Theme: MOVEMENT

TEDxManitouSprings is excited to bring you an afternoon of 12 incredible speakers sharing their Ideas Worth Spreading in all areas of Movement! We'll have speakers who are passionate about leadership, social impact, education, scientific discoveries, and more.

In addition, we will have immersive exhibits hosted by students and members of our community - all related to our theme: Movement.

Manitou Springs Auditorium
110 Pawnee Ave.
Manitou Springs, Colorado, 80829
United States

Audrey May Prosper

Antiviolence Activist, Educator

As the Founder of the National Domestic Violence Collaborative, Audrey finds meaningful and proactive ways to do advocacy differently by focusing on the roots in order to produce healthy fruits.

Elizabeth Domangue, PhD

Educational Leader and Champion for Students

Elizabeth has had a wide range of professional experiences in education, including teaching, supervising student teachers, mentoring school and district leaders, collaborating to develop service-learning experiences, and leading. Additionally, she has extensive knowledge of best practices in the areas of pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, leadership development, and evaluation. Elizabeth received her Doctorate in 2009 from Louisiana State University (with a focus on pedagogy and achievement motivation theories in the context of school experiences). She is an instructional leader who consistently leans into her Core Beliefs—All Means All, Leadership Matters, It Is About People, and Lead Towards a Shared Vision. As a published author and an invited presenter, Elizabeth has addressed national and state level audiences on topics ranging from culturally responsive practices, service-learning experiences, teacher effectiveness, social emotional learning, and school safety and security.

Heather R Younger

CEO & Founder of Employee Fanatix

Heather Younger is a best-selling author, international speaker, consultant, adjunct organizational leadership professor, and facilitator who has earned her reputation as “The Employee Whisperer.” Her experiences as an entrepreneur, manager, attorney, writer, coach, listener, speaker, collaborator, and mother all lend themselves to a laser-focused clarity into what makes employees of organizations and companies—large and small—tick. Heather founded Employee Fanatix, a leading employee engagement and leadership development consulting and training firm, to inspire others by teaching the kind of caring leadership that drives real business results. Heather hosts the weekly podcast Leadership With Heart, and she is the author of The 7 Intuitive Laws of Employee Loyalty hit the FORBES Must-Reads list and is a go-to source for HR professionals and organizational leaders seeking insight into their organization’s dynamics. Her book, The Art of Caring Leadership was released on April 13 2021.

Holly Anne Mitchell

Speaker, Coach, and Hypnotist

Holly Anne Mitchell is a speaker, coach, and hypnotist . Her life can be summed up in two words: post-traumatic growth. Holly moved to New York City from rural Florida at the age of 18 with dreams of Broadway. From actress, to homeless, to dental C-suite, to struggling entrepreneur, after a crisis of burnout, she found her way to hypnosis and neurolinguistic programming, forever changing her brain, and her life. She then started her own business, the LeadWell Network. Holly trains dentists and their teams on mental health first aid, helping practices become more trauma aware, and reduce symptoms of anxiety, burnout, and depression with simple tools based in practical neuroscience. Holly regulates her own nervous system through songwriting, self-hypnosis, poetry, boxing, and long-distance running. She is a faculty member of the Dental Speakers Institute Fellowship program, and is excited to announce her first book "Try Self Hypnosis" will enter the world in September.

Michael Ashford

Growth Marketer

I’ve been a communications and marketing executive in the software space for more than a decade now building and leading teams at companies large and small. But before my marketing career, I was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. My years as a journalist helped me hone my interviewing skills and taught me just how important listening and asking follow-up questions is to understanding the full, real story. As a podcaster and author, I am focused on exploring how we find common ground despite our differences and disagreements at a time when it is increasingly harder to do so. I’ve interviewed professional athletes and Olympians, CEOs and entrepreneurs, pilots and authors, TV stars and actors, doctors and Ivy League professors, all in an effort to better understand and share how we get beneath the emotionally charged societal landscape and better connect with the humans around us.

Pepper Medina

Survivor, Speaker, Author

Pepper Medina started his career behind a small makeup counter. In the beauty industry, Pepper learned the repercussion against anyone who was and looked different. With a lack of support and resources against blatant homophobia, Pepper fought against the resistance and broke boundaries along the way. Pepper has supported the LGBTQ+ community, focusing on empowerment, self-love, respect, and awareness. With all of his experience and a never-ending rebel heart spirit, Pepper continues to ask questions on his incredible journey. Inspired by people who have endured resistance for just being themselves, Pepper is writing his first book based on his story of survival in a world that made him feel inferior and unwanted. Always an optimist, Pepper continues to fight for equality, freedom and helping people understand the beauty of diversity. Along with his childhood best friend, Pepper is now an ally in one of the most anticipated new restaurants in Old Colorado City, "Westside Cantina."

