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).

ISIS Retaurant & Music Hall
743 Haywood Road
Asheville, North Carolina, 28806
United States

Amy Climer

Dr. Amy Climer works with teams who want to be amazing, collaborate at a higher level, and solve problems creatively. She is a speaker, trainer, and coach focusing on creativity and innovation. Her clients describe her as approachable, inspiring, and transformative. Amy has a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change. She hosts The Deliberate Creative™ Podcast where she shares practical advice and strategies to help leaders build innovative teams.

Chris Chris

In 2001, Free Planet Radio began as the shared vision of three multi-instrumentalists exploring the infinite and seamless relationships between musical cultures through the universal language of sound. Their performance weaves the improvisatory element of jazz, and the subtleties and harmonic vocabulary of Western classical music, with Middle Eastern, Indian and North African melodic and rhythmic structures.

Dr. Shannon Spencer

Rev. Dr. Shannon Spencer is an ordained UCC pastor that founded Asheville Poverty Initiative and 12 Baskets Cafe. She is a chaplain at Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women and the Adjunct Pastor for Missional Engagement at First Presbyterian in downtown Asheville. She just finished her Doctorate and is looking forward to watching a movie without feeling like she needs to be reading something. But most importantly, she is mom to two beautiful and amazing girls!

Elizabeth Dankoski

Elizabeth Dankoski is the founder & CEO of two high-level mentoring organizations, The Dream School Project and The LightUProject. For nearly 20 years, Elizabeth and her organization have mentored hundreds of students by helping them discover what lights them up and how they can make an impact on their communities. As a result, her students gain acceptance to the nation's top universities. To learn more, please visit dreamschoolproject.com and lightuproject.org

Frances Tacy

Franny is an inspiring farmer that rocks the hemp scene in North Carolina. She has degrees and work experience in Forestry, Education and Pharmaceuticals and is owner-operator of Franny’s Farm located just outside Asheville city limits. She is the first female farmer in North Carolina to plant industrial hemp and has entered the scene with a force behind education and collaboration with growers, processors, product development and Women in Hemp non-profit.

Free Planet Radio

In 2001, Free Planet Radio began as the shared vision of three multi-instrumentalists exploring the infinite and seamless relationships between musical cultures through the universal language of sound. Their performance weaves the improvisatory element of jazz, and the subtleties and harmonic vocabulary of Western classical music, with Middle Eastern, Indian and North African melodic and rhythmic structures.

Jessica Tomasin

When Jessica Tomasin had her first studio experience at the age of 16 singing back up vocals on a hip-hop track in Detroit, the seed was planted for her career in music. Her wide and varied background in music has involved everything from studio management to co-founding Asheville Music Professionals. In 2018 she launched Connect: Beyond the Page, a festival that uses film, music, and literature to explore how art can influence change.

Joshua Ginsberg

Joshua Ginsberg is a founding director of SeekHealing, an Asheville non-profit offering a free post-detox rehabilitation program for users of heroin and other opiates, a population that is overwhelmingly male. He also has worked in software development for nearly twenty years, an industry that is overwhelmingly male. Between the two, he has grappled with the range of ways in which the emotional underdevelopment of men has been poisonous to themselves and the ones they care about.

Krista-Lynn Landolfi

Krista-Lynn Landolfi is a visionary leader in the field of Transformational Coaching. A multi-certified master coach, Landolfi combines thirty-years of professional experience and her 'special sauce', self-care specialist training, to help individuals and businesses work smarter & healthier, not longer & harder. Krista-Lynn puts the 'whole' in Holistic Business Coaching, her "Quality of Life" coaching model empowers people to increase their fulfillment and joy while achieving their goals. Visit www.self-care.tips to learn more.

Lang Hornthal

For twenty-five years, Lang worked in the forest product sector and witnessed firsthand the many lives that are inextricably tied to our forests. In the last ten years, he has been promoting sustainable forestry management and supporting local forests through his non-profit Root Cause. Lang recently completed a Master of Science in Sustainability Studies to better understand the connection between man and our natural resources.

William L. Sparks

William L. Sparks is the Dennis Thompson Chair & Professor of Leadership at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, where he also serves as the Director of the Office of Leadership Initiatives. His research is focused on self-actualization and leadership. His assessment, the “Actualized Leader Profile,” is based on Carl Jung’s concept of the “Shadow” and has been translated into eight languages. He is the co-author with Peter C. Browning of the book “The Director’s Manual: A Framework for Board Governance” (Wiley, 2016) and is the author of the forthcoming book “Actualized Leadership: Meeting Your Shadow & Maximizing Your Potential” (SHRM Publishing, 2018).