Theme: Bridges

We leveraged TEDWomen event theme and brought together women and men leaders on Nov 3. The event is now complete.

AT&T
725 West Peachtree Street NW
Atlanta, Georgia, 30375
United States

Adriane Randolph

Dr. Adriane Randolph, founder and Executive Director of the Brainlab and Associate Professor of Information Systems in the Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State and Dr. Melody Jackson, a visiting Associate Professor in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, focus on advancing the interaction of people and machines to improve the lives of people with disabilities. Unabashedly calling themselves Yoda (Jackson) and Luke (Randolph), they share a mentor/mentee relationship that has helped both continue their path toward improving access to and consistency of medical treatment and improving patience outcomes that affect the brain and body.

Irfan Essa

DIRECTOR OF MACHINE LEARNING AT GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Dr. Irfan Essa is a professor in the school of Interactive Computing and the inaugural Director of Machine Learning at Georgia Tech. One of the fastest growing research areas in computing, machine learning spans many disciplines that use data to discover scientific principles, infer patterns and extract meaningful knowledge. Essa directs an interdisciplinary team studying ways machine learning connects information and actions to bring the most benefit to the most people.

James Dallas

James Dallas is an accomplished senior executive who was born in a segregated hospital in Atlanta, raised by a single mother, attended six different elementary and four different high schools and went on to lead growth initiatives at Georgia-Pacific and Medtronic and is on the boards of several others. The majority of Mr. Dallas’ career has been focused on bridging the gap between strategy and execution, using IT for competitive advantage, and leadership development. He has been named one of the most powerful black men in corporate America several times in his career by Black Enterprise and Savoy magazines.

Jennifer Hidinger

In her role as co-founder of Staplehouse Restaurant, Jennifer Hidinger orchestrates the development and execution of all aspects of the restaurant, and is co- founder and spokesperson for The Giving Kitchen Initiative (TGK), an Atlanta nonprofit organization that supports area restaurant workers facing an unanticipated crisis. TGK was inspired by the overwhelming expression of support from the restaurant industry when Hidinger’s late husband and business partner, chef Ryan Hidinger, was diagnosed with cancer in December 2012.

Linda Matzigkeit

As Chief Administrative Office of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Linda Matzigkeit provides executive oversight, vision and support for human resources, legal, compliance, marketing and communications, strategic planning and wellness. Tenacity and accountability are the secret sauce of her personal and professional achievements. A marathon runner with a passion for wellness, Matzigkeit will share her “Iron Woman” philosophy and guidance to TEDxCentennialParkWomen’s participants for how to execute the concept in their own lives.

Melody Jackson

Dr. Melody Jackson, a visiting Associate Professor in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, and Dr. Adriane Randolph, founder and Executive Director of the Brainlab and Associate Professor of Information Systems in the Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State, focus on advancing the interaction of people and machines to improve the lives of people with disabilities. Unabashedly calling themselves Yoda (Jackson) and Luke (Randolph), they share a mentor/mentee relationship that has helped both continue their path toward improving access to and consistency of medical treatment and improving patience outcomes that affect the brain and body.

Nicole Jones

GLOBAL INNOVATION LEADER, DELTA Nicole Jones, a computer science major at Spelman College before obtaining an MBA from Emory University, started her career with Delta Air Lines in marketing after spending time at Turner Broadcasting. Her work at The Hangar — Delta’s global innovation center— is not mere marketing. Today, she leads a 20-person team on initiatives to keep Atlanta’s hometown airline efficient, customer-centric and at the vanguard of air travel innovation. According to Jones, the future of air travel innovation is anticipating customer needs and rapidly building solutions that address those needs. She sees her role is the perfect mash up of her technology, marketing and strategic planning skills.

Raj Sisodia

FW Olin Distinguished Professor of Global Business and Whole Foods Market Research Scholar in Conscious Capitalism at Babson College, and Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Conscious Capitalism Inc. Raj Sisodia is co-author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller “Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business” (2013) and Wall Street Journal bestseller “Everybody Matters” (2015). He was named one of “Ten Outstanding Trailblazers of 2010” by Good Business International, and one of the “Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior” by Trust Across America.