Theme: It's About Time

TEDWomen 2016 is a TED event curated by TED and Pat Mitchell that focuses on women and women’s issues. TEDxWomen events are TEDx events hosted around the live webcast of TEDWomen, and will also feature live, local speakers. Our event is called TEDxSMUWomen and is one of many TEDx events happening around the globe on October 27, 2016 that will expand on the ideas brought up at TEDWomen.

TEDWomen 2016: It's About Time.

SMU Campus
3145 Dyer St
Dallas, Texas, 75205
United States

Candice Bledsoe

Graduate Liberal Studies Faculty-SMU

Dr. Candice Bledsoe is a faculty member at SMU's Simmons School of Education and executive director of the Action Research Center in Dallas, Texas. Her research explores equity, access, and the experience of underrepresented students in higher education. She has received numerous fellowships including: The National Endowment of the Humanities, the New Leadership Academy, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan, and Boone Texas Project for Human Rights Education. Dr. Bledsoe is the recipient of the 2013 SMU Women’s Symposium Profiles of Community Leadership Award. Dr. Bledsoe received a Doctorate in Education from The University of Southern California. She also holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and Baylor University.

Catherine Cuellar

Communications & Community Catalyst

Catherine Cuellar is the director of partnerships for RefillWise, a free pharmacy discount and loyalty card helping people afford needed prescription medicines while earning cash rewards. Cuellar previously helmed the Dallas Arts District (the nation’s largest contiguous urban cultural district) and managed communications at Oncor (the sixth largest electric power grid in the U.S.). She is a multimedia journalist, author, and chorister. Cuellar was a 2014 Next Generation Project Texas Fellow at The Strauss Center for International Security and Law at UT-Austin. She has been recognized among the Dallas Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” (2013) and was a White House Fellows regional finalist (2011), a Leadership Women graduate (2008), one of the Dallas Junior Chamber of Commerce's “Five Outstanding Young Dallasites” (2007), and founding board president of La Reunion TX (2006). She is a graduate of Rhodes College.

Dr. Margo McClinton Stoglin

Texas State Director

Margo McClinton Stoglin, Texas State Director. Margo comes to IGNITE from a long career in the non-profit and educational sectors, with experience in operations, communications, fundraising, governance, and human resources. Margo has served in higher education positions at Paul Quinn College, Southern Methodist University, Washington and Lee University, Florida State University and Washington University in St. Louis. Margo holds a BA from Emory University, a Master's in Education from Harvard University, a MBA from The University of Texas at Dallas, and a doctorate from Florida State University.

Jan Langbein

Chief Executive Officer

For more than 25 years, Jan Edgar Langbein has been an activist in efforts to end violence against women and children. Serving as CEO of Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support in Dallas TX, she oversees the internal and external operations of a full service/critical response for victims of violence. In 2008, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as Senior Policy Advisor to the U. S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). She is a national spokesperson on the epidemic of violence that now affects 1 in 3 people. Jan is a recognized expert, and is a frequent speaker at national conferences, universities, civic groups, corporations and law enforcement trainings and gives expert testimony in court. Along with the Dallas Police Department she co-founded the International Conference on Crimes Against Women.

Lynn McBee

Chief Executive Officer

Lynn McBee is Chief Executive Officer of Young Women’s Preparatory Network. A seventh-generation Texan and Great, Great, Great, Great-Granddaughter of Emily Austin, sister to Stephen F. Austin, The Father of Texas, she graduated from The University of Texas at Austin where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry. Previously, she worked as a consultant with a privately held Biotech firm for 23 years.

Maria Cramer

Vice President U.S. Business Consulting Practice Lead

Maria Cramer is powerful and compassionate leader. She honed her skills as a US Army officer and has since spent her professional years supporting organizations making large scale business transformations. Her passion is working with professionals to lead in a manner that combines power and heart to bring about sustainable change in workplaces. She has a BA from Wake Forest University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. She is a mother of two, living in Texas and is a Vice President at Hitachi Consulting. She is striving every day to be fearless and compassionate in family, work and community.

Nikki Duong Koenig

Founder & President

Nikki Duong Koenig is a proud graduate of the SMU Meadows School of the Arts. She is the Founder and President of Cykochik Custom Handbags, a creative and cruelty-free fashion company she founded while a student in 2003. Nikki has cultivated an international award-winning company through her love for art, fashion, and activism for social justice, animal rights, and environmental protection. In 2013, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) awarded Cykochik with the Compassionate Business Award.

Suzanne Brown

Advocate for Professional Part-Time Working Moms

Suzanne Brown is a mom, wife, part-time strategic marketing consultant, speaker, writer, avid international traveler and advocate for professional part-time working moms. Her own professional part-time work story started at a large marketing agency after the birth of her older son. She left the corporate world, which enabled her to focus on her own business and be the mom she wanted to be. She has collected stories, advice, insights and challenges from professional part-time working moms across the U.S. to share them in her book, which is due out mid-2017. She has an MBA, BBA and BA from The University of Texas at Austin. Suzanne lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their two young, active boys. You can find her online at www.mompowerment.com and @mompowerment on Twitter.