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).

La Canada High
4463 Oak Grove Drive
La Canada, California, 91011
United States

Alex Cheng

Alex experiences allergies first hand, is deeply passionate, actually cares, explains his topic well and teaches you how to help. He knows the facts and is involved with the FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) community.

Braden Oh

Braden Oh is a high school junior who often hears the phrase, "that's impossible," and takes those words as a challenge. He has fostered a love for tackling complex problems, a passion that launched him into the NASA CubeQuest challenge. Today, he and a team of other high school students have teamed up with MIT, determined to build the first shoebox-sized spacecraft to reach the moon.

Esme Salzman

Esme Salzman, 11 years, has been to Gorongosa National Park twice and plans to return soon. She has been passionate about mammalogy for 5 years and continues on this educational journey in any way she can. Esme is in awe of Gorongosa's story and has seen the best biology minds at work there. She wishes to encourage as many people as she can to continue this restoration project... by becoming fellow citizen scientists!

Nadia Chung

Nadia is an ambitious 6th grader who has always had a passion for teaching and learning.

Priscilla Kang

Throughout her school years, Priscilla has always felt the weight of education. One of the biggest occupations in her life is school. As a writer and philosophical thinker, she has always thought of the bigger picture. Compelling and creative, Priscilla will show you the world that you have been missing out on due to your preoccupations.

Ray Wipfli

Thirteen year old soccer player Ray Wipfli is committed to helping kids in rural Uganda gain new opportunities for success on and off the pitch. Over the past two years, Ray has raised over $75,000 and has returned to Uganda four times to launch his programs and make sure they are having an impact on the ground.

Ryan Chen

Ryan Chen is a student at La Canada High School with a passion for self-betterment. He aims not only to improve himself on his long journey of learning and growth, but also to improve those around him by giving back to the school that has given him so much over the years. From the shy, quiet kid in elementary school to becoming involved in the community as a leader on Student Council, he wants to look out for the little guy, empowering those too afraid to stand, challenging them to speak up and let the world see their light.

Sonya Kalara

As the second best high-school impromptu speaker in California, Sonya Kalara is well acquainted with speaking, as well as the adversarial nature of traditional success. She has experienced many situations that are interpreted as a binary between winning and losing rather than mutual growth, which has given her a unique perspective on how to evaluate personal success and interpersonal connection.

Sung-Joon "Miles" Yoon

Sung-Joon "Miles" Yun was one of the couple dozen high school students to compete in the 2015 International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition and would like other high school students and adults to join him in his endeavor into the field of synthetic biology. He has spent over five hundred hours working on changing the DNA in cells to produce efficient biofuels. However, this is not the only way synthetic biology can be used to help our world, and Miles stresses how important it is that we use this amazing tool that is now readily available for us to start tackling the world's problems that we struggle through in our daily lives.

Vince Dioguardi

As you will learn in this talk Vincent's personal accolades are slim to none being that he chose a life of carefree living and selfishness, he is a natural speaker as he stands in front of loads of people weekly at meetings and conventions and has been asked to give Motivation talks and talks of empowerment to troubled youth, Vince is someone that everyone can relate to as he is just a man trying to find his own sense of true happiness while still straying away from the norms of society.