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).

Online
TBD
Quincy, Illinois, 62301
United States

Bekka Ross-Russell

Bekka Ross Russell – founder and Executive Director of The Small Things, an NGO working with orphaned and vulnerable children and their families in Tanzania, East Africa. The Small Things integrates a comprehensive family preservation program with high-quality, loving, community-based residential care. That means keeping children in homes where they belong, caring for them when their families can’t, and doing all that we can to reunify children in our care with relatives. Bekka is also the founder of the Families and Futures Coalition of Tanzania www.familiesandfutures.org, a coalition of organizations working together to democratize and decolonize access to high-quality trainings and practical support, in order to help grassroots organizations improve their quality of care and move toward family-first models. The coalition helps local organizations to tackle challenges including program development, monitoring and evaluation, case management, access to specialist services, and overall capacity building. Bekka is mom to her beloved kids Zawadi and Simon, adopted from Tanzania, and can usually be found surrounded by her foster children and the amazing kids at TST’s children’s village. She is the recipient of BA and BFA degrees, author of “Gender and Jewelry: A Feminist Analysis,” and has also completed an MPA in International Development at the London School of Economics, focusing on African child welfare systems. She is deeply passionate about using rigorous, evidence-based methodologies to create opportunities for kids and families to climb out of poverty, and believes that every small act matters in the service of great love and sustainable change. We are grateful to Shaun Finn Cinematography and 2 Mountains Lodge for their help in creating this video.

Ben Simms

Ben Simms is an award-winning Director, Producer and Photographer who has been an integral part of various projects in over 40+ countries across all 7 continents. His diverse body of work spans hundreds of hours of content that includes a broad range of adventure television, live sports, music events, documentary films, and even interactive movies with partners that include Netflix, Disney+, Nat Geo, NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, Discovery, Showtime, NFL Network, Fox Sports, Facebook, and Nike. Ben has been nominated for numerous awards including Emmy’s, DGA Directing Award’s, Critics Choice and an NFL Commissioner’s Award as well as taken home honors in numerous Film Festivals. He is an active member of The Directors Guild, The Producers Guild, The Emmy Television Academy and The Digital Cinema Society. Ben also loves sharing his expertise by giving keynote speeches on creative storytelling and how best to manage teams and projects in extreme conditions. His photography can be seen in over 100 digital and print publications which include several book covers and product lines you’ve likely seen. As a way to combine his work with his passions and push his creative edge, Ben is an avid Skydiver, Scuba Dive Master and Triathlete who partakes in just about anything that includes the outdoors.

Charles Scheinblum

Charles is a storyteller, as both a profession and a hobby. During business hours it’s working as a video producer for a large tech company. In his freetime, it’s taking stage and pulling from life’s successes and its [many] failures. Charles is also a 2X Moth Grand Slam Storytelling Winner and Toastmasters Champion. View his Moth GrandSLAM piece here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkVlRdHuga8

Damon Lamar-Reed

There’s truth to the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Artist Damon Lamar Reed brings that truth to reality. From hip-hop to public art, he strives to create messages that reach the depth of the human condition. After graduating from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Damon began his career as an Artist and entrepreneur. To date, he has created over 280 public art projects including: works for Super Bowl 46, Showtime(The Chi), Gatorade, the Chicago Blackhawks, Ticketmaster, and Sears to name a few. His work is featured in books such as, Kym Pinders’, Painting the Gospel: Public Art and Religion in Chicago. During the George Floyd riots, the BBC did a feature on the impact of Damon’s art; and recently News Nation, ABC, CBS, WGN and NBC featured him because of his latest series, Still Searching, where he paints portraits of missing women in Chicagoland. He is also filming a documentary with the same name backed by Hulu, Kartemquin Films and Still I Rise Films. He is a true believer in the POWER of art and he uses it as a catalyst to change the world! For more info visit www.damonlamarreed.com or @damonlamarreed on social media.

David Gould

David Gould is a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center. Previously, Mr. Gould served the University of Iowa as an administrator at the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, the Associate Director of Professional Student Development in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, a Lecturer in the Department of Health and Human Physiology, and the first Obermann Center Public Scholar. Mr. Gould also worked with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project in its effort to transform Las Vegas into the “most community-focused large city in the world.” For over a decade, the focus of Mr. Gould’s work has revolved around reimagining higher education, and in turn, he has created a number of distinctive university courses concentrated on issues of meaning and community engagement. These courses have garnered considerable media attention and professional recognition. From 2010 – 2021, graduating seniors at the University of Iowa have recognized Mr. Gould as one of the top faculty and staff members “who has had a positive effect on their life.” Mr. Gould was awarded the 2020 Honors Teaching Award and 2019 David J. Skorton Staff Excellence Award in Service to The University of Iowa. Mr. Gould is also a sought-after public speaker whose presentations include the commencement address for the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Educating 21st Century Adolescent Learners (keynote, Tokyo, Japan), Luther College Convocation, Next Gen. Summit (keynote), TEDx Iowa City, and TEDxUNI. Mr. Gould directed the documentary Two Sides of the Moon (Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, UNSPOKEN Human Rights Film Festival, FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival, among others.) He also produced The Checker King (HBO2), and Freestyle: The Victories of Dan Gable (HBO Signature). Currently, Mr. Gould is producing the feature film Gable.

