Theme: RISE

TEDxAustin + TEDxAustin Youth
RISE is a two-part event beginning with TEDxAustin geared to adults, followed by TEDxAustinYouth focused on topics for middle and high school students. TED presentations bookend xLabs, our interactive venue that allows all participants an opportunity to explore new ideas and innovations presented by TEDx in an interactive, hands-on setting.

Westlake Community Performing Arts Center
4100 Westbank Drive
Austin, Texas, 78746
United States

AGNI Dance

AGNI is Austin’s iconic and oldest Bollywood Dance Academy celebrating over 15 years. They conduct dance and fitness classes for all ages. This versatile blend of performers with experience in varied styles like Indian, classical, hip-hop, and Bollywood continue to expand the groups’ choreography and performance horizons.

Cody Fisher

Magician + Speaker + Performer

Cody Fisher is both an educator and entertainer. After completing multiple degrees in biology / biochemistry from The University Of Texas, Cody decided to pursue a full time career as a magician. Over the years he has won numerous national and international awards for his magic, launched his own product line of magic, and has authored several books and DVDs on the art of magic. Cody’s performance résumé includes comedy clubs, cruise ships, and theatres throughout the USA,Canada, and Europe. When he is not out amazing audiences, he is using his magic to help others. Along with his wife Debbie, an occupational therapist, they have developed a unique program called “Rehabracadabra”. This program uses "sleight of hand" magic as a form of therapy. Together they lecture at colleges, hospitals, and clinics all across the United States and to over 20 countries worldwide.

Courtney Byrd

Professor

Courtney Byrd, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a Full Professor, Associate Chair, and Graduate Advisor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, where she also serves as Founding and Executive Director of the Arthur M Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research, which has three core branches including the Michael and Tami Lang Stuttering Institute, the Dealey Family Foundation Stuttering Clinic, and the Dr. Jennifer and Emanuel Bodner Developmental Stuttering Lab.

Danny Firpo

Virtual Production Designer

CEO and CO-founder of All of it Now, Danny has a background in Live Event and TV production, Virtual Production, system design, and digital marketing. He brings a diverse background of practical effects, live production, and brand marketing to every project.

Garrain Jones

Artist

Garrain Jones is an author, speaker and facilitator who is dedicated to helping you awaken your inner artist and tap into the abundance frequency. His bestselling book, Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life, teaches how to lead an extraordinary life without regret. Garrain's powerful personal journey spans from a near death experience at four years old, juvenile detention in his teens, a prison sentence, a music career in Los Angeles that included a record deal with Ludacris and Def Jam, homelessness and then becoming one of the most sought after personal transformation speakers. He has been featured in media worldwide including Forbes and Impact Theory. His story was told in a National Geographic documentary, Locked Up Abroad, which shared the journey of his prison sentence in France.

Sam Alexander

Founder

Samuel Alexander is the founder and CEO of C2C (Concept 2 Consumption) Fashion and Technology LLC, an Austin, TX-based business providing its clients with access to a revolutionary B2B2C fashion ecosystem. Alexander’s experience spans more than three decades—and brings together expertise in both the fashion and technology industries.

Suman Sherwani

SpaceX Engineer

Suman Sherwani is an Avionics Systems Engineer at SpaceX, working on the Dragon spacecraft missions that take astronauts, science experiments, and supplies to the International Space Station. She is also a former Project Manager and Systems Engineer on NASA science missions which studied the mysterious interactions between the Sun and Earth.

Thom Singer

Author

Thom Singer is the CEO of the Austin Technology Council and is a consultant for associations and companies who value the power of the human side of business. He is the expert who brings the message of relationships and trust to the forefront of conversations. He is the author of 12 books and is the host of the "Austin Tech Connect" podcast (and has hosted his own podcast and several other for the past ten years. On these shows he has interviewed over 1200 business leaders and others with a focus on discovering how the most successful people get farther across the gap between potential and results.

Tissa Richards

Author

Tissa Richards is an award-winning author, repeat software founder and CEO, and a sought-after leadership expert and keynote speaker with a mission to create resilient, unshakeable leaders, teams, and organizations. She speaks to and trains executives at Fortune 500 and hypergrowth organizations – including Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, and Forbes – guiding them to develop high-potential talent, create high-performance cultures and diversify c-suites and boardrooms. Learn more at www.tissarichards.com

Xiaoyu Niu

Research Scientist

Xiaoyu Niu received his B.S. degree in Underwater Acoustics from the Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China, in 2019. He studied at the Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, supervised by Dr. Xiaodong Li until 2020. He is currently a Ph.D. student of the Chandra Department of Electrical and Computer Engineer at the University of Texas at Austin. He works in UT Acoustic MEMS Lab advised by Dr. Neal A. Hall. He is also an active member in Texas Acoustics. His passions include various acoustic MEMS devices, like Photonic waveguide microphone, parametric array directional speaker, Carbon Nanotube microphone, etc.