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).

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Aiden Key

Aidan Key is the founder and president of Trans Families, an organization that provides online support to families of gender diverse children across the nation. Key, the principal trainer at Gender Diversity, has served as a consultant to hundreds of K-12 schools and other youth-based agencies across the US and has provided districts with training, strategic planning, policy development, and staff, parent, and student education. Key’s workplace trainings have included companies like Amazon, Lighthouse, Milliman, Grange, Cigna, Mithun Architects, Price Waterhouse Cooper, SAP Concur, and more. Key is currently authoring a book, Trans Children in Today’s Schools (Oxford University Press, expected publication date, early 2022). He is the co-author of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (Oxford University Press, 1st and 2nd editions) and Gender Cognition in Transgender Children (Psychological Science). Past speaking/keynote engagements include the Children’s Justice Conference, the National Women’s Judges Conference, the Adolescent Medicine Conference, and the University of Alaska’s 1st Power & Privilege conference. The Greater Seattle Business Association honored Key as the Humanitarian of the Year (2017) and The Pride Foundation, Ingersoll Gender Center, Chicago Black Pride, Seattle Out and Proud, have praised Key’s work as well. He has often been featured in the national media, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, Al Jazeera America, Larry King Live, and Fresh Air with Terry Gross. More recently, Aidan was selected as one of Seattle magazine's 2019 Most Influential People of the Year. Website: http://www.genderdiversity.org/ Facebook: @GenderDiversityInc

Anind Dey

Anind K. Dey is a Professor and Dean of the Information School at the University of Washington. Anind is renowned for his early work in context-aware computing, an important theme in modern computing. His research is at the intersection of human-computer interaction, machine learning, and ubiquitous computing. He applies a human- centered and problem-based approach through a collaboration with an amazing collection of domain experts in areas of substance abuse, mental health, transportation needs, smart spaces, sustainability, and education. Anind was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy in 2015 and was recognized as an ACM Fellow in 2022 for his significant contributions to the fields of human-computer interaction and ubiquitous computing. Before coming to the UW, he was a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University for almost 15 years and was a Senior Researcher at Intel Research. He received his PhD in Computer Science, Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering, Master of Science in Computer Science from Georgia Tech, and his Bachelor of Applied Science from Simon Fraser University.

Aramis Hamer

Aramis O. Hamer is a visual artist and muralist in Seattle, WA. Her large-scale, acrylic paintings are inspired by the cosmos, music, nature, divine femininity, and the complexities in Black culture. Aramis has exhibited her colorful creations throughout Washington state. She also painted the “V” in Seattle’s Black Lives Matter mural. This self taught, Neddy Award winning artist lets her imagination be her guide. Website aohamer.com Instagram @aohamer Facebook @MISaohamer

Ashley McGirt

Ashley McGirt is the founder and President of the WA Therapy Fund Foundation. She is a psychotherapist, Tedx international speaker, and author who has been featured in Forbes, MSNBC, The young turks, Bravo, & more. Ashley has received a Masters of Social Work from the University of Washington. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Ashley currently works as a full-time hospice therapist and owns and operates her own private practice. In her private practice she focuses primarily on racial trauma, depression, and anxiety. Ashley actively works toward de-stigmatizing mental illness, and reducing high rates of recidivism in American prisons, in an attempt to create a more socially just society for all. Ashley offers presentations, workshops, group facilitation, and consultation specializing in racial trauma, mental health, crisis response, social justice and racial equity. Ashley strives to help others find happiness and healing within themselves through unpacking their baggage, resting, reflecting, and restoring themselves to be who they were intended to be on this earth. Instagram: @therapywithash Facebook: @McGirtCounselingServices Website: https://ashleymcgirt.com/ click anywhere to close...

Casey Dreier

Casey is the Chief Advocate and Senior Space Policy Adviser for The Planetary Society, the world's largest independent pro-space organization. He writes, teaches, and speaks about the importance, relevancy, and excitement of space exploration to the organization's members, the public, and elected officials. He is a trusted source for journalists and has been featured in many publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Scientific American, Vox, and The Verge, to name a few. He also has appeared as an expert on BBC News and both seasons of National Geographic's MARS series as a "MARS Big Thinker". Casey is also co-host of the podcast, Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition, which has been published monthly since 2016. Twitter: @CaseyDreier