Latoya Flowers

Latoya graduated from the School of Visual Arts and received an MFA in Social Documentary Film. She’s currently directing and producing her first feature-length documentary, Still Searching supported by the Hulu / Kartemquin Films Accelerator Program and the Still I Rise Films Fellowship. She currently is a Senior Multimedia Creative at the Field Museum in Chicago and has made guest speaker appearances on ABC7 Chicago, CBS News Chicago, at the Chicago Botanic Garden, School of the Art Institute and More. Visit stillsearchingdocumentary.com

Lysne Tait

Lysne Tait is a nationally recognized leader in the period poverty space. In early 2015, she co-founded and is currently Executive Director of a nonrprofit called Helping Women Period. Helping Women Period's mission is to provide no cost menstrual products those experiencing homeless or low-income disparity. Passionate about creating connections, Lysne also founded and runs the 20K member Not Your Mother’s Networking Group – a local women only Facebook group. She’s appeared in Oprah Magazine, TeenVogue, Forbes, and countless podcasts talking about period poverty in the United States. Lysne has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and Communication from Eastern Michigan University and currently resides in DeWitt, MI with her family.

Nick Stewart

Regional Emmy awarded Meteorologist Nick Stewart is an avowed science nerd and uses his enthusiasm for weather, space and the natural world to educate and engage the public on these topics. Stewart graduated from Western Illinois University in December 2015 with a degree in meteorology focusing on severe weather. He entered the broadcast meteorology field at KHQA in Quincy, IL in December 2015 where he became the weekend meteorologist and storm chaser for the station. In December 2017, Stewart moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa ultimately becoming the evening meteorologist at KGAN. While at KGAN, Stewart was awarded six Emmys for his work as an on-air meteorologist communicating the threat of severe weather, as a storm chaser during high-impact weather events and as a producer for weather specials chronicling past major severe weather events. While also doing side research on severe weather, Stewart hopes to expand the general public's envelope of scientific knowledge, including the impact of climate change, and tries to connect people with major scientific news topics. How can we all work harder on creating science literacy?

Pres Maxson

Pres Maxson is a career copywriter, novelist, musician and creative. This will be his second appearance on the TEDx stage, and he has also appeared in other notable spotlights including Spark Talks. Pres’ 2018 appearance at TEDxQuincy was titled, “In Pursuit of Bad Art,” and was TEDxQuincy's most-viewed talk of the 2018 line-up. His newest novel, Bastards of the Revolution, is currently burning up the humor rankings on Amazon and was released on April 5th, 2022. His previous release, Kevin on Earth, peaked at #15 on Amazon’s best seller list for science fiction/humor on debut weekend. “A fun tongue-in-cheek look at the past year from the eyes of an alien. This quick read is witty and terribly funny at times.” (Amazon reviewer.) Pres was a NUVO magazine nominee for Best Local Author in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2016, 2017, and 2018. His 2017 novel, Pigeon, received the Naked Reviewers’ 2018 Book of the Year Award, was a finalist in the New Adult category of the Indie Book Awards, and received honorable mention in both the New York Book Festival and the Paris Book Festival in 2018. His other novels include Pigeon, which has been praised as “A delightfully entertaining and outrageously absurd detective story. This is the kind of read I call “cotton candy” for the brain… Pigeon is light reading at its finest.” (Grandma Peachy, Peachysinsights.com) and Bender at the Bon Parisian, which has been hailed as a “delightful romp” and “energetic yarn with a cast of fascinating characters.” Maxson has also contributed a humous chapter to the collection “Non-stalgia: A Fiction Anthology.” Pres has appeared in support of his novels on Indianapolis’ NPR affiliate 90.1 WFYI; on internet stations Indy In-Tune and Radio Free Indy; and on the Brother, Brother Beer Cast. Pres also performs live readings, most notably at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library. View his other TED piece at https://www.ted.com/talks/pres_maxson_in_pursuit_of_bad_art_jan_2018 Find his books on Amazon or your local bookseller!

Roger Breisch

Roger has lived an eclectic life. He holds a Master of Science in Mathematics from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Science in Management from the Sloan School at MIT. During his career he taught high school, was a manager for a Fortune 100 company, owned a management consulting company, and, most recently ran the local Chamber of Commerce. In the midst of his professional career, Roger has volunteered extensively. He chaired the local 4th of July Fireworks for 17 years, has worked with teens in an anti-alcohol, anti-drug program for 16 years, and has spent more than 4,000 hours answering calls on a suicide hotline over that past 19 years. Roger speaks and writes extensively. He spoke at both TEDxIIT and TEDxQuincy. He has published two books: “Questions That Matter” and “Humanity’s Journey Home: Surrendering to the Wholeness that is Gaia.” Today, Roger focuses on helping others discover a “Life That Matters.” He and Judi, his wife of 39 years, have two grown children and live in Batavia, Illinois. Please also view Roger's prior TEDx pieces from 2018 TEDxQuincy and 2015 TEDxIIT and check out his new book, "Humanity's Journey Home," at your favorite booksellers.

Ryan Hesseltine

Ryan Hesseltine is a Principal Software/Systems Engineer at BAE Systems, Inc. in Cedar Rapids, IA. He currently works in the military GPS user equipment division. Prior to that he worked at Collins Aerospace in automatic flight controls and advanced data links, and the US Patent and Trademark Office as a patent examiner. He recently received his Master of Science degree in Space Systems Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. He received his undergraduate degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Iowa, where he was also in the Hawkeye Marching Band and the US Army Reserves. He enjoys attending Iowa football games, working on his 1967 Mustang, and playing baritone for Iowa Brass, a traditional British Brass Band.