Theme: Limitless: Ideas Beyond Borders

6th Annual Conference of TEDxWilmington

World Cafe Live at The Queen
500 N Market Street
Wilmington, Delaware, 19801
United States

Alton Bertie

Creativity and passion are the driving forces in the life of Alton Bertie. Born in the beautiful British Virgin Islands, he has taken his musical talents and love of technology and merged it with a fierce entrepreneurial spirit. As dreams are very personal, Alton hopes to influence youths to turn their dreams into careers especially in the field of music. A graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music and a proud member of the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship, the craving to constantly push the envelope has propelled Alton to the top of the music world as he works with some of the biggest acts in the Caribbean and has won several awards internationally.

Amanda Kemp

Dr. Amanda Kemp is a Stanford University graduate and the creator of the H.E.A.R.T. System for Racial Justice and Mindful Living. A Master Teacher and artist, Dr. Kemp has helped over 25,000 people cultivate racial justice and compassion. She has taught at the college level over a decade since earning her PhD at Northwestern University. Prior to that she worked with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Hon. Maxine Waters. The Founder of Theatre for Transformation, Dr. Kemp has shared the stage and/or worked with Danny Glover, August Wilson, Toni Morrison, and George Wolfe. She has been featured on PBS and frequently speaks. Her latest book is Say the Wrong Thing: Stories and Strategies for Racial Justice and Authentic Community.

Andrew Vogts

At age 4, Andrew began studying classical violin (Suzuki method). He also became passionate about fiddle music while on a fiddle train tour across Canada and an Alaskan fiddle cruise, both led by the legendary Scottish fiddler, Alasdair Fraser. After exploring a wide variety of musical styles, Andrew decided to focus primarily on Appalachian old-time fiddle style. Andrew continues to win fiddle competitions and state championships across the country, In addition to classical and fiddle music, Andrew plays rock on electric violin. He is able to showcase his rock ability when he occasionally performs with the Beach Boys. He has performed on the 2014 world cruise on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2. He was also invited to perform with orchestras at Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall.

Andrew Wilson

Andrew “Drew” Wilson, Esq. is an associate and legislative specialist in Morris James LLP’s Health Care Industry and Government Relations Groups in Wilmington, Delaware. He works directly with the executive and legislative branches on a range of healthcare issues which affect the health of Delawareans and the practice of medicine. Drew was instrumental in the 2015 crafting and passage of House Bill 69, Delaware’s telemedicine legislation, which has become a national model. He has spoken on the legislation, subsequent regulation, and changing landscape in telemedicine to a variety of audiences from physicians. Clinicians, legislators, attorneys, and industry experts. He continues to serve on the steering committee for the Delaware Telehealth Coalition to foster the proliferation of telemedicine in the first state.

Bill Haley

Bill is an award-winning producer/director and principal of Allied Pixel, a digital studio that fuses video production with interactive technologies. Bill has over 2,000 credits to his name, including documentaries, corporate films, television commercials, web and social media content and independent films. Bill has guided Allied Pixel through numerous technological waves – from interactive multimedia in the early 90s to its current groundbreaking efforts to deliver the promise of Personalized Video – an innovative approach to creating unique, data-driven videos. He is also the co-founder and co-managing director of the MarCom Alliance, a consortium of specialty communications firms. He is founder and publisher of thePhillyCreativeGuide. com and founder and managing director of the Philadelphia Area Production Association.

Colleen O'Grady

Colleen O’Grady is changing what’s possible for mother and teenage daughter relationships around the world through her Power Your Parenting programs, podcast, workshops, speaking, and her award winning book, Dial Down the Drama: Reducing Conflict and Reconnecting With Your Teenage Daughter---A Guide for Mothers Everywhere. Colleen has been a licensed marriage and family therapist for twenty-five years, nineteen of those she trained and supervised psychiatry and psychology residents in the child and adolescent department at the University of Texas Mental Science Institute and on the adolescent inpatient unit of Harris County Psychiatric Center. However, Colleen, found that her real expertise was earned in the trenches while raising her own teenage daughter.

