Theme: Designing Community

Join us for a daytime event where we explore the potential of the TEDx experience to unlock conversations about ideas that, in action, affect or may affect how we develop as a community, from local to global. Lunch included. Reserve early to personalize your experience; lunch choice, guided interactions, activities, virtual reality experience @ tedxsolanabeach.eventbrite.com. TEDxSolanaBeach is a platform for ideas that have the power to form community, to influence change in society, to improve lives, and to build beautifully.

The best information can be found at http://www.tedxsolanabeach.com.

North Coast Repertory Theater
987 Lomas Santa Fe Dr D
Solana Beach, California, 92075
United States

Anna Danes

Anna’s life is the stuff of the American Dream: born in Poland during communism, Anna and her parents escaped Poland in 1979 for a better life in Sweden. They later immigrated to Canada, where she became an attorney. She ultimately settled in sunny California upon getting married there. Anna has had to reinvent herself multiple times, changing homelands, learning new languages and cultures, changing careers, losing family and friends, enduring a painful divorce – and facing cancer, twice now. Five years ago, she was a stay at home mom in Solana Beach. She was building the family dream house and life seemed pretty “perfect” – at least on the outside – when life brought her to the proverbial “ledge”: her marriage was over. Instead of hiding in sadness and fear, she bravely decided in that moment to take the unexpected opportunity to re-invent herself at the age of 43 – and soldier on.

Armando Flores

Over the past few years Armando Flores has worked with many tech companies as well as served on the board of an animal conservation group based in La Jolla, California. His recent work has been focused on conservation technology with the San Diego Zoo. He was part of the world-winning Zoohackathon team as well as an artist using Virtual Reality with a focus on conservation. My main focus is creating lessons utilizing Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for project-based schools and helping students understand how to create content.

Bill Ramage

Bill leads his own consulting firm supporting biotechnology company CEOs with corporate strategy, fundraising and partnering/licensing transactions. Over the past 19 years, he has helped his clients raise more than $500 million in seed funding, venture capital, IPOs, PIPEs, M&A, and licensing deals. His current client roster includes San Diego-based Klotho Therapeutics, Inc. Previously Bill worked for Dupont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. for almost 20 years in roles of increasing responsibility, ultimately as Vice President, Business Development and Marketing Services. Bill holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in bio-organic chemistry from Oxford University and a B.Sc. in chemistry with First Class Honors from the University of Glasgow.

Claire Griffiths

Claire Griffiths is a mental health activist and actor. Claire was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was 13 and began using her voice to speak out on tough topics. Some of Claire’s accomplishments include speaking at a conference on capitol hill, the keynote speaker at two charity galas, and the keynote speaker at a corporate fundraising luncheon for Sharp Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital. She has even met with state legislators to talk about upcoming bills. Claire is currently an ambassador for the International Bipolar Foundation, and The Quell Foundation. She also attends MiraCosta Community College. From hospitalizations to missing a year of high school, Claire shares her story and shines a light on the realities of mental illness, and the dangers of stigma.

Diane Forster

Diane Forster is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, award winning inventor, and CEO of two companies, including I HAVE TODAY. As an Intentional Living Expert and Re-Invention Specialist, Diane works with clients privately, in workshops, online courses, and is the TV host of, “I HAVE TODAY with Diane Forster.” Her work focuses on mindset first, helping you clear away limiting beliefs so you can create a purposeful life you feel passionate about. Her processes get you unstuck, then focused on what you want, and follow a road map to get you there fast. Her clients call her “The Dream Come True Maker!”

John Girard

CEO

John is a seasoned business leader & technology entrepreneur, with almost two decades of experience running & growing technology businesses in all economic climates. John spent 10 years building Clickability, the leading web content management software-as-a-service business. He has since held CEO and other senior executive positions at multiple high growth technology businesses, and today is CEO of CIENCE, based in Solana Beach, CA. A recognized business and technology visionary, John helped to invent unique models for pricing and structuring the complex arrangements of service based software businesses. John speaks at industry and private events on technology trends and culture, and best practices in building businesses. He received a bachelors from Stanford in 1994 and spends his free time trying to understand quantum physics, exploring evolutionary biology, playing guitar, cooking Italian, traveling with his wife, & learning everything he can from his children.

Lane Sharman

Lane is a mathematician and computer scientist by training with a degree from San Francisco State University combined with studies at the American University of Paris. His work and publications are in the areas of decarbonization, water management, energy storage, software and finance. As an activist, he supports California as a leader in solving the Climate Crisis now imperiling nature and civilization. The San Diego Energy District Foundation was founded by Bill Powers and Lane Sharman to advance energy choice in San Diego and California.

Lars Helgeson

Entrepreneur + Author

Lars began his career in the Air Force, working in the space program and with missile technology. After serving four years and earning an MBA in 2000, he moved to San Diego to start his first business, CoolerEmail. CoolerEmail was one of the first email marketing service providers, and working from his apartment, Lars bootstrapped that company to over 1,500 customers. After a few years, as technology advanced, Lars recognized a greater problem was emerging for businesses—management of sales, marketing, and customer service-related information and automation. To address this need, Lars built and launched GreenRope, the world's first Complete CRM. GreenRope has grown to over 1,000 customers in over 20 countries and continues to help businesses of all sizes to this day. Lars is also the author of CRM For Dummies and an international speaker on CRM, marketing, automation, and technology.

Lucy O'Bryan

Communications Expert

Lucy O’Bryan is a communications expert specializing in international human rights and economic empowerment issues, with a special emphasis on human trafficking and modern day slavery. In this role, she has worked with a wide range of institutions and organizations, including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Cocoa Foundation, and Heifer International. In Cameroon, while working on a school feeding program she urged the Ministry of Education to combat forced child marriage, and in Laos she helped create a human trafficking protection curriculum. In addition, she is an accomplished humanitarian photographer and has worked on every continent using photography to support human rights and economic development efforts. She firmly believes in the power of proactive love and challenges us to put that love into action to heal the world and bring freedom to the oppressed.

Nili Peretz

Researcher, speaker and author

Nili is an Israeli-American author, former attorney, and a lecturer. She is the co-author of the forthcoming book Positive Chutzpah. Nili brings her research from studies on hundreds of successful game-changing entrepreneurs in Israel and throughout the world, and her passion for spreading the Positive Chutzpah mindset around the globe

Sara Bendrick

Landscape Designer + Author + TV Host

Sara Bendrick is a landscape designer/contractor, TV host and author. Sara owns and operates Sarita Landscape Designs which focuses on residential design throughout Southern California. For part of the year Sara travels the country doing talks and hosting landscape renovation shows that encourage people to value the outdoor spaces they have.

Susan Lyon

Entrepreneur, Author, Parent

Susan Lyon is the managing director and co-founder of a commercial film production company, an author and a mother of two grown sons. With over 25 years of informational and hiring interviews, 20 years of volunteering with students, and a career that involves seeing hundreds of filmed interviews with top scientists, doctors, patient advocates, engineers, and executives, she is passionately curious about what makes someone both successful and happy in their work.