Theme: WE ARE DREAMERS

McAllen is home to a community of dreamers.

Through the legacies of our families, our residents and passers-by, we continue to define the future of this city - one built on the collective dreams of those who call McAllen home.

TEDxMcAllen will celebrate our stories, our unique culture, and our realized and ongoing dreams. We will continue to raise them, inspire them, and as a community, support them.

We are McAllen, we are DREAMERS.

Art Village on Main
800 N. Main St
McAllen, Texas, 78501
United States

Andrés Bernal

Andrés Bernal is a Policy Scholar and Advisor. He resides in New York City where he is a Lecturer of Urban Studies at CUNY Queens College and is a Doctoral student at The New School For Public Engagement, Division of Policy Management and Environment. His research focuses on the Green New Deal as a site of political communication and policy analysis. He was raised in McAllen, Texas and regularly frequents the Rio Grande Valley.

Diana Seitz

Diana Seitz made her solo debut at the age of 9 in Moscow, Russia, performing as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra. After graduating from Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory with a Bachelors in Violin Performance, she fled her Homeland due to severe ethnic persecution. Accepting an invitation from the US government, she continued her performing career and studies in the United States. She is currently serving as the Assistant Professor of Applied Violin at the UTRGV School of Music. She is recognized nationally and internationally as a pedagogue, soloist, chamber and orchestral musician and next year she will be debuting at Carnegie Hall.

Evelyn Cano

Evelyn Cano is committed to the philosophy that accessibility and inclusion are everyone's responsibility. All people, regardless of whether or not they have a disability, deserve the opportunity to live a full and productive life in their community where they can live, learn, and work alongside each other through all stages of life. She is the parent of a son with Autism and sits on the Texas Governors Committee for People with Disabilities.

Germán Madrazo

In 2018, Germán Madrazo competed in the Winter Olympics as a Cross Country Skier. His celebratory finish grabbed the world’s attention and made him an international icon that represents passion and dedication. Madrazo is the owner of The Valley Running Company in McAllen, Texas, where he resides

Karen Lozano

Karen Lozano is a Julia Beecherl Endowed Professor in mechanical engineering at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. In 2019, she received the Presidental Excellence Award from the White House in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. She was the first female Mexican national to earn an engineering PhD from Rice University, invented a spinning technology while working at UT-Pan American that could manufacture nanofibers 900 times faster than technologies currently on the market.

Karina Chapa

Karina Chapa is a courageous bilingual advocate who proudly serves more than 160,000 bilingual students in deep South Texas. She is an Ex-A-Tec originally from Monterrey, Mexico. She is currently the Language Proficiency, Biliteracy and Cultural Diversity Director. She is also the Legislative Chair for the Texas Association for Bilingual Education and the Parliamentarian for RGV-TABE. She has dedicated 18 years of her professional career to empowering bilingual education students, teachers, and administrators in the deep South Texas border.

Melina Recio

Melina Recio is a passionate educator known for inspiring students to become change agents in their communities, she is a high school teacher in McAllen, TX. Melina has the great privilege of pursuing a passion while working relentlessly towards educational equity and elevating the teaching profession. She was also named 2019 Secondary Teacher of the Year for McAllen ISD

Norma Pimentel

Known as the “Mother Teresa of South Texas”, Norma Pimentel gives migrant families a chance to catch their breath, along with a shower, meal, change of clothes, and travel assistance as they travel north into our country. She is the Executive Director of The Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. She has been featured in Forbes, Fortune Magazine and had been named World’s Greatest Leaders. One time she was addressed by Pope Francis and in his words, he said, “is it appropriate for the pope to say this? I love you all very much”

Pilar González

Pilar González believed in her family recipe, prepared it in her kitchen and the results have been amazing. She is the creator of the yogurt based dip called “dip it” and her product has placed her as a Ruby Red Venture recipient for two years. It’s H-E-B’s 2nd grand prize-winning that has provided the opportunity to begin mass production in a commercial kitchen and distribute “dip it” on H-E-B shelves in stores across Texas and it will soon be sold internationally.

Shawn Elliot Russell

Shawn went from being jobless and homebound with crippling anxiety to an award-winning author and speaker. He is passionate about helping others by sharing what he's learned on his journey from fear to freedom.

Sydney Ramon

Sydney Ramon is the founder of The RGV Matters, a youth-led organization that fosters youth leadership and empowers community members through education, communication, and collaboration. She is a first-year Political Science major at Texas A&M University in College Station and a recent 2019 graduate of Mcallen Memorial High School. Throughout her high school career, she was heavily involved in the McAllen Mayors Youth Advisory Council, National Honor Society, President of her local church youth council, and served as the Head Coach for the National Hispanic Institute at the Rio Grande Valley.

Verónica G. Cárdenas

Verónica G. Cárdenas is a documentary photographer based in the Rio Grande Valley. Migration issues are a recurring theme that she explores. Her work has been shown and featured at the United Nations, TIME Magazine, Buzzfeed, Rolling Stone, The New York Times and other major publications. She has ridden the Bestia twice and her photos have captured the eyes of the world.