Theme: METAMORPHOSIS

“Metamorphosis”: ‘The transition - by natural or supernatural means - of a person, thing or concept, to an entirely different form. A sudden change of character or a transformation into stages’.

The ultimate symbol of optimism: The caterpillar that will first live as a chrysalis before its final form. Before the "after" when it takes on the final form of a beautiful and vibrantly colorful butterfly.

In life, we all have different experiences of transformation - collective, individual, and/or deeply personal. Whether a moment, or a wider time era, we will all go through our own transformations, if we haven’t already. Just like the sun sets every evening and rises the next day, change is inevitable.

In this year's edition of TEDxPatras, we have been called upon to participate in exercises around us. To embark upon a journey of self-discovery in order to realize that the paths we are following are intertwined with change. We will explore, reflect upon, and spread new optimistic transformational prospects, without forgetting the starting points of our own unique journeys and telling our own stories. We are the memory, the perspective and the action - but often, we are their absence.

The concept of "transformation" embodies changes and challenges that affects today's technology, education, human relations, art, and entertainment for individuals, and society as a whole.

Metamorphosis gives us hope. It is the silver lining of the cloud, the shining light at the end of the bleak tunnel, a child’s laughter, the smell of freshly baked bread, and the promise that no matter how rough life may seem, things will get better. It inspires new motivations for both discovery, and knowledge. It offers endless possibilities and new perspectives to open up whole new worlds entirely. It is both terrifying and exciting, in equal measure.

Are you ready to embark upon a journey that will lead you down a road of self-discovery and improvement, ultimately leading to your brand-new life?

Patras
Nikou Kazantzaki street University Campus of Patras 265 04 Rion
Patras, Achaïa, 26221
Greece

Alexis Powell-Howard

Alexis Powell-Howard is the Managing Director at Fortis Therapy & Training, the Mental Health Consultancy of the Year 2022 and a multi-award-winning therapeutic and emotional wellbeing service working to deliver the gold standard in the mental health services sector. An experienced leader and manager, a BACP accredited and experienced psychotherapist, systemic practitioner, supervisor, trainer, mediator, and coach, passionate about therapeutic approaches and how effective they can be to help individuals, organizations and schools to move through difficult times. Alexis is also a TEDx and professional speaker, award-winner, regular on BBC Radio, and a contributing expert and host of live webinars, seminars, conferences, and hosts the Keeping the Peace podcast for Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service in the UK.

Angelo Tsarouchas

Angelo Tsarouchas is an award-winning actor, producer, comedian, and humanitarian. His extensive television and movie career has spanned over three decades as he has acted in countless movies on the big screen alongside some of the greatest actors of our time. Angelo’s brand of standup comedy has international appeal as he has performed for sold-out audiences worldwide. Angelo’s high energy and relatable comedy have made him popular with the most prestigious comedy festivals and the best comedy clubs in the world. Angelo produced and starred in the documentary “Back to Sparta” which has received critical acclaim. Angelo has six one-hour comedy specials and Angelo’s Podcast The Funny Greek features some of the most interesting celebrity guests. Not just known for his film, television, and comedy career Angelo is also known for his humanitarian efforts as he has supported events like the DIATROFI, the program on Food Aid and Promotion of Healthy Nutrition in Greece, the Shield of Athena Family Services in Canada and The Fred Jordan Mission hunger-relief organization in Los Angeles just to name a few. Angelo is the recipient of the 2021 DEKA Awards for Personality of the year, the Tom Michalopoulos Lifetime Achievement Award and Best Actor at the London Greek Film Festival for his portrayal of Vinnie D’Angelo in the cult favourite indie movie Fred & Vinnie.

Antony Cassano

Antony Cassano studied in the UK and graduated with an M.Sc. in Business Administration & Information Technology. With more than 20 years of experience in Infrastructure Technologies, Antony is combining his substantial expertise with leading the Business Development, Research and Innovation activities of Uni Systems and Quest Group and driving innovation by exploring new growth opportunities and institutionalizing a continuous drive to improve business practices. He is known throughout the ICT Market as a knowledgeable technical and business expert. He is an entrepreneur at heart, hunting for inspiration.

