Theme: Emergence

Join us at TEDxYoungstown 2024 for an exclusive gathering of minds and ideas. This unique event features a diverse lineup of speakers from around the globe, sharing their powerful perspectives and groundbreaking insights across a wide range of topics. With 130 seats, TEDxYoungstown offers an intimate experience that fosters direct engagement with ideas worth spreading. Whether you are interested in technology, science, culture, or art, this event promises to inspire, provoke thought, and connect like-minded individuals. Subscribe now to secure your spot and be part of an unforgettable day featuring the next viral idea. For more information, visit [TEDxYoungstown](http://www.tedxyoungstown.com).

Spotlight Theater
422 Wick Avenue
Youngstown, Ohio, 44555
United States

Ayana Symone

Author + Blogger + Communicator

At twenty-three years old, Ayana Symone is an author, a blogger, and the host of the growing “To Be Heard” Podcast show. In 2018, she self-published her first novel, titled How I Fell in Love with Myself, and self-published her second novel, titled My Name is Anxiety, in 2022. She keeps in touch with her readers on her website via monthly blog posts, weekly newsletters, and video blogs throughout the summer. As she continues to pursue a career in communication, she aims to bring relevant messages of hope & self-esteem to you & others around the world. Ayana Symone shows us how to release the pain of the past. Childhood memories, which can be pleasant or painful, often impact our daily lives. As unhealed childhoods produce painful adulthoods, confronting childhood wounds is worth the journey. To experience actual, transformative growth in the future, one must face the pain of the past. In this TEDx talk, you will be shown how a free, fruitful, and abundant life is possible.

Curt Thomas

Doctoral Student + Air Force Officer + Author

Curt Thomas transformed early challenges into a 23-year diverse leadership career, including military and healthcare management. As a single parent with degrees from Claflin University and The Citadel, currently pursuing a doctorate at Trevecca Nazarene University, Curt exemplifies resilience and dedication. His journey, marked by overcoming personal and professional obstacles, demonstrates that positive change is achievable with determination. Curt's life underscores the power of bold decisions and commitment to improvement, inspiring others to pursue their goals courageously.

Deanna Simonson

Mother + Speaker + Coach

Deanna Simonson, a mother of ten, focuses on strengthening family bonds and addressing the teenage mental health crisis. An expert in life coaching and Love and Logic parenting, she's worked with clients like Target and Lifetime Fitness, customizing her sessions. She aims to enhance personal and family relationships. Simonson highlights parenting as crucial in preventing youth suicide, noting a 48% rise in adolescent suicide rates over a decade. She stresses the importance of rebuilding connections with our children, making them feel seen, heard, and loved, to prevent them from resorting to suicide as a solution to their struggles.

Devyn Bellamy

Senior Marketing Manager

Ever since Devyn Bellamy created his first website during the dial-up days, he has always been obsessed with marketing. Reverse engineering the marketing strategies of multi-billion dollar companies has been his hobby for a number of years. Devyn’s favorite thing to do is watch the rise and fall of trends. Remember when every company would send you a CD in the mail, with AOL leading the way? Now Devyn makes comprehensive marketing solutions come together for customers in a plethora –one of his favorite words– of verticals. He can create and grow every aspect of a brand’s marketing funnel from the first touch to sale, and beyond. Yes, there is marketing beyond the sale. He is also a pretty decent multimedia producer. His work has been on television, billboards, radio, and signage.

Eric Hodgdon

Coach + Author + TEDx Speaker

Eric Hodgdon, a passionate advocate for those dealing with loss, profoundly understands the grief process. His life changed in 2014 when his daughter, Zoi, sadly took her life at 15. Rejecting the idea that surviving grief was the end goal, Eric sought to change how we support the grieving. For over a decade, Eric has been a transformative figure in grief support, helping thousands through coaching and training to move beyond mental barriers and cope with their loss. In 2018, Eric’s ideas reached a wider audience through a TEDx talk in Youngstown and his Amazon bestseller, “A Sherpa Named Zoi.” Today, he offers personalized coaching, helping clients not just to survive, but thrive after losing a loved one.

