Topeka
x = independently organized TED event

This event occurred on
November 9, 2017
Topeka, Kansas
United States

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).

3028 SW 8th Avenue
Topeka, Kansas, 66606
United States
Event type:
Standard (What is this?)
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Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check event website for more information.

Annette Hope Billings

Author + Actress
Annette Hope Billings is an award winning author and actress. Theater and writing have been active elements in her life since elementary school. She lists the longevity of her experience as "half a decade." Her theater experience includes diverse roles. A number of those roles were in community theater productions --garnering her Topeka Civic Theatre's (TCTA) Renna Hunter Award. She has also guest-directed three plays for TCTA. After a four decade long career as a registered nurse, Billings took an early retirement in 2015 to pursue her dream of writing full time.In the ensuing 2 years, she has published two books of poetry with a third scheduled for release by Spartan Press this Fall. She is known for her engaging oral delivery of poetry and has been dubbed "Maya of the Midwest" by audiences. Her first book, "A Net Full of Hope," was the recipient of Topeka's ARTSConnect ARTY Award for Literature in 2015.

Brian Thomas

Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Brian C. Thomas is a Professor at Washburn University, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Dr. Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of the Pacific in 1999 and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Kansas in 2005. Since 2003, Dr. Thomas’s research has focused on how events in the cosmos affect life on Earth, resulting in over two dozen peer-reviewed publications and two major research grants from the Exobiology program at NASA. This multi-disciplinary work involves collaboration across a wide range of fields including astrophysics, atmospheric science, geology, paleontology, and biology. Along with researchers across the country and overseas, Dr. Thomas has done much of the pioneering work in understanding how explosions of massive stars in our Galaxy may have impacted life on Earth in the past and potentially in the future. Brian is a native of central California, and has lived in Kansas since 1999; he is happy to call Topeka home, and

Jancy Pettit

Energy Artist
Energy artist Jancy Pettit was introduced in midlife to a meditative martial arts form call Qigong which transformed her approach to artmaking. She harnesses the energy from the Qigong movement and directs it into her art. This universal energy, called “chi,” moves her body in a spontaneous, free-flowing way to create images with no preplanning or preconceived ideas. The resulting mixed media pieces are nonfigurative, colorful and playful. They invoke feelings of peace, vitality and well-being in both the viewer and the spaces they inhabit. Jancy presents “Spirit of Art” retreats at which attendees experience this meditative movement process for themselves and experiment with a variety of media in a peaceful setting. Nurturing creativity, creating spiritual flow and enjoying artmaking processes are all part of the retreat experience. To give her energy work a broader platform, Jancy recently published an adult coloring book titled, “Soul Expressions: Coloring for Transformation.”

Karl Fundenberger

Director of Bicycle Operations
Karl Fundenberger grew up in Topeka and got tired of complaining about it, so he got involved and started making change. He still has a lot to learn. He lives near Washburn and works for Topeka Metro, managing the city's bikeshare program.

Marie Myers

School Counselor
Marie Myers is a school counselor whose work involves advocating for the needs of children in school systems as well as promoting personal and social health of youth. Working as a school counselor at Farley Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, Myers works with administration, staff, students, and families to ensure students become well-adjusted and productive adults in their future. The understanding of child development and learning is essential in providing student support in the areas of career development, academic achievement, and personal and social health. Through counseling services, Myers works to promote social and personal health of students, understanding that a child cannot be expected to perform academically if there are holes in other aspects of their lives. Experiences working with children have caused Myers to gain curiosity and do research in the development of children considering the effects of the world in which they grow up.

Marilyn Mendenhall Waugh

Adoption Concerns advocate
Marilyn Mendenhall Waugh, MA is a reunited birth mother, Director of Adoption Concerns Triangle of Topeka, past American Adoption Congress (AAC) President and current AAC-KS State Representative. She volunteers on the Spokeo Search Angel Committee, is a AAC Presidential award winner, serves on the Missouri Birth Parent Communication Task Force, presents frequently at conferences on adoption search and reunion issues and is a Search Angel who, for the past 23 years, has reunited hundreds of family members separated by adoption.

Mary J. Martell

Healthcare Researcher + Culture Builder
I have been involved in health care for much of my career; for the past 14 years as the Director of Research Services for Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, KS. As the Chairperson for the Stormont Vail Health Cultural Ambassadors, I am empowered along with a group of 16 organizational professionals in the evaluation, cultivation and strategy of organizational culture. Over the past three years, we have researched, developed and implemented many programs and movements based on literature and evidence, and resulting from good old-fashioned creative group thinking. As we have evolved, we’ve created an ethos from the “art” of building culture, culminating in the practice of focusing on a series of “Words of the Moment” as instruments to fearlessly dive into the applicability and potency of simple guiding words.

Sharon Sullivan

Professor + Women's Advocate
Dr. Sharon L. Sullivan has degrees from Smith College, Washington University and the University of Kansas. She is a Professor at Washburn University. Her research and activism focus on violence against women, including sexual and domestic violence, human trafficking, and rape as a weapon of war. Sharon is cofounder and director of STARS (Stop Trafficking and Reject Slavery), immediate past president of the Advisory Board for the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice, and Kansas Bureau Chief for the International Public Policy Institute. She is also an active volunteer for the Topeka YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment. Sharon co-facilitates a creative writing group for incarcerated women at Topeka Correctional Facility (TCF), the only women’s prison in Kansas. In 2014, 2015, and 2016 Sharon gave presentations about Human Trafficking at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She currently co-chairs the Topeka Shawnee County Human Trafficking Coalition.

Organizing team

Nathan
Morris

Organizer