Theme: The Power of Intention

On Saturday 14 October 2023, TEDxBrisbane will return with a full day of ideas and inspiration under this year’s theme – the Power of Intention!

Our program of incredible speakers from diverse backgrounds and circumstances will showcase how good ideas, motivation, coupled with the power of intention can lead to amazing things!

We’ll also have talented performers to entertain and finalists from our One-minute pitch competition, chosen by our team of curators to showcase some of the freshest innovators in the region.

Your day is fully catered during the huge 12-hour program, and the chance to network and share ideas with fellow attendees or your teammates if you’re attending with work colleagues.

Edmund Rice Performing Arts Centre
58 Stephens Road, South Brisbane
Brisbane, Queensland, 4101
Australia

Alexandra Metse

Clinical Psychologist & Sleep Researcher

Dr Alex Metse is a clinical psychologist and academic from the University of the Sunshine Coast. She is passionate about helping people to improve their health and quality of life. A key focus of her clinical and research work is on the role of health behaviours in the interplay between physical and psychological health. Dr Metse has a particular interest in the role of sleep in promoting health and preventing chronic disease. In her clinical work, she has specialised in the treatment of sleep disorders. This has informed her research which seeks to 1) improve the effectiveness of treatments for sleep disorders such as insomnia and 2) highlight the extent to which poor sleep is an issue impacting the health of the population and factors contributing to poor sleep, with this work integral to getting sleep on the public health agenda and informing population-level interventions.

Claire Lane

Nurse, Entrepreneur & Medical Supply Champion

Claire Lane is the compassionate and driven founder of Save Our Supplies (SOS). As a dedicated registered nurse with a specialisation in theatre nursing, she witnessed firsthand the alarming amount of clean medical supplies being wasted in hospitals. Determined to make a positive change, Claire founded SOS to collect and repurpose these supplies, redirecting them to communities in need around the world. Her passion for sustainability, coupled with her expertise in healthcare, has led SOS to save over $1million of clean medical waste every year and support those who lack access to essential medical care.

David Reilly

Educational Researcher & Confidence Champion

Dr David Reilly is an academic and researcher with the School of Applied Psychology at Griffith University and the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University. He has a passion for supporting students to reach their full potential, especially those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g. are the first in their family to study at university, take non-traditional entryways to university), or come from social groups that are underrepresented such as women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Self-doubts can become self-fulfilling prophecies: if you think you can't, you often won't. Dr Reilly studies educational practices that support students to build their confidence and self-efficacy, and as a gender psychology researcher investigates social factors contributing to inequalities in educational outcomes, and psychological wellbeing.

Dinesh Palipana

Emergency doctor, lawyer and workflow innovator

Dinesh Palipana is a doctor, lawyer, medical researcher, and disability advocate. Dinesh sustained a spinal cord injury from a motor vehicle accident in 2010, which caused quadriplegia, with the loss of feeling and use of his fingers, parts of his arms, and everything below the chest. He was the first medical graduate with quadriplegia in Queensland. In 2019, Dinesh received an Order of Australia Medal. He was the 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year. He was the third Australian to receive the Henry Viscardi Achievement Award in New York. Dinesh works at the busiest emergency department in Australia, in the Gold Coast University Hospital. He works on spinal cord injury research at Griffith University. He is a senior advisor to the Disability Royal Commission. In 2022, he was a model at Australian Fashion Week. Dinesh’s biography ‘Stronger’ was published in 2022.

Freight Train Foxes

Songwriters & Musicians

Indie Folk duo, Freight Train Foxes are built around the talents of Brisbane songwriters, Pat Kenny and Kelsey Berrington. Armed with the sonic influences of Passenger and Stu Larsen, the pair wield their unique brand of suburban acoustic folk, which manages to wound and soothe simultaneously. Emerging from Brisbane’s open mic scene in 2019, the duo continues to draw the attention of the music industry, with four EPs and captivating performances at Australia’s most iconic music festivals. The Brisbane duo have been finalists at the Queensland Music Awards for two consecutive years, with their single, ‘Fly to You’ landing them their latest nomination at the 2023 awards ceremony. Pat was an Army Officer before making an abrupt switch to songwriting, while Kelsey had a background as a circus performer before taking up music full-time. Freight Train Foxes fourth EP Hungry & Hollow was released in June 2023, and it’s easily their most captivating collection of songs to date.

