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).

Tbilisi State Conservatoire
8-10 Griboedov Stree
Tbilisi, T'bilisi, 0108
Georgia

Alessandra Cugno

Alessandra is a professional animation director and VFX artist. She works for international news organization Coda Story, in Tbilisi, Georgia. Despite having a background in television, advertising, and feature films, she finds journalism to be the most creative and exciting field to be working in. Together, with a team of rockstar journalists from all over the world, Alessandra and Coda Story are pioneering innovation in visual storytelling, working in traditional, motion graphic, 3D, and 360 formats.

Beka Berikashvili

An English teacher and a founder of a small language center called “Beka’s School”.

Beso Kacharava

Beso Kacharava is a sound designer and founder of “Post Red Audio”. He started his career in Vancouver, Canada and ended up founding his own studio in Georgia. Beso made it possible to instill North American work ethics in the field of post-production in Georgia and gathered team of youngsters with whom he has worked on many successful projects. Today, his company continues to work on sound design for local, as well as, international movies, animations and video games.

Giorgi Kekelidze

Writer, Director of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia

Writer, Director of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia

Giorgi Mindiashvili

Giorgi is London based hospitality professional currently responsible for Food and Drink Division across Europe at Ennismore, the multidisciplinary company focusing on unique property and experience creation around the globe. Initially Giorgi started his career with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. True passion and love for hospitality led him to London’s vibrant gastronomy scene where he emerged with industry’s most exciting trends and edgy concepts. After working with multiple UK based operators and obtaining advanced diploma in hospitality Giorgi decided to join Intercontinental Hotels Group development team in Tbilisi, owned and managed by country’s largest creative hospitality operator – AdjaraGroup. For the past six years Giorgi developed and headed Food and Drink division for AdjaraGroup including standalone restaurants and Rooms Hotels, a design lifestyle hotel brand. Prior to joining Ennismore his last big project was Franchise expansion of Basque 3* Michelin restaurant Azurmendi by focusing on perfect merge between Georgian and Basque culinary concepts, developing training and educational programs along with setting up sustainable and seasonal food supply chain purchasing directly from the source. Giorgi’s upcoming projects would involve expansion of lifestyle hotel brand Hoxton with recent opening in Paris and upcoming launches in London. During his free time you will find Giorgi searching around flea markets and vintage shops across Europe looking for something special to bring back to life.

Mamuka Khazaradze

Mr. Khazaradze graduated from the Technical University of Georgia in 1988 and also holds a diploma from Harvard Business School. Between 1988 and 1989, he worked as an engineer at the Projecting-Technological Scientific Research Institute in Tbilisi. In 1991 and 1992, respectively, he founded and became the President of TBC Bank. In 1995 he founded IDS Borjomi Georgia, Borjomi Beverages Co. N.V., where he held the position of President until 2004, and between 1999 and 2002, he acted as Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Microfinance Bank of Georgia. In 2004, Mr Khazaradze also founded the Georgian Reconstruction and Development Company, of which he is still the President. Between 1997 and 2007, he was also Vice President of the Olympic Committee of Georgia. Since 2010, Mr. Khazaradze has served as the Chairman of the Board of the American Academy in Tbilisi and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Lisi Lake Development. In 2014, Mr Khazaradze was recognised as Entrepreneur of the Year in Georgia by Ernst & Young, the year this prestigious awards programme was launched in the country. Mr Khazaradze has been the Chairman of the Bank Supervisory Board since TBC Bank’s incorporation in 1992 and was appointed as a chairman of the Board in May 2016.

