Theme: Making a Difference

We all want a better world. What helps accomplish this is positive change. There are people who are being proactive and are fostering movements that are “making a difference”, which is the theme for our 2021 event. Hear the stories from these change makers and join like-minded people who want to be inspired, educated, and motivated. We are thrilled to hold this year’s event in downtown Lancaster’s historic Fulton Theater! Experience what it’s like to attend an independently organized TED event!

Fulton Theater
12 N. Prince Street
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17603
United States

Andrew Bliss

Student

Andrew Bliss is a student in biomedical engineering at Cornell University. He currently is an undergraduate researcher in the De Vlaminck Lab in circulating cell-free DNA and RNA and plans to continue his education through medical school. Andrew found the value of mentorship by chance as a high school student and now wants to help create opportunities for other young students in the community and across the country in STEM as the co-creator of TEAM Marstronaut, a mentorship program that is a part of the Force for Health network.

Dr. Alexia McKnight

Veterinary radiologist

Alexia McKnight grew up in Virginia, wanting to be a veterinary radiologist. Becoming fascinated with advanced imaging, particularly MRI, she pursued veterinary medicine to realize that goal. After a post-doctoral fellowing at an MRI lab and a diagnostic imaging residency, she taught equine and large animal radiology before starting her own teleradiology practice in Chadds Ford, PA. Her career focus has been equine MRI, as she enjoyed the advantages of technology throughout her career and personal life. An unexpected twist ushered her through some legal and legislative landscapes while experiencing a different perspective of radiation and technology.

Dr. Vincent Carson

Clinical Operations Director at the Clinic for Special Children

Vincent Carson is a Pediatric Neurologist at the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The Clinic for Special Children is a nonprofit clinic that serves as a trusted medical practice for children and adults with rare genetic disorders from the Amish and Mennonite communities. He is fortunate to work with an amazing team of physicians, nurses, genetic counselors, and laboratory scientists at the Clinic, which enables him to integrate clinical medicine with patient-centered research on a daily basis. His research is focused on neurogenetics, ranging from neuromuscular disorders and metabolic disorders to epilepsy. He earned his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Pennsylvania State University, his M.D. at the Drexel University College of Medicine, and completed residency in both Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology at the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Eric Sauder

Founder of the non-profit RegenAll

Eric Sauder is a social innovator focused on climate change with a background in engineering, sustainability, and design. Despite the looming challenge of climate change, Eric is resolutely optimistic about the potential for people to implement solutions that build a more vibrant and equitable world. For the past five years, he has worked alongside farmers and natural resource professionals to create new programs and support for farmers to sequester carbon, generate ecosystem services, and create resilient agricultural economies. This vantage point allowed Eric to see the potential for greater regional climate collaboration. He founded RegenAll, a Lancaster, PA based nonprofit, to catalyze regeneration across rural and urban communities. RegenAll works with households, businesses, and communities to identify and implement place-based climate solutions that capitalize on a region’s unique strengths and resources.

Gail Groves Scott

Public health researcher and doctoral student

A researcher, public health policy advocate and doctoral student, Gail Groves Scott, MPH, studies prescription drug marketing and addiction policy. She was a pharmaceutical sales rep for more than 16 years, before becoming a whistleblower for the U.S. Department of Justice, about the marketing of the addiction medicine Suboxone ™(buprenorphine/naloxone). She testified as a fact witness for a grand jury in the Purdue Pharma/ OxyContin ™ case. Most recently, she spent three years on staff at a Philadelphia university, launching a program to educate multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and policymakers about addiction, recovery, harm reduction & stigma. Gail was a TEDMED 2018 scholar.

Matthew Woodson

Director of Community Percussion at Music for Everyone

Matthew Woodson is an educator, performer, and entrepreneur based out of Lancaster, PA. A percussionist by trade he can be seen with local band Big Boy Brass, his most recent steelpan project Woodson Steel Experience, and other local production companies. As the Director of Community Percussion for the local non-profit Music For Everyone, he instructs students in the School District of Lancaster and facilitates group drumming events/programs throughout the community.

Nate Luvice

Mentor at Bench Mark Program

Nate Luvice is a mentor at Bench Mark Program and Behavioral Specialist at SESI Schools. As a graduate of Bench Mark, Nate was offered the opportunity to come back and work with students similar to himself that have been affected by trauma, gangs, and drugs. His own journey is an example for young people on how they can change their lives. Nate worked his way from a part-time role, to a full-time position, and ultimately to a full-time job in a local behavioral school. These days he's a proud father, a dedicated community member, and someone who has changed the course of his family's history for generations to come.

Tracie Young

Founder, Director, and Wildlife Rehabilitator of Raven Ridge Wildlife Center

A lifelong resident of Pennsylvania, Tracie Young has always had a profound love of animals. When the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the largest oil spill in the history of marine drilling, Tracie wanted to help the hundreds of thousands of animals that had been affected. Tracie learned that only licensed wildlife rehabilitators were being allowed access to the animals affected by the gulf spill. She decided then to become a wildlife rehabilitator.

Will Kiefer

Executive Director of Bench Mark Program

Will Kiefer started Bench Mark Program in 2014 and has since expanded the organization to serve well over 100 students per year. Will loves working with his team to problem solve. Nothing makes him happier than seeing his teammates, who were once Bench Mark students themselves, running the program on a daily basis. Will measures himself by the number of people whose lives he has made better.