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).

IIM Ahmedabad
IIM Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380015
India

Aaquib Wani

Forbes 30 Under 30, Design 2021| Founder and creative director, Aaquib Wani Design

Aaquib Wani, a self-taught experiential designer, is the founder of Aaquib Wani Design. Backed by twelve years of experience, the studio focuses on marrying traditional graphic design elements with unique and contemporary visuals to bring unparalleled aesthetics for fashion, art, spaces, and brands. Wani graduated from designing the identity and posters for his band to designing album covers and merchandise for other bands that approached him. He later landed a job as an intern, working his way up to become art director with the music magazine Rock Street Journal. In 2018, Wani ventured out to start Aaquib Wani Design. “Its primary focus is to incorporate technology as a crucial element of experiential design to take design to another level."

Harish Iyer

Indian equal rights activist, Columnist, Blogger

Harish Iyer is an Indian equal rights activist. Iyer engages in advocacy for several causes, including promoting the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, children, women, animals, and survivors of child sexual abuse. Iyer was also one of the most vocal proponents of the decriminalization of homosexuality in India. He has engaged in several awareness campaigns about the decision's impact and condemned the ruling via media advocacy. In August 2018, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) appointed Iyer to the Core Group on LGBTI issues, a group set up to look into concerns and challenges of the community in a bid to harmonize existing laws with the needs of the community.

Medha Patkar

Indian social activist, Founding member of Narmada Bachao Andolan and National Alliance of People's Movements

"Medha Patkar, an alumnus of TISS, is an Indian social activist working on various crucial political and economic issues raised by tribals, Dalits, farmers, labourers and women facing injustice in India. Patkar is the founder member of the 32 years old people's movement called Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in three states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. She is also one of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) founders, an alliance of hundreds of progressive people's organizations. In addition to the above, Patkar was a commissioner on the World Commission on Dams, which conducted thorough research on the environmental, social, political and economic aspects and impacts of the development of large dams globally and their alternatives."

Parveen Talha

Indian Civil Servant, First Muslim woman in civil services | This is an online talk

Padma Shri Parveen Talha is an Indian civil servant, reported being the first Muslim woman to serve in any Class I civil service in India, the first Indian Revenue Service officer to become a member of the Union Public Service Commission and the first woman to serve in the Narcotics Department of India. She was bestowed the honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India, in 2014, for her services to the Indian Civil Service. As Director-General of Training, Talha raised the National Academy of Customs Excise and Narcotics (NACEN) to an International status by helping it become World Custom Organisation’s (WCO’s) Training Institute for the Asia-Pacific Region.

Pragnya Mohan

Indian triathlete, current South Asian Triathlon Champion, Gold Medalist South Asian and National Games

"Pragnya Mohan is an Indian triathlete from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. A qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, she is also India's first triathlete champion. She is the current South Asian triathlon champion, multiple times national champion and has won gold medals at the South Asian Games and the National Games. In 2015, she was also decorated with the Eklavya Award (Senior), the highest state sports award. "

Ravi Kaushik

Sr. Vice President, Data Science at Near

Ravi Kaushik, Senior Vice President, Data Science at Near, has led the data science organization, focused on building the best-in-class solutions leveraging ML/AI to infer real-world understandings. The organization has been credited and renowned for being the worlds most prominent source of intelligence on people, places, and products.

Salil Shetty

Indian human rights activist, Ex- Secretary General Amnesty International

Salil Shetty is an Indian human rights activist who was the Secretary-General of the human rights organization Amnesty International (2010–2018) till 31 July 2018. Previously, he was the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. Before joining the UN, he served as the Chief Executive of ActionAid. In recognition of his long-term commitment to Human Rights and his deep understanding of the complexities of human rights issues, Shetty was appointed a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights for the academic year 2018–2019. He is also affiliated with Harvard University's Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute for 2018–2019.

Shivshankar Menon

Indian diplomat, served as National Security Adviser of India under Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, Ex-Foreign Secretary

Shivshankar Menon, currently a Visiting Professor of International Relations at Ashoka University, is an Indian diplomat who started his career as an IFS in 1972. He has served as National Security Adviser of India under Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh. He had previously served as the Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. Before that, Menon was Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and ambassador to China and Israel. A major milestone of his career was the Indo-US nuclear deal, for which he had worked hard to convince NSG member nations along with Shyam Saran to get a clean waiver for nuclear supplies to India.

Sparsh Shah

Indian American rapper, singer, songwriter and inspirational speaker | This is an online talk

Sparsh is an Indian American rapper, singer, songwriter and inspirational speaker from New Jersey, US. Born in 2004 in Iselin, New Jersey, to a family of Indian descent, Sparsh has a rare disorder Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as Brittle Bone Disorder. He had over 35 broken bones in his body at the time of birth. Till now, he has suffered from 125 fractures. However, these adversities have not been able to stop Sparsh from pursuing his passion and life with full enthusiasm. He has been a motivational speaker and featured in several world-renowned television serials. He had visited India in 2019 and had an interview with Republic TV journalist Arnab Goswami.

Sujit Kumar

Adjunct / Visiting Professor at IIM Ahmedabad, Ex-Managing Director Sony Pictures Entertainment

Professor Sujit Kumar is a visiting Professor at IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, Indian School of Development Management and a Management Mentor. After 37 years in the corporate sector in India, Europe and USA, he has committed himself as an Academician and Mentor. He is credited for establishing Sony Pictures Entertainment in India in the late 90s, leading to the launch of Sony Entertainment Television, followed by other TV Channels in the Sony portfolio. Prior experience as an executive till 1999 and as a mentor/adviser thereafter extends to Consumer Goods, Telecom, ICT, Real Estate, Automotive, and Public Policy with organisations like Sony Pictures Entertainment, Reckitt Benckiser, J Walter Thomson, Turner International, Merrill Lynch, Som Dutt Builders Group and Caparo Group.

Vineeta Singh

CEO at SUGAR Cosmetics

Vineeta Singh is the Co-Founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics. A graduate of IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad, Singh was always passionate about building a consumer business for women. Vineeta has several lessons to share for budding entrepreneurs, from failures to huge breakthroughs. “I wanted to do something fast and fun, quickly scale up my business and IPO it,” she says. Today, Sugar has a physical presence across 2,500-plus outlets in over 130 cities across India. It hit ₹105 crores in revenue in FY20 and raised $21 million in venture funding led by Elevation Capital, valuing the startup at ₹750 crores.

Viral V. Acharya

Indian economist, Ex-Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India | This is an online talk

Viral V. Acharya is the C.V. Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern) and an Academic Advisor to the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia. He was an Indian economist appointed as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and served as a member of the advisory council of the RBI Academy. He has been a member of the Academic Council of the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) since 2014.