Hailey Brown

Entrepreneur & Accessible Tourism Expert

Recognized as one of Australia's most influential female entrepreneurs and the Young Tourism Achiever of the Year, Hailey Brown is a catalyst for change in the tourism industry. In 2020, she founded Vacayit, Australia's leading audio guide technology platform, to address the exclusion of blind and low-vision tourists from traditional, visually-focused tourism marketing. Within a year of its launch, Vacayit had transformed the marketing approach of approximately half of Australia's destinations by introducing audio as a key component. Hailey aims to drive positive societal change around how destinations and operators market their experiences to be inclusive and accessible and she won’t stop until the whole world has been described in audio.

HANNI

Singer, Songwriter & Musician

HANNI is a unique and dynamic music artist who has carved her individual path in the music industry. With an innate ability to blend soulful melodies and heartfelt lyrics, she captivates audiences worldwide. HANNI’s music is an intimate reflection of her life experiences and emotions, resonating deeply with listeners and leaving a lasting impression. With her passion for creating meaningful connections with her audience, HANNI hopes her music becomes a source of comfort and strength for those who listen. As she continues to share her authentic self through her song writing, she is leaving a lasting impact on the world, one heartfelt lyric at a time.

Ixaras

Singer Songwriter

Born and raised on Meanjin land, Filipino/Cambodian musician ‘ixaras’ (Ixara Dorizac), is a 16 year old singer/songwriter who is proving to make her mark as an artist hard and fast. In the last few months she has scored a spot as a finalist in Triple J Unearthed High competition 2023, won Triple Js opening slot at BIGSOUND 2023 and supported artists from the likes of Tyne James Organ, Platonic Sex and Luca Brasi. Sustaining this momentum, Ixara has just officially released her breakout single ‘sprouts’, which has already been met with critical praise across radio, press and most importantly, her rapidly growing fanbase. Drawing parallels to artists such as beabadoobee, Indigo De Souza and Wet Leg, Ixaras music boosts vulnerability, catchy melodies and an impactful punch.

Jim Hogan

Activist, Innovator, Neuroinclusion Pioneer

Jim Hogan (he/him/autistic) is an innovator, a human rights activist and a strong representative of what is possible for autistic individuals. Jim found his passion for computer science and innovation at a young age and has since worked in leadership positions for over 30 years. With his powerful voice and advocacy for acceptance, he has led the way for hundreds of autistic individuals who entered the workforce behind him. Jim wears multiple hats at Google including his roles as the Chief Innovation Evangelist, Google Cloud and Vice President, Accessibility in Technology for Google's Disability Alliance. Jim is also a doctoral candidate at Griffith University and his thesis is titled "Innovating innovation methodology through neuroinclusion.”

Jo Kelly

Environmental Entrepreneur & Seaweed Industry Leader

Jo Kelly is CEO of the Australian Seaweed Institute. She leads an innovative, nature-based solution for seaweed biofilters to help protect the Great Barrier Reef from water pollution, recognised by the World Economic Forum as a top 10 ocean innovation for impact. Jo has presented at the UN Oceans Conference, Monaco Ocean Week and Economist Ocean Forums. Jo is Chair of the Australian Sustainable Seaweed Alliance and was an inaugural Steering Committee member of the UN Global Compact’s Global Seaweed Coalition, working across industry, government and research to build a global regenerative seaweed industry. In 2020 she authored the Australian Seaweed Industry Blueprint, outlining the opportunity and plan to achieve a new sustainable seaweed industry. Jo combines executive experience in strategy, sustainability, innovation, impact finance and environmental engineering and is a Nuffield Scholar, Myer Innovation Fellow and AMP Tomorrow Maker for her work in ocean impact and innovation.

