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).

New World Stages
340 West 50th Street
New York, New York, 10019
United States

Amy E. Gallo

Author of the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict

Amy E. Gallo is an expert in conflict, communication and workplace dynamics. She is the author of the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, a how-to guidebook that combines the latest management research with practical advice to deliver evidence-based ideas on how to handle conflict professionally and productively. She is a co-host of HBR’s Women at Work podcast, which is currently in its third season. In her role as a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, she writes frequently about communicating ideas, leading and influencing people, and building your career. She has contributed to numerous books on feedback, emotional intelligence and managing others, and is the coauthor of the HBR Guide to Building Your Business Case. Gallo is on the faculty of the Emotional Intelligence Coaching Certification program, recently launched by Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence. She taught at Brown University and is a graduate of both Brown and Yale University.

Andrei Matorin

Violinist & Composer

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, violinist, composer and producer Matorin began performing professionally at the age of 15 and has since had the honor of being featured as a soloist at such prestigious institutions as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center and The MoMA. He’s played for such dignitaries as Oprah, Billy Joel and General Colin Powell. While rooted in classical and jazz traditions, his music is also influenced by modern dance and grooves from around the world to create immersive, genre-bending sonic textures and landscapes using sound effects and loops. As an event curator, Matorin has worked with world class talent over the last 5 years to produce inspiring experiences as diverse as intimate cacao ceremonies and soundbaths to epic 28-hour marathon collaborative performances.

Arvind Ethan David

Producer

Arvind Ethan David is a producer and writer of films, television, comics and theater. He is currently a lead producer on the Jagged Little Pill musical, based on the album by Alanis Morissette. Additionally, he is the producer of legendary British comedian David Baddiel and Erran Baron Cohen’s The Infidel – The Musical, based on their hit film of the same name, for which he also wrote additional lyrics.

Damian Bazadona

From the Super Bowl to Broadway’s biggest hits, Damian has joined the front lines of some of the world’s leading brands. In 2001, he founded Situation – a digital agency in New York City that helps brands build passionate communities. Over the years, Damian has worked with many notable brands including Stoli Vodka, The Metropolitan Opera, HBO, Major League Soccer, "Wicked," and the Ad Council. His agency has also been honored with numerous workplace awards from Crain’s, Best Companies Group, Cynopsis, Digiday and Fortune. Cynopsis also honored Damian with the Social Good Leader of the Year and HR Visionary of the Year awards. Outside of Situation, Damian acts as a speaker and thought leader. He has spoken at Advertising Week, Google, the Rubin Museum of Art, BroadwayCon Industry Day, Trending Broadway, Columbia University and NYU. Damian is also a co-founder of TEDxBroadway, the longest-running TEDx event in the country.

David S. Leong

Fight Director & Choreographer

David S. Leong is one of 17 Certified Fight Masters in the U.S. and his work has been seen in more than 20 Broadway and London West End plays and musicals and over 300 productions around the globe. His fights will be featured in Porgy and Bess at the New York Metropolitan Opera starting in September. He has coached a long list of notable stars of stage and screen including Sam Rockwell, Don Cheadle, Christopher Plummer and Sigourney Weaver. David is also a certified mediator and conflict resolution trainer and coach. He conducts workshops on a wide range of subjects including conflict resolution, entrepreneurship, leadership presence, business communication and public speaking. He is a Professor Emeritus of Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Drew Hodges

Founder of Spot Design, SpotCo, and DrewDesignCo

Drew Hodges is founder of Spot Design (1987), SpotCo (1997) and most recently DrewDesignCo (2016). Along with a team of 228 collaborators over the last 20 years, Hodges has helped sell over 30 million tickets to live entertainment, and created the branding and advertising campaigns for three decades of theatrical shows and art institutions including nine Pulitzer Prize winners. He is proud to have helped launch many culturally iconic titles, including Rent, Chicago, Doubt, The Color Purple, Avenue Q, Kinky Boots and Hamilton, among others. DrewDesignCo is Hodges’s new firm, devoted to branding and design for entertainment and culture. Recent theatrical collaborations include Sweeney Todd, Sweat (winner of the 2017 Pulitzer prize), Mean Girls, Moulin Rouge, Fiddler on the Roof (Yiddish), The Perelman Performing Arts Center at The World Trade Center and Tootsie, where he is making his debut as a Producer.

Eva Price

Tony Award-winning producer

Eva Price is a three-time Tony Award-winning producer of over 15 Broadway plays, musicals and concerts, a member of The Broadway League’s Board of Governors, and on the producing team of Killer Content and Abigail Disney’s venture Level Forward. Credits: Oklahoma! (Tony Award for Best Revival); Jagged Little Pill (A.R.T., Broadway); What the Constitution Means to Me (Broadway, National Tour); Angels in America (Tony-winning revival starring Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield); Dear Evan Hansen (six Tony Awards including Best Musical); On Your Feet!; Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Broadway!; Peter and the Starcatcher (five Tony Awards); Colin Quinn Long Story Short (directed by Jerry Seinfeld); Annie (Tony-Nominated Musical Revival); The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino (Tony-Nominated Play Revival); Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking; The Addams Family; Off-Broadway: Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical; Drama Desk-nominated Found; The Lion; Small Mouth Sounds.

Karen Zacarías

Playwright

Karen Zacarías is one of the most produced playwrights in the nation. She is one of the inaugural Resident Playwrights at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and is a core founder of the LATINX THEATRE COMMONS. She is the founder of Young Playwrights’ Theater, an award winning theater company that teaches playwriting in local public schools in Washington, D.C.

