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).

Hilton Garden Inn
650 Tinsley Way, Rock Hill, SC 29730
1st Floor
Rock Hill, South Carolina, 29730
United States

Angela Douglas

Angela Douglas is a “pracademic.” She uses her academic and practical experience in real life. A political scientist and policy researcher, Angela served as a university lecturer and government researcher for most of her career. She has also been involved in politics since she was a little girl. Angela credits her upbringing in community service to enriching her career and community. Angela founded Douglas Strategy Group LLC in 2015 when she also began working as a business and tax consultant for Ambassador’s Business & Tax Services, Inc. She has worked with businesses, local governments, nonprofits, corporate sponsors, and political candidates to build capacity and improve positive social impact. In August of 2015, Angela won nearly 60% of the vote in a 3-way special election to become a City Council Member for her hometown, Chester SC. In May of 2017, she was re-elected and was the top vote-getter of the night. Known as a “connector,” Angela has been successful in securing funding, developing legislation, cultivating partnerships, and engaging the community for programs and projects to improve Chester. Angela has worked to reach this goal using a multi-pronged approach to improved and sustained growth in small rural communities. She calls it “Community Builds Community.” Angela holds degrees in political science, history, and public administration. She researches and speaks on diversity in politics, rural politicking in the south, social capital, women’s and children’s health policy, and social welfare policy making in the American states. She also advocates for legislation and resources for small rural towns. From professional conference papers and academic book chapters to white papers, speeches, and testimony at political hearings, Angela readily shares her research, her activism, and her passion.

David Lucas

Education

Edgar A. Guest once wrote, “Figure it out for yourself, my lad. You have all that the greatest of men have had.” The words from the late poet are found in his poem, “Equipment”. The poem goes on to build hope and optimism about the equal capabilities we all possess inside of us.

David Stringer

As Founder and CEO of Insignia Group, David Stringer has helped thousands of dealerships to prioritize and maximize their accessory sales over the last 20 years. David could see the often neglected importance of accessory sales during the vehicle sales process, especially as the internet and eCommerce sites became more important. He helped curate a software system that would enable dealers to scale their accessory sales, improve CSI, make interdepartmental communication easier than ever, and maximize vehicle sales revenue, no matter the size of the inventory. David is a speaker and writer in the automotive industry, who has served on several industry boards throughout the years. When he’s not revolutionizing the automotive industry, he is a serial entrepreneur and mentor to start-ups. David is a partner in an entrepreneurial center called the Gravity Center in Rock Hill, SC.

Deven Rodriguez

Deven Rodriguez is a storyteller who believes that it is his mission to Speak Life and Hope into a world that can sometimes look so dark. Deven’s childhood was riddled with experiences of racism, bullying, neglect, abuse, and a true sense of hopelessness and despair. Despite his traumatic and heart-wrenching situation, Deven persisted and never gave up. His greatest success as a child was being nominated the middle school president by the same kids that had put him through hell and back the previous six years of his life. He believes that no matter what you are going through if you are willing to just “outlast the pain” just one more day, triumph and victory are inevitable. Deven regards his childhood as his biggest blessing as it enabled him to see the true power in the “never quit” attitude. As he grew older, he attended St. John’s University after being rejected from nearly every College that he applied to. Despite being labeled as “not smart enough” to get into his dream colleges, Deven made a promise to his grandmother that radically changed his life and enabled him to earn a cumulative 4.0 GPA, be ranked a Top 100 Business student in America by the famous “Poets and Quants” business school magazine and be featured in Forbes, Yahoo Finance, and many other magazines. Despite the accolades, Deven believes that his biggest accomplishment was discovering who Deven was.

