Theme: TEDxVailCOUNTDOWN CO

TED speakers share a blueprint for a beautiful net-zero future. This plan – along with inspiring stories of local Colorado action – will be amplified by hundreds of TEDx Countdown events around the world and through a special global live stream event.

Mark your calendars for the Countdown global live stream. Building on the success of the 2020 Countdown launch, this virtual event will lay out a credible and realistic pathway to a net-zero future by bringing together key solutions from the Countdown Summit, stories of local action from around the world, cutting-edge science and technology, social and cultural discussions, powerful performances and a glocal (Global + Colorado local) call to action.

By presenting a real pathway to achieving net-zero, the Countdown global live stream is designed to bring people all over the world together to celebrate and spread the word ahead of the decisive United Nations Climate Conference COP26.

4:00 pm - 4:15 pm Welcome!
Welcome to TEDxVail COUNTDOWN! Plunge into a quick start meeting of the curious, the connected, the communicators, the sympathetic in our friendly rooms before we launch into fresh climate solutions. Enjoy.

4:15 pm - 5:00 pm A Pathway Opens
Whether deep, shallow, fresh, or native, a pathway opens.
Melati Wijsen - Activist & social entrepreneur. Since the age of 12 from her island of Bali & around the world, Melati Wijsen has been a leading voice for change.
Chef Derek Sarno - a vegan-only chef who co-founded Wicked Healthy, a plant-based food blog, with his brother, Chad Sarno.
Gavin McCormick - high-tech environmental activist. He is a co-founder of the Climate Trace, a satellite-and-sensors system to pinpoint the sources of greenhouse gases. The coalition combines satellites & artificial intelligence to detect human-caused greenhouse gases from all major sources.
Jill MacIntyre Witt - "We need everyone everywhere doing everything all the time." Jill is a brave Climate Reality Mentor for Former Vice President Al Gore. She's traveled to Paris for COP21. She coordinates successfully many environmental actions in Washington State with her community & the Lummi Nation. Social Justice is Climate Justice. She wrote the Climate Justice Field Manual, a how-to guide for action, downloadable at climatejusticenow.earth.
Let It Happen - Dutch twin sisters Norah & Yarah along with younger sister Rosa share a passion for vibrant dance that led to the formation of Let It Happen.
Enric Sala - Marine ecologist, Enric is a former university professor who saw himself writing the obituary of ocean life & quit academia to become a full-time conservationist as a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. 30x30 initiative: protecting 30% of oceans & 30% of land - minimum we need to keep biodiversity & nature functioning.

5:00 pm - 5:15 pm Let's connect!
This is it...the conversation you came to have! speak up, listen up. What has rooted in your head so far?

5:15 pm - 6:10 pm Imagining?
What norms now are reshaping? Are you imagining your finer future?
Nemonte Nenquimo is a mother & indigenous leader of the Waorani people of Pastaza in Ecuador, fighting to protect the rainforest from oil extraction & logging. Why should we listen to indigenous people (talk filmed in the rainforest of Ecuador)?
Jamey Stillings Photographer, he photographs big-scale renewable energy installations. 3-min video based on his photography
Solitaire Townsend - Sustainability solution seeker. Co-founder & Chief Solutionist of global agency Futerra, Solitaire Townsend argues that the creative industries can’t be neutral in the face of the climate crisis. The role of "enabling" companies (ad & PR agencies, law firms, etc) have a small direct carbon footprint but a huge influence & responsibility in enabling the carbon footprint of their polluting clients & changing that.
Trevor Yahn Grode - epistemocrat. Tracking the industrial cannabis revolution, Trevor helps figure out how to decarbonize the economy without destroying it. There is one renewable, carbon-neutral resource we have that can compete with oil in terms of its versatility: industrial hemp.
Naime Penniman - Freedom-forging Futurist. Naima Penniman is a multidimensional artist devoted to planetary interdependence. She is the cofounder of Wildseed Healing Village & the program director of Soul Fire Farm. Filmed at WILDSEED situated on unceded Stockbridge Munsee Mohican and Lenape territory.
Mercedes Ross - Merchandising Magician in the Bicycle, Ski, Motorcycle, Outdoor & Craft Brewing Industries since 1989. Mercedes loves giving back & changing young lives. She directs Project Bike Tech, a non-profit that uses bicycle education to teach core academics, enhance lives, create career opportunities & inspire new generations to be passionate about bikes.

6:10 pm - 7:00 pm Retooled After Party
Whether these ideas take root, are deeply planted & watered may be up to our network of gardeners of ideas, our planters of innovations, our ability to right time our responses. Elements requested: show up, speak up, listen up, act up.

ONLINE
300 Whispering Meadows POB 2429
Vail, Colorado, 81657
United States

Jill MacIntyre Witt

Climate Coach

"We need everyone everywhere doing everything all the time. Jill MacIntyre Witt has made it her lifelong passion to connect others’ behaviors to protecting our planet. Her master’s project is a Climate Justice Field Manual, a how-to guide for action, downloadable at climatejusticenow.earth. Jill is a brave Climate Reality Mentor for Former Vice President Al Gore. She's traveled to Paris for COP21. She coordinates successfully many environmental actions in Washington State with her community and the Lummi Nation. The time to join the movement is now and how is up to you. Jill is a professor of Physical Education at Western Washington University and studied at University of Queensland and California Polytechnic State University. She lives in Bellingham, Washington with her husband. She is raising two young women who are equally as passionate about taking care of Earth. #climatechange #climatejustice #activism #climatejusticenow #ClimateRealityMentor

Mercedes Ross

Executive Director, Project Bike Tech

Mercedes Ross has been a leading Merchandising force in the bicycle industry, pioneering the “Concept Shop” platform in the early 90’s and becoming a known expert in the field over the 25 years she has been in the business. Recently being voted as one of the top 50 Influential Business Women in the bike industry lends credibility to what she brings to the table. Mercedes has also worked in many industries: Ski, Outdoor, Motorcycle, Scuba, Craft Brewing as well as having owned a Motorcycle retail store for 15 years. As an established industry leader, she gives sales team training seminars and has been a lead speaker in both the Bicycle and Motorcycle industries at their national trade shows. Mercedes has given seminars internationally and speaks fluent German. She is a published column writer for industry magazines and has been involved in 50+ educational video segments for the Bicycle industry.