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).

Wrigley Field
1060 W Addison St, Chicago, IL 60613
Chicago, Illinois, 60613
United States

Bradley Ross Nardick

The President of The Bazaar, Inc. and passionate inclusion activist

As the 3rd generation CEO of The Bazaar Incorporated, I am responsible for leading a team of 150 people every day. We are one of the leading distributors of name brand overstock in the country. During my short tenure as CEO, we have dramatically increased profitability through the implementation of modern technology, better team cohesiveness, and a sharper focus on productivity. All of this has been done through a focus on inclusiveness in the workplace, aligning our entire team behind a common mission. As a young man growing up with many learning disabilities, I always identified with people who are told a story that they wont amount to much of anything. That is why I have always been committed to disability employment and inclusion. My team and I have built a highly successful disability employment program. 30% of my team are people with disabilities. We have won several awards, including one from the Department of Rehabilitation Services in the State of Illinois.

Clarisol Duque

State Director for United States Senator Dick Durbin

Leads Sen. Durbin’s 14-person Chicago office responsible for serving constituents in northeastern Illinois including Chicago and the six collar county region. Manage all aspects of the Chicago office’s operation including high volume constituent services for a geographic area with nearly 8 million people and outreach to units of government, community-based organizations, businesses, cultural institutions, advocacy groups and elected officials at all levels of government. Manage staff providing statewide communications and scheduling for Sen. Durbin. Maintain relationships for Sen. Durbin with local, state and federal elected officials. Advisor to Sen. Durbin on legislative and community issues affecting Illinois constituents. Provide rapid response and strategy on legislative and community issues. Surrogate for Sen. Durbin at state events and meetings.

Cosette Nazon-Wilburn

CEO of the LUV Institute

COSETTE WILBURN is a humanitarian, teacher, author, marketing entrepreneur and co-founder of THE LUV INSTITUTE. Her commitment to nurturing human capital began as a teenager working under the guidance of her parents in the nursing home they owned in Illinois. There, she noticed the unhealthy impact of loneliness on the long-term well-being of the elderly residents and created Adopt A Grandparent Day as a way to address it. This strong foundation of caring for others lead to her ultimately creating the Love, Unity & Values Institute, (501 (c)(3) to actively work at reducing poverty among a target group of vulnerable children and young adults ages 11 to 24 at critical stages in their life. Through its programs and workshops, LUV helps build social-emotional learning, college and career readiness and job placement for young people in sustainable employment that reflects market demands.

Eileen Favorite

Novelist and Literature Professor

Eileen Favorite is an educator and writer, the author of The Heroines (Scribner), which has been translated into six languages. Her essays, poems, and stories have appeared in The Chicago Tribune, The Rumpus, Triquarterly, The Toast, The Chicago Reader, Diagram, and others. She’s received fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council for poetry and for prose. She teaches writing and literature at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and at the University of Chicago’s Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Ziegler

CEO of 1871

A lifelong problem solver, people leader, and learner, Betsy is the CEO of 1871, the #1 ranked private incubator in the world inspiring and supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs and innovators solving some of the world’s most important problems. Before joining 1871, she served as the Chief Innovation Officer, and the Associate Dean Degree Programs and Dean of Students at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Prior to Kellogg, she was a principal in McKinsey & Company’s Chicago office. She is a leader on multiple for-profit and nonprofit boards and is an investor in many young tech companies. Every day for the last 20+ years, Betsy has had the opportunity to help other people be successful – clients, students, and now entrepreneurs and innovators. Raised in Milwaukee as a Cubs fan, Betsy is a collector of unusual experiences, has circled the globe solo, is a maniacal Ohio State Buckeye football fan, and is a proud mom of her young son Charlie.

Hari Michele Osofsky

Dean of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

Hari is the Dean, Myra and James Bradwell Professor of Law, and Professor of Environmental Policy and Culture (courtesy) at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Prior to that she served as the Dean of Pennsylvania State Law and School of International Affairs, as well as Distinguished Professor of Law, Professor of International Affairs & Professor of Geography at the Pennsylvania State University. She holds a J.D. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Oregon.

Jay Kumary

The Happiness Professor

Jay Kumar, Ph.D. is the Director of Wellbeing and professor of the popular “Happiness” course at Chapman University. He is a recognized author, public speaker, thought leader, and academic. His expertise spans brain science, behavioral health, economics, politics, culture, and religion. Dr. Jay is the author of the recent book “Science of a Happy Brain” and instructor of the LinkedIn Learning course “How to Train Your Brain for Happiness” – currently reaching over 100K learners around the globe. A speaker and consultant for Fortune 500 companies, Dr. Jay is frequently featured in media stories focusing on mental health and the science of resilience and wellbeing for both individuals and organizations.

Jellystone Robinson-Frazier

Artist

Pat Frazier is a black trans lesbian and eldest sibling from the south side of Chicago with a B.A. in community organizing from the accredited university of their granny’s house. They have held many roles, including Chicago and National Youth Poet Laureate, teaching artist in residence at Young Chicago Authors and Mutual Aid Coordinator at the Youth Empowerment Performance Project.. Pat’s work has been featured in The Library of Congress, Federal hall, Vogue and elsewhere. The Davis-Putter Scholar, YoungArts Alum, Sula Studios and Assata’s Daughters member is a senior Film and TV major at Columbia College Chicago.