Cory Budischak

Cory is a teacher and researcher who strives to reduce the harmful effects of energy production and use. He employs innovative instructional methods such as problem based learning, flipping the classroom, and teaching through interactive games in order to prepare the future energy efficiency workforce. His sustainable energy research has appeared in Discovery News, The Huffington Post, Scientific American, and Rolling Stone Magazine. Cory received his Doctorate in Electrical Engineering in 2011 from the University of Delaware. That same year, he started at Delaware Technical Community College in the Energy Management department. When Cory is not educating or researching, he enjoys backpacking, yoga, volleyball, and hiking with his family. For more information on Cory visit www.bit.ly/corybud.

Cyndi O'Meara

Cyndi O’Meara is a nutritionist, film maker – ‘What’s With Wheat?’, best-selling author, international speaker and founder of Changing Habits. Cyndi graduated with a BSc majoring in Nutrition in 1984, her special interest was ancestral foods. After graduating, she became disillusioned by the global ‘standard’ nutritional guidelines that she paved her own path. Cyndi started Changing Habits in 1990, from her regular newspaper column on nutrition. Her ground breaking book Changing Habits Changing Lives (1998) became an instant best seller and from there she has grown a successful organic food company, certified online education program, a ground breaking documentary and is currently building a 60-acre organic food bowl which will be used as an education centre for sustainable farming practices.

Daniel Farber Huang

Documentary photographer, explorer, visualist, gear enthusiast, breaker and maker of things, number cruncher, tangential thinker, Other. For the last 20 years, Daniel Farber Huang has successfully collaborated with Theresa Menders on documentary photography projects as a husband and wife team, with a long-term focus on women’s and children’s issues and poverty. Their collaborative work is included in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the International Center of Photography, New York Historical Society, Museum of the City of New York, Museum of Chinese in America, New York City Fire Museum, and the Library of Congress. Their photography has been exhibited by the New York Historical Society, Museum of Chinese in America, and group shows including the Museum of Modern Art.

Dinette Rivera

Ms. Dinette Rivera is Chief Empowerment Officer and Founder of Rivera Business Development Group. Her mission is to inspire the positive behavioral changes necessary to become self-sufficient and self-reliant. She helps her clients redesign their lives and businesses, to enjoy more freedom. Her belief is that your life’s work should help you live the life you dream of. What she shares with her clients is a lifetime of education, experience and knowledge about business and why people only learn and grow when it matters to them on a personal level. She enjoys traveling; nature photography and helping people discover their own value. Her greatest treasure is her family. How she serves others is through her work with non-profits.

Dr Clint Rogers

CEO

Clint Rogers, Ph.D., is CEO of the organization called Wisdom of the World - looking for the best things that exist on the planet and how more people can benefit from them. As a university researcher and author of upcoming book “Ancient Secrets of a Master Healer: A Western Skeptic, An Eastern Master, and Life’s Greatest Lessons”, Clint has studied intensively for the last 7 years with Master Healer Dr. Pankaj Naram and the Siddha-Veda healing lineage of the Himalayas. Clint has documented and captured their secrets on how anyone can live to more than 100 years with vibrant health, unlimited energy, and peace of mind - and will demonstrate instant and limitless benefits for you in following the 6 instruments of Siddha-Veda.

Edward Van Gieson

Dr. Edward Van Gieson is an author, speaker, and founder of Genius Zone Coaching in addition to his legal practice as a patent attorney in Silicon Valley. He is currently writing a book about Einstein’s creative process. His education includes a law degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. His first career was as a laser scientist in Princeton, New Jersey where Einstein spent the last 22 years of his life. In Princeton, Dr. Van Gieson walked the same streets Einstein once walked and wondered what it would have been like to meet Einstein. Dr. Van Gieson’s passion is finding ways to make the secrets of Einstein’s creative genius “come alive” for people trying to unlock their own creative genius.

