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).

Crosstown Arts Theater
430 N. Cleveland
Memphis, Tennessee, 38104
United States

Alex Castle

Alex Castle graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in chemical engineering. She began her career in the distilling industry 10 years ago, having worked with three different distilleries since. Alex moved to Memphis three years ago to help start-up Old Dominick Distillery, where she now serves as Master Distiller.

Amy Stack

A native Memphian, Amy received her undergraduate and Masters degrees in Journalism from The University of Memphis. A student program at the U of M, Up 'til Dawn, led to an incredible internship at ALSAC/St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Amy has been a member of the ALSAC team ever since. She has served the St. Jude mission in collegiate programs, field office training and sports marketing. Currently, Amy is a part of the Strategic Partnerships team and leads a team who works on strategy and solutions for corporate partner relationships. In the community, Amy served as President of The Junior League of Memphis and is passionate about the organization's mission of developing women as leaders and change agents in Memphis. She also serves on the Board of STREETS Ministries and U of M LEAD. Amy and her husband, Wade, have two young children, Charlie and Camille, are avid Grizzlies and Memphis Tigers fans and love exploring and enjoying Memphis as a family.

Anasa Troutman

A writer, producer, and entrepreneur, Anasa Troutman has dedicated her work to the importance of culture and the power of love. As CEO of her company, Culture Shift Creative, Anasa works to build and execute strategies for artists and organizations that are aligned with her vision of a loving world and her belief in creativity as a pathway to personal, community and global transformation. Based in Memphis, Anasa awakened to her life’s work during her time in Atlanta, Georgia, attending Spelman College and founding Groovement/EarthSeed Music, a successful record label and collective of young, visionary musicians, performers, and writers. Best known for her work as strategic advisor and executive producer for longtime friend India.Arie, Anasa recently stepped into leadership as the first Executive Director of the historic Clayborn Temple in Memphis. Anasa has provided strategic and creative support in many important cultural, political and social justice spaces and has been invited twice to the White House by the Obama administration to advise on cultural policy.

Andy Nix

Andy Nix has built a career helping individuals utilize their strengths and organizations mobilize change. Now he’s combining these principles to mobilize people and shift how communities think about transportation. He is tackling Memphis’ transportation challenges with a liberating, affordable, self-sustaining solution. Did we mention it was fun? His background includes leadership positions at FedEx, ServiceMaster, and as a founding Principal of PeopleCap. Andy leverages his Bachelor’s in Psychology from Rhodes College and an MBA from the University of Memphis to thoughtfully tackle tough social issues with business acumen. Andy accepted the challenge to lead an initiative, unlike any this country has seen, to provide reliable and affordable workforce transportation. He climbed aboard as Executive Director of MyCityRides and set out to prove that the way much of the world gets to work could be the answer the US has been needing. Now with a team of rockstars and a fleet of scooters on the road, MyCityRides is establishing Memphis as a thought-leader in implementing multi-model transportation solutions.

Brandice Daniel

Brandice Daniel is the CEO and Founder of Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR). HFR was founded in 2007 with the focus on providing a voice for multicultural designers through a creative platform that enables these designers to sell and present their collections to key leaders within the fashion industry. Through Brandice's diligent work efforts, HFR has had many successful brand partnerships, including with TRESemme, OWN, ESSENCE, Prudential, Target, Marriott International, Smartwater, Coca-Cola, Dark & Lovely, and Shea Moisture. She has received support from the CFDA, BRAG, and IMG. Most recently, her company Harlem's Fashion Row partnered with Nike and LeBron James to create the first Lebron shoe for women by women. Brandice is also the co-creator of a podcast, The Great Girlfriends, with her friend and fellow Memphian Sybil Amuti. She resides in New York with her husband, Rich Daniel, and daughter Sky Grace.

Clarence McFerren II

Clarence McFerren II, a native Memphian, is an inspiring educator, published author, and a multifaceted renaissance man. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Clarence competed on the Blue Raider track team and received a B.S. in Mass Communications with minors in Dance, Speech, and Theater. Clarence launched his career in Washington, D.C. public charter schools where he began his specialization in arts education, focusing on interdisciplinary and inquiry-based learning. Later, he graduated from American University with a M.A. in Performing Arts: Dance and a graduate certificate in Arts Management. That eventually led to working and training engagements with various organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans for the Arts, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, The Ailey School, Tennessee Arts Commission, to name a few. It was in these capacities that he cultivated his optimistic leadership style to engage the multiple intelligences of young minds to fearlessly think independently.

