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).

Goodenough College
London House, Goodenough College
Mecklenburgh Square
London, London, City of, WC1N 2AB
United Kingdom

Ayesha Siddique Khan

Ayesha Siddique Khan is a barrister from rural Pakistan. She has been a practicing lawyer for five years and provided pro bono litigation to victims of clandestine drone strikes and enforced disappearances. She holds an LLM in Human Rights Law from University of London and was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn, London in 2014. Following this, Ayesha was a Chevening scholar at the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) where she graduated with an M.Sc. in International Politics. She is a Goodenough College alumnus, having attended the college between 2016-7. Ms. Khan is well versed in the ground realities of gender rights discrimination, having lived a ‘triple life’. She lives in a countryside village in Pakistan, practices law in Islamabad, and has spent many years in the West as a student. Ayesha is particularly passionate in her wish to effectuate social change by promoting gender equality at all levels – both in the public and private domain.

Basia Vucic, Julia & Blanca Prieto Brain

Julia, Blanca and Basia were co-researchers in a project for UCL commended for its innovative research methodology and original contribution to the body of knowledge in child rights. They were invited to present to members of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, and recently, joined lawyers, academics and activists for a discussion at Oxford University’s Human Rights Institute. Blanca is now in her first year of secondary school and is a keen debater. While not presenting at conferences and seminars, Basia is continuing her research into the revolutionary philosophy of Janusz Korczak. Julia likes writing poetry and playing against Basia in puzzle challenges on their phones.

Ewelina Ochab

Ewelina U. Ochab is a legal researcher, human rights advocate and author. Ochab works on the topic of persecution of minorities around the world, with major projects including Daesh genocide in Syria and Iraq, Boko Haram atrocities in West Africa, and religious minorities in South Asia. Ochab has written over 30 UN reports (including Universal Periodic Review reports) and has made oral and written submissions at the Human Rights Council sessions and the UN Forum on Minority Issues. She has been published in Forbes, the Huffington Post, Oxford Human Rights Hub and many more. Ochab is currently working on her PhD in International Law, Human Rights and Medical Ethics.

Hannah Stodel

At 14 years old, Hannah saw Paralympic sailing as a weaker option to her career, having been successfully racing on the able-bodied circuit all over the world. Already a world champion in her own right, 1999 offered a life-changing decision thanks to Atlanta gold medalist, Andy Cassells: the Paralympics or the Olympics? Andy offered her the chance to train with him in the run up to the Sydney Paralympic Games, and the rest, as they say, is history! 16 years, 4 Paralympic Games and multiple World Championships later, Hannah is now ready to take on her “Everest of the Seas”, the Vendée Globe round the world race. Inspired by Ellen MacArthur, Sir Robin Knox Johnston and other sailing legends along the way, Hannah is aiming to become the first disabled athlete in history to take on the toughest race in sailing – the 24,000 mile, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the world – the Vendée Globe.

Lottie Ion

Lottie is a Research Assistant in the Breast Cancer Research Group at Imperial College London. After first studying for a degree in Chemistry and working as an analytical chemist, she decided on a change of career, and began a second degree in Biomedical Science whilst training as a biomedical scientist at Warwick Hospital. During her studies Lottie developed a particular interest in breast cancer, and on completing the degree took a job in breast cancer research at Imperial College London. She has now started a Masters degree in Science Communication, and this, alongside working closely with patients, has highlighted the importance of close social interactions and communication in cancer care.

Manfredi San Germano

Following an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and a year studying Arabic and Middle Eastern studies in Egypt and Dubai, Manfredi’s interests eventually led him to study Biology at Harvard. Shortly thereafter he joined the Beijing Genomics Institute as a scientific coordinator, where he landed in a lecture by Andrew Hessel that inspired him to take part in the International Genetic Engineering Machine (iGEM) competition in Boston. He then decided to return to academia to do a Masters in Synthetic Biology back in the UK, where his project focused on dissecting a cancer drug resistance mechanism using theoretical modelling. While studying drug delivery, his interest moved towards vascular biology and how tissues are perfused by the creation of new blood vessels. This led him to start a PhD in Oscar Ces’ lab at Imperial College, working between the Chemical Biology Institute and National Heart and Lung Institute in order to develop a platform to sustain disease-state cardiac tissue in vitro – a technology that could have far reaching consequences for reducing animal testing in drug development. In his free time he primarily enjoys the company of beagles and occasionally designs hedge mazes.

Mark Stephens CBE

Mark has an outstanding track record of defending freedom of expression and human rights. He was appointed CBE for his human rights work and many of his cases have been ground-breaking and set precedents, in particular regarding human rights. The firm’s business and human rights practice, led by Mark, has gone from strength to strength, encompassing a global reach advising international corporations on how to comply with the so-called Ruggie Principles. He advises companies, individuals, and government organisations, as well as Nobel prize-nominated NGOs dealing with such things as resource extraction, climate and environment and child labour. Mark’s clients include the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, World Bank Institute, SE Asia Press Alliance, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Global Network Initiative. Mark has worked in the European Court of Human Rights, the Privy Council and has appeared before the UN Committee of Human Rights. His work is overwhelmingly international in nature. Mark advises major corporates on their compliance and non-financial reporting assurance in relation to business and human rights. Mark also works with Index on Censorship, the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, IBA Human Rights Council, Global Network Initiative and Human Dignity Trust.