Glory Crampton

Glory Crampton is an actress, recording and concert artist, speaker and Author of the upcoming book “Discover your Star Power. Take your life from Ordinary to Extra-Ordinary” Ms. Crampton has sung as soloist to The Three Tenors’ Jose Carreras at Radio City Music Hall with The Orchestra of St. Lukes, as soloist for Presidents, Royal Dignitaries, and is currently singing globally including a recent tour in South America. she has starred in over 40 Broadway Musical theater productions, including the recent premiere of Sheldon Harnicks’ “Rothschilds and Sons”in NYC, (Archived at Lincoln Center & Original Cast Recording,) She can be heard on14 recordings including “All The Love I have”The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (jay records) and her solo CD “Unusual way” recorded with The National.

Gustavo Grodnitzky

Dr. Gustavo Grodnitzky is a speaker, consultant, psychologist, and author whose diverse background brings a unique and multidimensional perspective to his global clients. After obtaining his Ph.D. in clinical and school psychology, he completed post-docs in both cognitive therapy and forensic psychology. Since the year 2000, Dr. Grodnitzky has focused on engagements with corporate clients, and he has worked with Global 1000 companies around the world, as well as with smaller, often family run, businesses. As a professional speaker and consultant, he has delivered more than 1,000 presentations on a variety of topics. When not traveling to see clients or give presentations, Dr. Grodnitzky lives in the mountains west of Denver, Colorado with his wife and his Black Lab.

Janine Driver

JANINE DRIVER is the CEO of the Body Language Institute, the NY Times Best-Selling author of YOU SAY MORE THAN YOU THINK, an international trainer, an award-winning keynote speaker, and a retired ATF Investigator. Janine attained rank #1 in the «Inspiration» category in the World’s Top 30 Body Language Professionals for 2017. In 2015, Janine was named one of the top twenty educational trendsetters in the meetings industry by Meetings Today Magazine. Janine is a popular media guest on NBC’s TODAY, Harry Connick Jr›s show called HARRY, Steve Harvey Show, CNN Morning Show,and more. She has been quoted in publications, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Cosmopolitan. Janine›s corporate clients include companies such as Proctor & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, ADP, KRONOS, Charles Schwab, Prudential, Remax, and YPO.

Jason Treu

Jason Treu is an executive coach. He works with executives and entrepreneurs on leadership and performance issues. Through his coaching, his clients have met industry titans such as Tim Cook, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Peter Diamandis, Chris Anderson, and many others. He’s also helped his clients create more than $1 billion dollars in wealth over the past three years and secure seats on influential boards such as TEDx and xPrize. His bestselling book, Social Wealth, the how-to-guide on building extraordinary business relationships that influence others, has sold more than 45,000 copies. He’s been a featured guest on 500+ podcasts, radio and TV shows. Jason has his law degree and masters in communications from Syracuse University.

Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan

Jennifer is the fourth woman in the US and among only 41 people to achieve the world’s highest wine title, Master of Wine. She has trained thousands in the wine and spirits industry and judges in competitions around the world. Jennifer is an accomplished author and a professor for The Great Courses, The Teaching Company, and is on the Board of Directors for La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, the global center for wine and culture. Additionally, she helped develop Wine Ring, a firm using patented, highly sophisticated machine learning technology to capture and create wine recommendations using only personal preferences.

