Meet the TED Fellows

The 390+ TED Fellows are making headlines in over 80 countries for their incredible work in all fields. They are building companies, sequencing rare diseases, exploring the stars, making music, saving lives, mapping political violence, and much much more. Here, you can connect with TED Fellows all over the world.

See the full TED Fellows Network

Meet the TED2016 Fellows!

Nicole Amarteifio (Ghana + USA)

TV director / producer

Ghanaian-American creator, writer, and director of ‘An African City,’ a hit web series that follows five successful women from Ghana navigating 21st century life in Accra.

Samuel ‘Blitz the Ambassador’ Bazawule (Ghana)

Musician + filmmaker

Ghanaian artist using music and film to explore magical realism and how it influences modern African identity and aesthetic, globally.

Sanford Biggers (USA)

Interdisciplinary artist

Visual artist creating multimedia and musical performances which upend traditional narratives about far-ranging topics from hip hop to Buddhism to American history.

Prosanta Chakrabarty (USA)

Ichthyologist

Evolutionary biologist and natural historian researching and discovering fish around the world in an effort to to understand fundamental aspects of biological diversity.

Keolu Fox (USA)

Geneticist + Indigenous rights activist

Hawaiian geneticist exploring the links between human genetic variation and disease in underrepresented populations with the goal of eliminating health disparities.

Kiana Hayeri (Iran + Canada)

Photographer

Iranian-Canadian photographer exploring complex topics such as youth culture, migration and sexuality in Iran and Afghanistan, highlighting an often hidden side of life in the Middle East.

Laura Indolfi (Italy + USA)

Biomedical entrepreneur

Biomedical innovator revolutionizing cancer treatments with new technologies – including implantable devices for delivering drugs locally at the tumor’s site.

Bektour Iskender (Kyrgyzstan)

Independent news publisher

Co-founder of Kloop Media, an NGO and leading news publication in Kyrgyzstan, committed to freedom of speech and training young journalists to cover politics and culture.

Mitchell Jackson (USA)

Writer + filmmaker

Writer exploring black masculinity, the criminal justice system and family relationships in fiction, essays and documentary film. He published his debut novel The Residue Years in 2013 to critical acclaim.

Jessica Ladd (USA)

Sexual health technologist

Founder and CEO of Sexual Health Innovations, a nonprofit dedicated to creating technology to advance sexual health in the U.S. Her most recent initiative, Callisto, provides a platform for college students to confidentially report sexual assault.

Majala Mlagui (Kenya)

Gemologist + mining entrepreneur

Kenyan founder of Thamani Gems, which works with artisanal and small-scale gemstone miners in East Africa to create sustainable livelihoods through responsible mining, ethical sourcing and access to fair trade markets.

Hélène Morlon (France)

Biodiversity mathematician

French researcher using mathematics and computer codes to understand the history of life and evolution on our planet and examine the factors that affect rates of speciation, extinction, and trait evolution.

Amanda Nguyen (USA)

Policymaker

Founder and president of Rise, a national nonprofit working with multiple state legislatures and the U.S. Congress to implement a Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights.

Carrie Nugent (USA)

Asteroid hunter

Astronomer using NASA’s NEOWISE spacecraft to discover and study near-Earth asteroids, our smallest and most numerous cosmic neighbors.

Nikhil Pahwa (India)

Digital Rights advocate

Indian journalist and free speech and digital rights advocate, who co-founded the SavetheInternet.in coalition, which galvanized support of over a million Indian citizens for net neutrality.

Andrew Pelling (Canada)

Scientist + biohacker

Canadian scientist disrupting traditional approaches by using low-cost, open source materials – like apples and LEGOs – for next generation medical innovations.

Madeline Sayet (USA)

Theater director + playwright

Director and playwright who explores cultural intersections through original theater productions – from Shakespeare reinterpretations to absurdist comedy – in an effort to highlight indigenous perspectives.

Sam Stranks (UK + Australia)

Solar energy researcher

Experimental physicist pioneering discoveries in the field of low-cost, efficient solar cells made from a revolutionary material called hybrid perovskites.

Trevor Timm (USA)

Free speech advocate

Co-founder and executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports and defends journalism dedicated to transparency and accountability.

Michael Twitty (USA)

Culinary historian

Culinary historian, blogger and chef who uses food to ignite a conversation about cultural appropriation, African identity and American racial history.

Vanessa Wood (Switzerland + USA)

Electrical engineer

Electrical engineer using nanomaterials to revolutionize energy systems – from solar cells to batteries.