Jeni Britton

Founder and CEO of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream

Jeni Britton is an American ice cream maker and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the artisan ice cream movement, she introduced a modern, ingredient-driven style of ice cream making that has been widely emulated across the world but never duplicated. Jeni opened her first ice cream shop, Scream, in 1996, then founded Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in 2002. Her first cookbook, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller and won a coveted James Beard Award in 2012. It quickly became the de facto bible for anybody making their own ice cream or thinking about opening a new-style ice cream shop. Her second cookbook, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Desserts (2014), took ice cream to the next level with an array of incredible plated, layered, and piled-high ice cream-centric desserts. As Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Jeni remains the beating heart of the company and is in charge of all creative output.

K. F. Jacques

Recording Artist

Khary "K. F. Jacques" Laurent is a brilliant and multi-faceted opera and rap music recording artist. He has been featured on the Rosie Show (Oprah Winfrey Network), various Polish Television and radio networks, and has toured the US, Poland, and several other countries.

Keneeshia Nicole Williams

Trauma Surgeon

Dr. Keneeshia Williams earned her BA degree in Biology and Chemistry from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While at Augsburg, Dr. Williams was a McNair Scholar. Dr. Williams then received her MD degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria and returned to Chicago to complete her general surgery residency at University of Illinois at Mount Sinai Hospital. She undertook a one-year research residency in the NIH-funded training program in trauma and burn research at the Burn and Shock Trauma Research Institute of Loyola University Medical Center, and did her surgical critical care/acute care surgery fellowship at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson. She is now an assistant professor of Surgery at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She serves as a trauma surgeon, emergency/elective general surgeon, and surgical critical care intensivist at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Manny Mendoza

Chef

South side Chicago-native Manuel “Manny” Mendoza is the founder & chef of a culinary legal cannabis supper club called Herbal Notes founded in 2017. Mendoza is a career-long chef & hospitality professional formally beginning his career at the Culinary Institute of America in New York training amongst some of the best chefs in the world. While working in top kitchens in Chicago, it was here that Mendoza began to take legal cannabis, food, & experience – together as a holistic agent for healing – serious. Mendoza’s research into cannabis began in California where he not only worked in legal cannabis cultivation and retail, but was also formally trained in urban sustainable farming at the Wild Willow School of farming in San Diego.

Mathilda Edge

Dramatic Soprano Performer

Mathilda Edge, soprano, is originally from Chandlerville, Illinois. She is currently a member of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan ensemble at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In the upcoming 2021-22 season, lyric dramatic soprano Mathilda Edge is scheduled to sing the Lady in Waiting in Verdi’s Macbeth under the baton of Enrique Mazzola and First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, as well as cover the title role in Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Mathilda will also return to the Millennium Park stage in Chicago for a concert by Rising Stars of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Miranda Gonzalez

Producing Artistic Director at UrbanTheater Company

Miranda Gonzalez is currently a Producing Artistic Director at UrbanTheater Company (UTC) in Humboldt Park and is a part of The Nova Collective, a diversity equity and inclusion consulting firm. She was a founding ensemble member of Chicago’s All Latina Theater company Teatro Luna and has devised and developed plays since 2000. She is a two time 3Arts nominee and recipient of the International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Award. Her most recent play Back In The Day: an 80’s House Music Dancesical, World Premiered as a part of Chicago Latino Theater Festival Destinos Festival at UTC in the fall of 2019. She is currently developing a play that discusses the history of the underground railroad to Mexico as a part of Latino Theater Company’s Imaginistas cohort in Los Angeles.

Nicolaus David

Uber Driver and Peace Activist

Nicolaus Wilburn has worked with several non-profit initiatives and has an overwhelming passion for growth in this area. He brings over 9 years of experience in Marketing/Sales and Strategic Business Development to the company. Nicolaus is an alumni of Georgia State University with a double major in Biology/Pre-Med and Marketing, Nicolaus has utilized this knowledge to co-develop the youth driven website Thecycleofpeace.org

Pierce Kruse

Speaker

Pierce Kruse is a charismatic speaker and brilliant chess player, with a unique ability to connect with others.

Shelton Banks

CEO of Rework Training

Born in an untapped neighborhood on the southside of Chicago, Shelton Banks’ story shows life isn’t determined by the cards you are dealt, but how you play your hand. Having a background that lends itself to common Black stereotypes – high-school dropout, single-parent household, and other daily hardships – Shelton knows how to face and overcome fundamental challenges that arise as a result of lack of education, capital, and the color of skin. Shelton is a certified diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant, Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, and co-founder of Sales for The Culture. He is also CEO at re:work training, a non-profit organization focused on creating workplaces that reflect the diversity of our neighborhoods, starting with the tech industry. Combining his background in sales and passion for DEI, Shelton is bridging the gap between overlooked communities and companies committed to taking real action on DEI.

Zeeba Kruse

Singer

Zeeba Kruse is a budding poet, movie-maker, scientist, writer, and singer.