Theme: Beyond Words

At some point in the last three years you’ve probably felt that indescribable feeling — overwhelmed, yet bored; exhausted, yet restless; distracted, yet hyper aware. Three years of isolation, unrest, and political division will do that to a person. And leave you feeling numb and unable to articulate anything.

WHEN WORDS FAIL, WE MUST GO BEYOND WORDS

At this year's live-and-in-person TEDxStLouis Innovation event, we’ll hear from some St. Louis’ greatest thinkers, entrepreneurs, and doctors as they go beyond words.

Kirkwood Performing Arts Center
210 E. Monroe Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri, 63122
United States

Benjamin D. Singer

Benjamin is the CEO at Show Me Integrity is Missouri’s only cross-partisan reform organization. They work together across geographic and party lines for a government that is transparent, efficient, & accountable to all the people of Missouri. The organization takes a structural, community-driven approach to solve systemic problems.

Cyrus A. Raji, MD, PhD

Cyrus A. Raji, MD, PhD is an assistant professor of radiology and a principal investigator in the Neuroimaging Labs Research Center at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), the academic radiology department of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Raji, also a professor neurology, serves as director of neuromagnetic resonance imaging at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He is board certified in diagnostic radiology and neuroradiology with research interests focusing on modifiable risk factors for dementia and the role of advanced neuroimaging in quantitatively tracking related brain changes.

Holly Fann

Holly Fann is an experienced food writer and restaurant critic. Graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and former chef and chef educator. Food journalist and food photographer with substantial experience in newspapers and magazines as well as online publications.

Joshua Routh

Joshua Routh is a 'Merchant Of Joy'. His purpose is to facilitate incredible, life changing and entertaining experiences. Those experiences often take the form of Keynote Talks, Shows and Breakout Sessions. Aside from his solo work, he is also the co-owner of Circus Kaput - the largest variety arts specific talent agency in the Midwest. They perform at over 850 events a year for all kinds of audiences. Their motto is 'Circus Is For Everyone!'.

Mason Aid

Mason Aid (they/he) is an LGBTQ and neurodiversity advocate in the Midwest and beyond. Mason coordinated DEI initiatives for 5000 employees in multiple states. They help the LGBTQ community in the rural Midwest know they aren't alone and work to educate Midwestern folks on the LGBTQ community with the aim to enable there to be one safe person in every young persons life if they need to come out. Mason highlights the differences between the LGBTQ experience in the rural Midwest vs the experiences in urban center or on the coasts.

Myrina Renaissance Otey-Myton

Myrina is a Photographer, Creative, Master Collaborator, Educator & Community Builder of NFTs, as well as a Web 3 expert.

Philip Payne, PhD, FACMI, FAMIA, FAIMBE, FIAHSI

Philip R.O. Payne, PhD, FACMI, FAMIA, FAIMBE, FIAHSI, is the founding director of the Institute for Informatics (I2) at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also serves as the Janet and Bernard Becker Professor and Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. Previously, Dr. Payne was Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at The Ohio State University.

Vivan Gibson

Vivian Gibson is an Award Winning Author, Storyteller, Genealogist and Missouri Library Association Author of the Year 2022. She speaks and writes about growing up in a segregated St. Louis neighborhood name Mill Creek, which was razed for an urban renewal project in the late 1950s. Her book is titled, "The Last Children of Mill Creek".