Theme: Change

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).

Dougherty Valley Performing Arts Center
10550 Albion Rd
San Ramon, California, 94582
United States

Aditya Jain

Student

Aditya Jain, a sophomore at Dougherty Valley High School, aspires to become a successful entrepreneur and change the world through his initiatives. He invests his time working on his passion projects, through which he seeks to empower student entrepreneurs and connect them to create impactful initiatives. In his free time, Aditya enjoys spending time with his family and playing sports, specifically baseball and basketball.

Ananya Pinnamaneni

Student at DVHS

Ananya Pinnamaneni, a freshman at Dougherty Valley High School, has considered herself a feminist for as long as she can remember. She strives to bridge the gender gap in all aspects and spread awareness about gender inequality. Through her speech, she hopes to educate people about what feminism really is and show how everyone has the capability to make a difference.

Armeet Jatyani

Armeet is a junior at Evergreen Valley High School, where he enjoys challenging himself with the toughest of courses. He is the president of the Programming Club at his school and a member of the Computer Science Honors Society. On a day-to-day basis, Armeet is a part of Code 4 Tomorrow, teaching underrepresented youth programming in Java. He enjoys machine learning projects, web and game development, and research on algorithmic biases in the image recognition services offered by industry leaders such as FacePlusPlus, IBM, and Microsoft.

Ashish Duvvuri

Student

A freshman from Dougherty Valley High School, Ashish Duvvuri loves to try new things. Part of DVHS Makerspace, Aviation Club, and TEDx DVHS, Ashish is active in the DVHS community, and loves to make the learning experience better in any way he can. He has shown an interest in aviation, and is already trying to learn the procedures and protocols for flying commercial airliners like the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320.

Fatimah Hussain

AI+ML+CAD Enthusiast

Fatimah Hussain, a student at Dougherty Valley High School, is fascinating by anything relating to Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks. She loves working on global problems, and strives to create an impact. She loves networking with people, as every single person is incredibly talented. Working on secretive side projects, she aspires to have her own startup company.

Freedom Cheteni

Editor in Chief, The Superintendents Journal & Founder, InventXR

Professor Freedom Cheteni, a legendary educator and thought leader is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential voices. He is the Editor in Chief of the School Superintendents' Journal, chair of the United Nations Green Jobs for Rural Youth steering committee and CEO of InventXR. Freedom advises governments on the future of work and proudly serves on the governing boards of the Biotech Institute, The RealMVP Charity Foundation and NALEDI. An award winning entrepreneur, Freedom has achieved international prominence in the exponential technology and education movements. He coined concepts such as "Movement Thinking" and "Designership" and is one of the creators of the Moonshots in Education movement. He shaped the founding of the first public school on a corporate campus in the United States, the world’s first VR School and Self-Driving College. Freedom designed curriculum taught at Stanford and beyond and is currently engaged in rigorous implementation of his ideas on the global stage.

Melissa Blaustein

City Councilmember and Social Entrepreneur

Melissa Blaustein is a member of the Sausalito City Council and the founder and CEO of Allied for Startups, a worldwide network of advocacy organizations focused on improving the policy environment for startups. In addition to founding her own organization, she is an Associate Director of Communications at Acumen, a global nonprofit impact investment fund dedicated to ending poverty. Her background in the policy and advocacy spans the local, national, and international levels, having held roles at The White House, UN Women, UNEP, the G20 Research Group, with Fmr. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and on the team of many San Francisco politicians.

Monica Dominguez

Director of Dance Live Dream Center nonprofit organization

Ms. Dominguez has been teaching dance for 20+ years. Since 2006, she has been with Center for the Dance in Castro Valley and in 2014 she became the Director and changed the name to Dance Live Dream Center. During this 20-year period she has showcased numerous original dance arrangements from tap, jazz, hip-hop, contemporary and more, as well as a part of the full production of the Wizard of Oz in 2009. Favorite dance experience was dancing in San Francisco at Bimbo’s Club showcasing 1920’s tap and jazz routines. Second favorite dance experience was dancing in Oakland Paramount Theatre with a show casing gospel tap routine. Monica has a special interest teaching students of special needs. She has a BA degree in Psychology and Sociology. She was born and raised in Oakland and has lived in Castro Valley since 2000. She has been married since 1994 and has two children. Monica is encouraging, positive, patient, and loves having fun with her community.

Niharika Nambiar

Student at DVHS

Niharika Nambiar is a Freshman at Dougherty Valley High School and all her life she has been surrounded by family and friends who speak in different languages. From translating and interpreting the languages she's heard, these experiences have led her to become interested in how exactly language is acquired and the workings of linguistics. In her free time, Niharika also enjoys listening to music, baking and playing her guitar and viola.

Sama Shah

Student passionate about equality

Sama Shah is a Junior at Dougherty Valley High School who is passionate about striving to make a positive impact on the world. She loves to get her hands on computer science, AI, psychology, neurology, and sees herself using her skills and expertise to help close the gender gap, spread anti-racist values, and do anything that helps the world become an equal and better place overall. Some of Sama's other hobbies include playing the piano and singing. When she is not listening to music, she is blogging and making podcast episodes about her projects and topics that are intriguing to her.