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).

Theater on the Square
901 Broadway
Tacoma, Washington, 98402
United States

CharityWater

MacLeod

Amy Young

Amy Young is a Bellevue, Washington native. After graduating from Bellevue High School in 1993, Amy attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Upon graduation, she worked in consultative sales for IBM. In 2001, Amy returned to school to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2007, she has been on the faculty at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington where she teaches courses in public relations, advertising, media, pop culture, and conflict and negotiation. She lives in Tacoma with her husband, Tim Duggan, their children, Calynn and Campbell, and their cat Bruce. Amy loves to run, dance and ski, mostly so she can eat great food and drink great wine.

Bradd Busick

Industry recognized IT leader in the design and delivery of cost-effective, high-performance technology solutions, Bradd is the Sr. Manager of Planning, Analysis & Program Management at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is responsible for facilitating business driven strategy for IT solutions through the integration of Project Management and Organizational Change Management. Bradd has been hired to create and implement enterprise Change Management methodology, framework and standards for municipalities, health care and aerospace.

Chip Huth

Charles “Chip” Huth is a Captain and watch commander with the Kansas City, Mo. Police Department. During his nearly quarter-century career, he has executed or supervised more than 2,500 high-risk tactical actions. He is past President of the National Law Enforcement Training Center, a non-profit organization in Kansas City, and an Army veteran. He is a widely known expert in police tactics and provides police training to agencies throughout the United States. Mr. Huth is a sought after speaker in law enforcement and corporate venues. In 2008, Mr. Huth became a licensed trainer of the Arbinger Institute’s programs within the Kansas City PD. Since 2010, he has been deployed to Arbinger’s clients as a master facilitator and senior consultant to help organizations and their leaders eliminate conflict and create high-trust, high-performance cultures. He is co-author of the book Unleashing the Power of Unconditional Respect – Transforming Law Enforcement and Police Training.

Chris von Lersner

Chris von Lersner is Interim Executive Director at Great Work, Inc., a non-profit corporation dedicated to dusting off Dr. Maria Montessori's scientific pedagogy and putting it back to work creating developmentally responsive, whole-lifespan learning environments that assist in the self-actualization of the individual. Chris received a BA in Elementary Education from the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, VA, in 1982. She jumped directly from her subsequent AMI Montessori Elementary training to a position as a collaborator in one of the early urban Montessori Secondary school experiments in the United States. Chris went on to serve as an itinerant middle school English teacher in Japan, direct an urban Upper Elementary class in Atlanta, work as an illustrator, adopt two children, and teach musical instrument building and graphic design at the middle school level before she accepted the position of Farm School Program Director at Compass Montessori in Golden, CO, in 2010.

Dean Burke

Dean Burke is the Executive Director for the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Commission and has worked in sports related fields his entire life. A Tacoma resident of 20 years and avid outdoorsman, Dean spends a great deal of time in and around the waters of Commencement Bay and the South Sound and has developed a strong passion for the how these waters foster an identity around Tacoma. “I don’t think people are entirely aware of how unique Tacoma’s moment is right now. We are such a young city and our post-mega-industrialization period is still shaping our future. Between the boarders of Canada and Mexico, there is not another opportunity like ours right now.” Beyond sports, Dean is active story teller with Tacoma’s own “The Drunken Telegraph” and enjoys initiatives that help build community. “I love this town. There is no place I’d rather be.”

Hannah Williams

Hannah Williams is an educator and artist from Seattle, WA. She has spent the past decade working on innovative educational solutions both in public middle schools, youth arts non- profits and as a new school developer. (And playing in indie rock bands.) While earning her Master's degree in School Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she researched and designed a new school model called Out of The Box Learning Studio for which she earned a Breakthrough Schools Model planning grant from Next Generation Learning Challenges. She is currently working on turning this model into a usable resource for others who want to re-imagine their school or classroom. Hannah's work centers around interest- powered" learning, "student-driven" education and breaking down the barriers between school and real life. Also, check out this important video for a visual synopsis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceuVHAKewyw


Karen Povey

By uniting her passions for wildlife, teaching and writing, Karen Povey has spent her career engaging people in conservation and fostering enthusiasm and empathy for nature. A zoologist and educator, Karen serves as Education Curator at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. She is also Executive Director of the non-profit Clouded Leopard Project, a conservation organization working to preserve the endangered clouded leopard and other wild cats of Southeast Asia. In addition, Karen teaches for Tacoma’s Science and Math Institute, located within Point Defiance Park. Despite the challenges facing the world’s wildlife, Karen finds her work invigorated through collaboration with the extensive network of zoo conservationists and field conservation partners who work tirelessly throughout the world to study wildlife, explore ecosystems, and teach communities about the value of nature.