Jennifer Pintar

Mother + Educator + Outdoor Lover

Jennifer Pintar holds degrees in Biology, Exercise Physiology, and Public Health from Washington & Jefferson and the University of Pittsburgh. At Youngstown State University since 1999, she's been a faculty, department chair, vice provost, and provost, earning multiple teaching awards. She advocates for a dynamic higher education and has two college-going daughters. Pintar sees generative AI as essential in addressing higher education challenges, such as declining enrollments and the demand for alternative learning methods. AI promises personalized learning experiences, fostering creativity and higher-order thinking, making it crucial for the future of education.

Joe Weston

Author + Facilitator + Catalyst

With over 30 years in conflict prevention and communication, Joe Weston founded The Weston Network and the Fierce Civility Project to promote peace, respect, and mutual empowerment across various sectors, including corporations and government agencies. His work, recognized globally, offers transformational strategies for a more unified society. Joe's expertise is shared in his books, "Mastering Respectful Confrontation" and "Fierce Civility," making him an influential figure for organizations like NASA, the World Bank, and the UN. Addressing the issue of "Chronic Niceness," Joe Weston highlights the ineffectiveness of current communication models amidst global uncertainty and social media influence. He advocates for "Fierce Civility" as a remedy to overcome polarization and aggressive interactions, offering strategies to shift away from harmful niceness towards empowering, hopeful engagements.

Kassi Kincaid

Speaker + Entrepreneur + Innovator

Kassi Kincaid founded Book Days, a novel children’s literacy initiative that emphasizes creativity in reading. Her efforts aim to make a global impact, inspiring both children and adults to pursue creative paths in their careers. Kincaid's work addresses the critical issue of illiteracy, particularly focusing on children's reading proficiency by age ten. Starting as a school administrator, she developed Book Days to combat literacy challenges, now expanding its reach worldwide. Kincaid champions the belief that everyone has the creative potential to make a difference, encouraging people from all walks of life to contribute creatively to solving global issues.

Katy Stevens

Disrupter + Entertainer + Character

Meet Mo Barrett, an Air Force Colonel turned electrifying speaker, and Katy Stevens, a music and vocal mentor turned master of joy—two extraordinary souls serendipitously connected by barbershop quartet singing. This dynamic and unexpected duo is unstoppable, delivering tales and life lessons from decades of military leadership and nurturing performers. Like a pair of eclectic socks that magically match, Mo and Katy convert quirks into their superpower, changing lives with messages that pack a punch and practical tools that can be put into action instantly. Together, they are architects of amusement, constructing moments of joy and enlightenment that ripple through their audiences, leaving behind echoes of laughter and inspiration. Their mission? Redesign every gathering into an unforgettable adventure. With Mo and Katy, every moment is an opportunity to laugh, learn, and leap into action. Prepare for a journey like no other and dive into their world.

Krishnni Khanna

Student + Speaker + Author

Krishnni Khanna, a high school junior, overcame peer shaming as an Indian immigrant, inspiring her to start "Detoximind" in 2022 for stressed and isolated youth, now in four countries. Aiming for global reach, she's also writing a memoir, "I am Not Who You See," releasing in 2024. Living in Austin, Texas, with her family and puppy Yuki, Krishnni explores how repeated lies become one's truth. Drawing on personal and historical examples, research, and literature, her talk examines how misinformation can change beliefs and perspectives, offering strategies to resist this manipulation.

Mo Barrett

Disrupter + Entertainer + Character

Meet Mo Barrett, an Air Force Colonel turned electrifying speaker, and Katy Stevens, a music and vocal mentor turned master of joy—two extraordinary souls serendipitously connected by barbershop quartet singing. This dynamic and unexpected duo is unstoppable, delivering tales and life lessons from decades of military leadership and nurturing performers. Like a pair of eclectic socks that magically match, Mo and Katy convert quirks into their superpower, changing lives with messages that pack a punch and practical tools that can be put into action instantly. Together, they are architects of amusement, constructing moments of joy and enlightenment that ripple through their audiences, leaving behind echoes of laughter and inspiration. Their mission? Redesign every gathering into an unforgettable adventure. With Mo and Katy, every moment is an opportunity to laugh, learn, and leap into action. Prepare for a journey like no other and dive into their world.

