Theme: Change

TEDxDeerfield will feature nine speakers with topics ranging from Hurricane Tracking to Human Rights. Join us on the Deerfield Academy Campus for talks, photo and studio art exhibitions, a hands on makerspace workshop, and light refreshments.

Elizabeth Wachsmann Concert Hall
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield, Massachusetts, 01342
United States

Fernanda Ponce

Latina, Hispanic, and Mexican American.

Fernanda was born and raised in Chicago, IL by Mexican immigrant parents, and grew up constantly surrounded by the large and diverse Hispanic and Latino community. Fernanda proudly identifies as a part of this community as a Latina, Hispanic, and Mexican American.

Holt Thrasher

Habitat Conservation Investor

Holt Thrasher is a former investment banker now focused on innovative, large scale habitat conservation and sustainable development projects. He recently was CEO of Permian Global, an investment fund that developed the largest forest-based, carbon-offset project in the world (The Katingan Project - Kalimatan, Indonesia). Holt serves as Trustee & Treasurer of the US National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation supporting NOAA’s 600,000 square miles of marine protected areas. He also is a member of CERES’s President’s Council, a leading network of investors, companies and public interest groups committed to the use of sustainable business practices. He is Chairman Emeritus of the National Audubon Society and has a B.A. from Colby College and an M.B.A. from IMD based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Joshua Fang

Jazz Pianist

As a seasoned classical and jazz pianist, Josh draws from his musical experiences to provide compelling takeaways. He enjoys spending time on entrepreneurial activities and projects in social innovation.

Kishor Bharadwaj

Student of Cultural Competency

Kishor Bharadwaj was born in Sante Fe but calls Lexington, Massachusetts home. Being the first generation American of his family from India, Kishor has been able to immerse himself in both the American and Indian culture. By spreading awareness about problems outside America, Kishor feels he is participating in the quest to ameliorate both his familial and homeland cultures, by creating a more culturally competent and solution driven society.

Lilia Brooker

Palestinian Humanist

Lilia Brooker's interests include travel, tennis, music, theatre, and world affairs. She identifies as half-Palestinian and has volunteered at a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan where she worked with children and taught art to mentally and physically disabled people in the community.

Mark Beaubien

Remote Sensing Engineer

Mark Beaubien is an engineer-entrepreneur developing high technology environmental sensors aimed at measuring global climate change, acid rain, ozone depletion and hurricanes. Scientific-quality data is necessary to drive estimates of climate change, and lead to optimal energy and pollution regulatory policies.

Mark Ott

Hemingway Scholar and English Teacher

Mark Ott is the author of A Sea of Change: Ernest Hemingway and the Gulf Stream, A Contextual Biography, co-editor of Ernest Hemingway and the Geography of Memory: New Perspectives and Hemingway in Italy: Twenty-First Century Perspectives. He is also the editor of the “Teaching Ernest Hemingway” series for Kent State University Press, and was the co-director of the XVI Biennial Ernest Hemingway Society Conference in Venice in 2014.

Neil Nie

Artificial Intelligence Enthusiast

Neil Nie is a computer science student at Deerfield Academy. He started programming when he was 13 and has developed many applications for iPhones and Macs. Neil currently has several apps on the App Store and is researching neural networks and machine learning.

Sarah Jane O'Connor

American Student

Sarah Jane O'Connor is the oldest daughter in a family of six kids and an avid runner. Her interest in international affairs and politics stems from participating in Model United Nations, writing for the Deerfield Academy Scroll, and taking a variety of thought-provoking history classes throughout her high school career.