Michael Vincent

Michael Vincent has earned the enviable reputation of being among the elite of Magicians and Sleight of hand Artist in the world. From being a small boy watching David Nixon on TV, to entertaining all over the world, Michael has come a very long way. His dream was simple: to become the very best at his chosen craft, and bring world-class magic within the reach of everyone. Now the high standards that he set for himself, has audiences catching their breath. They see it, but they don’t believe it. His magic is a tribute to the wonderful artist who inspired him as a youngster. Magicians who were his mentors; Alan Alan, Cy Endfield (Director of the movie ZULU), Tony Slydini, Michael was fortunate to meet his heroes and to study the of magic with them. Part of his on-going legacy is to continue the chain of excellence these great master passed on to him. www.michaelvincentmagic.com http://www.vincentacademy.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/michaelvincentmagic

Peter Kaznacheev

Peter Kaznacheev is a consultant, development economist and energy futurist. He is a Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London European Centre for Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS). As part of his research, he looks into how changing patterns in the consumption and generation of energy affect political power, poverty, conflicts, public policy and corruption. Peter’s career spans advising governments in West Africa and Central Asia, working for a global energy company, and doing research for the World Bank. In the mid-2000s he was a senior advisor for the Russian government dealing with economic, energy and environmental issues. Peter received a Master’s degree in international economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC; and a BA and a PhD in political science and philosophy from Moscow State University. Peter is a passionate public speaker, lecturer and author of numerous academic and media publications.

Shahina Jaffer

Shahina Jaffer is a marketing graduate from the University of Arts London who works as a marketing consultant specialising in consumer research and digital transformation. She has worked for different multinationals including Unilever, Nestle, and GlaxoSmithKline as well as offering business solutions to SMEs and social enterprises. Her exposure to brand marketing and advertising has given her invaluable insights into communication, visual language decoding and perceptions. Shahina is passionate about the arts and is an avid artist, currently represented by Gallery 104 New York. She has been curious about art from a very young age, painting and sewing fluidly by the age of three. She is a St Martin’s School of Art graduate with a studio on the Old Kent Road, and her work is based on the practical exploration of perception – a fascination which also relates to her career in consumer marketing. Both the audience and research touch multiple elements of her work. Degas’ idea that art is “not what you see, but what you make others see” really resonates with her. She believes that art should be an interactive experience, where the viewer goes on a journey to see form and details based on their own perception and sparking their own individual imagination. The Art of Perception is an interactive talk that explores how perception shapes not only what we see but also how we observe, using art as a stimulus. “The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.” Alberto Giacometti.

Simon Mashudu Marcus

Simon is a medical doctor who has worked both in the private and public sectors in South Africa (SA) and the United Kingdom. He is currently doing an MSc in Inequalities and Sociology at LSE. Having trained and worked mostly in SA, his interest in understanding the mechanisms that create and drive inequality grew out of his experience of the vast inequalities in his home country. Having seen and studied the complex interactions that can affect health outcomes for communities, he has shifted his focus from clinical practice to research and analysis of the various societal constructs that impact inequality and social wellbeing. His fields of interest are the social determinants of health and how they interact to drive unequal health outcomes. Inequality remains one of the great challenges of our time. Reducing inequalities especially around health and wellbeing requires an interdisciplinary approach. Simon is particularly interested in how policy, interventions and innovation in non-healthcare fields intersect to impact health and how these can be used to improve quality of life at an individual and community level.

Victoria Ball

Victoria is an entrepreneur, security analyst and ardent communicator. As an undergraduate, she studied Middle Eastern Studies and Social Anthropology at Cambridge University and later returned to academia with postgraduate studies in the War Studies department of King’s College London. She is particularly interested in exploring what drives people, especially women and children, towards extremist ideology and political violence. Her research has led her to examine Northern Ireland, the Middle East and Pakistan. She recently briefed a cross-departmental team of Her Majesty’s Government on the connection between Islamist actors and organised crime in South Asia. Her study of extremism led her to realise how compelling radical ideology can be for young people. Rather than teach competing counter-narratives, Victoria founded Eloquentia Communication to help young people of all backgrounds appreciate how life can be enriched through listening to others, debating with them and understanding different perspectives. Victoria is passionate about communication and feels the world would be a much happier and more equal place if people understood each other better. As such, she is a keen linguist, having learned ten languages and is still improving them. She has lived and worked abroad, from Spain to Syria, from the United States to Italy and loves immersing herself in different cultures and meeting people from diverse backgrounds. She enjoys living and working in heterogenous, pluralistic environments and is proud to be the only female millennial Non-Executive Director on the board of specialist construction materials firm, DB Group. Her hopes for the future are that people might embrace their childlike curiosity, learn to better communicate with each other and appreciate a shared humanity with those they had previously feared or demonised.