Theme: Culture of Possibilities

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).

Student Life Events Center @ San Francisco State University
1 North State Drive
San Francisco, California, 94132
United States

Ali Baluch

Producer at MTV

Ali Baluch is an LA-based award-winning film maker. He is currently a producer at MTV and hosts YouTube's #1 podcast - The Apartment With Asif and Baluch, that focuses on highlighting the voices of diverse content creators.

Breanne Butler

Co-Founder of Women's March & chef in New York City

Breanne is a chef in New York City, and the CEO of 'by Breanne', a fashion & food concept that specializes in candy jewelry. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Breanne received a scholarship to attend Macomb Culinary Institute during her senior year in high school, and graduated from the program at just 20 years old. She moved to New York City in 2011 and began working at the Michelin-starred Rouge Tomate, and became their Pastry Sous Chef 18 months later. She then became the Executive Pastry Chef at Facebook NY, becoming widely known in the company for her innovative and unique desserts. When Breanne isn’t in her kitchen, she loves to put stamps in her passport, traveling from South Africa to France to expand her food knowledge. She loves to advocate for women and diversity in the restaurant industry and has mentored many cooks throughout their careers. She has been able to use her strength and experience in organizing kitchens to help organize almost 400 marches around the world.

CJ Hendry

Art-World Cowboy

Gemma Busoni

Co-founder & COO of DiscoVR Labs

Gemma Busoni isn’t defying expectations; she’s crushing them. After finishing high school in three years, she is currently the co-founder and full-time head of operations for Discovr Labs, a creator of virtual reality (VR) learning experiences for K-12, colleges, and professional training schools. DiscoVR Labs was named one of the top 10 Virtual Reality companies by LAUNCH and has been featured in TechCrunch. As a female, Gemma stands out in the male-dominated world of software development, but she is further distinguished as an El Salvador-born Latina from downtown Los Angeles, where opportunities to be exposed to critical technological skills are almost nil. So, as a high school sophomore, she founded a nonprofit to get more coding training into underserved neighborhoods which has since merged with a national nonprofit, Hack Club.

Manish Chandra

Founder and CEO of Poshmark

Manish Chandra is the founder and CEO of Poshmark and drives the vision, strategy, and growth for the company. Under Manish’s leadership, the company has grown to become the largest social marketplace for fashion in the U.S. With Poshmark, Manish has applied his 20+ years experience building and scaling companies to build a new class of fashion marketplace where the deep connections between users fuels massive engagement and growth. Prior to Poshmark, Manish founded Kaboodle, the first social shopping company, which was acquired by Hearst Corporation in 2007. Before Kaboodle, he held executive positions at Versant (NASDAQ: VSNT), Versata (IPO 2000, acquired by Trilogy), and Sybase (IPO 1991, acquired by SAP). Manish received a BTech from IIT Kanpur, MS from UT Austin, and an MBA from Haas School of Business.

Michael Acton Smith OBE

Co-founder & CEO of Calm

Michael is the co-founder and co-CEO of Calm.com. The Calm app has been downloaded over 12 Million times and helps alleviate some of the most important mental health issues of the 21st century - stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia. Prior to Calm, Michael was the founder of Mind Candy and creator of Moshi Monsters, the online world for children that grew to 80 Million registered users and expanded offline into books, toys, games, magazines, music and movies. Michael is also the founder of Firebox.com, Ping Pong Fight Club and Berwickstock music festival.

Sudarshan Sridharan

Venture Capitalist at Peak 15 Ventures

Sudarshan Sridharan, 17, is a senior in high school in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Peak 15 Ventures - a Venture Capital fund based in Charlotte, NC currently closing a $50 million round. Sudarshan’s company, Global Analytics, is a cryptocurrency and Blockchain consulting and analytics firm attempting to change the way information about cryptocurrency is delivered and consumed. Sudarshan was profiled by CNN Money for investing in stocks in Summer 2016. Feel free to reach out to Sudarshan on Snapchat (Suds_S), Instagram (Sudarshan_Sridharan), and Twitter (@ItzSuds).

Susan Griffin-Black

Co-founder & Co-CEO of EO Products

Susan Griffin-Black was born to be her own boss. From her first endeavor at age eight selling lemonade to fund Beatles tickets to co-owning two successful clothing stores at age twenty-one, her driving sense of beauty and style was her guide. She followed her passion for design to San Francisco where she owned clothing stores that carried her own line of clothing and designed several lines for Esprit. It was on a trip to Europe that she first encountered essential oils in an apothecary shop and the love affair that would guide the next twenty years of her life began. She studied aromatherapy and the chemistry of perfumes and acquired her own collection of tiny glass bottles filled with flower and plant essences. When Bloomingdale’s asked her to make essential oil mixes for their holiday gift guide, Susan felt a dream had come true. Her dedication to Buddhism and its simple but elusive eightfold path has guided her decision-making in business as well as life.