In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Simmons Auditorium in the Tepper Quad
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213
United States

Calli Puko

Calli Puko is a board certified music therapist working all over Pittsburgh. She completed her undergrad work at the State University of New York at Fredonia, the completed her internship at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland. Since then, Calli has worked for Creative Melodies, providing music therapy services for adolescents in behavioral health, children and adults with developmental disabilities, and children in childcare centers. Within her practice, Calli respects and praises her clients for their unique ideas and abilities, and values them no matter their situation or diagnosis. She provides a safe space for clients to express their individuality and make their voices heard.

Jenny Eagan

With a lifelong passion for storytelling and character creation through the art of clothing and design, Jenny Eagan has become one of Hollywood’s most respected and sought-after costume designers. Collaborating with the world’s most acclaimed writers and directors, including George Clooney, Rian Johnson and Steve McQueen, Eagan has earned a prominent place in the film industry with her distinctive ability to bring characters to life through her artistry. Her exceptional work has garnered numerous accolades, including four Costume Design Guild Awards, one most recently for the 2022 hit film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, as well as an Emmy and a Critics Choice nomination. She has contributed her creative talents to a wide range of films such as The Adam Project, Knives Out, The Tender Bar, The Midnight Sky, Suburbicon, Widows, The High Note, American Animals, Hostiles, Our Brand is Crisis, Now You See Me, Beasts of No Nation and Contraband as well as the HBO series True Detective, Olive Kitteridge and the Hulu series Catch 22. Eagan's latest work will soon be featured in the upcoming 2023 film Imaginary Friends, written and directed by John Krasinski, as well as George Clooney’s Boys in the Boat.

Kimi Wenzel

Kimi is a social technologist and PhD student at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work focuses on measuring and mitigating bias in language technology.

Simone Polanen

Simone Polanen hosts Spotify’s weekly podcast, Not Past It, where she takes events from history and connects them to the present. After approximately 100 episodes, 500 interviews, and tens of Real Housewives references, she’s learned a thing or two about the surprising ways the past still influences our lives. From King Tut to Paris Hilton, it’s all examined through the lens of the podcast’s central question: how did we get to this version of the world we live in today? So today, Simone is dropping wisdom on the CMU community – sharing what she’s learned by taking history out of the classroom and putting it on the air every week. And the surprising ways it’s changed her own relationship to the past.

Zaria Parvez

Zaria Parvez is Duolingo’s Global Social Media Manager. She leads social strategy, community management, and creator partnerships across all major social platforms. Most notably, she spearheaded the development of Duolingo’s world renowned TikTok account. As a direct result of Zaria's work on Duolingo's TikTok strategy and execution, the now-famous TikTok channel grew from 50K followers in September 2021 to 6.3M followers today and was recently recognized as one of AdAge’s Top 5 Brand TikTok accounts. The Duolingo TikTok has 143 viral videos (view counts of 1M or higher) due to Zaria’s creativity. What started as a test-and-learn initiative has become Duolingo's most successful social buzz and word of mouth initiative to date – all because of Zaria's insights, instincts, and expertise. More broadly, Zaria is a role model for a new, diverse class of Gen Z social media talent and has proven what's possible when given creative freedom and trust in the work she does. Since her time at Duolingo, Zaria has been named AdAge Social Marketer of the Year 2021, Adweek Creative 100 and Forbes 30 under 30.