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).

Metropolitan
1 S Clinton Ave, Rochester, NY 14604
Rochester, New York, 14604
United States

Ashley Campbell

Ashley Campbell Dr. Ashley N. Campbell is a culture and social impact expert with more than ten years of progressive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) higher education, not-for-profit, and entrepreneurial experience. Her research and practice focus on arts-based research methodologies, ethnic psychology, speculative fiction, and television media—all areas that she utilizes for multicultural programming, organizational development, and data analysis. With the requisite expertise for visionary-, systems-, and operational-thinking approaches, Dr. Campbell enjoys bringing strong, transformative teams, and partnerships together to develop and empower communities of people for systemic and institutional change. Dr. Campbell serves as Director of Equity and Inclusion Research and Research Education with the Office of Equity and Inclusion and Assistant Professor within the Health Humanities and Bioethics Department at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Within the community, Dr. Campbell serves as an active member of the Rochester Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and the Rochester (NY) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated. In addition, she has over 20 years of professional classical dance training, teaching, and experience which has afforded her opportunities to dance with Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Garth Fagan Dance, and appear in the film, Step Up 2. Facebook: @ashleynicolephd Twitter: @ashleynicolephd Instagram: @ashleynicolephd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyncampbell/

Cass McCory

Cass McCrory Cass McCrory is a sought after marketing strategist, speaker, and trainer advising large enterprises and start-ups as they take their message and products to their target audience. Cass is passionate about doing work and life with great intention and that intentionality leads to success for projects and most importantly for people. Clients include Accenture, Microsoft, Avanade, and solo entrepreneurs making their mark on the world. She has been featured in Oprah Magazine, a guest on The Lively Show and Creative Superhero and is host of her own podcast In Business Pod. Based in Rochester, NY Cass has 4 ridiculously cute kids and 2 dogs with her amazing husband George and a love of photography and the moon. Follow along in business: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cass-mccrory/ Follow along personally: https://www.instagram.com/cassmccrory/ Connect on Values & Intention: https://cassmccrory.com/

Helene Biandudi Hofer

Helene B Hofer Hélène Biandudi Hofer is a broadcast journalist, documentary filmmaker, media entrepreneur, and conflict coach. She led an award-winning news magazine program in Western New York for nearly a decade, exploring remedies to societal challenges. Her work spans investigating police reform in Camden, New Jersey, to examining education opportunities in South Sudan. Hélène is the founder of HBH Enterprises. The media group partners with news organizations and production companies to create multimedia content and media training for difference-makers taking on social issues in their part of the world. Most recently, she co-founded Good Conflict, an organization that helps communities and companies get smarter about how they fight. Through her work in conflict, Hélène has trained over a thousand journalists across 150 newsrooms worldwide on how to transform their coverage of controversial and divisive issues. She has worked with CBS, NPR, and PBS and collaborated with reporters, filmmakers, and journalist-serving organizations around the globe. Hélène credits her passion for journalism and storytelling to her Nkoko [great-grandmother], the oral historian of the Biandudi family in Kinshasa, DRC. http://helenebiandudihofer.com/ https://papapokey.com/

Lori Bajorek

Lori Bajorek Lori Bajorek is president and CEO of the National Esports Association (NEA), through which she champions the wellness and academic success of esports athletes. In 2021 Yahoo! Sports ranked NEA third in the country among esports entities “on the cutting edge of gaming.” Microsoft leadership named Bajorek an honoree of the Microsoft Legacy Project for Women History Month in March 2022— alongside luminaries like Jane Goodell, Jane Fonda, astronauts, a Nobel Prize laureate, and athletic pioneers. Bajorek’s current passion project is the creation of the first high school-esports program in the country to award course credit toward graduation, launched with great success at Vertus High School in Rochester, N.Y. She continues to build upon her 13 years of experience creating and operating videogame-centered programs as alternative learning for K-12 students — even before esports was called esports. She developed what is considered the first educational programs for esports, pioneering a governance structure for esports in education, including establishing academic standards and developing curriculum. Bajorek is a sought-after speaker at national and international conferences and source for national media. Her entrepreneurial background includes work with Fortune 500 companies. She studied at Emma Willard School, a leading college-prep private school, and earned a bachelor’s degree in child psychology from the University of Buffalo. Bajorek and her husband, Ronald, have two grown children, Alia and Trip. LinkedIn @lori.bajorek www.nea.gg

