Theme: Mission Accomplished

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).

9101 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland, 20814
United States

Adeline Vanderver

Dr Vanderver is the Director of the Myelin Disorders Clinic at Children’s National Health System. Dr. Vanderver is an international leader in the study of leukodystrophies, conditions that affect about one in 7,000 children. Dr. Vanderver is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics, and Integrative Systems Biology at George Washington University Medical Center. She also works with the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

Cyd Igot

Cyd Igot, Creator of aLetterForYou.org, is best known to her community as a space for acceptance, healing and empowerment. Having worked in mental health, she spent time on the front lines with people processing trauma, rape, abuse and violence. She has been known to travel to different parts of the world to spend time at orphanages making children laugh, teaching and making a difference where she can. Exposure to different forms of trauma and the resilience of survivors revealed to her the destructive nature of isolation, silence and shame. Aletterforyou.org was born from a commitment that survivors feel anonymously supported, safe, important and loved. Handwritten letters of support for survivors of sexual abuse, other traumas and bullying are collected then posted online for people to read in the privacy of their own experience. Cyd believes that there are more of us who love enough to heal the pain.

Eleanor Ondeck

Eleanor (Elle) Claire Ondeck is a sophomore at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland. Elle’s favorite classes are Literature and Latin. She is an active member of her school’s Honor Committee and participates on the board of her school’s social service program. She enjoys singing for Stone Ridge’s a capella group, Heartfelt, for the youth choir at her local parish, and in the spring musical at her school. The second of six children, Elle can be found babysitting her younger siblings, reading, or baking. One day she would like to open her own cupcake bakery in her hometown of Potomac, Maryland.

Ella Hartsoe

A graduating senior in the spring, Ella has been at Stone Ridge since 2008. She lives in McLean, Virginia with her parents, five siblings and two adorable bulldogs. Fun facts include: terrible driver, Stephen King fan, fanatical history student, and average pun-maker. True loves include coffee ice cream and her best friends. A musician to the core, Ella spends most of her time practicing violin, piano, guitar and leading Stone Ridge’s a capella group, Heartfelt. She would like to thank her parents, teachers, and the Stone Ridge administration for helping her grow into the person she is today, and giving her the confidence to get up and share her experience of empowerment through her all-girls education. Ella hopes to study History and Classics in college and eventually become a high school teacher, hopefully at an institution much like Stone Ridge.

Joe Powers

Joe Powers is a husband, father, educator, Head of School at The Woods Academy, amateur fisherman and baseball fan. Baseball is a sport with more failure than success. Joe failed more than he succeeded and kept learning from those strikeouts and errors. He is a believer in kids and a growth mindset; we grow more from our failures than our successes. He wants to grow future entrepreneurs in our schools. He teaches Business School to 5th graders and focuses on financial literacy, investing, public speaking and entrepreneurship. His aim is to develop critical thinkers, collaborative workers, great communicators, strong character and creativity. "C" words make a difference! These are the skills we must develop in our children. Doing so through an entrepreneurial mindset teaches children to grow from the challenges we face. This is a mission accomplished.

Lauren Woodard

Lauren Woodard was born in Washington DC. She grew up in the suburbs of Maryland and is currently a Junior at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. In high school, she has enjoyed broadening her horizons through extra curricular activities including cross-country, track, and multiple clubs. She is junior class president and enjoys being a leader within her school community. She is especially proud of the fact that she has created her own club, Food for Thought, designed to raise awareness for eating disorders and promote body confidence within the all-girls community of Stone Ridge. In school Lauren enjoys all of her classes and is especially fond of English. She hopes to pursue writing in college. Outside of school Lauren’s passions include hiking, biking, reading, and writing. She enjoys traveling with her family and has a special affinity for New England, where she spent most of her summers growing up.

Leslie Kiernan

Leslie B. Kiernan served in the U.S. Department of State as a senior advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she represented the U.S. in the 69th Session of the General Assembly and advised on a variety of human rights and gender equality issues and legal matters. From 2011-2014, Ms. Kiernan served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President in the Office of White House Counsel. During her time in the Counsel’s office, she advised White House staff on a wide range of compliance, risk-management, policy and oversight issues. As Deputy Counsel to the President, she also served as Council to the White House Council on Women and Girls and as counsel to the Office of the First Lady. Among other areas, she advised on various public-private partnerships and on issues related to women in leadership, and was an organizer of the 2014 White House Summit on Working Families in the 21st Century. Leslie’s two daughters are graduates of Stone Ridge.

Michael Catalano

Michael Catalano is a humanitarian program and venture start-up specialist with over 20 years of global experience in wireless applications and mobile systems integration. Working with Mercy Corps in Haiti and Liberia, Michael has delivered innovations in humanitarian and public health emergencies, most recently by supporting digital outreach and mobile messaging for social mobilization during the Ebola crisis in West Africa. Michael's expertise has informed clients on mobile payment integration for food security and energy access. Michael was Founder and Chief Network Officer at OpenRevolution involved with network and business development activities for mobile micro-finance, m-banking, and m-payment services. Prior to founding OpenRevolution, Michael was an associate at Booz Allen & Hamilton, assisting commercial, non-profit, and government clients with wireless infrastructure, M&A advisory, and enterprise solutions.

Noreen Crain

Dr. Noreen Crain is a musician, writer and physician. She is committed to the implementation and teaching of mindfulness and reflective medical practice, to the prioritization of integrity and kindness in communication with patients, families and colleagues, and to personal and professional development in the areas of compassion, mindfulness, and medical education. Dr. Crain was recently honored as an Ambassador of the Compassionate Care Initiative at the University of Virginia. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Anesthesia in the School of Medicine at UVA. She works as an attending physician in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and on the Pediatric Sedation Service at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital. She is the fellowship director for the Pediatric Critical Care Medicine program. Since 2001, Dr. Crain has served as the medical director for the Pediatric Palliative Care program at UVA.

Sam Firstenberg

Sam Firstenberg is a higher education researcher and endurance athlete. A 2009 Stone Ridge graduate, Sam was a scholarship lacrosse player at Colgate University. Sam holds her B.A. in Mathematics from Georgetown University and her Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Currently, Sam conducts higher education research as a consultant for the Education Advisory Board in Washington, DC. She has written research briefs on behalf of more than 20 different colleges and universities across the country. Her research covers a number of different topics such as principal gift operations at institutions with campaigns of one billion dollars or more, student-athlete development programming, performance based funding in community colleges, and organizational structures and their impact on alignment between the university budget office and provost’s office, to name a few.