Christina Scheppelmann

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Christina Scheppelmann is the fourth General Director to lead Seattle Opera. As the Artistic Director General at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, a position she held from 2015-2019, Scheppelmann was responsible for programming, casting, and overall artistic direction. Prior to that, she was the first Director General of the Royal Opera House Muscat (Oman), the first theater of its kind in the Gulf Region, where her mission was to present high-quality music, opera, and dance from around the world. Under her leadership, ROHM established an excellent reputation as a cultural destination in Oman and opened doors for international musical and cultural relations. As Director of Artistic Operations at Washington National Opera, Scheppelmann oversaw the artistic planning for 11 years. She was instrumental in fundraising efforts, leading to grants for individual productions, ongoing projects and renovations. Her passion for the artform and interest to see it flourish into the future led her to conceive of and secure funding for WNO’s American Opera Initiative, offering young composers and librettists a developmental forum in which to bridge the gap between conservatory training and full-length commissions. A long-time champion of young artists, she has led masterclasses, lectured at artist training programs, and judged vocal competitions around the world. Scheppelmann began her career in the arts early-on, performing in the children’s choir of the Hamburg State Opera. After completing a degree in banking, she left her home country of Germany in 1988 to work in an Artist Management agency in Milan. Fluent in five languages, she quickly became known for her communication skills and was soon offered a job in arts administration at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. In 1994, she was recruited by Lotfi Mansouri to assist him at San Francisco Opera where, as one of the youngest artistic administrators at the time, she continued her work in planning seasons and hiring singers, conductors, directors and designers. Ms. Scheppelmann prides herself on having built solid collaborative relationships with union and civic leaders, members of the diplomatic corps, and national and international press. Scheppelmann was previously awarded the rank of Commendatore in the Order of the Star of Solidarity by the Italian government for her career-long work promoting opera and Italian culture. She also served as the Vice President for the board of Opera Europa, the professional organization of opera houses and festivals. Instagram: @scheppelmannch Twitter: @ScheppelmannCh

Claudia Castro Luna

Claudia Castro Luna is an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate fellow (2019), WA State Poet Laureate (2018 – 2021), and Seattle’s inaugural Civic Poet (2015-2018). Castro Luna’s newest collection of poetry, Cipota Under the Moon, is forthcoming May 2022 from Tia Chucha Press. She is also the author of One River, A Thousand Voices (Chin Music Press), the Pushcart nominated Killing Marías (Two Sylvias Press) also shortlisted for WA State 2018 Book Award in poetry, and the chapbook This City (Floating Bridge Press). Her most recent non-fiction is in There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis (Vintage). Born in El Salvador she came to the United States in 1981. Living in English and Spanish, Claudia writes and teaches in Seattle on unceded Duwamish lands where she gardens and keeps chickens with her husband and their three children. Instagram: @claudiacastroluna Twitter: @ClaudiaC_L

Dagan Kay

He started working on Produce Mate while still a full-time Philosophy student at the University of Portland. After graduating in 2019, Dagan remained in the foodie-capital of Portland, Oregon, where his work now largely revolves around raising food preservation awareness, designing innovative products that help food last longer, and building a team of like-minded people at Produce Mate. In a world threatened by the existential threat of climate change, Dagan remains eternally optimistic, throwing himself in at the deep end to work alongside the people working on creative solutions to our planet's biggest problem. Instagram: @dagankay / @producemate Facebook: @ProduceMate

Dee Dwyer

Dee Dwyer is a diversified Photographer from Southeast, Washington, D.C who produces awe-inspiring images. She has been anointed by her community as "The Visual Voice for the People”. Her goal is to show all aspects of human life with the primary focus being humanity. Dwyer’s raw and compelling candids unveil the souls of people. The images expose many subject’s truth, adversities, beauty, and culture. As a teenager, she developed her fascination for photography. Dee never left the house without her disposable camera to capture daily life of family and friends. Receiving her BFA in Filmmaking and Digital Production helped to develop her keen eye and technical skills. While taking a required Black & White photography class, she had to shoot and develop her own film. This is how the love for photography blossomed. She’d spend half her days snapping candids and the other half in the dark room. Having a love for travel and community she continues to use her camera to, "Show the World What it's Made of." Her work has been shown in exhibitions such as PhotoSCHWEIZ, Photoville, Catchlight amongst many others and featured in publications such as Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BET, The Guardian, Bloomberg Businessweek and more. Dee Dwyer currently resides in Washington, DC with her two children. Instagram: @deedwyerjonts Twitter: @deedwyerjonts