Larrikin Puppets

Puppeteers

Brett Hansen and Elissa Jenkins of the award-winning Larrikin Puppets, do their part to ensure our youngest generation experiences fun and laughter while embracing kindness and inclusion through the unexpected and, at times, misunderstood practice of puppetry. With a catalogue of performances – including pop-up theatre, in-theatre productions, school curriculum-aligned presentations, and puppetry for film and TV – their highly entertaining, captivating and comedic puppetry is fast-paced, feel good, and accompanied by original songs. Their shows nurture child development in a non-condescending way, encouraging audiences to talk, dance, sing and play along. Brett and Elissa, who trained in the USA under puppeteers from The Muppets and Sesame Street, won 'Best Kids Live Show' in 2021 at the national What's On 4 Kids Awards. Australia’s own blue monster entertainer and MC extraordinaire, Troggg (the middle g is silent), made his TEDx debut along with human co-presenter Elissa.

Mark Berridge

Author, Optimist, Resilience Coach

An experienced corporate leader turned multi-award-winning author, Mark Berridge shares the life-changing lessons he gained after a biking accident left him feeling physically and emotionally helpless. The impact resulted in severe spinal cord damage, triggering an ongoing personal battle of recovery to overcome his devastating injuries. Mark found unheralded strength through drawing on insights from his extensive professional expertise, combined with personal grit, determination and embracing the support around him. Mark champions the idea that we are all a fraction stronger than we think, and with guidance we can bounce back stronger. He strives to share these messages every day, helping people nurture the resilience they need to prevail both personally and professionally, even in the most intractable of circumstances.

TAITU’UGA

Talking High Chief, beat boxer & cultural torchbearer

Over the past 18 years, Taitu’uga has evolved from MC Kitch, a renowned Beat Boxer, into a cultural torchbearer. Residing in Brisbane, he embraces his role as Talking High Chief (Tulafale alii) for Sapunaoa falealili village in Samoa. His artistic journey interweaves cultural anecdotes, neuroscience, and mythological sagas through meditation and music. Taitu’uga’s performances harmonise electronic dance music (EDM), hip hop, reggae, funk, beatbox loop machine and traditional instruments. A fusion of his twin passions—music and culture—naturally emerged. Driven by a determination to safeguard and propagate his cultural heritage, Taitu’uga’s mission is to kindle a sense of pride in one’s heritage, encouraging the embrace of language, heritage, and rituals within households.

Tegan Leibbrandt

Nurse, Social Entrepreneur, Recycling Champion

Tegan is a nurse unit manager and Co-founder of outdoor brand Nakie. After scuba diving in various renowned sites across the world Tegan, her husband Dean and Brother-in-law Jaryd identified the glaring impact single use plastic is having on the environment and specifically the water ways. In 2019 they launched Nakie- a B Corp certified outdoor brand that uses recycled plastic bottles to create hammocks, blankets, towels and other outdoor gear. Tegan is passionate about making a difference, having dedicated the last decade to caring for the vulnerable in her nursing career and Nakie is no different. Through Nakie they have planted over 500,000 trees and counting and have donated half a million dollars' worth of blankets to help warm the homeless. When Tegan is not nursing or working on the business she is a loving mum to 6-month-old daughter Zara.

Tiana Iuvale

Regratitude Crusader

Tiana Iuvale is a communication professional in the financial services sector with a deep curiosity for understanding the complexities of the human condition through storytelling and writing. Her observations are inspired by decades of lived experience across diverse industries and capacities, shaped by the realities of everyday life as a parent, peer, and partner. A menopausal midlife-crisis inspired Tiana’s 2022 TEDx Brisbane 60 second pitch entry, for which she was one of the two tied winners. Returning to the TEDx Brisbane stage in 2023, Tiana invited the audience to join her on a ‘regratitude crusade’ to learn how to reframe their nocturnal regrets through the lense of gratitude. A woman on a mission, Tiana is writing her first non-fiction book on this subject, with the hope of helping people to heal their regrets and move forwards in a happier and healthier life.