Theme: Revolutions

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).

August Wilson Center
980 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15222
United States

Audrey Russo

Since 2007, Audrey Russo has served the technology business sector for southwestern PA as President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council (www.pghtech.org), the oldest (1983) and largest technology trade association in North America. In this role, Russo facilitates strong interaction across all sectors of the regional economy. With a background in information technology, operations and finance, Russo previously worked for large multi-national Fortune 500 companies (Alcoa, Reynolds Metals), as well as at MAYA Design, and in an adjunct faculty and project role at Virginia Commonwealth University. She loves the complexity of Pittsburgh’s physical, literal and metaphorical terrain and believes the city will succeed and grow through technology innovation and commercialized disruptions across every platform and experience. Pittsburgh’s technology roots are essential and imperative in achieving competitive, diverse and vibrant economies. Russo earned her Bachelor of Science from Ohio State University. She also has a Master’s in Public Administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Public Affairs. Russo is a previous Board Chair for the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, as well as serving as a board member of the following organizations; Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC), Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Pittsburgh, CityLab, Highmark Business Advisory Board, and the Power of 32. Russo also co-hosts TechVibe Radio every Friday at 7pm on KDKA 1020 AM or FM 93.7 HD2 to explore technology companies and entrepreneurial issues. She also serves as the President of the newly formed nonprofit Fortyx80 which serves to ensure that Pittsburgh’s vitality will be sustained through education for entrepreneurs, education for the next generation of the economy and development of newer collisions of innovation.

Chris Ivey

Chris Ivey, a resident of East Liberty, has been at the forefront of gentrification in a small neighborhood he calls home. As a filmmaker, Ivey uses his lens to capture societal tensions, change in his environment, and gentrification happening in his home town. His ability to capture perspectives of residents, not just city planners, forces viewers to question the true cost of 'improving' a neighborhood.

Corinne Clinch

Corinne Clinch is an extroverted engineer turned entrepreneur for public health. She founded the water purification startup, Rorus Inc., while completing her Master's in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University at the age of 21. She leads the company based on field experience in India, Ghana, and South Africa. This year, she was honored, along with her co-founder, on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs list. Rorus applies user-centered design to make the world's simplest, safest water filters for disaster relief and developing countries.

Costa Nikou

Over the last 20 years, Costa Nikou has worked for one university, two hospitals, and three companies, all while basically holding the same job with the same great group of people. In this presentation, he talks about a couple of big ideas in computer assisted surgery, and his career path alongside. Costa Nikou grew up in the Pittsburgh area, had a early obsession with Activision's Pitfall, which steered him toward an education in Computer Science and Robotics, and a career in Computer-Assisted Surgery. Costa is the the Director of Software Development at the former Blue Belt Technologies, now Smith and Nephew Robotics.

Harley Baldwin

Harley Baldwin is a game designer who has worked on dozens of video games, large and small. She shares her journey as a technically alienated child to a career as a game developer.

Ian Rosenberger

Ian founded both Team Tassy & Thread in 2010 in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. Team Tassy unlocks the inherent power in every person to end global poverty. Thread takes trash from poor neighborhoods & turns it into jobs & useful stuff people love. They work together under the same core philosophy: the biggest problem we face as a species is multidimensional poverty; ending it is entirely possible in our lifetime; & to do it, we need to invest in the poor to create as many dignified, sustainable jobs as possible. To date, Team Tassy has engaged almost 50 Haitians, preparing them and their families for employment. Thread has shipped nearly 200,000 lbs of recycled plastic out of Haiti to eventually be processed into fabric & turned into finished goods and jobs for Team Tassy families. Ian’s passion is built upon 10 years of experience studying economic redevelopment in Western and South-Central Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean. Prior to his professional career, Ian attended Penn State University, where he was elected as the university’s Undergraduate Student Government President in 2003. He is a member of both the Lion’s Paw and Parmi Nous Senior Honor Societies and is an Eagle Scout. In 2005, Ian placed 3rd on CBS: Survivor Palau and has since spoken to tens of thousands of people all over the country about his experiences on the show and in the developing world. Ian was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.

Jenni Calihan

Jenni Calihan is the founder of Eat the Butter, a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the word about real-food-more-fat eating. Help us ignite a mother-to-mother movement to combat chronic disease.

