Theme: IMPRINT!

Sixteen of the region’s most engaging speakers and performers graced the Peace Center stage at the TEDxGreenville annual conference Friday, April 7. The all-day event is known for taking its audiences on an intellectual and emotional roller coaster with presenters that delight, challenge, question, answer, disrupt, and enlighten.

The event engaged attendees in moving stories, jaw-dropping performances, and demonstrations of groundbreaking new technologies under the event’s theme for 2017: “IMPRINT.”

Peace Center - Gunter Theater
300 S Main Street
Greenville, South Carolina, 29601
United States

Friction Farm

Modern Folk Duo

Modern-folk duo Friction Farm is a husband and wife team of traveling troubadours. Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay combine storytelling, social commentary and humor to create songs of everyday life, local heroes, and quirky observations. From ballads to anthems each song is filled with harmony and hope. Friction Farm has performed internationally and toured the US. They feel at home on the road and on stage. Audiences lean into their stories, laugh at their humor, are inspired to do a little good in the world, and even sing along once in a while.

Glow Lyric Theatre

Theatre Troupe

Each summer, Glow produces three musical shows that are in direct response to the social and political climate of South Carolina. Glow’s 2017 Season: Question Authority runs July 13-30 and includes the hippie cult classic HAIR, the haunting opera version of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and the political satire operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan The Gondoliers. Visit www.glowlyric.com for season tickets! #questionauthority

Taína Asili y la Banda Rebelde

Soul Justice

Taína Asili’s voice exudes strength of Spirit, filling listeners with the fervor for freedom and inspiring audiences to dance to the rhythm of rebellion. During Taína Asili’s 20-year career of creating music for social change she has toured the U.S., Europe and Canada, and most recently performed at The Women’s March on Washington.

Adam Anderson

Cyber Security Specialist

Adam Anderson is a serial entrepreneur and author. He is the founder and Chairman of Palmetto Security Group (PSG), an IBM Premier Cyber Security Business Partners. With 20 years in Cyber Security and 13 as a small business owner, Adam is positioned to understand both side of the Cyber Security equation. Adam is a Scholar in Residence, where they launched an online cyber security class for business people back in late 2016 that is now open to the public.

Arinthea Carter

Urban Photographer

Alrinthea Carter is a Rural Exploration photographer based in Greenville, South Carolina. Her artistic focus is on the Abandoned Spaces of the Southeastern United States. Her work has been featured in The South Carolina Review, Pembroke Magazine, Emrys Journal, TOWN Magazine, and select galleries. She can be found climbing century old staircases in search of forgotten beauty.

Crystal Irby

Spoken Word Poet

Crystal identifies as a Black Creative, an artist who creates work across multiple genres that centers on the Black experience. She is a spoken word poetry grand slam champion, published writer, actress and current cohost of Dem Black Mamas, a podcast that delves into the unique experience of Black mothers. Her recent theatre credits include, The Mrs. & the Mistress and Untitled Reconstruction Play. The Mrs. and the Mistress goes where most are too afraid to venture, and discovers the unexpected, healing. Untitled Reconstruction Play is a compilation of the testimony of residents in Spartanburg, SC, on the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in 1871. The show is made up of excerpts from the Federal Joint Select Committee’s investigation, as well as history, memoir, and poetry written by the cast.

George Austin

Radical Educator

George obtained college degrees in electrical engineering, learner-centered instruction, school administration, and mathematics. As an educator, George describes himself as a cheerleader or “hype-man” who motivates students by building their self-confidence. He is also passionate about promoting culturally relevant pedagogy and the efficient use of educational technology. In his spare time, George enjoys spending time with his family and coaching in youth basketball leagues.

Janine Monroe

Artist

Janine Monroe was born in Kingston, Jamaica and received a Bachelor of Arts in Drawing from Georgia Southern University. In 2014, through a strong desire to expand from the confines of painting, she developed a process where she could sculpt, paint, add dimension to her work and incorporate recycling. The inspiration was to mix recycled wood with an acrylic polymer and pigments - a creation called “sculpted paintings”. This term was developed to describe the process because of the primary use of paint brushes to form the images out of the invented mixture. The previously used incorporation of saw dust in the paint was solely used to create texture; now it was used to create relief images, typically faces that extend off the canvas and immediately engage the viewer. Faces are used to represent renewal and transformation.

