Theme: Past, Present, and NExT

River Oaks is a community within Woodbridge, Virginia. It's about 32 miles southwest of Washington, DC and seven (7) miles north of the marine corps base at Quantico. It's comprised of a rich tapestry of active duty military and veterans, government workers and contractors, families, college students and hardworking small business owners. It's a community that recognizes and values the intersectionality of its diverse cultures - maybe it sounds a lot like your community :-).

An array of curated TEDx Talks from members of the community, around the country and around the world will share their stories and ideas focused on how the past, present, and future intersect and can be leveraged to prepare us for the next best version of ourselves.

TEDxRiverOaks (Virtual)
16900 McGuffeys Trail
Woodbridge, Virginia, 22191
United States

Eric McElvenny

Team USA Paralympian + Husband + Father + Post 9/11 Vet

Eric McElvenny is a lucky husband and proud father of three. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2006. While serving as Marine in Afghanistan, Eric was wounded during combat operations suffering the loss of his leg. This injury led to a new journey into competition to include eight Ironman triathlons. Eric looks forward to sharing his story from the military to these finish lines and the habits we can use to embrace life's challenges.

Indira Subramanian

Professor of Neurology + Parkinson's Disease Specialist + Social Prescribing Specialist

Dr. Indu Subramanian received her medical degree from the University of Toronto, Canada and did her neurology residency and Movement Disorders fellowship training at UCLA. She stayed on at UCLA and is now a Clinical Professor of Neurology. She established the movement disorder clinic at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration and has assumed the position of the Director of the South West PADRECC (Parkinson Disease Research, Education and Clinical Care) Center of Excellence in Parkinson Disease since 2015. She has a strong interest in integrative medicine with a special interest in Yoga and Mindfulness. She underwent a 200 hour yoga teacher training and studied mindfulness. She is designing a yoga teacher training program for yoga instructors who are interested in working with PD patients. Dr. Subramanian recently got board certified in Integrative medicine. She is also passionate about palliative care. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/health/social-medicine-programs.html

Kathy Stokes

Director of Fraud Prevention Programs

Kathy Stokes has devoted her career to the financial well-being of US workers. In her work at AARP, she has turned her focus to helping older adults protect their savings and other assets from fraud. Kathy is a mom to college age twins, a lover of the written word, and a 9-year cancer survivor. She holds a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA from The Johns Hopkins University. And she is grateful for the many brilliant minds at AARP and beyond who have researched fraud and called out victim blaming over many years leading up to this TEDx Talk.

Koushik Reddy

Interventional Cardiologist

Dr. Reddy completed his general and interventional cardiology fellowship training at Winthrop University Hospital in Long Island, NY. After 10 years of interventional cardiology, he changed his focus towards cardiovascular health promotion and disease prevention. He is a member of American College of Cardiology’s working group on nutrition and lifestyle. He serves as a board of director for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He is the founding Co-Chair of the VA/DOD member interest group and the Cardiology member interest group under the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He is board certified in Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology and Lifestyle Medicine He established two preventive cardiology clinics. He is deeply committed to the idea of health promotion and disease prevention, using lifestyle and nutrition related tools. It is with this passion and commitment, he boldly challenges his patients with – “I have a carrot and a stent, you pick!”

Leah Kedar

Executive Coach + Partner, The Kedar Group

Leah has provided over thirty years of leadership development support for Government, NGO, and private corporate clients in the US., Europe, Asia and Africa. She specializes in supporting leaders and their teams and is widely respected for her ability to bring diverse teams together to produce results under challenging circumstances. With backgrounds in sociolinguistics, ethnography, ontological coaching and intercultural models of understanding, Leah brings exceptional depth and breadth of experience to her work with clients grappling with the challenges of a transient and ever-changing global working environment.

Linda Hervieux

Journalist + Photographer + Author

Linda Hervieux is Paris-based American journalist and photographer and the author of Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes, at Home and at War , the critically acclaimed story of D-Day’s only African-American combat soldiers, who were effectively written out of the history of the Normandy invasion. Tom Brokaw called FORGOTTEN "utterly compelling," and Douglas Brinkley said "all Americans should read" this battalion's journey through segregated Jim Crow America to unexpected freedom in Britain and France. Hervieux has lectured extensively on the African Americans of D-Day and World War II with appearances at Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, the Imperial War Museum in London, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., among others. Her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, TIME, Daily Beast, New York Daily News, and nbcnews.com.

