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).

Diana Wortham Theater at Pack Place
2 South Pack Square
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, 28801
United States

Aditi Sethi, MD

Executive Director Center for Conscious Living and Dying, Hospice and Palliative Care Physician, End-of-life Doula, Musician

Dr. Aditi Sethi is a hospice and palliative care physician, end-of-life doula, and musician. Featured in the documentary “The Last Ecstatic Days,” Aditi is an emerging and important voice for shifting our culture’s understanding and approach to dying, death, and bereavement care.

Andy Bobowski

Social Mobility Entrepreneur, Educator, Co-Founder of Backrs

Andy Bobowski is an educator, social mobility entrepreneur, and co-founder of Backrs, a tech platform that empowers students to build social and financial capital, grows the workforce, and improves social cohesion. Prior to co-founding Backrs, Andy was a middle school and high school teacher, school founder and principal, and leadership coach.

David LaMotte

Songwriter, Speaker and Author

David LaMotte is a songwriter, speaker and author. He has performed over 3500 concerts and released thirteen full-length CDs of primarily original music, as well as four books, touring in all of the fifty states and on five of the seven continents over his 35-year career. He holds a master’s degree in International Studies, Peace, and Conflict Resolution from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, which he attended as a Rotary Peace Fellow. He is the former Clerk of the AFSC Nobel Peace Prize Nominating Committee, and a co-founder of Senderos, Inc., which has been working to support education in Guatemala since 2004. He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with his wife and son, an old dog, and five chickens.

Dr. Spenser Simrill, Jr.

Writer, Filmmaker, and Award-Winning Educator

Writer, filmmaker, and award-winning educator, DR SPENSER SIMRILL JR was born on Koinonia Farm, the birthplace of Habitat for Humanity. His research has led to peace walks in Liberia and Northern Ireland and to the first historical marker in South Carolina to mention the Ku Klux Klan. Spenser lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife and children and teaches at Christ School. A musician, community organizer, and stylist, MICHAEL SIMRIL hails from Rock Hill, South Carolina, his ancestral home. During the Revolutionary War, his enslaved forebears made cannonballs for the Patriot army. During Reconstruction, they testified against the Ku Klux Klan in federal court. In his free time, Michael enjoys genealogy, fishing, meditation, and spending time with his children and grandchildren. In March 2024, Audible released “Once Removed”: an 8-episode podcast on the Simril(l) journey with an original soundtrack produced by T Bone Burnett.

Jennifer Hough

International Speaker, President and Founder of The Wide Awakening

Jennifer Hough worked in the corporate world for years until she almost lost her life. Her migraines and depression catalyzed her to ask important questions about how to live a life of fulfillment and meaning. As a result, she has now worked with over 10,000 visionary leaders from around the world to help them start over 1400 movements, write 3100 books and help hundreds of thousands of people to live a better life. Currently she holds her Embodiment Workshop three times per year to help solution oriented leaders and entrepreneurs turn their lives into ‘works of heart’, by living aligned with the projects that have them waking up inspired every day. www.thewideawakening.com

Melissa Red Hoffman, MD, ND

Trauma Surgeon, Hospice Doctor

Melissa Red Hoffman is a surgeon and a hospice physician. She practices acute care surgery (a mix of trauma, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care) in a large community hospital in Asheville, North Carolina and serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. As one of only 100 surgeons in the United States also board certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Red has focused her career on integrating palliative medicine into the care of surgical patients, through her clinical work, writing, research, speaking, and podcasting. She is the co-founder of the Surgical Palliative Care Society and the host of the Surgical Palliative Care and the Surgical Soul podcasts.

Michael Rosenberg

Human-Friendly Future Builder

Michael Rosenberg builds communities, technologies, and games that help people make the future friendlier.

Nselaa Ward, Juris Doctor

Madam

Madam Nselaa Ward, Juris Doctor is a former attorney and former sex worker who organized the largest march in the history of the United States for its time, The March For Women’s Lives. Fun fact: she is also one of the top 5 female slam poets in the world! As the CEO of Ho & Grow Rich, she converges her background in grassroots organizing, law, and sex work to serve others in overcoming their deepest shames and mastering their prostitute archetype.

Sally Jewell Coxe

Sally Jewell Coxe is president and co-founder of the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI). Known as ‘Mama Bonobo,’ she has worked passionately for over 25 years to protect endangered bonobo apes, preserve the Congo rainforest, and empower local communities. Under Sally’s leadership, BCI collaborates with indigenous partners and government agencies to manifest their common vision for the Bonobo Peace Forest. An expanding network of community-managed nature reserves encompassing nine million acres to date, the Peace Forest is pioneering a whole systems approach that addresses humanitarian and conservation needs simultaneously. Sally's innovative work has been recognized in The New York Times, National Geographic, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, and the award-winning book Of Bonobos and Men. www.bonobo.org