Theme: Defying the Ordinary

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).

Upper School Library
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Arsen Avakian

CEO/Founder of Argo Tea

Arsen Avakian founded Argo Tea in 2003. Over the last 13 years, he has built his company into the largest tea café concept in the world with over 50 cafes globally. In 2010 Avakian launched a line of bottled teas in iconic glass bottles which can now be found in over 40,000 stores nationwide. His prior entrepreneurial experience includes Internet software outsourcing and management consulting. In addition to a computer science degree from the Engineering University of Armenia, Avakian completed his MBA as a Fulbright Scholar in Chicago.

Brad Henderson

Partner/Managing Director at the Boston Consulting Group

Brad Henderson is a partner and managing director for The Boston Consulting Group in Chicago. He leads BCG’s Operations Practice in North America, the firm’s largest functional practice. He is currently the board president for ACCION US Network, a micro lending network. In addition, Brad serves on the boards of Interfaith Youth Core and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He spent 2006 in BCG’s Mumbai office as part of the BCG Ambassador program. While in India, identified cutting edge approaches to bring financial services and life-changing technology to lower income populations in India, China and Brazil. Brad earned BA (Phi Beta Kappa) in economics and an MA in social science from University of Chicago. At the University of Chicago, Brad was awarded the NCAA’s Walter Byers Award, in recognition of being the nation’s top male scholar-athlete. He received an MS in economic history and an MBA from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Fawzia Mirza

Actor/Writer/Producer

Fawzia Mirza is The Brown Girl. She is an actress, writer and producer who uses performance, personal storytelling and comedy to break down stereotypes of race, religion, sexual orientation and gender. Her credits include The First Session, The Brown Girl Problems and Kam Kardashian. The First Session was a 2015 Finalist in the NBC Universal Short Film Festival. Her short mockumentary film The Muslim Trump about a Muslim illegitimate daughter of Donald Trump has been written up in NBC News, Al Jazeera America, Jezebel, DNAInfo, The AV Club, VICE & Marie Claire. Her Chicago theatre credits include Brahman/i at Silk Road Rising, White Rabbit/Red Rabbit at The Chicago Humanities Festival and The Happiest Song Plays Last and Teddy Ferrera at The Goodman Theatre. Chicago magazine once named her one of the 50 Most Beautiful Chicagoans. She co-wrote a feature film currently in pre-production about a Pakistani woman seeking her identity in love, life, and wrestling.

Fred Cook

CEO of Golin

Fred Cook has worked at Golin for 30 years, moving to Chicago 13 years ago to become the company's third CEO. To stay ahead of worldwide changes in demographics, globalization, multiculturalism, and technology, Golin completely redesigned the agency four years ago to deliver deeper insights, bigger ideas and broader engagement. In 2014, Cook published “Improvise – Unorthodox Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO.” Speaking on college campuses around the world led him to recently accept a position as the Director of the University of Southern California’s Center for Public Relations. He is also a professor of professional studies.

John Wolf

Senior Program Manager at UChicago Urban Labs' Crime Lab and Education Lab

John Wolf is a Senior Project Manager at the University of Chicago Crime Lab and Urban Education Lab, where he has worked on an evaluation of Becoming A Man (B.A.M.), a violence intervention program for teenage boys in Chicago’s most troubled neighborhoods, since 2012. Prior to joining the Crime Lab and Urban Education Lab, John taught middle school math through Teach for America for Imagine Indiana Life Sciences Academy West in Indianapolis. In that position, he designed and implemented a new standards-based math curriculum for seventh and eighth graders, leading his students to achieve 2.1 years of growth on their mathematical aptitude assessment. Wolf also created and implemented a reading curriculum for the entire middle school and developed a weekly character education program to deal with severe behavioral issues. Wolf has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis and a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Marian University in Indiana

Julia Quinn

Research Manager at UChicago Urban Labs' Crime Lab and Education Lab

Julia Quinn is a Research Manager at the University of Chicago Crime Lab and Urban Education Lab, where she has worked at the intersection of crime and education policy research since 2013. Her current work includes research on the Becoming a Man (B.A.M.) program and an individualized high-dosage math tutoring program. This project, structured like a randomized controlled trial of the sort that produces gold-standard evidence of effectiveness in medicine, has over 6,000 youth randomized across 21 disadvantaged Chicago Public School high schools. She also currently manages a multi-city, multi-methods study of underground gun markets. Her previous work includes research on gun policy and violence in the U.S., and on the economic implications of changing the age of juvenile jurisdiction. Quinn graduated from Duke University with a degree in Public Policy.