Theme: You Are Here

TEDxBerkeley 2018 will build a map beyond the two dimensions we know, by considering a set of new axes via technology, science, culture, and social advancement. Our speakers will each begin with their place along one of these dimensions, then introduce a new story and view. With each of these views, we build a better map of the world through unconventional perspectives and untold stories. Take a moment to consider your place in each of these maps and realize that the perspective we take changes what we see. There is power to showing up. Join us in finding our marker and pinpointing our place--You are here, and so are we.

Zellerbach Auditorium
101 Zellerbach Hall # 4800
University of California
Berkeley, California, 94720-4800
United States

Cal Ballroom

UC Berkeley’s one and only competitive International Ballroom Dance Team and the largest team of it's kind on the West Coast. They offer Cal Students high quality dance instruction through our professional coaches and attend competitions throughout the state and nation. Team members have both placed and won in national competitions on the East Coast.

Cal Raijin Taiko

Since 2005, Cal Raijin Taiko has been Berkeley's premier Japanese drumming performance ensemble. With a repertoire consisting entirely of original compositions, Cal Raijin Taiko performs to spread the knowledge, love, and passion of taiko to both the campus and the surrounding communities. Their members have composed more than a dozen unique and vibrant songs and performed for scores of audiences, large and small.

Chandni Kazi

Chandni Kazi is passionate about public health, social justice and the role of STEM in achieving both. She is a published author on the relationship between education and maternal weight gain in U.S. Mothers. Alongside her studies, she volunteered at a nonprofit that served the youth experiencing homelessness. For two years, she digitized their data collection process and spent time with the youth providing public health services. Chandni now chairs her company’s philanthropic group and volunteers her expertise to local nonprofits in need of data support.

Christopher Emdin

Christopher Emdin is Professor and Program Director of Science Education in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he also serves as Associate Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education with a concentration in Mathematics, Science and Technology, a M.S. in Natural Sciences, and Bachelors degrees in Physical Anthropology, Biology, and Chemistry. Dr. Emdin is the creator of the #HipHopEd social media movement and the Science Genius program. He is author of the New York Times Bestseller For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood.. and the Rest of ya’ll too, Urban Science Education for the Hip-hop Generation, and Ratchetdemic

Claudio Guglieri

Claudio Guglieri is the Creative Director at Microsoft where he leads the Art Direction of Fluent Design, Microsoft’s own design system. Prior to this he managed design teams that worked on future audio and video experiences for Windows. He has worked at agencies like Elephant and Fantasy Interactive where he drove the design efforts for a variety of clients such as Apple, Adobe, CNN, Reuters, EA, Range Rover, Google and Viacom among others. Claudio is passionate about interactive design, emotional experiences and helping others to achieve more through his work.

Dan Hammer

Dan Hammer received 2017 Pritzker Award for his work to make environmental information more accessible to journalists. He earned his PhD in Environmental Economics from UC Berkeley, where he was a Fellow at the Berkeley Institute for Data Science. Dan works at an environmental and tech nonprofit that he founded alongside two other Berkeley alumni, including the former CEO of The Nature Conservancy and The Moore Foundation. He previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor on data infrastructure in the Obama White House, as well as a Presidential Innovation Fellow at NASA. Dan was the Chief Data Scientist at the World Resources Institute, where he co-founded Global Forest Watch -- an online platform to monitor deforestation from satellite imagery.

Daria Musk

After a nearly overnight success, singing for a global audience and building a fanbase of millions – through her first-of-a-kind live interactive online concerts – Daria Musk’s influence and ideas have spilled over from songs into talks, tours, press and accolades (from Billboard and Rolling Stone, to The GRAMMY’s new FutureNow Artist award) and behind-the-scenes consulting for the world’s biggest tech and entertainment companies. Daria’s work is made inspire and empower a generation of “artistpreneurs” like her, to make what they love and what they do.

David Lang

David Lang is the co-founder of OpenROV, manufacturers of underwater drones, and OpenExplorer, a platform for connected exploration as well as an entrepreneur and writer. David is also a TED Senior Fellow and a National Geographic Explorer. His TED talk on DIY robotics and ocean exploration has garnered more than one million views. His writing has been featured on BackChannel, MAKE, and Popular Mechanics. His first book, Zero to Maker, chronicled his journey from underskilled beginner to underwater robot manufacturer. David’s story of career reinvention and adventure has drawn a lot of attention. His work and company has been written about and featured in The New York Times, WIRED, and dozens of other popular outlets.

Dean Ornish

Dean Ornish, M.D., is the founder and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of 6 books, all national bestsellers. His TED.com talks have been viewed by over 4.5 million people. The research that he and his colleagues conducted has been published in the leading medical journals. Dr. Ornish was appointed by President Clinton to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and by President Obama to the White House Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. He is also a member of The Lancet Oncology "Moonshot Commission." He chaired the Google Health Advisory Council 2007-9 with Marissa Mayer. The "Ornish diet" has been rated "#1 for Heart Health" by U.S. News & World Report every year since 2011. He has received several awards, including the 1994 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the University of Texas, Austin; the University of California, Berkeley, “National Public Health Hero” award; the Jan J. Kellermann Memorial Award for distinguished contribution in the field of cardiovascular disease prevention from the International Academy of Cardiology; a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association; the inaugural “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine; the Beckmann Medal from the German Society for Prevention and Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Diseases; a U.S. Surgeon General Citation; and others. Dr. Ornish was honored as "one of the 125 most extraordinary University of Texas alumni in the past 125 years;" chosen by LIFE magazine as “one of the fifty most influential members of his generation;” recognized by Forbes magazine as “one of the world’s seven most powerful teachers.” For more information: www.ornish.com.