Raj Subrameyer

Tech Career Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Author

Raj Subrameyer is a tech career strategist focusing on how people can navigate their way through the digital space to have positive life and career transformations. He is passionate about helping professionals maximize their opportunities and discover their zone of genius. He uses his experience in the tech industry to research, speak and write about how we can embrace technology and become full-on digital citizens. He is a sought-after speaker at various conferences and has been featured in numerous podcasts and publications, including Entrepreneur, Authority Magazine, Career Addict, InfoQ, Thrive Global, Addicted2Success and The Good Men Project. He is also the author of the best-selling book “Skyrocket Your Career.” His areas of expertise include the human impact of technology, career advancement, leadership, productivity and entrepreneurship. In his spare time, he loves traveling and enjoying craft beer.

Rob McKenna, PhD

Whole + Intentional Leader

Named among the top 30 most influential I-O Psychologists and featured in Forbes, Dr. Rob McKenna is the Founder of WiLD Leaders, Inc., the WiLD Foundation, and creator of the WiLD Toolkit - a scalable and repeatable system for whole and intentional leader development. He is a scientist, entrepreneur, and educator with a calling to support the courageous and sacrificial leaders doing important and impossible things. His clients include the Boeing Company, Microsoft, Heineken, Foster Farms, Alaska Airlines and Children’s Hospital. He is an international speaker and author of numerous articles and chapters on leadership character, calling, effectiveness, and sacrifice. He served as the Chair of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University and is the author of Composed: The Heart and Science of Leading Under Pressure, and Dying to Lead: Sacrificial Leadership in a Self-Centered World.

Ruben Gonzalez

Olympian + Award-Winning Speaker

A seemingly "ordinary guy", Ruben Gonzalez was not a gifted athlete. He didn't take up the sport of luge until he was 21. Against all odds, four years later he was competing in the Winter Olympics. When he competed at the Vancouver Winter Olympics at the age of 47, Ruben became the first person ever to compete in four Winter Olympics, each in a different decade. Ruben's incredible story helps take away people's excuses and fills them with the belief and inspiration to face their challenges and fight for their dreams and goals. Since 2002, Ruben has spoken for over 100 of the Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have sold more than 300,000 copies and have been translated in more than 10 languages.

Ryan Johnson

High School and College Chemistry Educator

Ryan Johnson is a high school and college chemistry educator from Manitou Springs, CO. He has served as the Board President of the Colorado Association of Science Teachers, spoke and presented research at many chemistry education conferences, and has published research in chemical modeling and engaging students with unique and fun approaches to chemistry. When he’s not sharing his passion for chemistry in the classroom with his students, he can often be found running or hiking the mountain trails near his house with his dog, Kuiper, or rock climbing at some of his favorite crags nearby. His happiest places are backpacking in the beautiful Colorado wilderness with his daughter Fiona, and watching the sunset over Pikes Peak from his porch swing.

Shari Alyse

America's Joy Magnet - Speaker + Author

Shari Alyse, “America’s Joy Magnet”, is an Inspirational Speaker, Best Selling Author and Joy Consultant. Shari’s deep commitment to others is motivated by her own journey through childhood sexual abuse and other childhood traumas. At 7, Shari found herself having to use her voice on a witness stand to testify against the man who had abused her. After years of trying to outrun her pain, she chose to courageously face it and her healing journey began. Shari now uses her voice to speak around the world on finding your joy through self-acceptance, self-compassion and positive mindset. Shari has been featured in numerous media outlets and has produced and hosted multiple online TV and radio shows. She has reached millions with her inspirational videos, speaking, coaching and writings. Her book, Love Yourself Happy, quickly became a #1 New Release and International Best Seller. Shari believes that in the radical acceptance of ourselves, we truly can lead a joy-filled life.

Vivian Cobb

Professional Speaker + Emotions Advocate

Vivian Cobb is a multipreneuer. She’s the owner of Cobb Real Estate, a boutique brokerage in Colorado Springs and Vivian Cobb Speaking where she brings all her life experiences, storytelling talent, and vibrant personality to the stage as an international inspirational speaker. Vivian is also an emotions advocate, understanding how important it is to embrace emotions rather than hiding from them. This role evolved through the devastating loss of not only her husband, but also her home, her money and her buying power. She believes emotions are the baseline from which we operate and love rules supreme. Vivian’s near death experience with Covid 19 in 2020 was her wake up call, changing her motivation and perception of life and what is important in our journeys as humans. She has authored an adult coloring book, “The Receptacle” and is currently writing her second book, “Learning to Dream Through the Nightmare” due to be published by the end of 2021.