Theme: Ability

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).

Kresge Theatre, Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213
United States

Gregg Behr

In his tenth year as executive director of The Grable Foundation located in Pittsburgh, Gregg Behr manages a grantmaking portfolio advancing high-quality early childhood education, innovative teaching and learning in public schools, and robust out-of-school time support. In 2016, the White House recognized Gregg Behr as a Champion of Change for his efforts to advance making and learning.

Melissa Felder Zappala

Melissa Felder Zappala, who is deaf, is a partner in the D.C. office of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, where she specializes in complex commercial litigation. She has extensive experience in a variety of legal areas, and has represented clients in federal, state, and international courts, and has been recognized by both Super Lawyers and National Law Journal as a rising star. She received her B.A. from Yale University in 2002 and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2005. With a wife raised in Squirrel Hill and an extended family that has lived in the city for nearly a century, Melissa has come to claim Pittsburgh as her second home.