Dr. Kimberly Johnson

Children’s author and educator, Dr. Kimberly P. Johnson grew up in Shelby, NC. She is married to Jeff Johnson who retired from the United States Air Force after 22 years of service. She is the author of 22 children’s books. Kimberly received her Doctorate in Curriculum, Teaching, and Leadership from Northeastern University in Boston, Ma. she holds a Master’s Degree from Clemson University, in Youth Development and Leadership. Kimberly has an Early Childhood Education Degree and a Communications Degree from UNC- Chapel Hill. She completed her post-doctorate work in the Advanced Leadership Program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. She recently completed a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion at Cornell University. Kimberly is a creative thinker and has a passion for teaching and helping others. She is currently teaching at Clemson University – she teaches Creative Activities for Youth and also teaches, Working with Diverse Youth. Dr. Kimberly also teaches Creative Writing for Social Change at Clinton College and is a course facilitator for the Leading Learning and Managing Evidence courses at Harvard University in the Graduate School of Education. Kimberly has received numerous Community awards to include the Paul Harris Fellow Award given by Rotary International for her work in literacy, the York County Citizen of the year Award, the 2016 Walker Solomon Award from the South Carolina Educators Association, the Omega Psi Phi Perseverance Award, the Carl Carpenter Gold Heart Award for Community and Educational Contributions and the National Heritage Award. She has been the guest reader for President and Mrs. George Bush at the White House for the Annual Easter Egg Roll. She has been on the Today Show in New York City, interviewed by the London Times and the Tokyo Shimbun newspapers and her most recent book, No Fear For Freedom: The Story of the Friendship 9 gained national and international recognition when she spearheaded the efforts to have the sentences overturned for a group of men, The Friendship 9, who conducted a sit-in in 1961 at a segregated lunch counter in Rock Hill, SC. Kimberly is an Ambassador for The King Center in Atlanta and a program collaborator for Dr. Bernice A. King, the last living daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She is currently the Curriculum Design Specialist for the King Center in Atlanta. Kimberly is a member of the Rock Hill Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Above all of her accomplishments she says that the greatest joy is knowing that her grandparents taught her what good character looks like and raised her to believe in God and in self!

Hannah Kay Herdlinger

Hannah Kay Herdlinger has been living her passion throughout her life -- connecting with and helping others. Her career has taken her across many industries starting with serving in the United States Senate for Senator Mark Pryor. She was then recruited to join Facebook as a founding member of the Washington DC political office. Sheryl Sandberg connected with Hannah Kay during the period of time of the writing and publication of the book “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead”, which provided international exposure to the non-profit, Lean In – created to empower all women to achieve their ambitions. Hannah Kay became Head of Operations for that entire organization. She then connected with Arianna Huffington and took time to help her launch Thrive Global. Hannah Kay was born with the purpose of living her life by connecting with others. Her passion is to help others build confidence in themselves, which fueled the creation of Thread Talk – a company with the purpose of supporting domestic violence survivors. Hannah Kay lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Katrina Prather

Katrina L. Prather was born in Miami, Fl and grew up in Willacoochee, Ga. She is married to Jerry Prather Jr. who for 23 years has worked for American Force Wheels and is currently its Operations Manager. Jerry and Katrina combined have 7 children, including one fur baby. Katrina has been an educator for 23 years. She received her Masters of Science in Genetics at Georgia Southern University, in Statesboro, Ga. Her B.S. in Science is from Brewton-Parker College, in Mt. Vernon, Ga. She is also the CEO of Mocha Chocolate Chef, LLC and the host of Ktrina Talks on social media. Her life has been greatly influenced by her mother, father and grandmother in the areas of religion, education, and public speaking. Her grandmother had 10 children: 5 educators, 1 microbiologist, 2 entrepreneurs, 1 dentist, and 1 computer specialist. Can any good thing come out of Willacoochee, Ga? Yes!! Growing up in this family allowed her to foster good sound ethics. Many times, growing up in this large family, there were not enough resources to meet their needs. Those experiences allowed Katrina to develop a mindset of achievement. It also allowed her to cultivate creative ways to reach her goals and to keep pressing forward. Katrina has taught across various educational platforms in different capacities ranging from being an elementary school teacher to being a college professor. These teaching opportunities have allowed her to find her niche with middle school aged children. She is a passionate advocate for children who have some tough choices to make. Katrina has been doing public speaking since the age of six and has frequently spoken to students about making good choices. Katrina’s philosophy in life is to live, love and serve others.