Molly Spearman

Hopeful + Convener + Change-agent

Raised on a dairy farm, Molly Spearman embraced the values of hard work and community early on, was inspired by her parents, and engaged in various leadership activities. Although she didn't become a school principal, her diverse roles, from music teacher to South Carolina State Superintendent of Education, where she was the fifth woman elected statewide, shaped her career. Now, as Ambassador for the Maxwell Leadership Foundation’s iLead Initiative, she influences countless students globally. Molly has been married to Bill for 47 years and has two children and two granddaughters. In her speech on reviving the art of conversation, Spearman reflects on a memorable discussion from over fifty years ago that still influences her, emphasizing the importance of sitting down to talk and instill values as society's foundation.

Morgan Watt

Speaker + Facilitator + Advocate

With a background as an instructor pilot and offshore fishing captain, Morgan Watt shares his journey through invisible wounds from his time in the U.S. Air Force and as a civilian pilot. His struggles with PTSD, triggered by chronic pain and stress, led him to study mental health counseling at Springfield College at 42. Now, alongside his service dog Donzi, Morgan speaks about finding purpose beyond his career, emphasizing the freedom in living authentically. He credits a strong support network, self-questioning, and unconditional love, especially from Donzi, his soulmate Amber, and their two boys, in his movement towards authenticity.

Reyné O'Shaughnessy

Pilot + Author + Speaker

Captain (ret.) Reyné O’Shaughnessy, a seasoned aviator with 35 years and over 10,000 flight hours on jets like the B747 and B757/767, founded Piloting 2 Wellbeing and co-founded The Aviation Health and Wellbeing Institute to boost pilot health. Certified in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction from Brown University, she holds a Bachelor’s from Duquesne University and an Executive Certification from UC Berkeley. A Functional Medicine Coaching Academy graduate and best-selling author, Reyné is a sought-after speaker on pilots' mental health. Her latest book focuses on collegiate aviators' mental wellness, showcasing her role as an aviation industry pioneer.

Samantha Kaaua

Coach + Author + Guide

Samantha Kaaua, a marriage coach with a background in Psychology and Marriage & Family Therapy, uniquely combines professional knowledge with personal insights from her own marital challenges. Committing to breaking the cycle of divorce in her family, she transformed her near-divorce experience into a mission to empower others. In 2019, she started a private practice, and by 2022, shifted entirely to coaching, aiming to inspire transformation in relationships. Samantha believes in empowering partners to be agents of change, focusing on growth and resilience. Living in Hawaii with her husband and daughters, she enjoys the island's beauty and dreams of opening an animal rehabilitation center. Her approach challenges traditional counseling, promoting a transformative journey to marital happiness.

Unni Turrettini

Human Connection Speaker + Author

Unni Turrettini, an award-winning author and human connection expert, has explored loneliness since 2011, aiming to boost relational energy, well-being, and productivity in leaders and teams. Recognized as a notable figure by Brown Brothers Harriman in 2022, she has a diverse international background and holds law degrees from Norway, France, and the U.S. Now based in Oslo, Turrettini combines her legal and financial expertise with her passion for fostering human connections, evident in her appearances on the James Altucher Show and various keynotes. In her talks on the loneliness epidemic, Turrettini tackles why people feel disconnected despite being surrounded by others, highlighting the importance of relational energy in overcoming loneliness and enhancing productivity. She offers insights into building meaningful connections to combat this modern health crisis.

Zach Arend

Ex-Bronc Rider + Speaker + Coach

Zach Arend, a former saddle bronc riding champion, leveraged his rodeo experiences into a flourishing 20-year career in leadership and team development across corporate and entrepreneurial sectors. Now, as a storyteller, speaker, and coach, he imparts the principles of Resonant Creative Leadership™ to a diverse audience, from creatives to business visionaries. Zach’s knack for recognizing potential and delivering candid guidance motivates leaders to realize their ambitions and reconnect with fundamental leadership skills. Residing in Kansas City, MO, with his family, Zach continues to embody the cowboy spirit, albeit sans bronc riding. Addressing leadership burnout, Zach advocates for a shift towards self-reliance and personal accountability in the workplace with his “Saddle Your Own Horse” philosophy. This approach aims to combat the widespread feeling of overwhelm by fostering environments where autonomy and responsibility empower individuals and drive collective success.