John Quinlan

John Quinlan, a former boom-and-bust CEO from politely posh Grosse Pointe, Michigan, found salvation in the pit of himself by going way out of bounds on the other side of the world. A woman’s joyous tough love helped a lot as John insisted on improvising his business/consulting skills with 2,400 rainforest coffee farmers in Papua New Guinea, and ultimately reaped assassin bullets in return. Amid all this, John bonded with a great chief, suffered betrayal, dove deep and beyond, and arrived at why our biggest strength against limits is – amazingly – vulnerability. He asserts that vulnerability, ultimately, breaks down physical borders and erodes inward fortresses. He can be contacted at johnquinlan@growthstrategiesglobal. com and 313-704-0059, and followed at @johnequinlan. He blogs at http://www.taubada.com/blog/

John Legaré Williams

John Legaré Williams is President of The Williams Law Firm, P.A. (TrustWilliams.com) with a focus on business entity law. He also is President of Agents and Corporations, Inc. (Inc- Now.com)[Gigi NOTE: This web address became hyphenated in the copy and should not be hyphenated.] an e-commerce incorporation service, serving as Delaware registered agent for 16,000 entities, including Pinterest. He is a frequent speaker nationally on the topic of Delaware LLCs and in particular the Delaware Series LLC. He also is the inventor of a US patent application for a “System and Method for Processing and Dynamically Segregating Business Assets”. Mr. Williams was ap pointed by the ABA to serve as an advisor to the Drafting Committee of the Uniform Protected Series Act.

Joia Nuri

Joia Jefferson Nuri specializes in executive presentation coaching, media training, and message strategies. She has written keynote addresses, congressional testimony, and five TEDx talks. In 2009 and 2013, Joia planned Presidential Inaugural Galas. Her media work began as a technician for NBC and CBS where she became the first African-American woman to serve as Technical Director of Face the Nation and the CBS Evening News. Later she produced for BET, NPR affiliates and C-SPAN. In 2012, she delivered a keynote address before Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Austria and she also testified before a House Subcommittee. Joia serves as a political analyst on NewsOne Now with Roland Martin and other news programs.

Marla Blunt-Carter

Marla Blunt-Carter, a social worker and educator, strongly believes that in order to change the world, we must influence systems though honest dialogue and compassion. She has done so herself by working with clients, communities and prominent elected officials, including Vice-President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama. Most recently, Marla served as Senior Strategy Advisor on the historic campaign of her sister, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, as she became the first woman and first person of color to represent Delaware in Congress. Marla’s love of social work was recently rewarded when she was named “Outstanding Professor of the Year” at Rutgers University-School of Social Work, where she strives to make a difference for her students.

Mason Jeffers

Mason was born and has been raised thus far in beautiful Charlotte, North Carolina. His parents realized that he had startling gifts very early in his development, and as a result began homeschooling him when he was six years old. Now at fifteen years old, he has already completed two semesters of college through a program for gifted students. He currently plans to earn finance and economics degrees from UNC Charlotte and eventually work in the world of finance. In most ways Mason is a perfectly normal teenager. He enjoys playing guitar, spending time with friends, and designing computers. He built his first gaming computer at age thirteen and has plans to build an even better one in the future. He is also a boy scout, an amateur welder, and a history enthusiast. He believes that while he has been given many gifts, he owes his “no limits” outlook to the many supportive family members and mentors in his life.

Melissa Root

Melissa M. Root, Ph.D., is the founder and president of Root Success Solutions LLC. She is also a certified school psychologist and author of Picture Perfect: Video Self-Modeling for Behavior Change. Her interest areas focus on improving quality of life and human performance using proven techniques such as video self-modeling and guided imagery. Dr. Root is a former professor of graduate and undergraduate classes in psychology, special education, and mathematics and served the State of Connecticut to resolve disagreements between school districts and families about the education of children with intellectual disabilities. Dr. Root is currently engaged in groundbreaking research with colleagues at the University of Connecticut addressing stress for women with ovarian cancer. Her study is combined with the world’s first study of a personalized vaccine for women with ovarian cancer.

