Theme: PERCEPTION

How do you know what you think you know? How does perception shape what you think you’re capable of, how you should interact with others, even how to change the world? On Tuesday, February 7, twelve innovative speakers will arrive on the Bellevue College campus for its first TEDx event at the Carlson Theater, with talks inspired by the word ‘perception.’ Topics range from the importance of silence in healing communities, why it’s never too late to quit a successful career in corporate America to start a rock band, and how an understanding of neurodiversity can help develop the unique potential of each member in their organization.

The diverse range of speakers are going to offer a fresh perspective and spark conversations about what we perceive, how we perceive, and what we can do to shift or broaden our perspectives to be more inclusive, engaged, and successful.

TEDxBellevueCollege will be held on the campus of Bellevue College at Carlson Theatre from 1pm -5pm. A reception will immediately follow.

Bellevue College
Carlson Theatre
3000 Landerholm circle
Bellevue, Washington, 98007
United States

Dr. Nancy Gonlin

Professor of Anthropology

Gonlin is co-editor of Commoner Ritual and Ideology in Ancient Mesoamerica, Ancient Households of the Americas, and Human Adaptation in Ancient Mesoamerica. She is also co-author of Copán: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Maya Kingdom. Gonlin is a registered professional archaeologist, and a former Dumbarton Oaks Fellow of Harvard University. Her specialization is the Classic Maya (CE 250-900) civilization of Mexico and Central America.

Fernando Pérez

Assistant Professor of Writing at Bellevue College

A Mexican-American poet from Los Angeles and Assistant Professor of Writing at Bellevue College. His poetry has appeared in several journals, including The Suburban Review, Hinchas de Poesía, Crab Orchard Review, and The Volta. His manuscript of poetry was recently selected as a finalist for both the Andrés Móntoya Poetry Prize and the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award. His first collection of poems is forthcoming from The University of New Mexico Press in the fall of 2017.

Jamie Osborne

IT Manager Bellevue College and Author of Will Your Way Back (Jan. 31, 2017)

Before June 2007 exercise and fitness was a central part of Jamie Osborne’s life. A place of refuge, solace, camaraderie and hard work. Catastrophically, Jamie sustained a sports-related injury that rendered him permanently disabled. His professional career as an information technology leader derailed. His participation as a recreational enthusiast was brought to an involuntary halt. Years after the accident, his body continually betrays him, and he faces daily residual deficits from this “unimaginable injury”. Jamie remains undaunted and harnessed all of his faculties to battle this condition and in the process regained many aspects of the functions he lost. Today, he can live independently, with minimal assistance or accommodation. His book Will Your Way Back released in 2017.

Jane Wong

Visiting Assistant Professor, Pacific Lutheran University

Jane Wong is a former U.S. Fulbright Fellow and Kundiman Fellow. The recipient of The American Poetry Review’s 2016 Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize, her poems have appeared in journals such as Pleiades, The Volta, Third Coast, and the anthologies Best American Poetry 2015 (Scribner), Best New Poets 2012 (The University of Virginia Press) and The Arcadia Project: North American Postmodern Pastoral (Ahsahta Press). Her chapbooks include Dendrochronology (dancing girl press), Kudzu Does Not Stop (Organic Weapon Arts), and Impossible Map (Fact-Simile). She is the author of OVERPOUR (Action Books). Currently, she is a visiting assistant professor at Pacific Lutheran University.

Jenni Flinders

Creator, People for Innovation, Founder of le Pont vers la Vie Académie and the Ellie Rose Foundation, Board Member of Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue

A global business warrior, conquering the IT industry for nearly three decades, recognized consecutively as “Top 50 most influential” and “ Top 100 most powerful” women in the channels, partners with clients to increase their reach in the market and helps put strategic planning into practice. Flinders recently created People for Innovation, a Personal Presentation & Business Etiquette program, teaching corporate newbies the important things their college curriculum and on-boarding programs left out. She is the founder of le Pont vers la Vie Académie, a modern day finishing school for youth, and the Ellie Rose Foundation, focused on performance, placement, and prosperity for both beneficiaries, and partners.

Kyle Grant Wilson

Indigenous Rhetoric Coordinator Arizona State University

Kyle Grant Wilson is Diné (Navajo) from Fort Defiance, Arizona, and is the Indigenous Rhetoric Coordinator in the Department of English at Arizona State University. He also is affiliated faculty in American Indian Studies, and honors faculty in The Barrett Honors College. He started and directs Project Communal Effort at ASU, a student-run group that organizes fundraisers to benefit local indigenous families facing disparities. He publishes poetry centralized on the themes of “Indigenous Identities” and “Decolonization”. His poems have been published in Rattle, Arizona Highways, Arizona Republic, Red Ink and more.

Micki O’Brien

Founder, Aligned Education

Micki O’Brien, M.A., is a trainer, consultant, author and finder of greatness. Experienced in a wide array of educational modalities, she works with students labeled as challenging and difficult. A neurodiverse individual herself, she strives to recognize and build on the greatness of the diversity of unique perceptions. Micki believes, “Each of us is a unique, individual person with unique, individual gifts. Our schools and other institutions have the opportunity to support the development of these unique gifts. Instead of individuals attempting to fit into the boxes that have been created, at this point in human evolution, we have the opportunity to create and expand our organizations so that we celebrate and build upon the brilliance of this powerful diversity.”

Norman Alston

President at The eMode Learning Foundation

Norman Alston grew up in Seattle, the son of a Pentecostal minister. His early education mirrored his home life; he was afraid of his teachers and was labeled as slow and unable to learn mathematics. In high school, he became estranged from his family and, at times, was homeless and living in his car. In spite of all this he possessed the grit and persistence to couch surf his way through Howard University and become a mathematics teacher. Because of these early experiences he set out to find a way to make math a fun and engaging experience for kids in his community. Since 1995, Alston has taught math to thousands of children in the Seattle area. He founded Zeno Math and eMode Learning Foundation to bring math enrichment programs to under-served youth. His dream is to see a mathematical renaissance in the United States.

Paula Boggs

Philanthropist, Lawyer and Musician

Paula Boggs is one of our nation’s first women to receive an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. Paula was appointed by President Obama to the President’s Committee for the Arts and the Humanities and White House Council for Community Solutions. She has served twenty-plus years in the American Bar Association’s (ABA) House of Delegates, and is now also on its Board of Governors. After serving 18 years as a Johns Hopkins University Trustee, Boggs is now a Trustee Emerita.

Tammi Doyle

Chair of the Theatre Arts Department of Drama and Dance at Bellevue College

Tammi Doyle has directed over 45 plays and musicals in her career, working professionally in San Francisco and Seattle. Her original plays and musicals have been produced in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco. She co-founded the Music Theatre Workshop and The Seattle PlayHouse for Young Performing Artists. She is active with the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.