Theme: The Power Of Perspectives

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).

Mountain View High School
3535 Truman Avenue
Mountain View, California, 94040
United States

Calista Woo

Student

Calista Woo is a junior at Mountain View High School. Aware of how little of the world she has explored, Calista values understanding cultural differences in parenting and their significance as a second-generation Asian American. A MVLA Speech and Debate team member, Calista truly cherishes the opportunity to speak without someone actively refuting her statements. Her talk examines Asian American parenting in the context of Western societies and its impact on familial structures across generations.

Chie Tamada

Lettering Artist & Designer

Chie Tamada, a Los Angeles-based lettering artist, illustrator, and designer, transitioned to freelancing after a career in the technology industry, including Design Program Manager roles at Meta, Chime, and NetApp. Throughout her career, Chie's mission has always been to uplift her community, foster creativity, by establishing operational best practices for design and product development. Chie has collaborated with brands like Google, Lululemon, Outdoor Retailer, and The Washington Post, producing captivating designs for physical and digital spaces. She also offers a line of products featuring playful illustrations inspired by her life on the Southern California coast, aiming to transport her community to their favorite beachside memories and evoke a sense of tranquility, regardless of their location. When not immersed in creative projects, she can be found outdoors, pursuing activities like surfing, cycling, snowboarding, and encouraging others to "enjoy the ride."

Dance Spectrum

Student Dance

Their dance displays the inner workings of a trio of friends and the challenges that can come with them, while ultimately joining together in friendship! See the vision of perspective through the movement of dancers, Ella Coan, Julia Chin, and Mia Andreas.

Eleanor Shin

Student

Eleanor Shin is a sophomore at Mountain View High School. She is fascinated with the way language and literature shapes our worldview. A member of the Speech and Debate team and an officer of the Linguistics Club, she witnessed firsthand the influence of words on our thoughts. In her talk, Eleanor will discuss the enduring beauty of fairy tales and their significance, using this perspective to examine the issue of book bans and how they cut to the core of our humanity.

Elsa Sapojnikoff

Student

Elsa Sapojnikoff is a freshman at Mountain View High School. She loves participating in sports and watching subpar reality television with her mom. As a devoted reader, she always has a book on her person. In her talk, Elsa explores the steps a person can take to help use missed personal goals as an incentive to push themselves past their boundaries and learn a little something about themselves along the way.

Julie Stanford

CEO of eDNA Explorer & Sliced Bread Design

Julie Stanford is the CEO of eDNA Explorer, a bioinformatics startup and the Founding Principal of Sliced Bread Design, a user experience design agency known for working with some of the brightest companies in the world. A strong advocate for design thinking as a problem solving technique in any arena, she has particularly been a thought leader in the areas of product design, user research and rapid experimentation. Julie is also a recognized educator at Stanford, where she is on the faculty of the d.School and the Computer Science department. She is currently teaching Design for AI and Service Design. Julie received a bachelor’s in Symbolic Systems and a master’s in Communication, both with a specialization in Human Computer Interaction from Stanford University. In her free time she enjoys hiking and camping with her kids, ages 13 and 16 and her dog, Bran. She also loves to snowboard and play drums.

Landon Qizilbash

Student

Landon Qizilbash is a sophomore at Mountain View High. As someone who used to be an extremely awkward person and felt uncomfortable in social environments, he understands the importance of having good social skills and how much it affects people's lives. In his talk, Landon will share the story of how he taught himself communication and charisma skills so that he can help individuals like himself feel more comfortable being around others.

Leonard Speiser

Co-founder of Clover

Leonard Speiser is the co-founder of Clover, a point-of-sale system used by millions of retailers and restaurants, processing over $270 billion annually in credit card transactions. Since graduating from MIT in 1996, he has founded multiple companies and served as an investment banker in the tech sector, contributing to Amazon's IPO. Leonard has also led product launches for Intuit and eBay and successfully sold a company to Yahoo. He currently operates a unique corporate venture studio, collaborating with firms like JLL and Prudential to kickstart new startups. In addition to his business endeavors, Leonard is an author and volunteers as a mentor for Robotics team FRC 971.

Natalie Chen

Student

Natalie Chen is a freshman at Mountain View High School and an active member of the speech and debate club. She knows that ghosting is quite prevalent, so common that it’s seemingly at the forefront of every gossipy, fun conversation. Join her on this talk about “ghosting just to ghost” - a fresh and relatable issue with too many sides to the story and hopefully we can keep another kid… from being ghosted.

Radhika Kamran

Student

Radhika Kamran is a senior at Mountain View High School and this year’s president of Ambassadors. She firmly believes in the power of perspective and the importance of listening to others. In her talk, Radhika will tell her story to share the importance of perspective in the face of adversity and stress the importance of building the foundation for empathy.

Rohan Melwani

Student

Rohan Melwani is a Junior at Mountain View High School. He proudly serves as the Secretary/PR on the Executive Cabinet of ASB, the Vice President of Key Club, and the Secretary of the South Asian Student Union. In his talk, he aims to overcome misconceptions about nuclear power and will explore it as a viable renewable energy source that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and combats climate change.