Theme: Shifting the Center

When we focus on what's been traditionally centered in our society, what are we missing? Whether it's exploring traditionally marginalized stories and experiences, or exploring cultures and schools of thought that we're unfamiliar with, there's much to gain from shifting the center to make space for everyone. What might you center in order to inspire richer communities, relationships and lifestyles?

NVIDIA Auditorium
475 Via Ortega
Stanford, California, 94305
United States

Adrian Rodriguez

Adrian Rodriguez was born almost entirely blind in El Salvador. After losing his left retina, he learned to run and explore with a single half-formed eye. Yet Adrian struggled to find a school that would accept him, and he began his education in a neurodiverse classroom. Believing he could keep up with abled peers, Adrian learned to use special magnifying glasses to access information, ultimately gaining admission to Stanford, where he earned a degree in Computer Science. Since then, Adrian has spent his career finding ways to uncover the abilities of other blind people. He collaborated with the Ministry of Thailand to create a groundbreaking computer science course for the blind, and he co-founded an accessibility company called Group Theory. Today, Adrian is ready to share Group Theory's first breakthrough— and how it came to be.

Donnel Baird

Donnel Baird is the founder of BlocPower, a climate tech startup based in Brooklyn. BlocPowers tech platform analyzes, finances, and installs clean energy and building decarbonization upgrades in buildings in underserved communities. BlocPower creates jobs for qualified local low-income workers, energy savings for building owners, reduces carbon emissions and asthma rates, and provides financial returns to investors. In 2021, the company announced a historic partnership with Ithaca, New York to decarbonize 100% of the city’s buildings—the first such project in the United States. BlocPower is backed by Kapor Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Eric and Wendy Schmidt, the American Family Institute for social and environmental impact, and Salesforce. Baird is a graduate of Duke University and Columbia Business School, where he was a recipient of the Board of Overseers Fellowship and a recipient of investment from the Lang Fund for Entrepreneurial Initiatives. He spent four years as a political and community organizer, and more than two years managing a national initiative to leverage American Reinvestment and Recovery Act energy efficiency investments in underserved communities. He sits on various boards including the New York Federal Reserve Bank Advisory Board. Baird lives in New Jersey with his wife, and children.

Liz Jenkins

Liz Cooledge Jenkins is a writer, preacher, chaplain, and former college campus minister. She has a BS in Symbolic Systems from Stanford and a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. Her writing has been featured by Sojourners, Christians for Social Action, Red Letter Christians, and Feminism and Religion, and she regularly shares justice-minded spiritual reflections, poems, “super chill book reviews,” and more at lizcooledgejenkins.com. She lives with her husband Ken and their cat Athena in Burien, WA, where she enjoys swimming, hiking, attempting to grow vegetables, and drinking a lot of tea.

Maika Isogawa

Maika Isogawa is a 2020 Stanford Alum. She's also a former Cirque Du Soleil Acrobat where she toured with the international show TOTEM. Post-graduation, Maika worked for Microsoft as an Engineer in Cybersecurity working with government and has since started her own company, Webacy, focused on protecting digital assets for the unexpected. Maika is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Japanese TV show announcer, and board member of her favorite non-profit, Bean Voyage.