Theme: Lighting The Future

TEDxSantaClaraUniversity aims to bring a TED-like experience to our Jesuit institution that is devoted to educating citizens and leaders of competence, conscience, and compassion to build a more just, humane, and sustainable world. We hope to provide students with a forum for fostering curiosity, excitement, and conversations that matter.

SCU MUSIC RECITAL HALL
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, California, 95053
United States

Chris Murphy

President, Santa Cruz Warriors

Chris Murphy is currently in his third season as President of the Santa Cruz Warriors, the NBA G League affiliate of the Santa Cruz Warriors. Murphy oversees all day-to-day aspects of the franchise's business operations. In 2016-17, the Santa Cruz Warriors set franchise records for single-game attendance (17,497 at Oracle Arena, fourth-largest in league history) and overall season attendance. Under Murphy's leadership, the Warriors have continued their ongoing sellout streak at Kaiser Permanente Arena, which stood at 31 games entering the 2017-18 seasons. He also helped Santa Cruz increase the team’s corporate sponsorships 15 percent over the previous season and championed the team’s ongoing commitment to Santa Cruz by participating in dozens of local community events. He also serves on the NBA G League’s Team Leadership Council, where he collaborates with other team leaders to foster the NBA G League’s growth in all business areas and matters.

Genevieve Conaty

VP of Product & Design, Indiegogo

Genevieve Conaty leads the product & design teams at Indiegogo, a launchpad for entrepreneurial ideas. Prior to joining Indiegogo in 2012, she designed products & services for many other companies, including Facebook, Skype, Motorola, Vodafone, LexisNexis, and Intuit. Her mission is to improve people’s day-to-day lives through creative applications of design & technology.

Jennifer Miranti

Student

Hi, my name is Jen! I am a freshman mechanical engineering and aerospace student here at Santa Clara University. I was born and raised in SoCal right outside of LA, but am glad to be here in NorCal. Outside of engineering I love to sing and play piano/guitar. I am super excited to be a part of the TEDx team! #SlotsNotSloths

Khaled Abdel Rahman

Product Manager, Google

I'm currently a Product Manager at Google, responsible for growing and running large-scale teams, taking projects from concept to completion. My main area of expertise is Game Development, I have a degree of CS with specialization in Games from USC, where I worked on my own game for my thesis project, Bloom. Over the course of a year and a half, I Directed a team of 60+ individuals to build the title, Bloom grew from my personal prototype to a large-scale AAA demo with over 2 hours of content. Prior to USC, I also built a game demo called TOTL, which was a Microsoft Imagine Cup finalist for 2012. Post USC, I joined Niantic labs at Google, where I was one of the first Designers/Producers on Pokemon Go and I co-wrote the game's main Design Document. After Niantic, I worked for a year on Cast Games, where we launched tools that allow developers to build games for Google Chromecast. In January of 2017, I was listed on Forbes' 30 under 30 for 2017 for my contribution and work in games.

Laura Drabik

VP of Business Innovation, Guidewire

Laura is VP of Business Innovation for Guidewire Software. She keeps her finger on the pulse of insurance industry disruption to coach carriers on how they can innovate their business and achieve a competitive advantage. She brings innovative ideas from the field into Guidewire products; there are now five InsuranceSuite features that represent her development initiatives. Before joining Guidewire 11 years ago, Laura worked as a consultant for Deloitte and Accenture, but started her career in the insurance industry working at State Farm Insurance. She has an MBA from the University of Toronto.

Taylor Berry

Student

Taylor Berry, is a political science major, a member of the Santa Clara Women’s Basketball team, and a fellow of the Marrkula Center for Applied Ethics with an emphasis on Civil Discourse and Freedom of Speech. This Bay Area native is a senior whose mantra is: If you’re not learning, you’re not living. (Ghandi quote??) She believes every individual has the power to be great, it is simply a matter of learning how to wield it. Taylor is said to have a motivational quote for practically any situation.

Thanh-Thao Sue Do

Student

Sue is an English major Catholic Studies minor who is passionate about storytelling, poetry, and advocating for those less fortunate than her. She hails from Central Vietnam and has been a Bay Area resident since she was 4 years old. She is the oldest of five siblings in her family. Her past accomplishments include being involved as vice president of her honor society chapter, Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, and a college tour guide for the AAPI first generation college students. She recently published her first book last year entitled The Gift of Fortitude, where she documents her struggles and hopes as cerebral palsy survivor, immigrants’ daughter and a voice for the voiceless. In her spare time, she can be found in Benson Center dancing her fingers on the piano or planning her next book. Her inspirational figures include Pope Francis, Emma Watson, Ellen DeGeneres, and Oprah Winfrey.