Naima Judge

Naima Judge Naima Judge is an Investment Executive at one of the largest financial institutions in the Nation and has over 20 years’ experience in the Wealth Management industry. In her current role, she serves as the Chief Investment Officer for the state of Georgia, leading a team of professionals who oversee more than $4 billion in assets for high- net-worth individuals and families. Naima attended Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts on a Division I full basketball scholarship where she earned her bachelor’s degree in International Business and Finance. She also earned her MBA in Entrepreneurship and Corporate Accounting from the University of Rochester’s, Simon School of Business. While living in her hometown of Rochester, NY, Naima co- founded a community service organization called Women In Service Excellence, or “W.I.S.E.” WISE focused on mentoring and educating inner-city young women on a host of topics such as etiquette, personal finance, and public speaking. In 2021, Naima was honored by Diversity Woman Magazine as part of their Power List. She is a speaker, philanthropist, rising author, and fierce advocate for women of color in Corporate America. Her most important accomplishments are that of being a wife to her husband William, and mother to her two children, Jaydon and Jordin. Naima is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc, and served on the board of several non profit organizations. @naijudge https://www.instagram.com/naijudge/ @naima.judge https://www.facebook.com/naima.judge

Phil Broikos

Entrepreneur

After graduating with a degree in music production and engineering, Phil worked for Rounder Records in Cambridge. From there, he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and ended up in law school at Syracuse University. After graduating law school, he was back at making music. Once he passed the NYS bar (two tries) he fought the good fight as an attorney, first representing tenants in evictions, then immigrants facing deportation. During the Great Recession, he rolled the dice again and became an award-winning soda entrepreneur. After a cancer diagnosis, Broikos turned his energy back to music, with his project a day in music. Born and raised in Penfield, NY, he currently resides there with his wife, two daughters, and emotional support pitbull.

Phillippa Thiuri

Phillippa Thiuri Phillippa Thiuri, Ph.D. is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HUGSE) and Boston College. Phillippa has over 20 years of higher education teaching experience and has had the opportunity to serve the students of Simmons University, Harvard University, Wellesley College, and Rochester Institute of Technology. Her research interests include diversity-equity-and inclusion in higher education, workforce development, and change management. Phillippa Thiuri was born and raised in Kenya and spent her formative years traveling and living all over Africa and Canada. This early foundation is the prism Phillippa has used to understand our world ultimately affirming all people. Phillippa’s commitment and appreciation of cross-cultural awareness continues as she maintains language fluency in Swahili, conversational French, and Arabic additionally conducting workshops in the areas of multicultural competence. Currently, Phillippa is the Assistant Vice President for Student Access and Success in the Division of Diversity and Inclusion at RIT. She also is a lecturer at the Saunders College of Business. She regularly teaches RIT students in Dubai and Croatia and has expanded her knowledge and expertise in managing and leveraging cultural diversity in teams. Additionally, this experience has had a considerable impact on her teaching techniques by increasing appeal to students from many backgrounds, creating appropriate content learning objectives, and providing students opportunities for critical thinking around multicultural appreciation, therefore, assisting students’ discovery of themselves and others. Phillippa remains dedicated to learning more about diversity every day through the students she works with as it is critical for caring and ethical teachers to instill the value of appreciating and respecting diversity in all of our students, for their success, and for a better world. Facebook: /phillippa.powers Instagram: phillippapowers LinkedIn: /phillippa-thiuri-ph-d