Theme: Future Thinkers

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).

The Science and Engineering Centre
2 George St
Brisbane, Queensland, 4000
Australia

Adam Fraser

Human Performance Researcher & Consultant

Dr Adam Fraser is a human performance researcher and consultant who studies how organisations adopt a high performance culture to thrive in this challenging and evolving business landscape. While other speakers talk about research, he does the research, partnering with various Universities through Asia Pacific. He is at the forefront of how neuroscience and positive psychology can be used to improve work place performance. In fact he is thought to be the only keynote speaker in the world to have had the impact of his keynote presentation measured in a University study (it improved the behaviour of attendees by 41%).

Andrea Davey

Business Leader in Recruitment Software

Andrea has a decade of experience delivering creative solutions to businesses looking to improve how they attract, retain and reward their biggest asset: their people. After starting her career as a support leader and key accounts administrator with recruitment marketing specialist Employment Office, Andrea saw the potential for sophisticated e-recruitment software, and took on the role of project managing the development of Employment Office’s own e-recruitment platform, SCOUT. Andrea sees the future of e-recruitment through Big Data will soon help candidates find meaningful work, improve work life, and enhance career journeys.

Bob Lonne

Professor of Social Work

Bob Lonne (PhD) has extensive experience as a social worker in various child protection and youth justice roles in Queensland and West Australia. Professor Lonne has researched, written and consulted widely about the systemic issues confronting contemporary approaches to protecting children. His work combines academic rigour with a hands-on understanding of the practice realities in this complex area. He co-authored Reforming Child Protection and his research has examined media portrayals, informal care systems, kinship care, differential response, mandatory reporting, workforce issues and ethical practice in child welfare interventions. He has provided high level advice to governments in Australia, Canada and Ireland on how to refocus child welfare systems to achieve better outcomes for children, families and communities.

Chiquita Searle

Advocate for Women Entrepreneurs, Writer, Designer, & Public Speaker

Taking the path-less-trodden, in 2011, after a successful eight-year long stint in HR and Recruitment for the construction and mining industries, Chiquita felt a strong pull in another direction and so followed her heart to France where she studied at the Paris Fashion Institute before launching her own fashion label “Chi the Label” (rebranded “Chiquita”) the following year. Hand-picked from dozens of wishful candidates to launch the League’s first Queensland branch as their QLD Crusader in August 2012, within twelve months Chiquita was offered the opportunity to relocate to Melbourne and take on the role as the League’s General Manager to oversee the group’s national growth. Now in 9 locations within Australia, the League of Extraordinary Women is Australia’s largest and fastest growing movement of driven and dynamic female entrepreneurs.

Chris Rhyss Edwards

Former soldier turned media executive & writer

Former soldier turned media executive and writer Chris Rhyss Edwards took a yearlong sabbatical in 2010 to begin a research project designed to answer a really big question: do we ever have a good reason to kill? Over a five year time span he researched and interviewed people on controversial topics including euthanasia, abortion, child soldiers, infanticide, state execution, terrorism and honor killings. He has since published an anthology of stories that attaches a human face to violence around the globe; sharing the stories of people who have confronted the biggest moral dilemma possible. At the core of each story are two questions; what would you do in the same situation, and do we ever have a good reason to kill?

Claire Madden

Social Researcher & Next-Gen Expert

Claire Madden is a social researcher who effectively bridges the gap between the emerging generations and the business leaders and educators of today. She is a next-gen expert, fluent in the social media, youth culture, and engagement styles of these global generations, and a professional in interpreting what this means for educators, managers and marketers. With academic qualifications in communications and postgraduate studies in leadership, Claire brings robust, research-based content to her engaging presentations and consulting. Claire has delivered professional development sessions for school and tertiary teachers, given keynote addresses at conferences as well as board room strategy sessions. From conducting training days for corporate and not for profit clients, to addressing students, training rising leaders and facilitating youth panels, Claire is in a unique position to understand the emerging generations and communicate key engagement strategies.

Faiza El-Higzi

Community Development and Advocacy Professional

Faiza El-Higzi is currently the National Human Rights Advisor for the National Council for Women and was the Economic Advisor for the Queensland Chapter.She is the currently the Manager of the Romero Centre, a centre for refugee and asylum seekers’ support. Faiza has more than ten years public sector experience in Australia providing strategic policy advice at both the State and Federal levels at the Department of State Development, Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). Faiza has four post graduate degrees in science, education, project management, and international business.

