Theme: Cultivating Curiosity

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).

The Nueva School
131 E. 28th Ave.
San Mateo, California, 94403
United States

Charlton Lee

Musician

As founding member of the Del Sol String Quartet, violist Charlton Lee has brought his colorful curiosity and infectious groove to the stage for almost three decades. The San Francisco-based music ensemble is a leading force in 21st century chamber music, fascinated by the feedback loop between social change, technology, and artistic innovation. As Artistic Director of the quartet’s non-profit organization (Del Sol Performing Arts Organization), Lee has led the group to become recognized as a “vigorous champion of living composers,” focusing on music that reflects the cultural diversity of our community, advocating works by both world-renowned and emerging composers, and collaborating across disciplines. Major upcoming projects include “Your Wall is Our Canvas: The Angel Island Project,” a reflection on immigration and discrimination in the history of San Francisco’s Angel Island, and “Karuna Supreme,” a collaboration with North Indian musicians.

Erika Schillinger

Medical Doctor

Erika Schillinger, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine (Family Medicine) at Stanford Medical School, is Vice Chief for Education in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Director of the Stanford Healthcare Innovations and Experiential Learning Directive (SHIELD) and an Educator for CARE (Compassion, Advocacy, Responsibility and Empathy). Dr. Schillinger graduated from Harvard University, received her MD from Stanford University Medical School, and completed a residency in Family Medicine at UCSF. She has been a leader in curriculum innovation, design, and development as well as medical student training and assessment at Stanford for the last 20 years.

Kate Korsh

Director of Development at CuriOdyssey

Kate Korsh joined CuriOdyssey in 2016. Before coming to CuriOdyssey, she served as the executive director of the San Mateo Public Library Foundation. She has more than 15 years of fundraising experience focusing on major gifts, capital campaigns and strategic planning at institutions such as Stanford Law School, the University of Rochester and the Pierpont Morgan Library. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from St. Lawrence and a M.B.A. from Binghamton University. Rachel is the recipient of the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) for establishing a new educational philosophy and implementing interactive ways of learning. She is also the recipient of the 2009 ASTC (Association of Science-Technology Centers) for her leadership and experience in providing leading edge education. In addition, in 1982, Rachel was one of two representatives from the U.S. museum community for a traveling exhibition sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency to Romania.

Marc Tarpenning

Entrepreneur

Marc Tarpenning is a serial entrepreneur with wide ranging interests, from insects to electric cars, climate change to de-extinction. He has been a successful businessman, an elected official, a county committee member, and member of various boards. He is an occasional guest lecturer at UC Berkeley and Stanford University, and enjoys working with mission driven startup companies.

Monisha Perkash

Entrepreneur

Monisha Perkash is a serial entrepreneur and business leader in consumer tech. Most recently, she served as co-founder and CEO of Lumo Bodytech, a pioneering company in wearable technologies and digital health. Monisha led Lumo from inception to distribution of multiple products around the world, raising $26M in financing and forming multinational partnerships with companies such as Apple, Puma, Amazon, and Aon. Prior to Lumo, Monisha founded TuitionCoach, a consumer internet company focused on education financing. She is also an Angel investor, serves as strategic advisor for various startups, leads a peer-coaching group for founders at Stanford, and regularly speaks at leading conferences and universities. She has received distinctions such as Women of Influence and numerous media interviews for her leadership in business. Monisha has an MBA and MA Education from Stanford, and BA from Yale.

Pete Bowers

Founder of WordWorks Literacy Centre

Pete Bowers, Ph.D., is a teacher, researcher, author, and founder of WordWorks Literacy Centre. He taught Grades 3-6 for 10 years before earning his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. His research and practical work with schools and educational groups has been pivotal in transforming how teachers, tutors, and students around the world understand and study English spelling. Instead of putting up with a frustrating system full of exceptions, the structured word inquiry (SWI) community understands that investigating the spelling-meaning connections in words is not only rich literacy instruction; it is a rich context for leveraging learning about any subject. His book, Teaching How the Written Word Works, expands on the lessons of his vocabulary intervention, which introduced the term “structured word inquiry.” His workshops have taken him to Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and North America.