Theme: eXploration

TEDxUCDavis will hold a two day conference on Saturday, April 10th, 2021 and Sunday, April 11th, 2021, with the theme "eXploration". Please visit tedxucdavis.org for more information and to stay updated on the event!

Virtual
N/A
N/A, California, N/A
United States

Angie Ni

Angie Ni (she/her/hers) is a 4th-year Computer Science student at the University of California, Davis and an incoming software engineer at Microsoft. Since leaving her hometown of Boise, Idaho to pursue a degree, she delved into a blend of political and technological environments at UC Davis: she was the Division Head of US and Politics at KDVS News, the President of HackDavis, and an intern at Google. Inspired by various events on a local, national, and international scale, she has conducted several analyses of privacy and cybersecurity, as well as the economic and political intervention of technological innovation. Angie is devoted to exploring the intersection of politics and technology in an effort to craft a stronger relationship between humanity and the technology that envelops it.

Ben Sampson

Ben Sampson (he/him/his) is the co-founder and CEO of WeHero where he works closely with hundreds of companies to help them reach their social impact goals. He speaks actively about corporate social responsibility, volunteerism, sustainability, and how companies united with activism drive powerful change. Ben's past experience includes leading product teams, building startups, and studying sustainable business strategy at Harvard. In his free time, he's an avid outdoor enthusiast focused on skiing, surfing, and mountain biking.

CJ Jones

CJ Jones is an executive producer, director, writer, actor, comedian, musician, motivational speaker and a legend in the deaf and hard of hearing community. Acclaimed for his humor and inspiration, he has done it all: TV, movies, educational films, and stand-up comedy all over the world. CJ founded SignWorld Studios, a film production company, and SignLight, a nonprofit company with a mission to create a post-production training program for the deaf and hard of hearing community. CJ does not stop the accomplishments, and has received the 2018 SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award by Media Access Awards. You may know CJ from his character, Joseph, in the 2017 blockbuster summer hit Baby Driver. This role made CJ the first Black, deaf actor in an international Blockbuster. He was also in Castle Rock, Avatar 2-3, Door in the Woods, This Close, Everything Gonna Be Okay, and Shameless, among others.

Cyrus Aram

With over twenty years’ experience in Fortune 100 companies promoting business strategy, people, process & technology implementations, Cyrus Aram has a passion to take on wicked business problems and to unleash people’s potential to bring about sustainable process improvements. Cyrus is currently the CEO of Unleashing Leaders, a leading management consulting firm specializing in supporting large scale clients deliver upon their mission. Cyrus holds several degrees (e.g. MBA) and certifications (e.g. ASQBB, PMP) but believes experience and pedigree are overrated and witnesses many individuals with neither solve great business problems. Another passion of Cyrus is to teach business fundamentals to ~1000 students annually at the UC Davis, Graduate School of Management, consistently being rated as a top professor with an average score of 4.7 out of 5 in course satisfaction.

Douglas Gross

Dr. Douglas Gross is a humanitarian figure, having provided healthcare in remote regions of Africa, Central and South America, worked with the World Health Organization to help develop and implement their worldwide program to reduce infant and child mortality (IMCI), and spent time in hurricane-struck island nations. On his way to his numerous achievements, Dr. Gross received his BA in Biology from Franklin & Marshall College, his MS and PhD in Anatomy and Neuroendocrinology from the University of Michigan, and his MD from the University of California, Davis. He completed his pediatric internship and residency at the UC Davis Medical Center. From his time spent in various medical departments and deployments, Dr. Gross has won major teaching awards from UC Davis and humanitarian service organizations.

Ilana Yahav

Ilana Yahav is a world renowned sand animation artist from Israel. She has performed all over the world, including the Vatican, at the Moscow Kremlin, and for the Kings of Spain and Belgium.

Jennifer Lagaly

Jennifer Lagaly (she/her/hers) is a Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Salesforce. In her 17 years at the company, she's served in a variety of sales roles across the organization. Prior to Salesforce, Lagaly has experience in technology sales across several companies including Forte (Sun) and Motiva (Siebel), and providing Siebel and Remedy call-center solutions to Siemens ICN. Jennifer graduated from UC Davis in 1993 - along with her identical twin sister, Beth. She lives in the Bay Area with her 5 children and her husband, Kevin Vasquez, who is a fellow UC Davis Aggie and longtime holder of multiple 3-point records from his time on the UC Davis Basketball Team.

Sydney Cummings

Sydney Cummings is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist who owns Royal Change, a digital fitness media company with her fiancé, Dustin, based in Charlotte, NC. After working for multiple gyms and offering free bootcamps in the parks every weekend, Sydney started her own personal training business and this is where Royal Change was founded. After losing her younger brother in 2017 she made the shift to building a brand that could scale and change more lives all around the world and this is when she took her company to the digital world where she uploads a high quality daily workout every single day for completely free. In 2018, Sydney and Dustin were victims of senseless gun violence and after surviving being shot, Sydney came back to the fitness world with a mission to help more and more people with her rapidly growing fitness brand. As of April 2021, she has amassed over 115 million views for her videos!

The Spokes

The Spokes are the premier all female a cappella group at UC Davis. Since being founded in January 2004 by Camaron Ochs and Jaclyn Fromer, this all female identifying, all awesome group has served as a source of inspiration and empowerment for women and girls all over the West Coast.

Tiffany Wright

Tiffany Wright (she/her/hers) is a mental health professional, author, speaker, and wellness consultant based in Inglewood, CA. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology from the University of California, Davis and her Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University in New York City. Her clinical work focuses on trauma, grief, esteem, relationships and eating disorders. Tiffany has facilitated healing, educational and professional workshops, seminars, training, and events for universities, high schools, social service agencies, and community members in the US and abroad around the topics of empowerment, wellness and mental health. Passionate about personal development and mindfulness, Tiffany has published a host of books, journals, and workbooks, one being her identity exploration workbook, “Pieces of ME.”