Maria Chavez

I was born and raised in Northern California. My father’s family and my mother’s family, both from Mexico, emigrated to the U.S. during the Bracero guest worker program. I am the eldest of four children and the first person in my family to have graduated from college earning a B.A. (cum laude) and an M.A. from California State University, Chico. I earned my Ph.D. in political science from Washington State University under the supervision of Professor Nicholas P. Lovrich. I am currently an Associate Professor of Political Science at Pacific Lutheran University specializing in American government, public policy, and race and politics. I am the author of Everyday Injustice: Latino Professionals and Racism (Rowman and Littlefield, Inc. 2011) and co-author of a new book Living the Dream—New Immigration Policies and The Experiences of Undocumented Latino Youth.

Maria Oszova Johnson

Maria has been working in the non-profit sector for almost her entire career. She started out as an account manager for a healthcare services company and most recently, she spend almost eight years at Florida Hospital Foundation in Orlando. She joined as a fundraising associate, helping to develop the fundraising programs for several satellite campuses. She then spearheaded the establishment of a comprehensive fundraising program for the Institute of Translational Research and later stepped up to manage the fundraising program for the Walt Disney Pavilion, a 250-bed children’s hospital.



 At charity: water, Maria is responsible for managing The Well program, the membership program of 100 who fund the overhead cost of running the organization. She also leads the effort to engage and inspire faith communities to get involved in solving the water crisis. Maria loves connecting with people on a deep level and believes people are at their best when they give.


Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin is a 2001 United States Military Academy graduate commissioned into the Field Artillery. Between 2003-2005, Griff deployed four times to Iraq and Afghanistan with 2nd Ranger Battalion as a Company Fire Support Officer. He planned and participated in over 100 special operations direct action missions. After departing the military in 2006, Griff worked in the defense sector that eventually led him back to Afghanistan. After witnessing the positive effects of economic growth in conflict areas, Griff co-founded Combat Flip Flops with a fellow Ranger and began the mission to manufacture peace through trade.

Michael Quinlan

Michael Quinlan dropped out of Columbia University to “hitchhike the world,” including a year enthusiastically, but in hindsight not very knowledgeably, “teaching English” as a native speaker in Tokyo. Following a series of positions in computing and international trade, he founded Transparent Language, Inc. in 1990. For a time Transparent was best known for its machine translation technology and for freetranslation.com, but its heart was always in language learning. These days Transparent’s innovative products for language teaching and learning are licensed for use by all personnel of many US Government organizations, as well as numerous public libraries, universities, corporations and individuals. Transparent works closely with many of the federal government’s most rigorous language schools and programs, and pioneered Declaratively Accelerated Blended Learning in response to the US Government’s stated need to “train language in half the time.”

Olivia Andersen

Olivia Andersen is an 11 year-old honor student, top ranked junior tennis player and world changer.
 She is currently CEO of her Tennis Hit-a-Thon fundraising event to bring safe water sources to a village in Africa. Her partnership with the community organization Gig Harbor Gives and charity: water has given her a platform to raise awareness and bring a sense of urgency to the water crisis. She is determined that her youthful optimism and efforts will motivate others to join her in ending the inequality of this natural resource. http://vimeo.com/ghgs/myworld

Peter Chiarelli

General Peter Chiarelli, USA (Ret.) was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of ONE MIND in 2012. He is a retired General with almost 40 years of experience.
 As the 32nd Vice Chief of Staff in the Army, Chiarelli was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Army and its 1.1 million active and reserve soldiers. This included the oversight of many of the Army’s R&D programs, and the implementation of recommendations related to its behavioral health programs, specifically its Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention Program. As commander of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, Chiarelli coordinated the 
actions of all four military services and was responsible for the day-to-day combat operations of more than 147,000 U.S. and Coalition troops. He was also the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates from March 2007 to August 2008. He retired from the Army in 2012.