Daphene McFerren

Daphene R. McFerren is the executive director of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. The Hooks Institute programs promote social justice and the removal of disparities that limit the potential of marginalized groups through scholarship, social media, documentary films, and community engagement initiatives. Prior to joining the Hooks Institute, McFerren was in private practice in Washington, DC; was senior counsel in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; was counsel to the late Attorney General Janet Reno; and was later Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland prosecuting, among other cases, forced labor and involuntary servitude cases involving foreign victims. McFerren is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker and is the is the executive producer of a documentary on the life of the late civil rights activist Benjamin L. Hooks. She is currently in production on a film on civil and women rights activist Ida B. Wells. She is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.

David Schwartz

David Schwartz is Professor and Vice-Chairman in the Department of Radiation Oncology at UTHSC-West Cancer Center. Dr. Schwartz is a nationally recognized physician researcher whose current work aims to improve the treatment and survivorship of cancer patients, regardless of social or financial status. He serves as founding Director of the Center for Health Equity in the Department of Radiation Oncology, with a focus on developing patient-facing mobile technology to improve quality and access of cancer care in the Mid-South. He engages closely with (and learns from) dozens of academic, business, education, and city leaders throughout Memphis to discover data driven, community-inspired paths to better health, for everyone.

Ethan Ferguson

Ethan is the 19-year-old founder of Augseption, a tech marketing and education startup at Crosstown Concourse in Memphis. He specializes in training local youth in cutting edge augmented and virtual reality technology. Augseption works with schools in Shelby County to promote the adoption of Virtual and Augmented Reality in classroom curriculums. He is currently a freshman at Rhodes College pursuing a degree in Computer Science. As a teen, he was involved in the Teenup901 and Cloud901 initiatives and was the president of his high school TED club for three years at Lausanne Collegiate School. During that time, he worked with the XQ program to help start Crosstown High. Crosstown High was his first client, and he still works with them regularly to revolutionize their project-based tech curriculum.

James Dukes

James Dukes aka IMAKEMADBEATS is a producer/engineer and founder of Unapologetic, a creative company. His professional career started at Quad Studios in Manhattan, working with music industry stars like Ludacris, Solange Knowles, & Busta Rhymes and eventually placing music with TV shows, commercials, and movies. After moving back to Memphis, James created Unapologetic to include a record label, video production company, event coordination, and clothing line. Unapologetic has provided music for TV commercials (DC Shoes, Jaguar, Samsung), sitcoms (NBC, ABC, CBS, etc), provided videography for law firms, museums, or music videos, and coordinated events for other companies (The Brooks Museum, Stax Academy). In 2017 James designed and launched the Unapologetic World App (available for iOS and Android devices), a hub for those interested in a deeper look into our music and visual endeavors. Shortly afterward he started Uncover, a journalism initiative built to be a voice to and for the community.

John Daniel

John Daniel is Chief Human Resources Officer at First Tennessee Bank, a role he has held since 2006. In this position he is a member of the Executive Management Committee and oversees all human resources related activities for the company. Prior to joining First Tennessee, John held a number of senior management positions at several large financial services organizations. He has over thirty five years of experience in human resources management and leadership and speaks frequently on culture, change, human behavior and leadership. John is originally from Pittsburgh and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He has lived in Memphis since 2000 and is very active in the community serving on three boards, all focused on human and social capital. He is married to Leslie and has three sons. In 2015 after years of heart health challenges and multiple surgeries and procedures he received a heart transplant.

Lilia Abron

Dr. Lilia Abron, PE, BCEE is President and Chief Executive Officer of PEER Consultants, P.C., a full-service civil and environmental engineering consulting firm founded in 1978 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. PEER is a prosperous and productive environmental and civil engineering company that provides transformative, efficient, and sustainable solutions for challenging environmental problems. Dr. Abron has over 40 years of experience in planning, managing, and directing environmental engineering programs for the improvement, maintenance and enhancement of the physical and human environments. Dr. Abron is also President and Founder of PEER Africa Ltd., a design-build firm with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa specializing in the development of sustainable human settlements for low-income and indigent communities in developing countries. She is an active member of the International Women’s Forum and serves on the advisory boards of CCNY College of Engineering, Washington University Environmental and Energy Graduate Program, and as a Trustee for LeMoyne-Owen College.