Michelle Laruë-Charlus

Urban planning director at Bordeaux Métropole

Nestan Nizharadze

Nestan Nijaradze, is co-founder and artistic Director of the Tbilisi Photo Festival - first international annual photo festival in Georgia that was creatd in 2010. Since 2007 she has curated numerous international exhibitions in Georgia and abroad promoting photographers from the Caucasus area in France, Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, India... After graduating from the Tbilisi University, faculty of Journalism, Nestan Nijaradze got a Masters degree in Paris, at the University Paris VII, on photography and cinema. Since 2011 Nestan Nijaradze is regularly solicited by the various international festivals as an expert on portfolio-reviews. She writes essays and articles on photography and has been producing thematic broadcasts on visual arts and photography on the Georgian National Television. Between 2007-2009 N. Nijaradze co-founded and co-edited the first Georgian magazine on photography - Photo Magazine - and has initiated the first permanent collection of Georgian photography, which has been expanding since 2007. In July 2017 she launched the project of the photo museum of Tushetian photographer Shalva Alkhanaidze in Omalo on 2 100 m altitude. This is a first photo museum in Tusheti – high mountain region in North-East of Georgia. Actually Nestan Nijaradze works on the creation of the first Photography and Multimedia Center in South Caucasus that will be inaugurated in Tbilisi by the end of 2017.

Nino Chikovani

The founder of ‘Tamashobana’, Georgian toys and games company, who spend 10 years working in marketing in Georgia, Russia and UK, and who decided that it was high time to follow her heart - which is full of love towards children- and set up the business of her life, bringing happiness and joy to families around the country. Her talk is focused around the toys, and the habit of buying toys: sometimes wrong, sometimes of guilt, and almost always too much.

Nino Zambakhidze

Nino Zambakhidze’s dairy and distribution company in the Republic of Georgia started, like many great business ideas, from humble origins. In 2008, a friend bought two cows on a whim in Samskhe Javahketi, a poor, rural underserved region far south of the bustling capital, Tbilisi, where she grew up. She was raised not as a farmer, but as an educator and a business major, as she helped him figure how where to keep these new acquisitions. Together, they asked a lot of questions, leading them to owning land, buying more cows, buying feed, making feed, and paving the way for other small farmers to grow into a wider dairy cooperative. Nino, who spent a year living in the U.S. as a teen and had graduated with a degree in business and marketing at the Tbilisi Technical University, had always dreamt of starting her own company, and in fact, had already had some success with a company providing coffee and tea to hotels and restaurants. But having heard about the great dairy potential of the region, she knew that this new idea was destined to be successful. And thus, the Georgian Business Zone company was born.

Paul Stephens

Paul Stephens is a co-founder of the Transcaucasian Trail. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Georgia from 2005-2007 and has been exploring the region ever since. He has worked as an educator, journalist, and communications specialist for USAID in Tbilisi. He is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and has written extensively on international affairs and global development issues. After envisioning the Transcaucasian Trail in 2015, he now serves as director of the project.

Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs

Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs (Netherlands, 1968) was initially educated as a translator at the Brussels State Economics Institute where she majored with honors in French and German. Her interest in other cultures as well as her humanitarian drive brought her to Georgia where she initially worked for the International Red Cross and the Dutch Consulate. She set up her own charity foundation SOCO (www.soco.ge) in 1999. When her husband Mikhei Saakashvilil, a promising Georgian lawyer, got involved in politics she was teaching French at a Business School in Tbilisi and at the same time advised European companies as a business consultant. Her husband got elected President of Georgia in 2004 and served two terms till October 2013. During her time as First Lady, Mrs. Roelofs was deeply involved in public health: she got a medical nursing degree in Georgia, set up breast and cervical cancer screening in Georgia, chaired ministerial councils on reproductive health and infectious diseases and was appointed goodwill ambassador for the World Health Organization. Sandra was also an advocate for healthy life style and palliative care and continues to assist children with rare diseases and disability. Sandra and her youngest son Nikoloz reside in Georgia. Her oldest son Eduard works in Philadelphia as a journalist. Sandra often travels to her parents in the Netherlands and her husband in Ukraine. Professionally, she works as an international consultant on public health, lectures master students at the University of Georgia and directs her charity foundation SOCO that has a medical mobile team, a study grant program and a new project on rehabilitation for the disabled. Sandra also volunteers at the classical music radio station MUZA that she set up 10 years ago. Sandra speaks Dutch, English, French, German, Russian and Georgian.

Shota Gvinepadze

Shota Gvinepadze is Associated Dean of Mathematics and Computer Science School at Free University of Tbilisi, also co-founder of the Society for Spreading the Knowledge of Coding. He has has been teaching computer science for more than 10 years. In 2013 Received Order of Honour for his work in education. Shota is passionate about Artificial Intelligence and is doing research in machine learning/deep learning.