Josh Lafazan

Joshua Lafazan became one of the youngest elected officials in the history of New York State when at 18 years of age he was elected to the Syosset School Board of Education, receiving 82% of the vote in May of 2012. Joshua was re-elected in 2015. He is the author of "Political Gladiators: How Millennials Can Navigate the 21st Century Political Minefield and WIN!" In 2016, Joshua graduated with a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from the Cornell University ILR School. Joshua is currently enrolled at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he has been accepted to pursue a Master's Degree in Education Policy and Management.

Sanjay Chopra

Sanjay is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cognistx an applied AI company. Cognistx data scientists and engineers build adaptive artificial intelligence (AI) systems to solve today’s most challenging business problems. They create computer systems that can sense, learn and act. Sanjay is also the Co-Founder & CEO of Intellions, a pricing software company. Intellions is an IP Based Technology Company that has licensed its IP to various entities. Sanjay has over twenty-two years of expertise in e-commerce strategy, business development and technology. Sanjay is the winner of E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year 2000 award and actively participates in promoting entrepreneurship in Pittsburgh. Sanjay was the Founding Chair of Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners and a founding charter member of the TiE Pittsburgh. Anju and Sanjay Chopra have also funded a Research Grant for students at Carnegie Mellon University. Sanjay is on the advisory board of Metacube – a global software development company. Sanjay was the Director of Digital Commerce at Giant Eagle and helped launch Curbside, eAdvantage and the Mobile Apps for Get-Go and Giant Eagle. Prior to that Sanjay was also a Business Development Manager with IBM for 7 years. Prior to Intellions, Sanjay Chopra was the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OnlineChoice.com. OnlineChoice.com has over 600,000 members over ten domains, such as, electricity, natural gas, long distance, local telephone, gasoline, internet access, home security and term life and health insurance. The company was sold to MxEnergy in January of 2003. OnlineChoice was venture backed by Hillman Company, Draper Triangle, Lycos Ventures, and Duquesne Enterprises. Before OnlineChoice Sanjay consulted for Goldman Sachs through Access Data in various strategy and e-commerce projects. Mr. Chopra has also worked as a software engineer/manager at Federated Investors, Carnegie Group and Allegheny Management Company. Mr. Chopra is on the Advisory Board to Metacube – a global IT services company, specializing in cloud computing and product engineering. Mr. Chopra is an Adjunct Professor of e-Commerce at Carnegie Mellon University and holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University (GSIA – Tepper Business School), a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and Bachelors in Computer Science from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT -REC), Bhopal, India. Sanjay has been married to Anju Chopra, EVP & CIO, Tiversa for twenty-one years and they have two daughters – Anya and Aiyana. Anya is a freshman at Cornell University and Aiyana attends Pine Richland High School. They reside in Gibsonia, PA. Mr. Chopra is an avid golfer and was a member of the men’s golf committee at Treesdale Country Club.

William Peduto

William Peduto was elected to the office of Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh in the General Election on November 5, 2013, and took office as Pittsburgh’s 60th Mayor in January of 2014. Prior to taking office, he worked for 19 years on Pittsburgh City Council - seven years as a staffer then twelve years as a Member of Council. As Mayor, Bill Peduto continues to champion the protection and enhancement of Pittsburgh’s new reputation - maintaining fiscal responsibility, establishing community based development plans, embracing innovative solutions and becoming a leader in green initiatives. Since taking office, Mayor Peduto has lead a collaborative effort to make Pittsburgh a leading 21st Century city. The Peduto administration has partnered with the White House on numerous initiatives, resulting in direct access to federal support related to affordable housing, education, economic development, energy efficiency, immigration, manufacturing, community policing, workforce development and technology. Under Peduto’s leadership the City of Pittsburgh has played an active role in National League of Cities and U.S. Conference of Mayors initiatives. Pittsburgh was recently selected to join the Rockefeller Foundation network’s 100 Resilient Cities, which provides resources to improve city resilience in the face of climate change, globalization and urbanization trends. Mayor Peduto also signed a unique agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to make the city a world leader in district energy production. He is a founding member of the MetroLab Network, a national alliance of cities and universities committed to providing analytically-based solutions to improve urban infrastructure, services and other public sector priorities. The Peduto administration is working to ensure that everyone benefits from Pittsburgh’s transformation and growth because, “If it’s not for all, it’s not for us.”