WaterStreet
x = independently organized TED event

Theme: RESET

This event occurred on
May 6, 2021
New York, New York
United States

We are often asked where we see ourselves well into the future. These moments of reflection prompt us to seek out both our own power and the voices that resonate within the global community to which we are intimately connected. Considering how our motivations stem from the desire to walk in our purpose, such a journey challenges us to look beyond ourselves. With impact and action, we are called to make choices that help build the thrilling, compassionate world we are searching for.

Water Street, once known as the Seaport District, brings out a great dynamism with its historic infrastructure and rich culture. Located along New York City’s oldest waterfront neighborhood, Water Street tells the story of taking a leap of faith on a new journey by immigrants from diverse backgrounds who have come together and made the city what it is today. Water Street represents a RESET, with how its people have demonstrated the ability to embark on new challenges and entirely into unfamiliar territory in order to pursue their hopes of growth and prosperity.

"On May 6, 2021, we invite the community to reflect, plan, reset in our quest to pursue a better future."

TEDxWaterStreet aims to exemplify these admirable traits of New York City by gathering like-minded individuals from the area who are intentional about resetting as thinkers, leaders, friends, and community members to bring about a new perspective on how we can reset and press forward. IT will challenge human discomfort with obstacles and instead celebrate the strength that accompanies curiosity and the ability to dream. TEDxWaterStreet will speak the language of possibility and foster a rediscovery of what the future holds for our shared humanity.

Bryant Park Ballroom
54 West 40th St.
2nd Floor
New York, New York, 10018
United States
Event type:
Standard (What is this?)
See more ­T­E­Dx­Water­Street events

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check event website for more information.

Annabel Oreste

Singer/Songwriter
Annabel Oreste is an artist and songwriter from Canada who won the hearts, adoration, and support of Canadians during her participation on the popular reality TV series Star Academie TV in 2021. Annabel makes wonderful music that’s both melodic and catchy. Her superb voice is complemented by her ability to dance across multiple genres including but not limited to ballet, contemporary, folk, hip hop, jazz, and African dance styles. This coupled with the fact that she speaks 3 languages supports her meteoric rise in popularity and global appeal. Her style of music can be described as pop with a fresh modern edge. Similarities to mega icons such as Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston have been made but, overall her style can be summed up as unique. Her songs are incredibly lush and immersive, while her musical production and voice combine to hit listeners with a dreamy soundscape that’s cinematic and atmospheric.

Aree Bly

Alignment Coach
Aree is an alignment coach, helping others to identify and navigate their unique values, strengths, and skills, in order to become better leaders and create the success they really desire. She came to coaching through the logical step of a 25 year actuarial career, working inside insurance companies and as a consultant with clients that span the globe. She has honed her technical and coaching skills in the ever-changing healthcare world, managing diverse teams, and overseeing large projects. She developed mentoring and coaching programs to support the broader teams, teaching others how to be heart-led leaders that lean on listening to identify the best paths forward. As a coach, Aree works with individuals looking to get unstuck from current challenges, make major career decisions, and those just looking to find better footing in this thing called life. She lives in Colorado with her husband and three daughters.

Chris Valletta

Co-founder and President MISSION
Chris Valletta is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, media contributor and former NFL Player. With a passion for using athletic-performance principles to achieve business success, Chris has developed an established track record of launching and scaling several multi-million dollar ventures. He is the Co-Founder and President of MISSION, the global leader in Cooling and Heat-Relief Gear for active consumers, and author of “Team WORKS!,” a book that converges athletic principles with business success. Serving entrepreneurs as well as companies of all sizes, Chris is a sought-after speaker for top-tier universities, professional development programs and business teams looking for an edge in their performance.

Daniela Pierre-Bravo

TV Producer for MSNBC Morning Joe
Daniela Pierre Bravo is a New York City-based TV producer for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe". She is also a contributor and the millennial ambassador for NBC’s “Know Your Value,” a platform that empowers women to recognize their personal and professional value by developing and inspiring their individual growth. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Refinery29, NBC Latino and more. Daniela is the co-author of “Earn It! Know Your Value and Grow Your Career, in Your 20s and Beyond” with Mika Brzezinski, a book that focuses on young women navigating the workforce. She is also the founder of Acceso Community – a mentoring platform for young women.

