Theme: Step Out

The idea of Stepping out of the cave and facing the glaring sunlight was originated in early 300 BC by Plato. His famous allegory tells the story of people in the cave who have been exposed all their lives to shadows on a blank wall. As they watch the shadows projected on the wall from different objects passing in front of a fire behind them, they believed that the shadows were reality. When someone from the cave gets out to tell the truth about the world, he or she is immediately accused. A new idea brings a huge discomfort to the cave. It burns, but as Plato wrote “it is real.”

With the theme “Step Out,” we invite you to explore the journey from the ‘cave’ and recall the moments of your personal changes. We encourage you to make the intentional decision of stepping out and willing to seek discomfort together with us. Step Out is about embracing unlimited, but also unlimiting oneself. It is about facing the unknown, but also looking in the past. Our theme allows the room for ambiguity and exploration of different lenses, different perspectives, and different voices. We are dare to know. Are you with us?

Vernon Social
114 Vernon St, Hartford, CT 06106
Hartford, Connecticut, 06106
United States

ERIC GALM

Associate Professor of Music at Trinity College, Hartford, CT

Associate Professor of Music, Founded of the Trinity Samba Ensemble and the Samba Fest, Co-director of the Center for Caribbean Studies, and music department chair at Trinity College. Prof. Galm will be speaking at TEDxTrinColl with his talk "Listening to cultural connections through Brazilian music"

JAMES JETER

An IDP student at Trinity College, Hartford, CT

An IDP student at Trinity College, a voting rights fellow at Quinnipiac, the TOW fellow at Yale prison education initiative, a co-director in the Full Citizens Coalition to Unlock the Vote, and the inaugural Propel Capital Justice fellow. James will be speaking at TEDxTrinColl with his talk "The Need for Social Grace: A Different Type of Revolution."

MARIA I. MELENDEZ

The founder & CEO of Embrace Her Legacy

The founder & CEO of Embrace Her Legacy,“ the OG Mentor”, social entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author of Take the Limits Off Your Legacy, producer, and women’s leadership advocate. Maria will be speaking at TEDxTrinColl with her talk "A Time To Heal."

MIKAEL CHUKWUMA OWUNNA

An award-winning queer Nigerian-Swedish artist and photographer

An award-winning queer Nigerian-Swedish artist and photographer, the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship (Taiwan - 2012), and the creator of the projects: I am Atayal!, Limit(less) and Infinite Essence. Mikael will be speaking at TEDxTrinColl on the 29th Feb with the talk "Reimagining Body".

SHAKIRA RAMOS CRESPO

Associate Director of Customer Experience at Pratt & Whitney

Associate Director of Customer Experience at Pratt & Whitney, Co-President and Trustee for Miss Porter’s School, the winner of the Professional Role Model Award 2007 for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Shakira will be speaking at TEDxTrinColl on the 29th Feb with the talk "Beyond the Street".

TOBIAS AAHLBERG

Philosophy IDP Student at Trinity College,Hartford, CT

Philosophy IDP Student at Trinity College, the Founder of the Philosophy Club at Trinity. Tobias has a special interest in minds and in ethics. His academic research deals with consciousness' place in the natural world. Tobias will be speaking at TEDxTrinColl with his talk "Commodification of animals: A cultural blindspot."