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).

H1 Building
Burgplatz 2
Vallendar, Rheinland-Pfalz, 56179
Germany

Claudia Kessler

Claudia Kessler one of the few female leaders in the space business. Qualified as an aerospace engineer with an MBA, Claudia Kessler has worked for more than 30 years in the international space environment. During her purposeful career, she built up an international network to global players in the space industry worldwide. In 2016 Claudia Kessler started the Astronautin initiative to select, train and fly a German female astronaut to ISS. All of the eleven astronauts sent by Germany on missions into space up to now were men. No German woman has ever been sent into space. The objective is to create a role model for women and girls and inspire them to pursue careers in technology areas and in the space industry. Scientific data on the physiological and psychological responses of a woman in space will be collected. Experiments for education and outreach will be performed. In 2009, Claudia Kessler has been co-founder of Women in Aerospace Europe(WIA-E). She continues to support female executives in their career development. Furthermore, she is member of the senate of the German Aerospace Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - DGLR), member of the International Aeronautical Academy (IAA) and member of the plenum of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce. From 2008 to 2018 she has been CEO of the HE Space group of companies. HE Space is an engineering services company with an exclusive focus on the space sector. Claudia Kessler lives in Bremen, is married and mother of a 21-year-old daughter.

Daniel Hellwig

Daniel is leading the Digital and Analytics practices at Kepler Cannon, a boutique management consulting firm based in New York City. Apart from this, Daniel has lead various projects within the realm of financial services, primarily focusing on asset and wealth management, as well as client centricity. Prior to joining the firm in 2014, Daniel held multiple positions focused on technology transformations. Daniel studied Finance and Mathematics at the Wharton School, and holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from UC Berkeley. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Production Management at WHU, focusing on the applicability of blockchain technology to supply chain operations.

Mark Young

Mark Young is an independent consultant, trainer, writer and lecturer in the field of mediation and negotiation skills training and analysis. His company, Rational Games, Inc (www.rationalgames.com) serves a variety of clients in the public and private sectors in the US, UK and Germany. Mark’s business career has afforded him ample opportunities to do so, as he has served as a corporate lending officer at Chase Manhattan Bank, a strategic consultant at McKinsey & Company, a partner at Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance and a trade negotiator in the US Department of Commerce. Mark is also a social entrepreneur. His firm is registered as a nonprofit in the US and Germany and makes small grants to organizations with innovative ideas for using games and play to resolve conflict.

Olga Miller

Olga is a marketing and innovation expert, and a specialist in gender-lens investing, and women and finance. She is co-founded and developed UBS’ Wealth Management segment strategy for women. This ground-breaking program has pledged to better serve female clients; increase 1 million women’s financial confidence; and help the UN reach its Sustainable Development Goal number 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Under Olga’s leadership, the program reached 27 million people worldwide in its first year and generated a gender-smart financial product with over 100m CHF in AuM in only 8 months. Olga regularly speaks about gender equality, financial confidence, innovation and female empowerment; she has been featured in BBC News, CNBC, the Financial Times, The Times, Bloomberg and The Guardian. Olga’s awards and achievements include a place on the International Finance Center Power Women Top 200 list; being nominated for Gender Diversity Role Model of the Year (Magic Circle Awards ‘18); Disruptor of the Year 2018 (Women in Finance Awards ‘18), recognized as International Game Changer (ACQ ‘18) and nominated as Inspirational Women of the Year (upcoming Power Women Awards). She also received the UBS Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 Award and Innovator of the Year 2016 Award.

Prof. Dr. Björn Bloching

Prof. Dr. Björn Bloching is a Senior Partner with Roland Berger and heads the Global Competence Center Digital as well as "Spielfeld", the Roland Berger Digital Hub in Berlin. Roland Berger Digital supports clients with regard to digitalization and digital transformation throughout the whole supply chain. Björn Bloching is author of the books "In Data We Trust" and "Smart Data" as well as of several publications and studies. Apart from digital, he conducted many projects dealing with marketing and sales, sports, the arts and culture. His expertise includes a wide range of topics, from city- and regional marketing issues, tourism, fundraising and sponsoring to marketing and branding-issues for various industries. Björn Bloching holds degrees in industrial engineering and management and economics. Before joining Roland Berger in 1996, he obtained his Ph.D in macroeconomics.

Sebastian Klussmann

Sebastian Klussmann has turned his passion into a profession and stars as a walking encyclopedia in one of Germany's most popular game shows "Gefragt-Gejagt". The European quizzing champion works as a speaker and coach on topics such as education and memory formation, being convinced that in an age of Google acquiring general knowledge still has enormous value.

Walter Thurmond III.

Former American football safety, founding member of the Seattle Seahawk's "Legion of Boom" and winner of Super Bowl XLVIII - Walter Thurmond III is our newest addition to this year’s list of speakers at TEDxWHU 2019. Having played for the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, as well as the Seattle Seahawks, he decided to head into a new direction by co-founding "Fanstereo", an entertainment lifestyle brand, and focusing on international philanthropic projects.