Danyell (Danny-J) Johnson

Co-Host The Best Life Podcast
Danny-J is an award-winning entrepreneur, keynote speaker, podcast host and storyteller. As the former founder of The Sweaty Betties, an online fitness community, Danny-J discovered the most effective method for capturing attention and increasing revenue—sharing personal and brand stories. Danny-J's work can be heard in her weekly show, The Best Life Podcast and can be followed in real time on all the social media platforms. As a true example of "Truth is Stranger than Fiction" she uses her real "Jerry Springer Life" stories to engage with her audience, teach life lessons and inspire others to rewrite their stories and begin again. Danny-J now teaches innovative brands and influencers to close more sales, become better leaders and blow up their brands with the irresistible power of vulnerability. A true expert in starting over, she will help anyone reconize the gift of a Do-Over.

Drew Davis

One Man Show
Drew Davis is a writer. He is an athlete. He is also a chef. And a public speaker. He still holds a personal training certification, technically, if you need some support with leg day. Though his path has been winding, he has always been deeply consistent in his practice of motivating and inspiring others to look within themselves to find the strength, the courage, and the direction to live a beautiful life. His audiences have ranged from high school students to multinational corporations and many groups in between–his broad experience allows him to craft his ideas and his message to help his audience feel engaged, optimistic, and unstoppable. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Irina Soriano

Businesswoman/Author
Irina Soriano is a German businesswoman and a pioneer in her professional field that has mentored young men and women across EMEA, Asia-Pacific, and the US thanks to her international career. She has built a strong life-brand around her passion to make a significant contribution to closing the gender gap in the workplace by enabling the next generation of girls and young women to drive a cultural paradigm shift toward gender equality.

Janice Kovach

Mayor of Clinton, NJ
Janice Kovach first won her election as Mayor of Clinton, NJ in November of 2011. Since, she has been re-elected for two more terms, having recently been sworn in for her third term on January 1, 2020. Janice prides herself on using her voice and platform to advocate for her residents and for the residents of other communities in NJ. In November of 2020 she became the President of the NJ League of Municipalities representing all 565 cities, towns and villages.

Jeff Tatarchuk

Chief Marketing Officer of VM Accel
Jeff Tatarchuk is a serial entrepreneur and founder of 6 companies; 5 of which have been sold or acquired. As the founder of Fruition Lab, Jeff enjoys being a connector and using his gift of ideation in helping other entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life and help investors find a way to align their capital with high growth investment opportunities. He is a sought after consultant, speaker, and the chief marketing officer and co-founder of VMAccel, a FPGA-based high performance cloud computing company.

Lili Gil Valletta

CEO and Co-Founder CIEN+ AND CULTURINTEL
Lili is an award-winning entrepreneur, recognized cultural intelligence® expert, A.I. tech innovator and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. As an immigrant from Colombia, who came to U.S. at the age of 17 without speaking English, she embodies the American Dream going from corporate executive turned entrepreneur. After a successful corporate career, including a 10-year tenure at Johnson & Johnson, where she served as Global Director of Marketing Services in the Pharma sector, pioneered enterprise wide multicultural marketing strategies, and co-founded the Hispanic group “HOLA”, Lili co-founded CIEN+ and CulturIntel. With offices in the U.S. and Latin America, her firm offers big data analytics, consulting and marketing solutions to help leaders successfully drive growth and impact with diverse market segments.

Monique Coleman

Monique Coleman is a renowned Emmy Nominated actress, producer, and activist.She is probably best known for playing ‘Taylor Mckessie’ in Disney’s “High School Musical” franchise and following that success, took part in “Dancing with the Stars”. More recently, she has starred in several independent films and will soon be seen on Netflix’s “Family Reunion” series. Monique has worked tirelessly to balance her work in entertainment along with her passion for advocacy. She was the first ever United Nations Youth Champion and is a longtime advocate for the UN Foundation’s Girl Up Campaign. In 2019, she garnered a Daytime Emmy “Outstanding Host” nomination for her work on the original non-scripted series “Gimme Mo” which she also created and produced. Last year, Monique joined Michelle Obama, Meghan Markle, and several thought leaders to deliver the closing keynote at the Girl Up Virtual Global Leadership summit. Monique is thrilled to be returning to the Tedx stage.

