Theme: Connections

At TEDxLancaster 2016, you will hear remarkable speakers with ideas worth spreading. Their talks are only part of what can make a difference for you. What’s another part? Your fellow TEDxLancaster attendees! They are attending for reasons similar to yours. When like-minded people get together, that’s when the real magic happens!

Initiate this by meeting your fellow TEDxers. You’ll find there’s a common thread that runs through everyone. Our theme this year is “Connections.” This connection is what makes us all part of the TEDxLancaster family. TED calls this your tribe. Take the time today to connect with the other members of your tribe. Be prepared to be inspired, motivated, and educated by ideas worth spreading!

Ware Center
42 North Prince Street
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17603
United States

Aaron Miller

Global Technology & Optimization for The Hershey Company

Aaron Miller has spent his career at the Hershey Company working in various engineering roles as a Process Design Engineer, Plant Engineer and Project Manager developing and executing project for new products and margin improvements. He is currently a member of the Supply Chain Innovation team that explores feasibility of front of funnel new product concepts. In addition, Aaron is also a part of a small team which investigates the future application of cutting edge technologies to business and manufacturing through proof of concept investigation.

Alicia Nordstrom

Psychology Professor and Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Misericordia University

Alicia Nordstrom is a Psychology professor and Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Misericordia University. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 2004 from The Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests include classroom interventions to reduce stereotypes and prejudice as well as social anxiety and mental health in college students. She is the creator of The Voices Project, an award-winning, empirically-supported program to reduce stereotypes of stigmatized social groups. Her documentary, The Voices Project: Disability (produced by WVIA) reflects her passion for social justice and background as a theater and film actor, director, and writer.

Amanda Brown

USA President of Children and Youth First

Amanda Brown graduated from Colgate University with a Bachelors Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, and is now pursuing a Masters Degree in Social Policy from London School of Economics. She joined Children and Youth First (CYF) in 2014 at 20 years old, after studying human rights in Nepal and meeting CYF founder Haushala Thapa through a random homestay match. Amanda received Colgate University's 2015 Entrepreneurs of New York award after developing Children and Youth First through the university's Thought Into Action incubator. 

Arfan Qureshi

Senior Manager, Leadership and Organization Development for The Hershey Company

Arfan Qureshi is a Senior Talent Consultant at The Hershey Company.  He has led Leadership and Organizational Development programs across industries and across the world.  He has worked in 10 countries and is proficient in 4 languages.  He holds two master’s degrees from the University of Oxford and Michigan State University.

Chris Barnabei

Librarian/Technology Integrator at the Career Magnet School

Chris has been an educator in the Chambersburg Area School District (PA) since 2007 after graduating from Clarion University with a Masters degree in Library Science. After five years as an elementary librarian, he took a position at the (then) new Career Magnet School in 2012 where he currently serves as the librarian/ technology integrator. While at the Career Magnet School, he became involved with coding instruction despite a lack of background in computer science. Working alongside his students, he helped to develop and publish an app for the school, and, in June 2016, Chris was one of 50 educators from around the world who received a scholarship to attend Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, California. This is a prestigious event held for software and app developers. Chris has a special interest in connecting with and advocating for teachers who, like himself, offer coding instruction yet do not have a background in computer science.

Chris Caldwell

Founder of The Common Wheel

Chris is an avid proponent of bikes as transportation. Following an uninspiring college career, Chris split his time between working construction, traveling, and being a ski bum. After many different business ideas, Chris finally followed through on one, starting The Common Wheel, a nonprofit community bike center in Lancaster, Pa. This idea was able to combine Chris’ love for bikes, his city, community building, adventure and a never-ending curiosity and willingness to try new things.

Elizabeth Valentin

Quality Control Supervisor at DentalEZ Integrated Solutions, STEM Sister Volunteer

Beth is a Quality Control Supervisor at DentalEZ Integrated Solutions. Having earned not one, but two associates of applied science degrees from a local technical school, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Beth is lucky, she has a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) career. Her talk titled, “Inspire, Empower, Ignite. Girls in STEM” follows her journey to where she is today, why she is lucky, and how we all can connect, support, and inspire future generations of women to “be the boss of their own lives” through a career in STEM. A dedicated volunteer, Beth serves on the board of multiple organizations including the Junior League of Lancaster, Clare House, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Grace Buckwalter

Student, Science Fair Award Winner

Grace Buckwalter is a sophomore at Hempfield High School. She has enjoyed playing the bass since 4th grade in orchestras, including county orchestra and in her freshman year she was second chair in the Lancaster-Lebanon Sinfonietta. Also in her freshman year, she played the bass in her school’s musical, Into the Woods. Grace has played the electric bass in jazz band since 5th grade. She German dances at the Lancaster Liederkrauntz and has competed at national levels. She also helps with the Kinder Gruppe, helping children learn to German dance and teaching them German culture. Grace enjoys outdoor activities, including kayaking, hiking, and camping. She was inspired to a project in neurology because her mother suffers from migraines. She saw the constant pain her mother was in and the numerous trial drugs she had to take in order to decrease the pain and knew she wanted to be able to help her and others who have to live with similar neurological disorders.