Nick DeStefano

Nick Destefano, or Awesome Nick D, as many call him, is a husband, dad, brother, athlete, and the founder of the Chasing the Awesome Life Initiative, A program that teaches individuals leaders how to embrace their pain and fears so they can live life as a resilient, confident, and awesome leader. Nick gets to work full time as the Service Excellence Process Manager for Mcleod Healthcare where he strives to consistently improve the patient experience. His biggest passion is providing others with an opportunity to realize their potential for greatness, and that’s exactly what his job allows. Prior to his role at McLeod, Nick spent 10 years at Coastal Carolina working in both training and development and with student leadership. During his time at CCU he founded a leadership consulting business, DeStefano Leadership LLC, and has since traveled the country providing exciting and engaging leadership development to thousands of students and professionals. He knows that we all have the ability to positively impact the world if we start with self-awareness and confidence. For this reason, Nick studied to become a Certified Gallup Clifton Strengths coach. He now coaches individuals on their unique talents and ways to maximize their potential. In his free time, you can find Nick drinking ALL the coffee, carrying a ruck, or weighted sandbag on the beach, training for his next marathon, or just hanging out with his best friends, namely his college sweetheart Megan and their two young sons, Calvin and Cooper!

Nicole Ayers

Self-love sage and author Nicole C. Ayers is a dynamic and engaging speaker who’s not afraid to get vulnerable and real about her personal journey to love herself. She’s a strong voice for female empowerment and the freedom it brings. Audiences will feel like they’ve gotten a warm hug and shared a private laugh with a close friend, but most importantly, they’ll leave with transformative tools to get to know themselves. Nicole is the award-winning author of Love Notes to My Body, which was recognized as one of 2020’s best life-changing books, and its two body-positive companion books. She’s been invited by local and national media to speak about the importance of body acceptance, and she encourages everyone to disrupt the narrative that tells them they—and their bodies—are not enough, just as they are.

Tadean Page

“Leading is what I was called to do, but serving is my passion.” That is the motto that Tadean Page lives out every day. Growing up in the small town of Dillon, South Carolina, Tadean found his passion for public service and community engagement. As an entrepreneur, author, change agent, board member, and continuous learner, Tadean’s mission is to make the world a better place by providing hope and solutions that create meaningful change. Whether it be through his company, Ascend Solutions, or his work with various organizations, Tadean works with small businesses, organizations, and personal brands to define, deepen, and drive their social impact and community engagement initiatives. The work doesn’t stop there. As the youngest board member in the Rock Hill Schools Education Foundation Board’s history and a number of other organization and community-based efforts, Tadean works alongside administrators and educators to create strategies and solutions that assist in the efforts to better serve students. Tadean is a 2018 graduate of Winthrop University with a degree in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis on Social Justice and a 2019 graduate of the Northeastern Graduate School of Education with a Masters of Education, focusing his research on social-emotional learning and the development of young males of color. There is much more that could be said about Tadean (like his love for Chipotle and Beyoncé) and the work he has done, but for him, the commitment to humanity is what matters most.

Yolanda Gordon

Yolanda M. Gordon was born and raised in the Rock Hill area and attended Rock Hill public schools. She is the mother of three children. Yolanda started her advocacy journey in the disability advocacy arena after her younger children were diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. She learned how to advocate for her children’s educational needs. She also assisted parents in understanding the nuances of the federal education laws and how they intersected with state education laws. She has since worked to end poverty and how families experience safety net programs in the United States. Yolanda is a former safety net program recipient. She currently works at RESULTS Educational Fund as the Senior Associate of Expansion and Advocacy. Her role includes being the coordinator for the RESULTS Organizing and Advocacy Fellowship which teaches young leaders, ages 20-35, how to speak to their members of Congress about ending poverty, making tax credits permanent, investment in global education, global nutrition, and affordable housing. She is also a leader with her work on anti-oppression, intersectionality and poverty, and its effects on individuals and families. She has used her experience to lobby Congressional leaders of South Carolina on the needs of families in the state to ensure that their voices are heard. With over 400 phones calls, 30 pieces of media, and over 80 lobby visits, Yolanda has become proficient in helping others advocate for themselves to make the greatest impact. Yolanda is a Moth Trained storyteller and has spoken at many conferences from Missouri State University to George Washington University. She currently lives in Fort Mill, South Carolina.