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).

South Ballroom
229 Lincoln Way
Second Floor
Ames, Iowa, 50014
United States

Aiyna Nazieha

Undergraduate Student

Aiyna Nazieha is currently an undergraduate student at Iowa State University majoring in Finance and Management Information System. She is from Malaysia and has been living in the United States for almost 4 years. An avid solo traveler and a crazy cat lover, Aiyna believes that each one of us has their own hidden superpower that can be used to break free from their insecurities. Her goal is to inspire people to step out from their comfort zone/ discover their hidden talent and to help them to become a confident full-time goal digger.

Bilawal Khoso

Graduate Student

Bilawal Khoso, also known as BK, is MFA Graphic Design student at Iowa State University. He has an extensive 4+ years of working experience in and out of U.S. He feels strongly about Social design and aims to make an impact by delivering powerful ideas into dynamic designs that inspire to change for good. He is an outspoken individual who has actively voiced out on sensitive issues within communities and dreams of an all-inclusive society without any discrimination due to sexual orientation, religion, race, gender or ethnicity. He has worked actively along with Design Chair to make the experience of students on campus more inclusive of minorities and International students. His speaker session on TEDx will be based on his thesis project called GET. Get is a project that aims to counter the racist and stereotypical narrative about communities that often find themselves at the receiving ends of negative propaganda.

Crystal Stone

Graduate Student

Poet, instructor, Teach for America alumni and Iowa State University MFA student Crystal Stone workshops, writes, and educates others about poetry in her college classroom and as one of the leaders of the Nevada Middle School creative writing club. She has been published in various international journals and recently started a collaborative art-poetry social media project with her younger sister called Stone Flowering (@stone.flowering). She’s committed to harnessing poetry for social good and expanding poetry’s audience everywhere she can.

Jedidiah Yueh

Bestselling author of Disrupt or Die: What the World Needs to Learn from Silicon Valley to Survive the Digital Era, Yueh spent decades decoding innovation, collecting the frameworks that drive the most successful entrepreneurs in technology. He invented software products that drive more than $4 billion in sales. As founder and executive chairman of Delphix, he helps industry giants from Apple to Walmart drive innovation. Previously, he was the founding CEO of Avamar (acquired by EMC for $165 million). In 2013, he was named CEO of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times.

Jedidiah Yuehz

CEO + Author

Bestselling author of Disrupt or Die: What the World Needs to Learn from Silicon Valley to Survive the Digital Era. Yueh has spent decades decoding innovation, collecting the frameworks that drive the most successful entrepreneurs in technology. He has personally invented software products that have driven more than $4 billion in sales. As founder and executive chairman of Delphix, he helps industry giants from Apple to Walmart drive innovation. Previously, he was the founding CEO of Avamar (acquired by EMC for $165 million). In 2013, he was named CEO of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times.

Justin Roberson

Graduate Student

A recent board member for a prominent, historically African American, international non-profit, Justin Juliuuas Roberson has spent the last 5 years working with colleges/universities to improve the way higher education happens. He was a highly regarded student leader as a first generation college student, an innovative and lifesaving practitioner, and is now an emerging scholar in the field of Higher Ed. Armed with his purpose in to empower and uplift his community; Justin intends to pursue his PhD in Higher Education Administration to continue challenge college/universities and their affiliates to become a more inclusive space that develops leaders for tomorrow.

Rick Cruse

Professor

Rick Cruse, Professor in the Agronomy Department at Iowa State University and Director of the Iowa Water Center, has a deep appreciation for a resilient outdoor world that energizes his soils research and graduate teaching activities. He spends as much time as he can fishing and hunting, and connecting others to these activities. His research program involves field work and modeling research in soil erosion and soil management while he maintains international cooperative research projects in Spain and China. Cruse served as President for the National Institutes for Water Resources from 2015 – 2016. Selected career highlights include authoring or co-authoring of 104 peer reviewed publications and 15 book chapters, giving 25 invited international presentations and 6 keynotes.

Vanessa McNeal

National Speaker

Vanessa McNeal, MSW is a tenacious and thought provoking national speaker and award winning film producer. She is the founder of McNeal Media which seeks to create social change through the art of story telling. She is an Iowa State alum, and received her master's degree at the University of Northern Iowa.