Artemis Baltoyanni

Artemis Baltoyanni is an independent art advisor and founder of “The Intermission” exhibition space in Piraeus. She has brought a conceptually fluid, market-conscious approach to the field of art advising since 2013. Baltoyanni has organized numerous presentations of art at a variety of international venues over the last decade. Formerly, Baltoyanni served as director at Venus over Manhattan in New York. She has also worked for Paul McCabe Fine Art advisory services in New York and in the studio of artist Elizabeth Peyton.

Børge Ousland

Explorer

Børge Ousland is a Norwegian explorer. On January 18, 1997, he became the first man to traverse Antarctica by himself. Before dedicating his whole life to exploration, he was involved in deep-sea diving in the North Sea for many years. He is regarded as one of the most accomplished arctic explorers of our time, according to National Geographic. Børge solemnly proves that it is possible to do the ‘impossible’, after navigating some of the most challenging routes on Earth, often all alone. Rigorous planning, defying fear and finding motivation, even in the most seemingly hopeless moments, are among the secrets that have repeatedly led him to success. In 2006 Børge collaborated with Mike Horn, in carrying out one of the most technically challenging missions in human history. He crossed the North Pole unsupported, during the dark winter. After that mission, he highlighted the importance of cooperation, empathy, dedication, and vision.

Cantelena Choir

Choir

Among other things, the choir has been honoured with numerous medals and distinctions. It attended the “18th Moscow Easter Festival”, in Russia in 2019, following an invitation from the Ministry of Culture of the country, the “2nd Leonardo Da Vinci International Choral Festival”, in Italy in 2018, where it was awarded a silver medal. She has also participated in INTERKULTUR’s “2nd International Festival & Competition Kalamata’s” in 2017, where she was awarded three gold medals, while the women’s section was Category Winner by participating in the Grand Prix of the competition.

Cantistoria Band

Band

The Cantistoria band, through their music and lyrics, crosses geographically an imaginary journey from medieval Europe with its cantadas, to America with its blues and folk ballads. Their “singing stories” warmly embrace folk traditions and approach the same timeless, eternal, universal human anxieties, which are not defined by specific temporal, regional, linguistic and stylistic contexts. They consist of: Sofia Raftoulis (accordion/song) Konstantinos Yiotsopoulos (acoustic/electric guitar) George Papageorgiou (lute/mandolin) George Barakos (percussion)

Caterina Kostoula

Caterina Kostoula is an executive coach and founder of The Leaderpath, a coaching company. She coaches leaders on creating a powerful vision and team to maximize their impact and fulfillment. Caterina has worked as a Global Business Leader at Google where she was also a 5-star rated internal coach. Her clients include Google, Johnson & Johnson, INSEAD Business school as well as several startups. Her book “Hold Successful Meetings” is part of the Penguin Business Expert Series. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company and Thrive Global. Caterina holds an INSEAD MBA and an Executive Coaching MSc from Hult Ashridge Business School.

Dimitris Gourdoukis

Dimitris Gourdoukis holds a PhD from the Department of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a Master in Architecture from the School of Architecture of Washington University in St Louis and a Diploma in Architecture from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has extensive teaching experience in the Department of Architecture at the A.U.T., and has previously taught at the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. He is part of the teaching team and a key contributor to the Graduate Program “Cutting Edge Design: Innovation and Interdisciplinarity in Architectural Design” since its inception in 2015. He has published a large number of articles in international and Greek publications, has given many lectures in institutions in Greece and abroad, and has presented his scientific work in a series of international conferences, which has been repeatedly awarded with prizes and scholarships. At the same time, he is the creator of the architectural office ‘object-e architecture’ with repeated distinctions in international and national architectural competitions. He holds the best design award of the Hellenic Architecture Awards 2020, while his architectural work has been published and exhibited extensively in Greece and internationally.

