Theme: Resilience

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).

Robsham Theater Arts Center
Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave.
Chestnut Hill, MA, Massachusetts, 02467
United States

Ashley Davis

A Cincinnati, Ohio native, Ashley has identified as an educator for her entire life. In her current role as a Boston Public School principal fellow through the Lynch Leadership Academy, Ashley serves as an Assistant Principal at the Pauline A. Shaw Elementary School in Mattapan where she focuses on building stakeholder capacity through culturally responsive instruction and practices. Before this school year, she served for 5 years as a ninth-grade English teacher, cheerleading coach, and mentor at Match Charter Public High School. In 2016, Ashley's classroom was profiled by the New York Times in an opinion piece titled "More Awkward than a 9th Grader". In 2015, Ashley graduated with her Master of Effective Teaching from the Sposato Graduate School of Education and in 2013 with her Bachelor of English Literature & Journalism from Kentucky State University, a Historically Black institution. She is also affiliated with the Breakthrough Collaborative, Minds Matter: Boston, and is a lifelong member of the prestigious Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated.

Britta Gullahorn

Britta Gullahorn, from San Diego, CA, is a senior in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Communication and Minoring in Hispanic Studies. In her spare time, she enjoys singing and traveling with BC’s University Chorale. She recently finished her Honors Senior Thesis examining the destructive language used by undergraduate students when discussing drinking and hopes to continue exploring Health communication in future work and/or studies. She aims to address a pressing need for increased and ongoing support for grieving students during the already stressful college period.

Jason Hyland

Jason Hyland is a grateful recovering alcoholic and addict, who wrote his national bestselling book "Stop Thinking Like That: No Matter What" while in rehab winter of 2017-2018. In his 20+ months of sobriety, he has become a certified recovery coach and peer specialist working with group homes in the inner Boston neighborhoods, a motivational speaker, host of the NoMatterWhat podcast, a contributing blogger for Sober Nation, and a national addiction advocate. Hyland is a former minor league baseball player and College World Series MVP and is the founder of Motivational Recovery, which embodies his NoMatterWhat movement, with the mission to spread hope and inspiration to live out your best life no matter what.

Martin Christensen

As a nineteen-year-old college student, Martin Christensen created a list of 25 Lifetime Goals. The pursuit and accomplishment of those goals have led Martin to live a bold and unique life. Only 35 years old, Martin has already traveled to all 50 states and 37 countries. He has climbed six of the seven summits (highest mountain on every continent) including Mt. Everest. He served in the US Army as an Airborne and Ranger qualified Infantry Officer where he led dozens of men during two combat tours totaling 27 months. Martin has a civil engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh, an MBA from Webster University and a Masters Degree in Global Energy Management from the University of Colorado. Most recently he worked as a project manager on a $1 billion power plant project in Salem, Massachusetts. The project transitioned a 1950s era coal and oil-fired plant to a modern, significantly cleaner and more efficient, combined-cycle natural gas plant. The five-year project ended in September 2018.

Martin Christianson

As a nineteen-year-old college student, Martin Christensen created a list of 25 Lifetime Goals. The pursuit and accomplishment of those goals have led Martin to live a bold and unique life. Only 35 years old, Martin has already traveled to all 50 states and 37 countries. He has climbed six of the seven summits (highest mountain on every continent) including Mt. Everest. He served in the US Army as an Airborne and Ranger qualified Infantry Officer where he led dozens of men during two combat tours totaling 27 months. Martin has a civil engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh, an MBA from Webster University and a Masters Degree in Global Energy Management from the University of Colorado. Most recently he worked as a project manager on a $1 billion power plant project in Salem, Massachusetts. The project transitioned a 1950s era coal and oil-fired plant to a modern, significantly cleaner and more efficient, combined cycle natural gas plant. The five-year project ended in September 2018.

Matthew Littell

Matthew Littell is currently a professor at Boston College who teaches Urban Design. He is also a principal at Utile, Inc., a multi-disciplinary architecture and urban design firm in Boston. Matthew is committed to protecting urban environments from major flooding and destruction through creative design and structural resilience.

Robert Weiner

Robert Weiner is a Boston College Alumnus and a powerful motivator on the football field at Plant High School in Tampa, Florida. After 15 years of teaching English, directing the school community volunteer service program, and coaching football at his alma mater Tampa Jesuit High School, Weiner took the helm at Plant High to deliver his special and unique brand of educating young people. Coach Weiner revitalized the Plant Panthers football program in just two short years. Taking over a team that went 0-10 and 1-9 in the seasons prior to his arrival, Weiner, turned the tide in his second season and led the Panthers to a 9-3 record and the 2005 District 10 title, a feat the Panthers have now repeated in various districts for 14 consecutive years. Coach Weiner was also named the 2005 and 2006 recipient of the Coca Cola Golden Helmet Coach of the Year Award and has been recognized at the national and state levels.