Meet the TED Fellows

The 500+ TED Fellows are making headlines in over 100 countries for their incredible work in all fields. This year's TED Fellows cohort represents 14 countries across five continents -- including, for the first time, Angola, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Each TED Fellow was selected for their remarkable achievements, the potential impact of their work and their commitment to community building.

Meet the 2022 TED Fellows

Adetayo Bamiduro

Motorcycle financing entrepreneur (Nigeria)

Cofounder of mobile delivery platform Metro Africa Xpress (MAX), which provides Africans access to clean vehicles and is improving on the current gig economy model. MAX seeks to build labor justice, provide sustainable living wages, and fight unemployment throughout Africa by enabling couriers to finance their own motorcycles, tuk-tuks, and cars.

Melaku Belay

Choreographer and dancer (Ethiopia)

Cultural ambassador bringing global attention to the dynamic traditions of Ethiopian dance and music, innovating Eskista dance through original choreography. Belay is the Director of the Fendika Cultural Center in Addis Ababa, a venue bringing people together through traditional and contemporary Ethiopian arts.

Albert Cahn

Anti-surveillance advocate (US)

Lawyer and technologist fighting the abuses of mass surveillance by state and local governments with the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP). STOP creates exemplary legislative changes in New York, such as making covid-tracing safe for all residents – including people who are undocumented, and stopping the use of facial recognition software in schools.

Jessie Christiansen

Planet hunter (Australia + US)

Researcher at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, working with vast amounts of sky survey data to find exoplanets and reveal new insights into the nature of the formation of planets.

Adjany Costa

Indigenous conservation champion (Angola)

Angolan ethno-conservationist working with the natives of the headwaters of the Okavango Delta to help provide them with legal and economic frameworks for protecting their land, one of the world’s last truly wild spaces, and which protects the waterways that serve millions downstream. Youngest minister in Angolan political history.

Ryan Gersava

Social innovator + educator (Philippines)

Founder of Virtualahan, an online vocational school providing inclusive training to people with disabilities, recovering addicts, and others who struggle to find employment, while simultaneously empowering companies to become inclusive employers.Virtualahan is increasing salaries and employment opportunities for its students across the Philippines.

Lam Ho

Legal aid activist (US + Vietnam)

Founder and director of Beyond Legal Aid, embedding pro-bono lawyers within communities to support strategic litigation, especially focused on empowering individuals who often have no means of recourse through the justice system. Beyond Legal Aid pushes the existing legal aid system by centering grassroots communities and dismantling traditional hierarchies in favor of bilateral relationships.

Clementine Jacoby

Criminal justice technology entrepreneur (US)

Tech-for-good engineer and entrepreneur making real-time data available to justice agencies across the country through her organization Recidiviz. Recidiviz makes complex and fragmented data usable, enabling leaders to take action and track the impacts of their decisions.

Bree Jones

Equitable housing developer (US)

Founder of PARITY, an equitable development company building social movements to revitalize neighborhoods experiencing hyper vacancy and abandonment due to structural racism. Jones is repositioning undervalued neighborhoods through a community ownership model and holistic support.

Channing Gerard Joseph

Author + queer culture historian (US + Germany)

Storyteller, journalist and historian illuminating the birth of gay liberation in 19th century Washington, DC through the life of William Dorsey Swann, an American former slave and the world’s first self-described drag queen.

Robert Katzschmann

Soft-bodied roboticist (Switzerland + Germany)

Roboticist exploring the deepest oceans and the undersea impacts of climate change using pliable-bodied robots. Katzschmann’s robots, which closely imitate nature, are able to traverse high-pressure systems and obstacles on the ocean floor, places previously unreachable with hard-bodied navigation tools.

Olga Kitaina

Psychologist + entrepreneur (Russia + US)

Psychologist improving the accessibility of mental healthcare in Russia, where the stigma against psychotherapy is deeply entrenched. Kitaina’s online platform, Alter, matches clients to a vetted network of therapists.

Heejae Lim

Education technology entrepreneur (Korea + UK + US)

Education technology pioneer and founder and CEO of TalkingPoints, a communication app helping millions of multilingual and underserved families create connections with their children’s teachers in their own languages, decreasing barriers to education, and helping students thrive.

Monica Malta

Human rights champion (Brazil + Canada)

Mental health researcher and human rights activist protecting Brazil's most marginalized people -- LGBTQ+, drug users, HIV-positive, survivors of gender violence. In addition to providing resources mitigating the impacts of violence, disease and addiction, Malta advocates for protection for these communities by scholarly research in service of policy change and legal protections.

Micaela Mantegna

Video game lawyer (Argentina)

Activist and video game evangelist pursuing scholarship in digital realities, especially the metaverse. Mantegna is authoring work on how to create equity and protect our rights in these emergent spaces, which are fast becoming civic spaces for engagement.

Yohanis Riek

Medical doctor + entrepreneur (South Sudan)

General resident surgeon at one of the major public hospitals in South Sudan, where 50% of the population lives below the poverty line, and there's the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Through his health care nonprofit Yo' Care South Sudan, Riek provides healthcare to supplement South Sudan's beleaguered system, where there is a severe shortage of trained medical personnel.

Enzo Romero

Bionic innovator (Peru)

Technological inventor and researcher building prosthetics incorporating custom attachments and haptic feedback, such as vibration and pressure sensations that enable a user to "feel" their new limb. LAT Bionics, Romero's company, offers their prosthetics at a price that's accessible.

Gautam Shah

Games conservationist (Kenya + US + India)

Founder of Internet of Elephants, a company that creates immersive digital experiences based on scientific data from real wildlife, in order to engage new audiences with conservation efforts around the globe.

Jawad Sharif

Documentary filmmaker (Pakistan)

Filmmaker reviving the suppressed cultural and indigenous identities of Pakistan through accessible documentary films. Sharif’s films chronicle the lives of forgotten traditional musicians, and the plight of climate and conflict refugees who are struggling within a highly restrictive government and political environment.

Wiatta Thomas

Agribusiness entrepreneur (Guinea + US + Liberia)

Agri-tech pioneer empowering young Guinean entrepreneurs through innovative social franchising ownership models in aquaponics, a low-cost, soilless farming technology. Thomas aims to decrease barriers to entry to markets and create local economic value for pan-African empowerment.