Eli Wheat

Eli Wheat is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Environmental Studies program and a core faculty member in the Food Systems Nutrition and Health Program. He was awarded the College of the Environment’s Outstanding Teaching award in 2017 and the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2010. Eli’s teaching and research focus on food systems and sustainability. He is currently working on research projects involving carbon sequestration, kelp production, and pasture management. Aside from his work teaching, Eli actively pursues a passion for food production. He also owns and operates SkyRoot farm, a 20-acre certified organic farm that integrates livestock and vegetable production on South Whidbey Island. Eli actively manages SkyRoot farm using principles of regenerative agriculture, with the goal of growing food while sequestering as much carbon as possible and meeting the economic demands of the production system. Instagram - @farmerpiratewheat Twitter - @farmerwheat LinkedIn - Eli Wheat

J. Nathan Kutz

Nathan Kutz is the Director of the AI Institute in Dynamic Systems at the University of Washington. He received the BS degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Washington in 1990 and the Phd in applied mathematics from Northwestern University in 1994. He was a postdoc in the applied and computational mathematics program at Princeton University before taking his faculty position.

Kathleen Bogart

Kathleen Bogart, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Oregon State University. As a person with a disability, she is passionate about researching, educating, and writing about ableism, or disability prejudice. Her research focuses on the psychosocial implications of living with disability, rare disorders, or facial differences such as Moebius syndrome. An advocate for people with disabilities, she has served on the American Psychological Association Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology, the Rehabilitation Psychology editorial board, and the Moebius Syndrome Foundation Scientific Advisory Board. She is a 2021 Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Time, The Conversation, the Financial Times, and Huffington Post, and she blogs for Psychology Today at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/disability-is-diversity. In 2019, she co-edited the Journal of Social Issues special issue on Ableism. Dr. Bogart presents internationally to academic, general, and stakeholder audiences about disability awareness, disability as diversity, and facial paralysis. She consults with organizations on disability advocacy. Twitter: @kathleen_bogart Blog: Disability is Diversity

Lexi Walls

Dr. Lexi Walls grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Seattle to start graduate school and follow both her scientific and hiking dreams. She started studying coronaviruses in 2015: learning what they looked like, how they functioned, and what kinds of therapeutics could be useful. She had no idea that her years of work would help prepare her and the scientific and medical communities for the COVID-19 pandemic. She is currently a scientist at the University of Washington working on next generation vaccines and therapeutics against this current pandemic as well as against potential future ones. She works hard to make sure that the work she and others are doing can be communicated to the broad public, and has spoken at high schools, community colleges, universities, on podcasts, and at Seattle town hall to share the work with the community. She spends her free time exploring the beautiful mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Twitter: @coronalexington

Lizzie Braicks-Rinker

Lizzie Braicks-Rinker is a well-rounded wellness enthusiast. With certifications in pilates, fitness, and health coaching, she is passionate about helping others navigate the modern world with less stress and anxiety. Lizzie competed as a D1 rower in college until losing her mom to colon cancer. After losing her mom, Lizzie wanted to understand how to nourish herself spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. She's since become a passionate advocate for understanding wellness on a holistic level. The core of her work centers around learning how to listen to what our bodies and brains truly need, and to tune out toxic messaging that we receive around food, exercise, and body image. She believes that being healthy is about more than just exercising — that it is also about feeding your soul with the things you love and having a healthy approach to life's challenges. Lizzie currently lives with her family and dogs in Seattle, WA.

Matt Crevin

Matt Crevin is the founder of Talk Shop and strives to empower students in their communication. With his professional business background involving two Fortune 500 companies and the San Francisco 49ers, he supports students in their communication endeavors toward success through workshops.

Michael Huang

Michael Huang is a third culture kid with an obsessive curiosity for all things storytelling, culture, and community. He has 15+ years of experience in the creative, arts, and advertising industries. As a Seattle native having grown up in the local Hip Hop scene, he's traveled the world competing in international breakdancing competitions, managed musicians, and shot photos and documentaries. He translated these experiences into his early work in social media during its initial rise and later at award winning global agencies such as Razorfish and McGarryBowen. After a stint on Madison Avenue in New York, he went on to found his own creative agency, Milli, in 2014 focused on creative, culture, and social change. Since then Milli has gone on to win numerous awards working with clients ranging from Microsoft and Netflix to Community Passageways and The Movement For Black Lives. These experiences have informed his perspective on how we can reconcile the inherent dilemma of living in a hyper-capitalistic society while also working towards a more equitable, just, and sustainable future.

