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).

Sage
St Mary's Square, Gateshead Quays
Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE8 2JR
United Kingdom

Anthony Tasgal

A Storytelling Guardian

Anthony Tasgal (or Tas for short) is the author of The Storytelling Book, the bestselling & award-winning guide to using storytelling techniques to improve presentations and communication. He went on to publish The Inspiratorium, Incitations and most recently The Storytelling Workbook. Tas leads The Guardian masterclass on “Harnessing the power of storytelling”. He is also a Course Director for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Market Research Society and the Institute of Internal Communication. In addition, he is an Associate Lecturer at Bucks New University and Nottingham Trent Universities and a Principal Advisor for CIO Connect in Hong Kong, the advisory service dedicated to CIOs and tech leaders in HK.

Caroline Dennett

An Oil Industry Insider

Caroline Dennett is a social researcher and safety consultant with experience working with large multinational corporate clients across multiple sectors. In the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon disaster, Caroline was commissioned by Royal Dutch Shell to design a safety culture diagnostic tool to identify leading indicators of human behaviour in safety performance. For more than a decade, Shell contracted Caroline and her team to undertake safety culture assessments across their extraction and refining assets. They surveyed 35,000+ frontline employees and contractors, in 65+ facilities across 30+ businesses in the global petrochemical sector. Caroline has gained deep first-hand insights into the oil & gas industry.

Chris van Tulleken

A Big Food Whistleblower

Chris van Tulleken has a medical degree from Oxford and a PhD in molecular virology from UCL. He is a practicing infectious diseases doctor in the NHS and an associate professor at University College London, where his research focuses on how corporations affect human health, especially in the context of nutrition. He works closely with UNICEF and the World Health Organisation on infant nutrition. As one of the UK’s leading science broadcasters, Chris has won two BAFTAs for his long-running CBBC series Operation Ouch, co-presented with his twin brother Xand. Following his BBC One documentary ‘What Are We Feeding Our Kids?’ and the chart-topping podcast ‘A Thorough Examination – Addicted to Food’, Chris has become the UK’s go-to expert on ultra processed foods. Chris’ 2023 book, Ultra-Processed People, became the no 1 Sunday Times bestseller with recommendations coming from the FT, Daily Mail, Guardian & New York Times among many others.

Francesca Rosella

A Creative AI Optimist

Francesca Rosella is an creative visionary and fashion technologist, known for her groundbreaking work at the intersection of fashion, technology, and design. She is co-founder of CuteCircuit, the world’s first wearable technology fashion brand. Her work at the forefront of the digital and physical intersection, merges the fields of augmented reality, interactive connected fashion and haptic technologies. Her innovations have been awarded patents for their groundbreaking designs as well as their underlying enabling technologies and construction methods. Francesca received the Everywoman in Technology Innovator Award 2023 for her pioneering work in fashion technology. CuteCircuit products have been awarded Best Inventions of the Year by Time twice, received the UNESCO Netexplo Innovation Award, the AWE Auggie Award for Biggest Social Impact, and are part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston among others.

George Scholey

A Rubik’s Cube Prodigy

George Scholey is best known for his Rubik’s Cube ‘speedsolving’ abilities which has led to hold two Guiness World Records. He is also an official Brand Ambassador for Rubik’s where he continues to compete around the world representing the brand. His most recent world record saw George solve an astonishing 6,931 Rubik’s cube puzzles in 24 hours which means he was solving a Rubik’s cube every 12 seconds on average. His world records and speedsolving talents have led to appearances on BBC News, BBC Breakfast, Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, LBC Radio & This Morning.

Gianfranco Rosolia

A Chronicler of Geordie Activism

Gianfranco Rosolia was born and raised in the North East of England where he graduated from the Royal Grammar School Newcastle. He studied Literature at the University of Cambridge and has an MBA from Bayes Business School. He went on to work for Procter & Gamble and since 2011 has been part of Apple Inc. He’s now based in Austin, Texas. In 2022, his first book, CLEAN AIR, was published receiving excellent reviews and media coverage.