Laura Heywood

@BroadwayGirlNYC runs one of the most-followed theater accounts on Twitter. She leads interactions between fans, shows, industry insiders and performers in the world of “showcial” networking.

Marianne Eaves

Whiskey Maker

Marianne Eaves was born in Tennessee and raised in Kentucky, so geography alone may have been telling Eaves that her destiny was to be a whiskey maker. However, it was the courage to buck tradition, her creative engineering mind and a voracious appetite for learning that actualized her place in history as Kentucky’s First Female Master Distiller. Whiskey Advocate listed Eaves as “the Next Generation” for the bourbon industry, and she has been honored by Forbes in the 2015 Food & Drink 30 under 30 list. Eaves has also garnered recognition by Wine Enthusiast as one of America’s Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers.

Marshall W. Mabry IV

Actor & Playwright

Marshall W. Mabry IV is a singer, writer, actor and creator of mwmiv speaks, a digital platform dedicated to nurturing and cultivating the voices of young performers. His credits include Li’l Abner, Les Miserables, Godspell, Once on this Island, Ragtime, 35th Annual NY POPS Gala honoring Alan Menken at Carnegie Hall and a series of August Wilson plays. He’s forever thankful to his family and mentors for teaching him these three things to remember: lead in love, lead in service and listen.

Matt Hirst

Marketing Expert & Venture Investor

Matt Hirst is a marketing expert, researcher, writer, and venture investor. He is the co-founder of AGEIST, a media platform and research consultancy dedicated to reinventing lifestyles for the over 50s. He is also a Partner at West, a Brand Studio and Venture Fund that specializes in the end-to-end process of designing, building, launching and investing in purpose-driven brands. Matt has spent his career at the intersection of business and culture. He spent nearly a decade at Red Bull in London and Los Angeles where he created and ran some of the brand's most iconic projects in sports and music. He also spent time as Google’s Global Head of Brand Experience. Matt’s work as a researcher and writer has been featured in the Financial Times, The Guardian and The Economist.

Matt Jozwiak

Founder of Rethink Food NYC

At only 31, Matt Jozwiak has already been in the food industry almost half his life. His first big break came when he decided to move to France and train under his mentor, Pierre Orsi. By 27, Jozwiak was named a chef de partie at the world-renowned fine dining restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York City. But for Jozwiak, the true recipe for success is less about making a name for himself in the culinary world — and more about giving back to the community. After seeing first-hand the amount of nutritious, high-quality food that goes to waste in restaurants, Jozwiak left Eleven Madison Park to launch the food justice non profit RethinkFood NYC.

Oshoke Pamela Abalu

Co-Founder of Love & Magic Company

Oshoke Pamela Abalu is the co-founder of Love & Magic Company, a tech-forward consultancy powered by Love, Magic & Artificial Intelligence. Their mantra? The Kahlil Gibran verse, "Work is love made visible." Abalu pioneers human-centered design solutions that infuse consciousness, energy flow, and inclusivity into global workplace transformations. A Crain’s 40 Under 40 honoree, she is reimagining the future of work through ecosystem innovations like “Inclusion & Symphony” and “Smiles Per Square Foot," where people and technology work side by side to improve lived experiences and amplify human potential. Licensed at the age of 26 as the 179th living licensed black female architect in the U.S., she has since led the transformation of over $1B of workplaces for thousands of individuals in 65 countries. Abalu and her work have been featured in TIME, Smart Planet, Real Simple Magazine, Domino Magazine, Interior Design Magazine, The Network Journal, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, Fast Company and more.

Sammi Cannold

Director

Sammi Cannold is a director who is one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, class of 2019. This fall, she will be directing a new production of Evita at New York City Center and this winter, she will be directing Celine Song's Endlings Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop after having helmed the world premiere at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and having developed the piece at Playwrights Realm and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Other recent credits include Ragtime on Ellis Island and Violet on a moving bus at the A.R.T. Recent associate director credits include the Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (dir. Rachel Chavkin). Sammi has also served as an Artistic Fellow at the A.R.T., a member of Cirque du Soleil's Creative Cognoscenti, and a Sundance Institute Fellow. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University ('15) and an M.A. from Harvard University ('16).

Sebastian Herscher

CEO & Co-Founder of Parallux

Sebastian Herscher is the CEO and co-founder of Parallux and a PhD Candidate at the NYU Future Reality Lab. He has been building large-scale shared immersive experiences since early 2015, with credits including Technical Director of Mary and the Monster and CAVE, and multiple publications in SIGCHI, UIST, and SIGGRAPH. His company, Parallux, delivers world class immersive experiences to mass audiences. Working at the intersection of art, technology, and entertainment, the Parallux mission is to help people experience breathtaking new worlds together in a powerfully social and immersive way.

Shakina Nayfack

Performer & Social Activist

Most known for her work as Lola on Hulu’s Difficult People, Shakina Nayfack can also be seen on Marvel’s Jessica Jones (Netflix) and The Detour (TBS). On Broadway: 24-Hour Plays, Gypsy of the Year. Off-Broadway: Masculinity Max at The Public Theater, Manuel Versus the Statue of Liberty (as Lady Liberty). Currently in development, her autobiographical glam rock odyssey Manifest Pussy; Chonburi International Hotel and Butterfly Club, a great American play about Trans women in Thailand; and JUNK, a rock opera conceived by the Swedish pop band Brainpool. Recognitions include the Lilly Award for Working Miracles, TRU Humanitarian Award, OUT 100, and two-time Drama League fellow. Founding Artistic Director, Musical Theatre Factory (www.mtf.nyc).