Linda Salguero

Mom + Wife + Cancer Survivor

My name is Linda Salguero. I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wi but my heart has always claimed Louisiana as my “home”. For 22 years I have been married to my wonderful husband Francisco and we are blessed with our amazing son Dominic. I hold many titles but the one that gives me my superhero powers the most is “CANCER SURVIVOR”.

Lori Murphy

Social Worker + Caregiver Support Specialist + Social Prescribing Expert

Lori Murphy has been a social worker with the Columbus VA since July 2017. At the start of the COVID pandemic, Lori partnered with seven other VA staff members across the country to develop the Compassionate Contact Corps program. This social prescription program matches VA volunteers with Veterans who report feeling lonely through weekly phone calls. Lori has helped to mentor 80 other VA sites to establish their own programs. She earned the Secretary’s Honor Award for her work on this program. Lori Murphy has been a social worker with the Columbus VA since July 2017. She currently works as a Caregiver Support Social Worker. Lori worked in a variety of community social work settings providing counseling and case management. She also program development focused on improving social engagement in isolated refugee communities. She earned her Masters of Social Work from Ohio State in 2012. Lori received a Secretary's Honor Award for her work with Compassionate Contact Corps in 2021.

Lucy Houghton

Courage Cartographer & Burnout Warrior

Dr. Lucy Houghton is a registered nurse, courage and burnout researcher, and a board-certified wellness coach. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Exercise Science and Nursing, a Masters in Sports Medicine, and a Ph.D. Organizational Leadership, Health & Human Performance. She has spent the last twenty years working in healthcare in emergency services, post-anesthesia, and sports medicine. Her research focuses on developing strategies to mitigate burnout, loneliness, and organizational trauma through holistic resilience, courage cultivation, and emotional competency. And most recently is the author of the courage cultivation theory.

Mariko Sakai

Women's Empowerment Coach

Mariko is a women’s empowerment coach, a business woman, a thought leader, and a lightworker. She helps clients integrate their shadows in playful, thrilling, and irresistible explorations, liberating their inner selves to be authentically expressed in their professional and personal lives. She is a certified coach in sex, love, relationship, and tantric intimacy; and is currently furthering her studies in female domination. She holds a BA in Business from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, and an MA in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)

Mary Whyte

American Figurative Artist

Ms. Whyte is known internationally for her watercolors of contemporary people. Her works are in private, corporate, university and public collections nationwide, and have been featured in numerous media outlets including CBS Sunday Morning, PBS and NPR. The author of seven books including We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America, Whyte’s work has also been featured in many international publications, including periodicals and books in China, Russia, France, Germany, Canada and Taiwan. Recipient: Portrait Society of America's Gold Medal, the Carolinas Freedom Foundation’s Freedom Award, and the South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts, SC’s highest honor in the arts. Recipient: 2020 National DAR Medal of Honor and the 2020 NSDAR Women in the Arts Award. In 2021 Mary Whyte received an honorary doctorate degree from Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In 2019 Whyte founded the Patriot Art Foundation as a means to honor and inspire veterans through the arts.

Megan Sumeracki

Study Strategies + Learning Scientist + Professor

Megan received her Master’s in Experimental Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis and her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Purdue University. Her area of expertise is in human learning and memory, and applying the science of learning in educational contexts. Megan's research program focuses on retrieval-based learning strategies, and the way activities promoting retrieval can improve meaningful learning in the classroom. She addresses empirical questions such as: What retrieval practice formats promote student learning? What retrieval practice activities work well for different types of learners? And, why does retrieval increase learning? In her spare time Meg crochets, plays board games, and reads. She also loves to travel, go hiking and camping, and wine tasting! -- @DrSumeracki

Michael A. Thomas

Founder/Executive Director

Michael Thomas is a 9-11 first responder and US Army Veteran that has set his sights on changing the landscape for transitioning Veterans and their families. This mission is realized by the creation of the organization Operation Meraki whose mission is restoring the dignity and quality of life for transitioning Veterans, by helping them tell their stories and mentoring them towards success. In its inaugural year Michael has helped over 428 veterans in their transition.