Hannabiell & Midnight Blue

An Afro Funk Fusion Collective

Hannabiell & Midnight Blue is a high energy Afro Fusion Collective that fuses powerful and upbeat African & Latin percussion, brass, vocal chants, Blues, Jazz, Afro-beat, and Funk, to create their unique sound which they describe as “Afro-psychadelic funk”. This music fusion collective brings invigorating passion around themes of freedom, social justice and harmony. Their musical collaboration captivates the audience and cultivates community intimacy. Led by multi-instrumentalist and ambassador of fun Dr. Hannabiell Sanders, the collective are helping to make this world a better place one concert at a time.

Jane Tarrant

A Breathing Re-engineer

Jane Tarrant is a passionate Breathing Habit Retrainer & Educator. Aged 7, she realised her nose felt too small to breathe through properly. It took her 23 years to find out the importance of retraining her breathing habits, how to do it and the impact it would have. Realising that the lack of education around breathing habits is a major problem for adults and children today, she is on a mission to lead global education on healthy breathing habits & breathing retraining, in a simple, accessible way. She has written the first educational storybook of its kind, Rose Loses Her Nose, educating both children and parents on healthy breathing habits through a fun storyline.

John Beamson

Leadership coach and mentor

Born & bred in North East England, John Beamson’s began his professional life in the military where he served in forward-position assignments in Iraq, Afghanistan & other conflict zones. Upon his return to civilian life, he began to realise fully the extraordinary toll his tours of duty had taken on his mental & emotional well-being. After hitting rock-bottom John has been able to recover his life and today works to bring his lived experience to bear as a leadership coach and mentor. Using his experience in the military, he takes organisational leaders to new places high above and deep below sea level where he seeks to identify our discomfort zones and use those challenges as a path to real leadership development.

Kim McGuinness

A Police & Crime Commissioner

Kim McGuinness was born in Newcastle, attended Gosforth High School and graduated from Newcastle University. She is currently the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria. As PCC, Kim… • made crime prevention and neighbourhood support a key feature of her strategic policing plan Fighting Poverty, Fighting Crime and has invested in youth services as a way of improving life chances for all. • oversaw the creation of the region’s first Violence Reduction Unit. • has led locally on efforts to tackle Violence against Women and Girls, including her flagship Domestic Abuse policy of putting DA specialists into police call centres. Kim has been selected as the Labour and Co-Operative candidate to be the first North East mayor. She is standing on a promise to make the North East the home of real opportunity with a plan to end child poverty and create local, well-paid jobs across the region.

Mark Deeks

An Advocate for Music

Dr Mark Deeks is a Rock Piano Specialist with a PhD in Heavy Metal and 25+ years experience in the music industry. He’s worked as a Musical Director, performer and piano teacher, with everyone from the Royal Northern Sinfonia to Faye Tozer of Steps, as well as releasing music in 2 signed metal bands Winterfylleth and Arð . Motivated to share the benefits of music for mental health, he teaches adults and youth alike how to harness their musicality, write and arrange music, and play piano with fun, ease, and confidence.

Sam McAlister

A Royal Persuader

Sam McAlister is a BAFTA-nominated interviews producer who has negotiated with everyone from Buckingham Palace to The White House, Tesla to Facebook. With skills honed over a decade in the BBC’s elite news programmes, notably BBC Newsnight, she is used to persuading reluctant individuals to participate in a news programme renowned for its rigour and bite. Exclusives include, most famously, HRH Prince Andrew – but also Sheryl Sandberg, President Clinton, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Elon Musk, Stormy Daniels, & Julian Assange. Negotiation, strategy and public speaking have always been at the core of everything that Sam has done — from her time as a criminal defence barrister to her many public speaking and debating prizes, and her dealings with celebrities and governments. Sam’s book, Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews was released in 2022 and went on to be the basis for a Channel 4 documentary, aired as part of the channel’s Coronation coverage in May.