Theme: Stories That Inspire

TEDxNatick 2017 will take place on Saturday, January 21, 2017 at Natick High School, Performing Arts Center. We have a highly talented group of speakers who will bring energy, creativity, joy, and wonder to the TEDxNatick stage. With their Stories That Inspire, they will explore a wide range of provocative topics ranging from music composition to social reform, physics, poetry, health, architecture, sports, art, genetics, climate change, exercise, and more.

Natick High School
15 West St
Natick, Massachusetts, 01760
United States

Adam Foss

Adam is a former Assistant District Attorney in the Suffolk County Office (Boston). The "Root" named him one of the 100 most influential black Americans of 2016. In 2015 he was recognized among the 40 most up-and-coming lawyers in the U.S. by National Law Journal. In 2013 the Massachusetts Bar Association voted Adam Prosecutor of the Year. Adam is a fierce advocate for criminal justice reform and the importance of the prosecutor in ending mass incarceration.

Alan Plattus

Alan J. Plattus is Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Yale University. He teaches architectural history and theory, urban history and design, and directs the school’s China Studio. He founded and directs the Yale Urban Design Workshop, a community design center that undertakes complex community-based planning projects throughout the world, at scales ranging from the neighborhood to the region, in response to problems such as border conflict, underdevelopment and climate change.

Bill Littlefield

Bill hosts the NPR’s award-winning weekly sports radio program “Only A Game”, which tells the stories behind the box scores, including the explosion of interest in women's sports, competitive opportunities for the disabled and the business of sports — as well as who wins and who loses. Bill is insightful, humorous and creative when capturing the sentimentalities, quirks, and personalities of the sports world at all levels.

Bren Bataclan

Artist

Bren has been featured on CBS Evening News, Washington Post, Boston Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Channel 5's Chronicle, Readers Digest, and The Boston Globe. He has taught at UMass Amherst and enjoys having people visit his art studio in Boston.

Caterina Stamoulis

Caterina, a researcher at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, uses novel computational technologies to study the human brain's neural wiring. Having trained in engineering and applied physics (underwater acoustics) at MIT, she applies big data approaches inspired by the physical sciences to understand the infant brain. Caterina is supported by President Obama's BRAIN Initiative through the National Science Foundation.

Chris Mann

Chris Mann is a critically acclaimed recording artist and actor who has performed over 700 times as The Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera" (Nat'l Tour) and on NBC's "The Voice".

Jamele Adams

As Dean of Students at Brandeis University, Jamele is responsible for the quality of student life outside the classroom. He promotes opportunities for students to engage in leadership activities and to experience personal, social, and emotional growth and development. Jamele brings high energy and fierce dedication to fostering a community of diversity and unity at Brandeis and beyond.

Kathleen Tullie

Kathleen Tullie is the Founder and Executive Director of BOKS (Build Our Kids Success), a free physical activity program that went from one local Massachusetts school in 2009 to 2200+ schools across the US & Canada and reaching as far as Japan and South Korea. She was honored by First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative in 2013 and 2014, received the Community Leadership Award in 2013 by the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, and most recently was listed as one of the 20 Most Influential Moms by "Family Circle."

Maeve Sheehy

Maeve is an honors high school student, athlete, and advocate for those with disabilities. When not busy with school, she enjoys horseback riding, coaching for Strivers Running Club and reading.

Monika Weber

Monika speaks of her origin in a family electronics business and how that shaped her ambitious goals, through engineering degrees from the world’s most prestigious universities and building a high-tech business from the ground up. Her invention could make the world safer for millions of people. She is Founder and CEO of Fluid-Screen, Inc., an early-stage technology company in Cambridge, MA. Monika was honored with the Grand Prize in the NASA Create the Future Design Contest and her company won the Gold Prize in MassChallenge, the largest startup accelerator in the world.

Ned Brooks

Ned is a retired businessman and newly-minted grandparent who underwent a life-changing experience which led him to create the foundation Donor-to-Donor.

Rudy Tanzi

Dr. Rudy Tanzi, a Professor of Neurology at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital and was named one of the TIME100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015 for his groundbreaking research on Alzheimer’s disease.

Sheldon Mirowitz

Composer Sheldon Mirowitz has been nominated three times for an Emmy Award for Best Music, and his scores have been a part of many award-winning films and TV shows. In addition to composing, for the last twenty years he has served on the faculty at Berklee College of Music, where he is a Professor in the Film Scoring Department. His Berklee Silent Film Orchestra is considered one of the premier silent film music organizations in the world.