Theme: Beyond The Box

"Beyond the Box" focuses on the idea that everyone has the capacity to be creative, and it's often times the moments where you aren't afraid of going against what is expected that true innovation comes to life. It can be easy to fall into trends and to make decisions based on what others expect of you- "Beyond the Box" captures the essence that when one is brave enough to step outside the bounds, unexpected and amazing things can happen.

The MAC, Birmingham (Midlands Arts Center)
Cannon Hill Park, Queen's Ride
Birmingham, Birmingham, B12 9QH
United Kingdom

Carrie Weekes

Carrie Weekes (1/2 of A Natural Undertaking) is an undertaker like no other. Providing tailor-made funerals, posthumous grief and legal counselling and most importantly a smile, A Natural Undertaking is no run of the mill funeral service. In her talk, alongside co-founder Fran Glover, Carrie recalls the different types of funerals they've organised and explain how a funeral can be more than just a dark ceremony, but an extension of life, after death.

Danny Bent

Danny Bent is a marathon runner, life coach and one of the happiest people in the world. His global relays have raised millions for charities and communities around the world and in this TED talk, he takes us through the beginning of that journey.

Harry Beard

Harry Beard is a 17-year-old entrepreneur who co-founded the generation Z marketing consultancy firm, "Future Labs". Generation Z are, at an increasingly young age, putting themselves at the forefront of global discourse and empowering themselves through social media. Harry has empowered himself through the pursuit of learning and educating business about what makes generation Z so different, and is now on the TEDx stage to share his thoughts.

Leoarna Mathias

Leoarna Mathias is a lecturer at Newman University in Birmingham. But, in fact, she has another central role at the university as the "Transition and Retention Officer" meaning she helps students stay motivated and engaged in their degree courses. From this, she has seen first hand the proposed failure of higher education in its false propagation of the quantitative effects of degree studies In her talk, she discusses her role at Newman, her experience with these falsehoods and potential remedies to make higher education more inclusive.

Marco Sousa Lau

Marco Desousa is a Graduate/Product Designer working for IBM since 2017. In his talk, he discusses an issue that affects most of us - Procrastination. However, he questions whether it is in fact an issue, highlighting how procrastinating has been some of the effective time in his development.

Mick Jackson

Mick Jackson is the founder of the Wildhearts Group, a cohort of business who use their profits, infrastructure and distribution to empower people and communities globally. Mick is passionate about global social business responsibility and believes that the perception of business should be transformed into something that gives to your planet rather than takes away. In his talk, Mick highlights the projects of the Wildheart Group and discusses how small changes in a business' operations can have a huge effect on their social impact.