Jim Sevier

Tech Specialist

Jim Sevier is an entrepreneur, thought leader and business transformation advocate in the area of internet related technologies. Mr. Sevier's 30+ years of experience centers on translating technology into everyday personal and professional language.

Josev Brewer

Criminal Justice Reformer

Joe Brewer is an Assistant United States Attorney, or federal prosecutor, with the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of South Carolina. In addition to prosecuting federal criminal law, Joe works with various programs of the USAO concerning both crime prevention and issues in reentry — helping formerly incarcerated individuals return home. He was previously an attorney with the United States District Court and an associate at the Charlotte, NC office of Hunton & Williams LLC, practicing employment law and complex litigation.

Kate Hendricks Thomas

Fitness Psychologist

Kate Hendricks Thomas is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Charleston Southern University. She is a business owner, teacher, speaker, and writer. Her behavioral health research, published in journals like Best Practices in Mental Health, the Journal of Environmental Psychology, and Military Behavioral Health, has been praised as “masterful” and “constructive.”

Lori Rose

Relationship and Intimacy Coach

Lover of human potential. Recovering fear and anxiety addict. Lori Rose believes in the power of authentic connection to change the world.

Luigi Boccuto

Geneticist

Luigi Boccuto is originally from Catanzaro, Italy, but has been living in Greenwood, SC for over 10 years. He received his medical degree and post-doc degree in medical genetics at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Rome. During his school and training years, he has worked on hereditary cancer, overgrowth syndromes and intellectual disability (ID) syndromes. He is currently working as Research Scientist at the JC Self Research Institute of the Greenwood Genetic Center. His main projects are focused on the study of the genetic causes of autism, ID, and conditions with segmental or generalized overgrowth. Most of my work is focused on characterizing the metabolic profiles of cells from patients with genetic conditions, to detect molecular biomarkers for early screening or diagnosis, discover pathogenic mechanisms underlying such disorders, and identify novel targets for treatment approaches.

Rashmi Airan

Ethics Consultant

Rashmi Airan is a trailblazer spreading her unique journey and message. Rashmi is a first generation immigrant and the oldest of three daughters. She was raised in Miami, Florida and attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she graduated with honors and distinction. After working for Morgan Stanley Investment Bank in New York City, Rashmi attended Columbia Law School where she was named a Kent Scholar for highest honors. She began her career in nationally recognized law firms in San Francisco and Miami and later as an Attorney for Miami-Dade County. Rashmi eventually opened her own legal practice in real estate law. She has had the opportunity speak at Columbia and NYU Law Schools, corporations, and various community groups. Rashmi is an avid runner, cyclist, singer, and the proud and blessed mother of two fascinating and loving children.

Tracey Pickett

Tech Entrepreneur

Tracey Pickett is a passionate entrepreneur, attorney, inventor and musician. Tracey began her legal career at a Fortune 5 technology company working in the areas of corporate and intellectual property law. An attorney by day, Tracey spent nights and weekends developing her true passion for entrepreneurship. The company's apps have topped the Apple App Store charts as the #2 Paid App Overall and the #1 Paid Social Networking app. Eboticon Emoji apps have been downloaded in over 70 countries and featured in publications including the International Business Times.

Vaughn Newman

Modern Dance Choreographer

Vaughn Newman was born in Philadelphia, PA where he began dancing at William Penn Arts Charter. Later, Freedom Theater and PHILADANCO (The Philadelphia Dance Company) became his formal introduction to the dance world. But it wasn’t until he moved to Miami, FL that he realized his passion was dance. During his training at New World School of the Arts he performed works by Anna Sokolow, Merce Cunningham, Jennifer Muller and works of Sean Curran. He has also performed various seasons with MOMENTUM DANCE COMPANY of Miami, FL and Premiered “Dreaming Amazonia” with Brazz Dance Theater, an Afro-Brazillian based company. Along with community organizations and various grant programs he has taught dance throughout South Florida for inner-city community centers and public schools, encouraging youths through the arts and dance. Foothills Dance Conservatory has been his dance home since moving to the Upstate. Vaughn teaches & choreographs for the intermediate and advanced students of FDC.

Zachary Brewster

Business Consultant

He is a Certified Mediator with the South Carolina Bar Association and a graduate of the Riley Diversity Leadership Institute at Furman University. Zach completed is undergraduate studies at The College of Charleston located in Charleston, SC and his Graduate Studies at Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina. He is married to Alecia Brewster and they have three children.