Theme: Female Empowerment

TEDxManalapanWomen presents Stand Up: an event dedicated to highlighting successful female voices with lives that challenge the status quo. Our mission is to inspire female Gen Zs and Millenials to take initiative and create a tangible impact in their communities.

Virtual
123 Ted Street
Manalapan, New Jersey, 07726
United States

Angélique Kidjo

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter

Angélique Kidjo is a creative force noted for her diverse musical influences and global activism. As a UNICEF and Oxfam ambassador, Kidjo also travels the world advocating on behalf of children. At the G7 Summit in 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron named her spokesperson for the AFAWA initiative (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) to help close the financing gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa. She has also created her own charitable foundation, Batonga, dedicated to supporting the education of young African girls. TIME magazine called Kidjo “Africa's premier diva” and named her one of the most influential people in the world in 2021. The BBC, Forbes magazine and The Guardian have all highlighted her importance to the people of the African continent. She is the recipient of the 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the 2016 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award and the 2018 German Sustainability Award.

Femi Oke

Broadcaster, journalist

Femi Oke is an international journalist, writer, and moderator. Femi Oke has leveraged her ability to ask endless questions at school into a surprisingly rich and non-linear career. The British-Nigerian journalist is an international broadcaster, professional facilitator and cofounder of Moderate The Panel, an organization working to make panel events less painful. Oke anchors the global affairs discussion show The Stream on Al Jazeera, is a correspondent for the network’s documentary series Fault Lines and is the social media correspondent for NPR's news program Here and Now. According to Oke, the secret to longevity in the news business is to love journalism and have a great moisturizer.

Jane Fonda

Actor, Activist

Jane Fonda has had four extraordinary careers (so far): Oscar-winning actor, author, fitness guru and impassioned activist. Jane Fonda’s career has spanned more than 50 years, with a body of work that includes more than 45 films and activism on issues such as women's rights, Native American rights and the environment. She is a two-time Academy Award winner, a seven-time Golden Globe winner, an Honorary Palme d'Or honoree, a 2014 AFI Life Achievement Award winner and the 2019 recipient of the Stanley Kubrick Excellence in Film Award as part of BAFTA's Britannia Awards.

Mary Robinson

Human rights advocate

The first woman elected president of Ireland, Mary Robinson is a passionate advocate for gender equality, feminist leadership, human dignity and climate justice. Mary Robinson served as president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002. She was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2009 and served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa. Since 2018, Robinson has been Chair of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders working together for peace, justice and human rights. Founded in 2007 by Nelson Mandela, The Elders work both publicly and through private diplomacy to resolve conflict, challenge injustice and promote ethical leadership. Robinson believes that intergenerational dialogue is vital to meet today’s global challenges.

Vanessa Nakate

Climate justice activist

Vanessa Nakate is the founder of the Rise Up movement, which seeks to amplify the voices of climate activists in Africa. The first “Fridays For Future” striker in Uganda, Vanessa Nakate founded Rise Up in 2018 as a way to give voice to African climate activists. Through the related Vash Green Schools Project, she’s also aiming to install solar panels in Uganda's 24,000 schools. Previously, she spearheaded a campaign to stop deforestation in the Congo rainforest. Nakate’s book, A Bigger Picture, is a manifesto and memoir about how to build a more liveable future. In it, she presents a new vision for an inclusive climate movement based on resilience and equity. Nakate was named a Young Leader of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations in 2020 and was featured on TIME magazine's list of the world’s most influential emerging leaders in 2021.