Theme: Legacy

TEDxConcordiaCollege is a half-day event with an audience of about 100 students and community members at Concordia College, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Our goal is to bring together bright minds to give talks that are idea-focused, and on a wide range of subjects, to foster learning, inspiration, and wonder – and provoke conversations that matter.

LEGACY – Generational impact portraying the influence of human potential. We think it is especially important to speak on this topic now because since the pandemic started, we have realized tomorrow is not promised. This realization made us reflect on a lot of things concerning legacy, and raised a lot of questions. What would be our legacy right now, if there was no tomorrow? Does everyone have equal opportunities and access to resources to establish their legacy? What is the definition of legacy, and is it the same for everybody? Has the definition of legacy evolved as everything else in our daily lives is changing? What do you think?https://www.concordiacollege.edu/academics/schools/offutt-school-of-business/tedxconcordia/

Barry Auditorium
901 8th Street S.
Moorhead, Minnesota, 56562
United States

Carolyn Holbrook

Carolyn Holbrook is a writer, educator, and an advocate for the healing power of the arts. Her memoir, Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify (Minn 2020), won the 2021 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. She is founder and director of the Twin Cities-based conversation series, More Than a Single Story, and is co-editor with David Mura of the anthology, We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World published by University of MN Press with More Than a Single Story (Minn2021). She is also co-author with Arleta Little of Dr. Josie Johnson’s memoir, Hope In the Struggle (Minn 2019). She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships. She won the Minnesota Book Awards Kay Sexton Award in 2010 and was a 50 over 50 honoree in 2016. She teaches at the Loft Literary Center and other community venues, and at Hamline University, where she won the exemplary teacher award in 2014. She is the mother of 5, grandmother of 8 and great grandmother of 2.

Chelsea Masikati

Chelsea Masikati is a young, female education enthusiast who was born and raised in Zimbabwe and is presently a junior at Concordia College, majoring in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. She is passionate about science and healthcare, and hopes to proceed to Dental School and eventually practice Dental Surgery in the future. Chelsea is also very passionate about serving, and focusing on developing and propagating mindsets that will be the bedrock of change and better societies. As for hobbies, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, singing, and biking.

Francis Martinson

Francis Martinson, is a PhD Student with the North Dakota State University, a Network Engineer and Cloud Solutions Architect. Francis’s interests are in Machine Learning, Data Science, Cloud Computing, Software Engineering. He is a member of the North Dakota State University Chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.He calls himself the jack of many passions as he finds himself on a day impacting students via faculty responsibilities, helping high profile companies resolve technical IT issues or even managing a team of highly motivated individuals to offer the best customer experience. His experience has fallen within so many sectors and in the last decade he has contributed meaningfully to the field of education, banking and finance, Information and Technology and Customer Experience.Francis primarily mentors a group of passionate IT students across three continents and it is his hope that they will greatly impact the future of Science and Technology. Francis is married with a son, he enjoys coding, and writing short literature at his leisure times.

Mukai Selekwa

With 7+ years of experience in business, entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and psychology, Kai’s mission is to push for a world that respects and progresses our humanity instead of taking advantage of it.

Tracy Lysne

Tracy Lysne began her career as a math teacher, teaching in both middle school and high school. From 2013 to 2015, she worked at two primary schools in Loxton, South Australia as a pastoral care worker, where she supported students, parents, and staff. She is currently the program director of the M.Ed. in the Teaching and Learning Program at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Tracy has been a facilitator/adjunct professor in the program for 20+ years where she has supported hundreds of teachers through their master's journey. Tracy is a proud alum of Concordia College and received her M.Ed. from Saint Mary's and is currently pursuing an additional master's degree in character education through the University of Birmingham, UK. She is certified in Cognitive Coaching by the Thinking Collaborative and is a Gallup certified CliftonStrengths® coach. Tracy has four daughters who she believes have been her greatest teachers. She is fascinated by how humans learn, social-emotional learning, the inner life of the teacher, equipping parents, and is passionate about nurturing potential in students and teachers.

William Craft

William Craft has served as President of Concordia College since 2011. Prior to his election as President, he served at Luther College as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, holding a faculty appointment as Professor of English. Dr. Craft earned his doctorate in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been a Fellow of the Newberry Library and the American Council on Education. In the summer of 2008, he completed the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management. Dr. Craft recently completed his service as past board chair of board of directors for the American Association of Colleges and Universities. He serves on the board of Corus International, the global health and economic development agency; and is the current chair of the Lutheran Educational Conference of North America. Additionally, he serves on the Executive, Audit, and Public Policy Committees of the Minnesota Private College Council, on the regional board of U.S. Bank, on the board of the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Corporation, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Downtown Moorhead Inc.