Mike Blumenthal

Mike is driven by his passion to make people smile, create a company that delivers value to all it serves, and to be a source of building relationships and breaking the norms for what is believed to be possible with technology. In short, to crush the standard of how technology happens! Mike is an entrepreneur who started Technology Happens and Member Vantage Point after working for years in the Credit Union Industry. As an Episys Programmer, he experienced first-hand the many ways technology is applied within Credit Unions. This experience created a foundation for Mike to set out on his own to build a company that would never stop asking “why”. This simple but profound approach to business still drives the company as Technology Happens seeks to innovate and constantly deliver unexpected value. Mike is a fourth-generation Memphian who lives with his wife, Kelly, and two teenage boys, Sami and Benji.

Roquita Coleman-Williams

Roquita is a consultant, facilitator, civic leader and philanthropist. She specializes in diversity and inclusion, executive coaching and in the design and delivery of inspiring leadership programs and keynotes. As a member of the Board of Commissioners, she governs policy for the Memphis Area Transit Authority, Tennessee’s largest metropolitan transit agency. For the past 22 years, Roquita managed market strategy and commercial relationships, as well as executed short-and long-term business strategy, for supply chain giants UPS and CN Rail. In 2011 she permanently changed the landscape in these male-dominated industries and became the 63rd president—and first African American president—of the Memphis World Trade Club and in 2016 she became one of very few female leaders certified to operate a locomotive on a Class 1 Railroad. Roquita has been recognized locally, nationally and internationally –Memphis Business Journal’s Super Women in Business, Rising Stars of North American Railroads, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Distinguished Service Honoree. She holds a bachelors in science in education and masters in organizational leadership from the University of Memphis.

Rosie Phillips Davis

Rosie Phillips Davis, Ph.D. ABPP, is the former Vice President for Student Affairs and current Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Memphis. She earned a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from The Ohio State University. She currently serves as President for the American Psychological Association. Dr. Phillips Davis previously served on the American Psychological Association Board of Directors and is past President of the Society of Counseling Psychology. She has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including current service on the Journal of Career Assessment, and is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on career counseling and has co-edited two books. She is a co-founder of the National Multicultural Conference and Summit. She works with poverty in the Memphis community and is a founding member of the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis, whose mission is to help women and children reach their full potential. They work to help women reach economic sufficiency because she believes that if you help a woman, you help her family.

Valerie Crabtree

Valerie M. Crabtree, Ph.D. is an Associate Member, Department of Psychology and Chief of Psychosocial Services at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Crabtree arrived at St. Jude in 2007 as a clinical psychologist and joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology in 2010 as Director of Clinical Services and Training. In 2017, she was appointed to the role of Chief of Psychosocial Services. When she arrived at St. Jude, she focused her research on sleep disturbances in pediatric oncology patients, and her clinical work on sleep complaints, as well as psychological adaptation to cancer and treatment. In 2015, Dr. Crabtree and her co-author, Dr. Lisa Meltzer, published a book, “Pediatric Sleep Problems: A Clinician’s Guide to Behavioral Interventions.” A native of Dallas, Texas, Dr. Crabtree received her doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2001. Following graduate school, she completed her internship in clinical child/pediatric psychology and fellowships in pediatric psychology and behavioral sleep medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Virginia Reed Murphy

Virginia Murphy was born and raised in Memphis and graduated from St. Mary's Episcopal School. She earned a bachelor's degree in Special Education from Boston College and a master's in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. After 10 years of studying and performing Playback theatre in San Francisco and New York City, Virginia Murphy moved back to her hometown of Memphis and founded Playback Memphis. Her education, her experiences as a traveler, her skills as an actor and her deep sense of empathy all combine to make her an excellent “conductor” of each Playback program. Her entrepreneurial mindset and determination combined with her love of Memphis and its people have propelled Playback from an idea to a vibrant enterprise engaged in transformative work.

Zak Ozmo

Žak Ozmo is a music director, conductor, lutenist, and a music scholar based in London and Memphis, TN. He is the founder-director of the British period-instrument ensemble L'Avventura London, and his performances with L’Avventura London have been featured on most major radio stations in Europe and North America, including live concert broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. He has led the group at the world’s best-known music festivals and venues. In addition to his work with L’Avventra London, Žak frequently appears as a music director of opera companies, orchestras, and ensembles internationally. His work in Memphis includes musical direction of productions with the Tennessee Shakespeare Company and Opera Memphis. Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslavia, Žak first started his musical training at the age of seven on the classical guitar and had his first nationally broadcasted solo performance at the age of fourteen. In his late teens, he left as a refugee from his war-torn native country for Canada; music was already a life-long passion, but now it became a solace, a joyful source of light in the midst of turmoil.