Jacob Thomas

LGBTIQ Advocate & Activist

After living most of their life as male, Jacob Thomas came out as gender-queer in early 2014. Recognising within that they didn’t feel entirely comfortable being male or female, Thomas started exploring what gender really meant to them, what came with one’s own sense of gender identity, and how gender has been used to restrict us from living our truth. Through their work, Jacob has had the opportunity to be a consultant for big businesses and governments, a presenter at universities, and work with global bodies such as the Commonwealth Youth Gender Equality Network and the 2015 delegation of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta. Jacob Thomas is a young gender equality activist, LGBTIQ rights advocate, social entrepreneur, performer, and disruptive public speaker from Melbourne, Australia. They wholeheartedly believe in the power of young people to create long-term, meaningful, and sustainable changes in the world, and can do so best when working from the heart

Jonathan Sri

Writer & Political Activist

Jonathan is a writer, musician and community organiser with a strong interest in democratic reform and non-hierarchical political structures. Much of his writing focuses on xenophobia, systemic racism and the normalisation of whiteness. Jonathan is a former Queensland poetry slam state champion, and was runner-up in the Australian poetry slam grand finale. He has performed poetry at the Sydney and Brisbane Writers Festivals and as far afield as London and Berlin. Jonathan has lived and worked in remote Aboriginal communities in north-east Arnhem Land as both a cross-cultural mediation facilitator and a community development worker. His views on racism have also been heavily shaped by his personal experiences as the son of a Tamil migrant. In his spare time, Jonathan organises underground community gig nights in houses and backyards around South Brisbane.

Kate Donnelly

Kate is a QUT Law student who delivered a three-minute pitch at this year's TEDxQUT. Her topic asks us to reconsider our role as advocates for refugee rights.

Leah James

Early Childhood Educator, Advocate for children with special needs + their families

Leah has a background in Sales Support, Events support, as well as experience managing a thriving Health Business for many years when she learnt the workings of managing a profitable medium sized business. It has been most recently, through personal experience with her son who has special needs that Leah’s passion for working with children, who are experiencing a similar journey, has grown exponentially. This personal passion paired with professionalism make her a strong advocate and support for children with a disability and is leading to the development of a business concept that offers a holistic approach to the care of children of all needs.

Mark Thompson

Mark is a QUT electrical engineering student who delivered a three-minute pitch at TEDxQUT. His topic focused on using money as force for good through fossil fuel divestment.

Michael Milford

Associated Professor in Robotics

Michael Milford is the founding director of the Math Thrills initiative and a QUT Associate Professor, and Chief Investigator for the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision. He is currently in the process of launching his Math Thrills company, after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Math Thrills aims to stealthily embed key mathematical and scientific concepts throughout mass media entertainment including books, games and movies, and to enable educators to teach to that material. When he isn't trying to revolutionize how we learn math he leads a research group that uses neuroscience discoveries to create new algorithms and technologies for robotics, specializing in the area of robotic and personal navigation systems.

Rebecca Glover

Advocate for children with special needs + their families, Writer & Early Childhood Educator

Rebecca is a passionate and determined woman who has been graced with two daughters, one of which has a few more challenges than most. With a background in Tertiary Administration, Publishing, Media Communications and Child Care Rebecca is also working toward becoming a Professional Life Coach, with enormous passion to work with parents and caregivers who have a child with a disability. Rebecca saw the need to create a place for children and families to go who have additional needs, whether mild or complex and commenced the journey to establish a childcare service for children aged zero to five with a disability or challenging need. Rebecca’s passion for this stems from her own personal story and journey as a carer for her youngest daughter and advocate for children with additional needs and their families.

Sayeda Mahnoor Gillani

Noor is a QUT Journalism student who delivered a three-minute pitch at this year's TEDxQUT. Her talk asks us to challenges what we know about apathy.

Scott Hocknull

Senior Curator of Geosciences & a Vertebrate Palaeontologist

Dr. Scott Hocknull is senior curator of geosciences, a vertebrate palaeontologist and passionate science communicator. He developed his love for natural history at a very young age. Scott started at the Queensland Museum in 1990 as a 12 year old volunteer, working in the palaeontology and geology department. In secondary school Scott published his first scientific paper, at the time Australia’s youngest published scientific authors. Realising that most of the museum’s collections were hidden from public view, he has been a strong advocate for bringing the behind-the-scenes of museum science to the public. In 2000 he landed his dream job as a palaeontologist for QM, making him the youngest museum curator in Australia at 22. Among many honours, Scott was named Young Australian of the Year in 2002.Scott is passionate about applying new technologies to museum collections so that we can better interpret our natural heritage.

Suzi Vaughan

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) at Queensland University of Technology & Fashion Designer

Professor Suzi Vaughan has settled (for now) in Brisbane, Australia having studied, lived and worked in Europe and Asia. After graduating from St Martins School of Art in London with a Ba Hons in Fashion, she started her professional career as a fashion designer, later moving into fashion education. Since 2011 she has been part of the executive team of a large Australian university. With over thirty years’ experience of design practice and teaching, she has become an advocate for the power and potential of design thinking.