Michael Goergen

Michael Goergen joined the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment) in September of 2013 to lead the Public Private Partnership for Advanced Woody Biomaterials and Nanotechnology or P3Nano. He is committed to bringing cellulosic nanotechnology from the lab to commercialization, and is bringing together partners to accelerate the devel opment of innovative uses of renewable materials from forests. In addition to nanomaterials, Michael focuses on creating markets for mass timber products and advanced wood to energy systems. Prior to joining the Endowment, Michael was Executive Vice President and CEO of the Society of American Forest ers. He has testified before Congress, worked with the White House, partnered with federal agencies and submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court.

Michael Martin

Michael is co-founder and CEO of RapidSOS, an advanced emergency tech start-up, commercializing technology to predict and preempt emergencies before they occur and ensure that first responders are one touch away globally. Michael’s personal experiences around 911 challenges led him to found RapidSOS in 2013. He has extensive xperience in start-up commercialization, financing, and strategy. Previously, Michael worked at Braemar Energy Ventures, a New York-based energy VC firm and assisted nearly 50 companies commercialize their technologies and secure over $2 billion of capital. Michael holds an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School, where he received multiple awards. He has been featured across national media including Forbes 30 Under 30, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Michele Pollard Patrick

Michele Pollard Patrick is a certified Protocol Officer and a business etiquette consultant since 1989. Her in-depth knowledge qualifies her as an expert in the field of business etiquette and protocol. Michele is the founder of National Protocol, a multi level training organization based in Washington, D.C. Michele is a certified teacher, former corporate trainer for Xerox Corporation and published author. She coaches corporate and government executives on the interpersonal skills that instill confidence and project professionalism. She has been profiled on network and cable television as well as featured in national newspapers and magazines. Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, international organizations, large law firms and universities have made use of her services.

Rani St. Pucchi

Rani St. Pucchi is an internationally known, award-winning, Bridal and Fashion Designer whose expertise has been recognized in such media outlets as Entertainment Tonight, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Bride’s, Cosmopolitan Bride, Martha Stewart Weddings and The Knot. She is the #1 Bestselling author of: Your Body, Your Style and The SoulMate Checklist. Renowned for her savvy regarding women’s challenges in loving and accepting their body Rani is passionate about guiding women thru cultivating a loving relationship to self so they may extend that love to others and build longlasting relationships. In her #1 bestselling book, Your Body, Your Style, Rani walks women thru simple but effective steps on dressing their body no matter what shape or size they find themselves in.

Sara Crawford-Jones

With 13 years in the fashion industry, Sara A. Crawford- Jones truly lives by her own quote; “Fashion isn’t just a career, it’s a lifestyle”. She has used fashion as a platform to provide awareness to social issues. In 2004, she created her brand Anara Original. She has been featured in LA and Philadelphia Fashion Week, and publications such as Lucky Magazine and Teen Vogue. Black Celebrity Giving named her a “Change Maker and Young Philanthropist”. In 2016, Sara wrote her first book titled, The Playbook to Essential Style- Learn, Build and Explore Your Style, which developed into the Style Conversation multi-city tour. Sara’s Talk “A Signature Pigment” will be expanding to a book for a release in October.

Shane Coen

Shane Coen has led the innovative landscape architecture studio Coen + Partners for over twenty years. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the studio has built a distinguished body of award winning work as a result of his leadership, creativity and disciplined design approach. Grounded in an approach of contextual minimalism, Coen + Partners collaborates with the world’s leading and emerging global design talent to create site solutions that are rooted in place while embracing architectural, programmatic and ecological goals with innovation and beauty. Shane serves the GSA Design Excellence Program on their National Registry of Peer Professionals and is the Recipient of the 2015 Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award in Landscape Architecture

Simon Mikhailovich

Simon Mikhailovich is a contrarian investor and a serial entrepreneur. He grew up in Leningrad, USSR, and at 19 made it to the US as a stateless refugee with $100. Simon is a living example of the American dream. He graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 1983 and worked in the investment business until co-founding, in 1998, a successful investment firm that predicted and profited from the financial crises of 2000 and 2008. In 2014 Simon co-founded Tocqueville Bullion Reserve to take advantage of the upcoming opportunities in physical gold and distressed assets. Simon has been married for over 30 years, lives in NYC, and has two grown daughters. His hobbies include competitive sailing, history, art and literature.