DeCadence a cappella

DeCadence? DeCadance? DeCàdince? What or who is that? DeCadence (“dee-kay-dence”) is a student-run, co-ed a cappella group from UC Berkeley that loves to belt top 40 hits, indie rock, jazz and much more.

Dónall Ó Héalaí

Dónall Ó Héalaí is a renowned Irish actor and the founder of Celtic Consciousness, where he uses ancient Irish stories and songs to help Irish men and women discover a door in their past culture.

Doniece Sandoval

Recognized as a 2017 CNN Hero, Doniece Sandoval is the founder of Lava Mae, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that began by converting public transportation buses into bathrooms on wheels for the homeless. In the three-and-a-half years since launching its service, Lava Mae has transformed the lives of more than 10,000 Californians and is now scaling her nonprofit globally.

Eric Osiakwan

Eric Osiakwan, Managing Partner of Chanzo Capital is an Entrepreneur and Investor with 15 years of ICT industry leadership across Africa and the world. He has worked in 32 African countries setting up ISPs, ISPAs, IXPs and high-tech startups. He Co-Founded Angel Africa List, Angel Fair Africa and currently serves on the board of Farmerline, SMS GH, Forhey, Teranga Solutions, SeeSayDo, Oasis Websoft, Siqueries, Amp.it, SameLogic, Bisa app, Wanjo Foods, Ghana Cyber City and WABco – some of which are his investments. He was part of the team that built the TEAMS submarine cable in East Africa and an ICT Consultant for the WorldBank, Soros Foundations, UNDP, USAID, USDoJ, USDoS as well as African governments and private firms.

Hazel Miller

Hazel Miller is a renowned singer and sought-after performer who has performed for all the Denver major league sports teams. HMB has performed for 6 sitting governors and mayors and 4 US presidents. The current Hazel Miller Band has been performing for 3 years all over Colorado and nationally. Ms. Miller and her band has just been voted "Best R&B" Band for 2017 in the Westword magazine.

Jennifer French

Jennifer French’s life took a turn for the worse, literally, after a gruesome snowboarding accident rendered her a quadriplegic. Despite being told that she would never stand on her feet again, Jennifer persisted, and with the assistance of novel neurotechnology, she was able to walk down the aisle at her wedding and won a silver medal in sailing at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Justin Barad

Justin Barad, MD is the co-founder and CEO of Osso VR, a clinically validated and award-winning surgical training platform. Early in Dr. Barad’s career, he fully intended to become a game developer, but when a family member became ill he decided to use his technology background to solve healthcare challenges and moved toward medicine. With a strong interest in “serious gaming” and a first-hand understanding of the challenges facing residents and experienced doctors, he co-founded Osso VR with a mission to democratize access to modern surgical techniques and improve patient safety.

Marianne Williamson

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed author and lecturer. For the last 35 years, she has been one of America’s most well known public voices, having been a popular guest on television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, Good Morning America, & Bill Maher. Seven of her twelve published books have been New York Times Best Sellers and four of these were #1. The mega best seller A Return to Love is considered a must-read of The New Spirituality. A paragraph from that book, beginning “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…” is considered an anthem for a contemporary generation of seekers.

Michelle Brané

A lawyer by training, Michelle Brané has dedicated her life to serving some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. The Director of the Migrant Rights and Justice Program at the Women’s Refugee Commission has over 25 years of experience advocating for the critical needs of women, children and other vulnerable migrant populations in the U.S. As one of the nation’s foremost experts on immigration detention and reform, she has testified before Congress, appeared frequently in various media outlets, and frequently presented at conferences and international bodies, including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Geneva.

Murray Hidary

Composer and pianist Murray Hidary is the creator of Mind Travel. Murray studied Music and Composition at New York University. He recently scored the music for the documentary REM about iconic architect Rem Koolhaas, directed by Tomas Koolhaas, which was premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

New Latthivongskorn

New Latthivongskorn is the first undocumented medical student at the University of California, San Francisco. He was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 in 2017 for co-founding Pre-Health Dreamers, an organization that works to support undocumented students pursuing health careers. He is completing a Master's in Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. New continues to engage in work at the intersection of immigrant rights, health & medicine, and culture change.

Teresa Ryan

Though her given name today is Teresa Ryan, this respected marine scientist was born under a different name: Sm’hayetsk. A member of the Tsimtian First Nations group, Dr. Ryan is a Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellow, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia.

Tyrone Hayes

At the University of California, Berkeley, and in ponds around the world, professor Tyrone Hayes studies frogs and other amphibians. He's become an active critic of the farm chemical atrazine, which he's found to interfere with the development of amphibians' endocrine systems.