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).

Slocum Auditorium
146 College P
Syracuse, New York, 13210
United States

Ashley Kang

Ashley Kang serves as director of a community newspaper that shines a light on the people and grassroots efforts working toward positive change in the neighborhood. The stories are written by university journalism students at the undergraduate and graduate level, urban city school students and local residents.

Bikash Regmi

Bikash was born in Bhutan; however, his family was forced to leave his birthplace when he was age 7. He then spent almost 17 years in a refugee camp in Nepal. His early life was defined by statelessness, the act of being denied citizenship. In his refugee camp, he witnessed the deaths of many people including children as a result of bad sanitation, the lack of nutritious food, and poor health care. These experiences and untold miseries toughened his drive and inspired him to pursue a career in the health field allowing him to provide care and compassion to needy and less fortunate people. He resettled in Syracuse, NY in Sep 2009. It was here that his journey to achieve his dream of serving others began. Currently he is a nurse practitioner student at SUNY Poly and works as a registered nurse. He has been involved in organizing charitable events including a breast cancer awareness program and he has hosted a blood drive for fellow refugees. He serves on the advisory board for the Munson Williams Proctor Museum. He is also the student representative for the SUNY Poly Nursing Curriculum Committee. He received the Clinical Excellency Award and Student Star for On Point. He is a member of Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing. He is also selected to receive the 2017 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.

Colby Sutter

Colby Sutter is a best- selling author of the book Freedom Clause: 14 Amendments to Freedom, an minister, and the founder and director of 7Miles Inc., a nonprofit organization that inspires life changing freedom through hope. Colby has created and executed drug prevention programs in schools, including individual case management and mentoring, has developed and taught classes on finding individual freedom and purpose and has conducted multiple staff trainings and seminars for community organizations. Colby is also the founder and CEO of Redbeard Coffee Roasters, a coffee company that gives back to its local community. He resides in Syracuse, NY with his lovely wife

Gus Naughton

Gus Naughton, from the Poconos in Pennsylvania, started working as a software developer and systems engineer when he was 14 with his first job taking place over the internet. At the age of 16 and 17, he attended summer quarter computer science classes at University of Washington-Seattle, living independently and working in the thriving tech industry on the West Coast. With the mentors he met along the way, he graduated high school with 4 years of professional experience, his own internet consulting business, placed 3rd in NYU's international cybersecurity competition for high school students, and completed half of his student pilot flight training. In his first and only semester of college when he was 18, he secured an internship as a systems engineer at Saab Sensis and a full-time position as a software engineer at GE Digital which he accepted and subsequently dropped out of college. Gus's mission is to encourage young adults to be passionate about their field, to love working hard, and to set higher goals than simply getting a job, rather, to be at the top of their field and make a tangible difference in the world.

Lakshmi Sundar

Marketer

Meet Lakshmi Sundar, an incredibly curious daughter, wife, mother, citizen of the world who has an insatiable appetite for new experiences. A strategist and marketer by profession, a traveler and adventurer by passion, a storyteller in her Zen state, and most of all someone who is at her blissful best around the topic of food! Lakshmi’s motto in life is to jump into situations she knows little about and navigate her way to incredible experiences, beautiful relationships and positive outcomes.

Vasilios Lambos

Vasilios is a philosophical thinker and passionate speaker. He loves to research and pursue ideas that help improve people’s lives. As an industrial and interaction designer he utilizes design thinking to tackle both professional and personal problems. Vasilios is a man of culture who’s passionate about ethnography and understanding how products and interfaces affect our behavior. Having been apart of many design projects that involve prototyping, testing, and iteration his idea of failure is always embraced with positivity and new learnings. Vasilios hopes to inspire others to “cross-index” their interests and use creativity to solve even the most complex problems our society will experience today.