Theresa Menders

Documentary photographer, explorer, math maven, numbers crusher, big data wrangler, music maker, visual artisan, Other. For the last 20 years, Theresa Menders has successfully collaborated with Daniel Farber Huang on documentary photography projects as a husband and wife team, with a long-term focus on women’s and children’s issues and poverty. Their work is included in the permanent collections of numerous museums and cultural institutions, including International Center of Photography, New York Historical Society, Museum of the City of New York, Museum of Chinese in America, New York City Fire Museum, and Library of Congress. Their photography has been exhibited by the New York Historical Society, Museum of Chinese in America, and group

Tony Jeton Selimi

The See-Through Coach

Tony J. Selimi is a human behavioral and cognition expert internationally known as The See-Through Coach, who specializes in assisting business owners from all market sectors and Individuals from all professions to find solutions to their personal, professional, and business problems to maximize their human potential and achieve excellence in the eight key areas of life; Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, Physical, Business, Money, Relationship, and Love. His clients include Celebrities, Entrepreneurs, and CEO’s of companies such as Microsoft, SAP, Vandercom, and Deutsche Bank. Tony has impacted the lives of nearly 50 million people with his bestselling books, A Path to Wisdom and #Loneliness, public speaking engagements, seminars, magazine and TV/Radio appearances including the Brian Tracy show for ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and their affiliates. His mission is to inspire one billion people to become purposeful and disciplined masters of themselves and dedicated and inspired leaders of others.

Tyrek Traylor

“One Love.” Those were the last 2 words of Tyrek Traylor’s winning presentation at the 2017 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Communication Contest held on January 15th, Dr. King’s birthday. Prior to the MLK contest, Tyrek’s focus had been science, not writing poetry and definitely not public speaking. Thanks to the encouragement he received from his English teacher, Tyrek stepped outside his comfort zone and entered the MLK Communication Contest. For the past 4 years Tyrek has attended Conrad Schools of Science. He also competed as a member of KUDOS, an organization which provides youth with opportunities to help them succeed with their future academic endeavors. He graduated in June and this fall will continue his studies at Delaware State University where he will major in biology, continue writing, and embrace student life.

Valerie Biden Owens

Valerie is among the first woman in the United States to lead modern US Senate and Presidential campaigns. She managed all of her brother Joe’s campaigns. When not campaigning, Valerie focused on teaching and politics. For 20 years as, Executive Vice President, Joe Slade White & Co. and more recently, partner, Owens Patrick Leadership Seminars; trainer, Women’s Campaign International; Resident Fellow, Harvard’s JFK Institute of Politics; and Senior Advisor to the United Nations 71st General Assembly. At Harvard Law School’s International Women’s Day, 2015 Valerie was a keynote speaker, and received the “Women Inspiring Change” award. She is Vice Chair of the Biden Foundation and the Biden Institute, University of Delaware. She and her husband Jack have three children.

Victor Furtado

Victor Furtado is the youngest of 9 homeschooled kids, 7 of whom are professional musicians. His older siblings were taught music using the Suzuki method of instruction which relies heavily on the students listening intensively to the pieces which they will be mastering. So, while Victor never had ongoing formal training, he was continually surrounded by lots of classical, bluegrass, and old time music. At age 9, he announced that he wanted to learn “that” instrument, indicating one of the banjos scattered about the family living room. Within 2 years, he had appeared on “Woodsongs” radio show, and the following year, when he was 12, he received an invitation on the Grand Ole Opry to appear with Mike Snider and his band. He won numerous adult competitions, including the prestigious international Freshgrass competition in 2016.