Norman Alexander

Singer/Songwriter
Queens, NY raised, Norman is a self-developed singer / songwriter whose voice, talent, and creativity can be found only once in a generation. This Pop, Soul, and R&B artist made a splash onto the scene in 2020 where he was deemed “one to watch” by LA Wire and a top 3 musician in Music Observer’s top 20 artists of 2020. His debut single “no goodbyes” introduced him to millions of viewers and listeners worldwide within a short couple of months. Humberto Gatica, the 17-time Grammy award winning Chilean American music producer and engineer, described him as “an incredible artist”. Moreover, Norman was able to work closely with another Grammy award winner Randy Merrill, who had glowing reviews of the single and of Norman in general as a talented musician. A famous saying goes “Show me your friends and I will show you your future” therefore if Norman’s associations are any indication, this is the beginning of a long and successful career.

Pras Michel

Grammy Award Winner/Entrepreneur
A member of the seminal '90s rap trio the Fugees, Pras' solo career didn't rise to the same heights as those of his colleagues, Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill, in part because he concentrated more on acting than music. Of Haitian descent (like his cousin Wyclef), Pras was born Prakazrel Michel in New Jersey. Along with his high-school classmate Lauryn Hill, he co-founded the rap group Tranzlator Crew in 1987; cousin Wyclef, who'd been hanging out with Pras quite a bit since moving to the United States, joined a short time later. Eventually, the trio renamed itself the Fugees, after an expression for Haitian refugees, and signed with Ruffhouse Records in 1993. Their 1994 debut, Blunted on Reality, was aimed at the hardcore crowd, which didn't really fit the group's own sensibilities, but with their all-inclusive groundbreaking sophomore effort, The Score, the Fugees created one of the biggest-selling rap albums of all time, adored by critics and record buyers alike.

Quddus (Q)

TV Host / Producer / Media Coach
Quddus (Q) is a critically acclaimed TV host, executive producer and media coach who guides purpose driven entrepreneurs and creatives to master their media for more impact. Chris Rock said, “If Oprah and Ryan Seacrest had a love child, the kid would end up being like Quddus.” Q is a former host of MTV’s iconic show Total Request Live (TRL). He’s produced projects with the likes of AOL, Yahoo, and Youtube, hosted with networks like NBC, ABC and CBS, and worked in artist development with Myspace and Interscope Records. Q has spoken for audiences at the United Nations and Global Citizen Festival but a trip to his father's homeland, Haiti, inspired him to focus more on directly helping others through self development as a coach. Q is currently based in Boulder, CO, working on his first book and a new podcast.

Roxana Rafatjah

Founder of Conscious Enterprises
Roxana Rafatjah is the Founder of Conscious Enterprises, a thought leadership platform and advisory & consulting service, boosting the evolution of business. Severe health challenges while living a typical Manhattanite lifestyle were the catalysts for Roxana to immerse herself in developing a philosophy and lifestyle demonstrating how introspection, sustainability and connection to nature relate to leadership and impact. As a mission & purpose driven executive, Roxana is also the Head of Marketing, Brand & Impact for Heuro Health, a technology company on a mission to reverse the illness-incentivized healthcare industry by making wellbeing profitable for businesses and insurance carriers through proactive wellness. Roxana grew up in Potomac, Maryland and is a graduate of Boston University. Roxana is currently an Advisor, Thought Leadership Curator, Marketing & Business Consultant in New York City.

Tameka Green

Diversity and Inclusion Practitioner
Tameka Green is a Diversity & Inclusion practitioner with almost 15 years of experience creating lasting positive change for organizations in all types of business sectors. Currently, Tameka is a Director of Identity and Storytelling in the US Office of Diversity & Inclusion at PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC). She helps to deepen the strong employee connection to PwC by sharing their unique and common experiences through storytelling. Tameka grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina and earned a Bachelor's Degree In Communications Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Organizing team

Jean Paul
Laurent

New York, NY, United States
Organizer