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).

Westlake High School Performing Arts Center
4100 Westbank Drive
Austin, Texas, 78746
United States

Caroline Boudreaux

After a chance encounter with an orphaned toddler in rural India during a carefree vacation in 2000, Louisiana native Caroline Boudreaux returned to Austin, and created a brilliant methodology that is revolutionizing orphanages worldwide—starting in rural India. Caroline founded The Miracle Foundation on the idea that all orphans deserve clean water, nutritious food, high-quality healthcare, an excellent education, and a secure, loving home. For her outstanding achievements with The Miracle Foundation, Caroline was presented with the Hope Award in 2005 and the Impact Award in 2008.

Cindy Chung

Cindy K. Chung received her Ph.D. in Social and Personality Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin where she held a research position before joining Intel in 2013. As a Senior Research Scientist at Intel, her role is to infuse a social psychological perspective in the development and assessment of work practice innovations. Her research is focused on the quantitative assessment of personality, psychological states, and social dynamics, particularly through the words that people use in their everyday lives.

Doug Lenat

Doug Lenat writes programs that are creative: they think up new mathematical conjectures, predict terrorist plots, and propose unsuspected disease pathways. Unlike other machine learning algorithms, his programs are based on Sherlock-Holmes-style reasoning, not statistics. A former computer science professor at Stanford, Doug and his CYC.com team are now hard at work here in Austin, trying to give computers the one thing they need most: common sense.

Louis Lafair

Louis Lafair is a connector, writer, storyteller, board game inventor, and National Student Poet. He has presented at events like SXSWedu, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the National Book Festival. Now a freshman at Stanford University, he explores the intersection between humanities and sciences.

Professor Dumpster

Dr. Jeff Wilson aka ‘Professor Dumpster’ sold everything he owned for $1 an item and moved into a 33 square foot trash dumpster as part of the ultimate minimalist and educational experiment: The Dumpster Project. Through living in the dumpster, Professor Dumpster has found meaning and happiness while exploring transformative ideas of minimalism, environmentalism, and sustainable housing to engage the next generation in creative thinking about minimalist philosophy and important topics like sustainability and science education. Wilson did Post-Doctoral work at Harvard and is currently a Dean and an Environmental Studies Professor at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin.