Theme: Youth Empowerment

Experience the excitement of TEDxYouth@Chappaqua! Led by students, this event features an inspiring lineup of speakers including screenwriter of Wolverine and Planet of Apes Mark Bomback, falsely imprisoned justice reform advocate Jeffrey Deskovic, videogame designer and graphic novelist Jordan Mechner, University of Michigan professor Margo Schlanger, and immigrant rights lawyer Karin Anderson Ponzer. Their stories and insights under the theme of Youth Empowerment will ignite your passion for change and empower you to shape a brighter future. Don't miss the chance to engage with them in a live Q&A session. Save the date and be part of this day of inspiration and empowerment!

Chappaqua Library Theater
195 S Greeley Ave
Theater
Chappaqua, New York, 10514
United States

Jeffrey Deskovic

Wrongful Conviction Expert & Activist

Deskovic is the Founder of the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, which has freed fourteen people and helped pass six laws. He speaks across the country and internationally, including in front of police cadets, judicial hearings, and prosecutors. Deskovic's motivation is that he spent 16 years in prison, from age 17-32, for wrongfully convicted murder and rape prior to being exonerated by DNA. A documentary about Deskovic, "Conviction", is available on Amazon Prime.

Jordan Mechner

Video Game Designer & Novelist

Mechner created the video game Prince of Persia in 1989, rebooted it with Ubisoft in 2003, and wrote the first screenplay for Disney's 2010 film adaptation, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Prince of Persia is an all-time classic and the basis for a transmedia global franchise with over 20 million games sold to date. His graphic novels include Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family (Macmillan/First Second Press). Mechner also wrote and directed the IDA award-winning PBS documentary film Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story.

Karin Anderson Ponzer

Director of Community Law Practice

Ponzer serves as the director of Neighbors Link Community Law Practice, where she leads a team of 25 lawyers and paralegals to assist immigrants in New York. Her goal is to help recently arriving asylum seekers achieve safety and a new future in the United States. Ponzer previously served as Executive Director of the Pace Community Law Practice (PCLP). She has extensive experience and expertise in immigration legal practice, immigrant policy advocacy, and non-profit legal services management.

Margo Schlanger

Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School

As the Wade H. and Dores M. McCree Collegiate Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, Schlanger is an authority on civil rights issues and criminal detention. She is the founder and director of the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, a leading advocate for prisoner's rights, and a former civil rights official for the Obama and Biden administrations. She champions improved conditions and fairer treatment for people behind bars with substantial work in civil rights litigation and prison and immigration reform.

Mark Bomback

Screenwriter/Producer

Bomback's screenwriting credits include White Bird (October 2024), War for the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Insurgent, Live Free or Die Hard, The Wolverine, and Unstoppable. He has served as an executive producer on White Bird, Damsel, Fast X, War for the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Finding Tatanka, and in television, was the creator, executive producer and writer of the Apple TV+ limited series Defending Jacob. He has advised at the Sundance Institute's New Frontier Story Lab, and taught screenwriting at his alma mater, Wesleyan University.