Guy Krief

Guy Krief is co-founder of marketing technology firm Persado, featured in CNBC’s Disruptor 50, and talent intelligence platform Bryq. He is also on the board of Upstream mobile technology firm, where he previously served as CEO, and Convert Group. Guy is an investor in multiple technology companies and Michelin’s featured restaurant Nolan. He also wrote and starred in his comedy show, and hosted various TV and radio programs. Guy holds an MSc in Social Psychology from the University of Sorbonne in Paris.

Javier Pérez Estrella

Javier Pérez Estrella, aka cintascotch, is a digital artist of stop motion and minimalist illustrations, from Guayaquil-Ecuador, who, through the challenges of everyday life, manages to find the charm behind everything, and thus, has the desire to capture them in his own unique way and to connect with them. A contributor to the “Cafeína” agency, has gained international fame through his “Instagram Experiments” project, and has worked with international brands such as Samsung, Santillana, Shutterstock, Volkswagen, and National Geographic. He has won numerous global poster and illustration awards, including IMMA5 Motion 2022, Lux Awards, Pictoline Illustration Biennial 2020, and LAD Awards 2021. His motto, “Create each day, regardless of your skills!”

Maria Polyzou

Marathon Champion, Holder of National Record and Authentic Route, Author

Η Μαρία Πολύζου είναι καταξιωμένη αθλήτρια, κάτοχος του ρεκόρ Ελλάδας, στο μαραθώνιο δρόμο και η πρώτη Ελληνίδα που αγωνίστηκε σε μαραθώνιο στους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες, στην Ατλάντα το 1996. Είναι η μοναδική γυναίκα από την αρχαιότητα μέχρι σήμερα που κατάφερε να επαναλάβει τον Φειδιππίδειο Άθλο. Σε επτά ημέρες διένυσε 524 χιλιόμετρα, απόσταση που αντιστοιχεί περίπου σε 13 μαραθωνίους (42 χλμ). Μεταξύ άλλων, έχει ανακηρυχθεί πρέσβειρα του Μαραθωνίου Δρόμου, είναι προπονήτρια μεγάλων αποστάσεων, συγγραφέας και συνδράμει ενεργά για την καταπολέμηση του καρκίνου του μαστού και κατά της βίας ενάντια των γυναικών.

Olivia Gambelin

Olivia is an AI Ethicist who specializes in the practical application of ethics to technological innovation and the founder of Ethical Intelligence. Originally from the Silicon Valley, Olivia began her career working in digital strategy for tech startups. Following her graduation from the Honors College of Baylor University with a BA in Philosophy and Entrepreneurship, Olivia moved overseas to pursue the opportunity to expand her international network as a GDPR and data privacy researcher in Brussels. This experience prompted her return to academia to obtain her MSc in Philosophy, concentration in AI Ethics, at the University of Edinburgh. During her time in Scotland, Olivia co-founded the Beneficial AI Society and completed her dissertation with distinction on the effects of probability on the moral responsibility of autonomous cars. Currently, Olivia works as the Founder and CEO of Ethical Intelligence where she leads a remote team of over seventy experts in the Tech Ethics field. Additionally, she is on the Founding Editorial Board for Springer Nature’s AI and Ethics Journal, Co-Chair of IEEE’s AI Expert Network Criteria Committee, and is on the Advisory Board of the Ethical AI Governance Group (EAIGG).

Spiros Soulis

Spiros Soulis has been involved in educational industry contexts for over 35 years, working to ensure access and worthwhile learning experiences for various cohorts of learners. At RMIT University his roles included teaching and coordinating the Youth and Community Services Programs and then moving into senior roles in learning particularly in the area of designing learning within the online space. Finally culminating in managing and driving change across the university in program development. His current work at QUT as a teacher and Unit Coordinator in the Graduate Certificate of Education (Innovative Learning Design) has brought about new approaches to using the online platform and humanizing the experience for students. As a consultant with organizations, he strives to work in collaboration with teams and individuals using empathy and learner experience (LX) approaches. His project management abilities have seen him organize and manage the most successful expedition in Greek mountaineering history – the ascent of Mount Everest. His qualifications include a Master in Learning Sciences and Technology from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Arts in Youth Affairs from RMIT, Diplomas in VET Practice and Management, a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and a Certificate in Youth Mental Health First Aid as an Instructor.