Theme: Society Beyond Borders

Now in its 5th year, TEDxEastEnd continues to explore the theme ‘Society Beyond Borders’. Following sold-out events over the past few years, we are excited to bring our flagship event on a bigger scale to Hackney Empire on Saturday 30th January 2016.

This one-day event will be immersive, engaging and compelling. Using live TED-style speakers, performances and pre-recorded TED Talks, we will explore the rich ideas and latest thinking that are fundamental to our mission and inspiring action to improve the communities we live in.

The East End of London is a special place, recognised for its creativity and innovation. There are ideas to be unlocked, thoughts to be shared and connections to be made, and ‘Society Beyond Borders’ is at the heart of this with four key themes:

● Global mobility of people and ideas benefits society.
● The local and the global are inextricably linked.
● Sharing knowledge and ideas across borders drives progress.
● Ideas empower people towards positive social impact.

Hackney Empire
291 Mare Street
London, Hackney, E8 1EJ
United Kingdom

Choir with No Name

A choir for homeless people and other men and women from the very edges of our society.

The Choir with No Name runs choirs for homeless people and others from the very edge of society; with a presence in London, Birmingham and Liverpool and touching all genres of music, the premise is that singing makes you feel good, silences the ‘noise’ and builds your confidence - music to our ears!

Abi Ramanan

Social entrepreneur and campaigner

A respected campaigner and socially-driven entrepreneur, Abi has already founded two food based social enterprises in London which tackle unemployment, gender equality and child hunger. Her new venture ImpactVision takes the concept ‘beyond borders’ even further with the power of hyperspectral imaging.

Amanda Leon-Joyce

Movement teacher, psychodynamic psychotherapist, and founder of Irreverent Dance

Amanda Leon-Joyce is a professionally trained dancer, dance-teacher and movement psychotherapist passionate about the impact of inclusive in-the-flesh community spaces. She is a regular contributor to broadcast and print media with specialisations in gender and sexual minorities and embodiment / movement. She is happiest talking about the places these intersect. She has co-created several award winning physical spaces ‘for social good’; currently these include Irreverent Dance - Europe’s first accessible, explicitly LGBTQ and body-positive custom dance studio.

Caroline Parker

Actress, cabaret performer, stand up comedienne and director

Caroline Parker has built a reputation over her career as the UK’s best signing singer. In 2013 she received an MBE for services to Deaf Drama and Theatre. She has spent the last 30 years acting, performing sign songs, devising, signing, dancing, miming and launching a stand up comedy act. She has performed in 2012 at the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics.

Dr Christine Shaw-Checinska

Head of design at Navabi

Looking at the relationship between cloth, culture and race, Christine examines the fascinating cultural exchanges that occur beyond borders as a result of movement and migration expressed through the clothes we wear, the objects we collect and the art that we make.

Dr Matthew Green

Founder, Unreal City Audio and Author of "London: A Travel Guide Through Time"

Historian and public speaker Dr Matthew Green is the author of the acclaimed book London: A Travel Guide Through Time (Penguin) and the founder of Unreal City Audio, which produces immersive, critically acclaimed tours of London as live events and downloads. He writes for some of our biggest newspapers, appears in documentaries across the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and has a PhD from Oxford University in the history of the media.

Greg Constantine

Documentary photographer

An internationally acclaimed and celebrated independent documentary photographer, Greg’s most recent project is ‘Nowhere People’ which documents the struggles of stateless ethnic communities across the world, building upon his extensive contribution to highlighting human rights and social issues through the power of photography and ultimately sparking debate and change amongst the public and policy makers.

Hera Hussain

Founder, Chayn

Named as one of the 17 Local Globalists by GOOD magazine and founder of Chayn, Hera has long been recognised as a community leader on the start-up scene for her ability to connect volunteers with technology and tools to tackle key social issues with Chayn being an obvious example; it exists to empower women against violence by using crowdsourcing, working with survivors of abuse across the globe and plays to Hera’s early passion to enable women in today’s world.

Hussain Manawer

Kruger Cowne Rising Star Programme Winner & Future Astronaut

Hussain Manawer is a 24 year old Quantity Surveying Graduate who has over time built an exceptionally successful YouTube channel with over 1 million viewers. The poet from East London won Kruger Cowne's Rising Star competition which saw him beat thousands of entrants across 90 countries to win a trip of a lifetime into Space. Hussain will become the UK's Youngest Astronaut in 2018, as well as the first person of Pakistani descent to venture beyond the stars and into the galaxy. Hussain uses the various platforms across social media and in real life to disruptively campaign for various humanitarian causes such as mental health and the refugee crisi

Jermain Jackman

Singer, Winner of the Voice 2014

Born and raised in Hackney, having grown up in one of London’s toughest boroughs and crowned the winner of BBC’s The Voice UK in 2014, Jermain is much more than an incredible singer blessed with a beautiful baritone; he is a political activist who balances this with his musical aspirations to use his talents as a tool for social change.

Jules Howard

Zoology correspondent and author of Sex on Earth

Full of curiosity, Jules Howard has an intriguing perspective on humankind’s role in nature; with insight and expertise in wildlife and zoology, his work can be found on the BBC and regularly in The Guardian.

Juno Mac

Sex worker and activist

An activist with the Sex Worker Open University, Juno campaigns for better working conditions by fighting criminalisation and is involved with public education projects around issues relating to sex worker rights.

Magnus Lindkvist

Trendspotter and futurologist

Already an active contributor to TED and a world renowned speaker, Magnus is a trendspotter and futurologist with a diverse and engaging background including his education and writing, through to his company and compelling presentations. He is provocative, challenges our thinking and helps us re-imagine what the future may look like.

Regina Catrambone

Co-founder of Migrant Offshore Aid Station

Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) is a search and rescue charity dedicated to saving lives at sea and was founded by Christopher and Regina Catrambone in 2014.

Sue Lukes

Migration expert

An expert on migration and housing policy Sue has spent the last twenty years providing consultancy, advice and training to projects around Europe. Sue is Chair of Music in Detention a charity that uses participative music to give detainees in immigration detention centres a voice.