Nazila Sawhney

Nazila is the lead fashion designer for Nazila Couture, author of “Once Upon A Time In Afghanistan-A Journey of Hope,” and the founder of non-profit organization Untold Stories. As she is passionate about changing the narrative around refugees, notably Afghan refugees, Untold Stories supports families in Afghanistan through poverty and helps newly arrived refugees. Her story is one of compassion, as she reconnects back to her roots and discusses the nature of humanity to adapt in response to difficult environments.

Pooja Tandon

Dr. Pooja Sarin Tandon is a general pediatrician and researcher dedicated to play equity, promoting access to physical activity, outdoor recreation, and play for all children to optimize their health and well-being. Dr. Tandon attended Brown University for undergraduate and medical school, and the University of Washington for a Master of Public Health degree. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington and researcher at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. She has authored numerous research articles on children’s physical activity, nature contact, and health, and has been featured on various media outlets including Good Morning America, NPR, and CBS.

Samer Fouad

Samer Fouad is an artist and graphic designer. Although his degree is in graphic design, Fouad considers himself a mixed media artist, combining sculpture, video, graphic design, photography, digital college, and various printmaking methods. His work has been showcased around the world, including New York City, Tokyo, Doha, France, Spain, Italy and Budapest. Fouad has been published in The AIGA, Adweek, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and Design Sponge. Fouad was an artist-in-residence for the Mana BSMT program, located at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, Palazzo Monti in Brescia, Italy, and Nouvelle Vague Gallery in Marbella, Spain. He is a co-founder of the Newark Print Shop in New Jersey. Simultaneous to his career as an artist, Fouad taught advanced printmaking and graphic design for the undergraduate BFA Program and book arts for the MFA Program, at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He was also a teaching assistant in visual communication design for the Undergraduate School of Art and Design and was a lecturer for the masters program of the School of Human Centered Design and Engineering, at The University of Washington. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Design at Pacific Lutheran University. Samer Fouad holds an Arts, Culture, Media degree with a Bachelors in Fine Art within a concentration of graphic design and a minor in art history from Rutgers University. He also holds a Master of Design degree from the University of Washington. Website: https://www.samerfouad.com/

Susie Sharpe

Dr. Susie Sharpe is a first-generation immigrant from Korea who overcame language, cultural and economic barriers and achieved her implausible dreams. She first became a Yale-trained physician and then an internationally known artist while maintaining a dual career and raising a family. Through her inspiring life story, she will share 4 Keys to achieving one's dream. Having experienced so much life, death, and everything in between as a physician, her perspective of life as a one-time precious gift is compelling. Her TEDx talk will challenge the viewers to live this priceless life to its fullest, pursue their big dreams and hold nothing back.

Theo Myhre

Theo Myhre has taught law for over 15 years and has won multiple awards for his teaching, including the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021, the Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award in 2021 and 2020, and the Honors' Excellence in Teaching Award in 2017. He also co-founded the Masters of Jurisprudence 1-year degree program for people wanting legal education, but who do not want to practice law. He believes strongly that legal education should be for everybody and teaches courses to all the student populations at the university. He focuses on empowering students with legal understanding and legal skills. He has also been a licensed attorney in Washington since 2000 and served as a judicial law clerk for Justice Charles Johnson of the Washington State Supreme Court. He received his Juris Doctorate from Seattle University, a Master of Arts in History from Boston College, a Master of Arts in Modern European Intellectual History from Drew University, and an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts from the Evergreen State College. He resides in Seattle and lives happily with his husband and their big dog "Bae."

Tyler Menezes

Tyler Menezes is the Executive Director at CodeDay, where he works to provide welcoming and diverse opportunities for underserved students to explore a future in technology and beyond. Born in Canada, but raised in the Pacific Northwest, he briefly attended the University of Washington before dropping out to start a Y Combinator and venture-backed social video startup in 2011. This, combined with stints working in machine learning at Microsoft Research and as a programmer at several Seattle startups, led to his work finding data-driven solutions to increasing CS diversity and enrollment since 2014 with CodeDay and in partnership with high schools and colleges.

Whitnee Hawthorne

Whitnee Hawthorne is a dynamic professional speaker, informative podcaster, and inspiring Fortune 500 company executive. She founded The Savvy Working Mom as a platform dedicated to helping working moms thrive in every arena. Her easy to follow digital courses have helped countless working mothers find harmony across all areas of their life. At the root of everything she does is the belief that working moms are the backbone of our society, and she wants to support as many women as possible in creating a vibrant, joyful life. Instagram: @thesavvyworkingmom Facebook: @thesavvyworkingmom Twitter: @SavvyWorking