bragging, the importance of bragging, and how to brag more effectively.

Isha Bellur

Isha Bellur is inspired by the way humans live and the stories of humanity. Currently a sophomore at Unionville, she is an orator on the speech and debate team, the Center Features editor of the high school’s newspaper, and a member of musical groups at the high school. Her passion to learn about humanity has driven her to explore the value of understanding individual stories and points of view, both orally and through her love of journalism. In her TEDx talk, she will address the one size fits all approach we often adopt socially and politically. She hopes to encourage an individualized, equitable approach to issues for which we usually pose borad one-size solutions.

Joe Myers

Joe is the Prevention Supervisor at The Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County, Inc. After graduating West Chester University in 2013 with a degree in Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies, he continued his work engaging the community in preventing power based personal violence in the Chester County community at large. Each day, he works with the schools around the county to build up protective factors and address risk factors for perpetrating these forms of violence.

Medha Patel

Medha Patel is a current Sophomore at Unionville High School. Her extracurriculars include speech and debate, orchestra, Kiva club, and the school newspaper, where she uses her voice to bring awareness to issues that are often times brushed away too quickly. Ever since a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in the 4th grade, she has worked to help make this Earth a greener place. In her speech she hopes to show you what negative impact a small "harmless" plastic water bottle can make in the world and encourage you to find a more sustainable way to keep hydrated.

Saanvi Garg

Saanvi Garg is a sophomore at Unionville High School who loves to inspire and reach out to help as many people as possible. She plays tennis, is a part of the orchestra, is in UTHON, and is on the speech and debate team. In her TEDx talk she will discuss the consistently rising pressures high schoolers face, both spoken of as well as the lesser known influences, the effect it has had on this generation, and ways to potentially alleviate it. She hopes to show the audience the rising stress high schoolers can feel in the status quo and draw attention to the ways in which the pressure can be relieved.

Sarah Breger

As a Junior at Unionville High School, Sarah Breger is a part of the numerous theatre programs throughout the year. Outside of school, she has a passion for the arts as she dances, performs, and assistant teaches at Carousel Performing Arts Center. She was inspired by her own struggles with mental illness and the struggles of those around her. She hopes to educate others about the dangerous stigma surrounding mental health through her TEDx talk.

Suhan Neema

Suhan Neema is a freshman at Unionville High School. She is a member of the speech and debate team, student council, various science clubs, and the choir. She is an avid reader, writer, movie-goer, singer, and a long-time pianist. She is fascinated by neuroscience and is passionate about mental health and wellbeing, especially for teens. Suhan, like everyone, has failed many, many times. In her TEDx talk, she will discuss how changing the way we measure our self worth can change how we view failure. She hopes to show the audience how to cope with failure and to reveal the various benefits of failure.

Viraj Joshi

Viraj Joshi is a senior at Unionville High School. He was born with a significant speech delay, speaking his first word when he was 4 years old. Along the way, he has had his fair share of challenges in his social and academic life. In his TEDx talk, he would like to discuss his personal experiences and present key takeaways with the audience. He intends to share how hardwork and perseverance helps overcome the struggles and challenges life presents.