Sydney Jensen wants to shine a light on the emotional and mental impact of teaching students who have experienced trauma.

Lucianne Walkowicz works on NASA's Kepler mission, studying starspots and "the tempestuous tantrums of stellar flares."

Malika Whitley is an arts curator and activist in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dolly Chugh is a social scientist of who studies the psychology of good people.

A part of the Bangalore-based artist duo Pors & Rao, TED Senior Fellow Aparna Rao works with electro-mechanical systems and interactive installations.

As a Philadelphia high school principal, Linda Cliatt-Wayman held an unwavering belief in the potential of all children.

As New York’s chief city planner under the Bloomberg administration, Amanda Burden led revitalization of some of the city's most familiar features -- from the High Line to the Brooklyn waterfront.

Art historian and critic Sarah Lewis celebrates creativity and shows how it can lead us through fear and failure to ultimate success.

Thandiswa Mazwai is one of the most influential South African musicians of this generation.

At TED2014, we asked speakers and attendees to riff off the conference's theme ("The Next Chapter") and tell us what might radically change society, life, technology and so on in the next 30 years. From funny and wry to deeply insightful, the answers will surprise you. "One of the things about learning how to read -- we have been doing a lot ...

Kristina Gjerde is an expert on the law of the high seas -- the vast areas of the sea and seabed that exist beyond any national jurisdiction. These places belong to the world; Gjerde's work helps the world work together to protect them.

Tamara Roukaerts is head of marketing at Aurasma, working to build an augmented-reality lens via smartphones.

While searching for ways to study stellar radiation without relying on sight, Wanda Diaz Merced has developed a way to represent complex data about our universe as sound.

Priscilla Pemu is a medical doctor who specializes in the care of adults with complex medical problems, focusing on the in-patient.

With her legendary spirit and unstoppable serve, tennis legend Serena Williams has become one of the world’s most enduring athletic superstars.

Helen Walters is the head of curation at TED, where she has the privilege of overseeing the work of an absurdly talented group of specialist curators and deep thinkers to bring the very sharpest minds and ideas to the TED stage.

An award-winning satirist, Venezuelan cartoonist Rayma Suprani's life's work is speaking truth to power -- even when being outspoken comes at a steep price.

Sarah Rugheimer looks for signs of life on other planets by studying the telltale chemical signatures on distant planets.

Karina Galperin studies the culture, language and literature of early modern Iberia.

Jenna McCarthy writes about relationships, marriage and parenting.

Diane Wolk-Rogers has been a Florida public school teacher for more than three decades.

Nadia Lopez is the founding principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy, where she is showing the world how underprivileged communities can beat the odds and create positive institutions that have a global impact.

A TEDGlobal Fellow, Catarina Mota plays with "smart materials" -- like shape-memory alloys and piezoelectric structures that react to voltage -- and encourages others to do so too.

Shabana Basij-Rasikh helps girls and young women in Afghanistan get an education.

Vernā Myers is dedicated to promoting meaningful, lasting diversity in the workplace.

Danielle R. Moss is chief executive officer of Oliver Scholars, helping it prepare high-potential Black and Latinx students from underserved New York City communities for success.

Camille A. Brown leads her dance company through excavations of ancestral stories, both timeless and traditional, that connect history with contemporary culture.

Chloé Valdary developed "The Theory of Enchantment," a social emotional learning (SEL) program that helps educators transform their students' lives.

Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Sunni Patterson combines the heritage, culture, and traditions of her native town with a spiritual worldview to create powerful music and poetry.

As an AI researcher and specialist on digital assets, Jennifer Zhu Scott has her finger on the pulse of technologies that are poised to change our economies and our lives.