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).

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
500 S Goodwin Ave
Urbana, Illinois, 61801
United States

TASC Special Ops

TASC Special Ops, one of the premiere Chinese Yo-Yo teams in the nation, is part of the Taiwanese American Student Club at UIUC. Special Ops is a performance team that focuses its performances on combining traditional and modern elements together to showcase the Chinese Yo-Yo as an art form of its own.

The Other Guys

Known for their impeccable musicality and unique brand of humor, The Other Guys are the University of Illinois’ premiere men’s a cappella group. Since their inception during the 1968-1969 school year, The Other Guys have evolved from an amusing diversion to a popular, high profile, international traveling group of goodwill ambassadors.

Aneysha Bhat

Co-innovator of TenseSense, Student in Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Aneysha Bhat is a Bioengineering student and co-innovator of TenseSense. She and her team of 4 bioengineers are developing a way to raise awareness about mental health and advance personalized medicine.

Angie Chang

Vice President at Hackbright Academy

Cecilia Suarez

Visiting Teaching Associate in the Department of Agricultural Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Cecilia “CC” Suarez is a San Antonio, Texas native and is proud to come from a family of strong women. She is an educator/warrior of all things just and has dedicated her life work to carving out equitable access to higher education for all, creating spaces for people of color narratives, and creating a greater understanding that in order to change communities and practices, you have to change the composition of the “soil” first

Daniel Brown

Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Daniel Brown is a former Illinois basketball All-American, the 2005 Sporting News National Player of the Year, and winner of the 2006 Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard. Brown is Illinois’ record holder in the NCAA Tournament for career points (179) and career field goals(64). He has played among many NBA teams as well as overseas in 8 different countries. Dee is now the Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics at the University of illinois.

Karen Tabb Dina

Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Karen Tabb Dina is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She conducts research in the area of race/ethnicity and health disparities. One topic of keen interest in her program of research is the health and well-being of multiracial or mixed race adults in the U.S.

Marcin Kleczynski

CEO of Malwarebytes

Marcin Kleczynski is the CEO of Malwarebytes, a cybersecurity company that he founded in Chicago and built into a multi-million dollar business while attending the University of Illinois.

Nishant Makhijani

Assistant Director of Advancement, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Nishant Makhijani, a native of Godhra, India, is an agent of social change who has combined his passion for meeting people, traveling and engineering in his career as a front-line fundraiser. As a professional fundraiser, Nishant travels around the country to meet alumni of his Alma Mater and tells stories to increase philanthropic support for the college and campus.

Patrick Slade

Co-founder of Psyonic, Student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Patrick is a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that develops advanced prosthetic hands for low-cost. He co-founded PSYONIC to get prostheses to patients around the globe and was named one of Forbes 30 under 30 in Healthcare this year.

Ruby Mendenhall

Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, African American Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, and Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ruby Mendenhall is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She holds joint faculty appointments in Sociology, African American Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, and Social Work. She is currently a Faculty Affiliate at the Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and the Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. She is the recipient of the Richard and Margaret Romano Professorial Scholar for outstanding achievements in research and leadership on campus.

Sakshi Srivastava

Graduate Student and Research Assistant in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Sakshi is a first year graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Illinois. She plans on sharing her journey through the uncharted, as an international student from a small city in India to her efforts towards erecting a woman engineer statue to promote women in engineering. As an undergraduate at Illinois, she received multiple leadership awards, including Knights of St. Patrick and Senior 100 Honorary.

Shraddha Shankar

Executive Education Chair in the National Alliance on Mental Illness: Illinois Chapter, Student in Statistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Shraddha is an undergraduate at Illinois studying Statistics and is an Executive Education Chair in the National Alliance on Mental Illness: Illinois Chapter. After enduring her own hardships, she hopes to empower and educate those who suffer from mental illness to help them meet their goals, regardless of the struggles they face. She is in part of creating a nationally utilized suicide prevention program required for all incoming freshman.