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).

TEDxVUamsterdam
De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, 1081HV
Netherlands

Greg Shapiro

Gregory Scott Shapiro (born 1968) is a Dutch American comedian, best known as a member of the comedy group Boom Chicago, host of the Dutch satirical news program Comedy Central News (nl) and the author of How to Be Orange: An Alternative Dutch Assimilation Course and How to Be Dutch: the Quiz. Shapiro was born in Chicago, Illinois, and he graduated from Northwestern University in Theater. In 1994, he came to the Netherlands to help establish comedy theater Boom Chicago, where he worked with Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele, Ike Barinholtz, Kay Cannon, Heather Anne Campbell, and Allison Silverman, among others. In 2004, he voiced the FloridaVotingMachine video that went viral before there was YouTube.[3] In 2007, Shapiro hosted Comedy Central News on Comedy Central and started his own video weblog Highly Dubious News. His radio column The New and Improved America appeared on BNR Newsradio in 2008. His vlog War for the White House appeared on Volkskrant.nl in 2008. In 2009, Shapiro was named a ‘Hero of Amsterdam’ by Time Out Amsterdam, for which he was a columnist. His writings have also appeared in Hollands Glorie magazine[4] and The XPat Journal.[5] Shapiro has written and performed the solo shows Going Dutch, How to Be Orange, Superburger and How to Be Frisian. He is now touring his solo show Part-Time Hypocrite. Shapiro also has 20 years experience in Corporate Speaking / Entertainment. In 2010, he joined Maurice de Hond at Boom Chicago for the comedy show Political Party, in which he improvised with (and impersonated) Dutch politicians such as Lodewijk Asscher, Bert Koenders, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Maxime Verhagen, Ronald Plasterk, Femke Halsema, Hero Brinkman, and Tofik Dibi. In 2011, he created and presented the television programme Planet Nederland,[6] a review of Dutch society as a nature documentary. It appeared on Dutch broadcaster VARA and on NPO Humor TV. In 2012, for NPO HumorTV, he presented a vlog about the Dutch elections called Verkiespijn[7] and a vlog about the 2012 US election called United States of Shapiro.[8] Shapiro is currently the producer, writer and host of United States of Europe for Zoomin.TV. He is the host of the QuickestQuiz app.[9] And he is the co-host of the ‘Amsterdam Comedy Podcast’.[10] He tours with his fourth solo show Part-Time Hypocrite. And his book How to Be Orange: An Alternative Dutch Assimilation Course is available internationally.[11] He has also appeared in the films Down and Phileine Says Sorry, and in the soap series Goede tijden, slechte tijden. His new book is called How to Be Dutch: the Quiz.[12] In 2017 Shapiro did the voice-over of "The Netherlands Second" video from Zondag met Lubach, this video went viral with almost 39 million views.

Jort Verhage

Hi there! My name is Jort Verhage, I am 17 years old and I have a tremendous passion for entrepreneurship, management and organization. In recent years I have gained a lot of experience by organizing events, setting up companies and meeting great people. I now use this experience to pursue my passions, ambitions and dreams. I have a tremendous passion for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship gives me the opportunity to bring new ideas to reality, to develop myself and to be of significance to the world. With my company De Hofnar, I represent the voice of young people within companies, governments and educational institutions. My ambition is to represent the voice of young people as widely as possible. I achieve this by gathering a large network of young people, identifying important information about our target group with them and then meeting with organizations. My dream is that every young person discovers his or her strength and can fully develop themselves. Within the current education system, young people must become the best version of the system. I help them to become the best version of themselves.

Melissa Raat, de

Melissa de Raat wants to motivate people and provide tools to achieve their lifestyle goals. To make that happen, she wrote the E-book "Walking on Sunshine - All Mentally". "It can help make your New Year's resolutions work this year," she says. "Changing lifestyle is all about breaking habits," said Melissa, speaking from her own experience. The former top athlete, she played premier league basketball at Amsterdam and Den Helder, but fell into a deep hole when she retired from professional basketball in 2016.

Menno Thijssen

Menno commenced his study finance in Amsterdam back in 1997. On the first day he was confronted with a management simulation game and from that moment on he decided to put all his time and effort in changing education. Together with his simulation team buddy Patrick Bouwens, Menno started a long and intense journey of innovating higher education.

Rafia Karamowa

My name is Rafia and I am 22 years old. I study Commercial Economics at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and I also follow a graphic design course. I am a buddy at the Regenboog Groep in Amsterdam and I volunteer at Project VoorUit for 10 hours a week. Project VoorUit is an organization that is committed to improving the neighborhood. In return I get a house, great deal right?

Rebekah Lamb

Student

Rebekah Lamb is a student at VU Amsterdam working towards a degree in Cultural Anthropology and Developmental Sociology with a minor in Archeology. She is passionate about museum ethics and supporting indigenous people globally, as well as an advocate for disability rights in academia. She is a firm believer that education should be accessible for all and works to promote that in her own university program as well as within the university community as a whole.