Haushala Thapa

Founder of Children and Youth First

Haushala Thapa Zimba graduated from St. Xaviers College in Nepal with a Bachelors Degree in Social Work, and is currently earning a Masters Degree in Sociology from Tribhuvan University. She founded Children and Youth First in 2008 at 21 years old, after discovering and shutting down an abusive orphanage in Kathmandu. Haushala has been named in VOW Magazine's Top 10 College Women of the Year, and has twice been named on their annual "Women to Watch" feature. Under her direction, CYF educates and encourages more marginalized children and teens each year at the Life Vision Academy boarding school in Lalitpur, Nepal. 

John Nieves

Artist Mentor and Choreographer at Heads Up

John Nieves is a Heads Up Artist Mentor who teaches Break Dance, DJ 101, Junkyard Drumming and other urban arts programs to students. He is a founding member of Break Free Crew and Urban Soul and his choreography and crew has been featured on various TV shows and movies. John believes that the passions of youth that are expressed through dance, hip hop, and music give a glimpse into God’s fingerprints of their potential.

Kyle Kuehn

Founder of SOBERBARS

Originally from the out west, Kyle moved to Pennsylvania to reunite with and get to know his father when he was 18. Kyle began experimenting with drugs and alcohol at a young age and struggled with addiction until he was 27 years old. On January 21, 2015, he overcame his drug addictions, including alcohol and cigarettes, all on the same day… while working at a bar! Kyle attributes his sobriety to his faith, and gives all the credit for his power to overcome to Jesus Christ. With over a decade of restaurant/bar experience, Kyle has seen a need in the community for people who wanted to socialize, build relationships, and enjoy entertainment free from the temptation of drugs and alcohol. He is now the founder of SOBERBARS, an organization that promotes substance free living in the community through entertainment, events, and nightlife. Kyle believes that our culture of excessive consumption, leads to a loss of connection, relationship, and life.

Madap Sharma

Refugee Resettlement Director for Bethany Christian Services

Madap Sharma is a former refugee from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. He fled his home country in 1992 to escape the cultural and ethnic cleansing policy of one nation one people perpetrated by the Drukpa regime. Madap experienced life's oddities as a refugee in Nepal for 19 years and his struggle for education and for the education of children in Nepal has been quite a story. He pursued higher education while living as a refugee, became an educator, founded an English school primarily for educating girls and contributed for English Education in Nepal. He was the recipient of one of the highest civilian honors conferred unto him by the State head of Nepal. Upon resettling to the US in early 2010, Madap worked as ESL faculty in Maryland, Virginia and later in Philadelphia. He worked with Unaccompanied Refugee Minors and also founded an ethnic community organization in Philadelphia. Currently, he serves as refugee resettlement director for Bethany Christian Services in Lancaster, PA.

Michael Parker

PhD Candidate in the Department of Immunobiology at Yale University

Michael is currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of Immunobiology at Yale University where he studies how infected cells mount immune responses to viruses.  He holds a Bachelor’s in Biology from Millersville University and a Master’s in Immunobiology from Yale University.  Throughout his scientific career, he has worked in a variety of fields including plant genomics, bioinformatics, microbiology, immunology, and virology.  As a student at Yale he has been the recipient of a number of fellowships and awards including a Gruber Science Fellowship and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.  Some of his professional endeavors include publication of peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts, presentation of science to the public, educating the next generation of scientists, and coordination of scientific symposia. Outside of science, Michael is passionate about the outdoors and athletics.

Nga Chau

Reseracher at Johns Hopkins Hospital

Nga studied neuroscience at Franklin and Marshall College. She now works in research at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in their neurology department. With a team of neurologists and engineers, they are studying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a form of brain stimulation technology, and its potential to treat symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Nga's path and passion is largely influenced by her life experience caring for her mother, who suffers from Young-Onset Parkinson's. She is able to bring her academic and intimate understanding of the disease to contribute to the science and bridge a special connection with patients.  Nga's empathy and affinity to help others is dichotomous. When she is not in the hospital researching, she works as a first responder with The First Response Team of America, helping families and communities recover from tornado, hurricane, flooding, and other natural disaster strikes.

Rubi Nicholas

Stand Up Comedian

Stand up comedian, former professor, single mom and first generation American of Pakistani Muslim descent, Rubi Nicholas is antithesis of what one would expect with such a strong ethnic background. Selected Nick@Nite's Funniest Mom in America, Rubi uses humor to break down barriers between people. By focusing on words and language, she demonstrates how our choices affect each other, create unity or division and how choosing our words to promote inclusion is paramount to building community.