Theme: To or Not To

We each make countless decisions: What to wear? To spend Friday night watching Netflix, or going to a party? To follow our happiness, or choose the path of least resistance? These range from the everyday to the most far-reaching decisions about how to live meaningfully. The theme of this year’s TEDxWellesleyCollege, “To or Not To”, asks us to think about the choices we face, and challenges us to take action in shaping our identities, relationships, and goals at Wellesley and beyond.

This year, the TEDxWellesleyCollege team is excited to bring a variety of speakers whose inspiring achievements illustrate precisely the possibilities of the question of “To or Not To?” Their diverse backgrounds and experience offer an opportunity to engage in conversations about topics ranging from the sociology of race to the interactions between Western and Chinese medicine.

Wellesley College
Wellesley College
106 Central Street
Wellesley, Massachusetts, 02481
United States

Bonnie Gatchell

Founder of Route One Ministry

Bonnie Gatchell is the Director and Co-Founder of Route One Ministry. While completing her Masters of Theology, she was awakened to the horrors of trafficking both globally and domestically, and in 2010 she cofounded Route One Ministry, the first nonprofit organization of its kind in New England that works with women exploited by the commercial sex industry by entering strip clubs. Since 2010 Bonnie has provided educational training to the Junior League of Women, UNICEF–Link Conference, The Justice Conference Workshops, Grace Chapel’s Women’s Group, the Boston Rescue Mission, Boston University, Boston College, Gordon College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and churches across New England, exposing the reality of sex trafficking in New England and providing practical solutions to bring about its end. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Boston Faith and Justice Network in addition to her work with her organization.

Bridie Andrews

Professor

Bridie Andrews is an Associate Professor of History at Bentley University and a former professor of the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. Her most recent book, The Making of Modern Chinese Medicine, focused on her widely renowned work on the over-exaggerated nature of the dichotomy of Eastern and Western medicine. She has been cited in numerous publications about Eastern medicine and has held fellowships at London School of Oriental and African Studies and the University of Pennsylvania.

David France

Musician and Educator

David France is the founder of Revolution of Hope, an organization dedicated to making musical education accessible in Boston neighborhoods, and has worked closely with the El Sistema program in Venezuela, a publicly funded musical education program run by volunteers. Under his guidance, in 2014, Revolution of Hope was invited to perform at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and has since launched a professional development series that serves teachers in New England who work with El Sistema-inspired programs. He has presented at Music Tech Fest, Northeastern University, Longy School of Music at Bard College, New England Conservatory, SXSW V2V, and TEDx Fenway.

Jeanne Gallée

Student

Jeanne Gallée is a senior at Wellesley College double majoring in Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences and Psychology. Her fascination with verbal and non-verbal communication has led her to satiate her interest in language and thought at both Wellesley and MIT. She is currently studying the relationship of human sexuality and communication styles through an independent study course in psychology. A strong background in the dramatic arts, including clowning and stage combat, has allowed her to explore portrayals of women in society theatrically. Once an aspiring professional dancer, she spends her free time dancing with Harvard Ballet Company.

Lily Myers

Spoken Word Poet

Lily Myers is a writer and spoken word artist from Seattle, Washington. She graduated from Wesleyan University, where she competed on the slam poetry team and won Best Love Poem at the 2013 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational for her poem “Shrinking Women”. She writes about feminism, body positivity, and radical self-love on her blog, The Shapes We Make. She promotes young women's self-expression and empowerment with poet Chelsea Coreen through The Uninterrupted Project. Her debut novel is due out from Philomel in 2017.

Michael Jeffries

is an Associate Professor of American Studies at Wellesley College, where he teaches courses on American popular culture and the politics of race, class, and gender. He is the author of two books, mostly recently, Paint The White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America, published in 2013 by Stanford University Press. His first book, Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip-Hop was published in 2011 by University of Chicago Press. He is also a contributor at The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, and The Guardian.

Minsun Kim

Divided Families

Minsun Kim is the founder and president of Long Island Conservatory and LISMA Foundation, in New York and New Jersey. For over 25 years, Ms. Kim’s unique educational philosophy has produced many talented students who have gone on to join the New York Philharmonic and perform across the world on stages like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, St. Petersburg Grand Hall, and Prague’s Rudolphin Hall. Not only is she an educator, but also Ms. Kim is an active community member as the vice-chair of the Human Rights Commission for Nassau County, NY. In 2015, Ms. Kim became the first elected female president of the Korean American Association of Greater New York. Her efforts as a cultural ambassador have earned Ms. Kim the Woman of The Year Award from Newsday and the Business Woman Award from Congressional Representatives Grace Maeng and Steve Israel. Minsun Kim is also the recipient of a prestigious Ellis Island Medals of Honor Award.

Nondini Naqui

Founder at the Society of Grownups

Nondini Naqui is the CEO and president of the Society of Grownups. She is a Wellesley alumna, class of 2002. Although Nondini started out as an Anthropology and Spanish double major, she ended up doing development and management work in the financial sector for five years. Using her range of experiences, she volunteered full time at an organization called TROSA, helping drug addicts and criminals reintegrate into society and travelling to Ethiopia to work with HIV+ women. Her current project, the Society of Grownups, founded in 2014, provides innovative financial services and a unique approach to discussing money through classes at their physical location and services provided on their digital platform.

Sophia Sokolowski

Student

Sophia Sokolowski is a senior majoring in biological sciences and minoring in psychology. She has focused on acquiring scientific knowledge that underlies problems affecting both marine and land environments and human psychology and health. She spent her junior year abroad, sailing aboard a Woods Hole scientific research vessel and collecting data involving the accumulation of microplastics in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. Sophia has a passion for music, having performed with Opera Tampa under the direction of Maestro Anton Coppola for seven years. She plans to continue pursuing music along with her diplomatic and scientific endeavors upon graduating from Wellesley. She believes that the conservation of sustainable environments must be a universal priority. Sophia hopes to enhance communities’ prospects by enabling access to education, since education fosters critical thinking, which is essential for the survival of humanity.