Boston
x = independently organized TED event

Theme: Ideas in Action

This event occurred on
November 4, 2021
Boston, Massachusetts
United States

14 hours of serendipitous hyper-immersion into a verbal, audio and visual experience across your senses. Spanning serious to whimsical, exhilarating to contemplative. It’s ideas and insights and pure mental stimulation that will challenge and engage you for months after th sessions. Program packed with Ideas, Projects and Interactions, each divided into two two-hour Power Bursts of stimulation. You can dive in, come up for air and dive back in again, moving across themes as you will. Noteworthy thinkers, doers and makers who will share their thinking in short bursts, surrounded by audio and visual sensory immersion, including dynamic 3D projection mapping on venue walls. You’ll be able to interact with Speakers before and after their talks.

The 'Quin House
217 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts, 02116
United States
Event type:
Standard (What is this?)
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Speakers

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

ALi Noorani

Ali Noorani is president & chief executive officer of the National Immigration Forum, a nonpartisan advocacy organization working with faith, law enforcement and business leaders to promote the value of immigrants and immigration. Through innovative constituency, communications and advocacy strategies, Ali is one of the nation’s most creative coalition builders.

Allen Ali Nasseh

Dr. Allen Ali Nasseh graduated from Northwestern University and Harvard School of Dental Medicine with a doctorate in Dental Surgery and a post doctoral fellowship in Endodontics and a Masters in Medical Sciences in bone biology. He is a senior Clinical faculty in the Post-doctoral endodontic program at Harvard School of Dental Medicine and the former Alumni editor of Harvard Dental Bulletin. Dr. Nasseh is the president and Chief Executive Officer for Real World Endo® (RealWorldEndo.com). He’s a member of the Advisory Board for the NIH/NIDCR's Michigan-Pittsburg-Wyss Center for regenerative Medicine and serves on the Materials and a Instruments Committee for the American Dental Association (ADA). He is endodontic editor and on the scientific advisory board for several peer reviewed journals and periodicals. He lectures extensively nationally and internationally in surgical and non-surgical endodontic topics and holds a clinical endodontic private practice (MSEndo.com) in Copley Plaza Boston, MA. In his free time, he's an avid filmmaker and photographer and squash player.

Andy Andres

Andy Andres is a senior lecturer of natural sciences and mathematics at Boston University's College of General Studies who is an expert in exercise physiology, nutritional biochemistry and the science of baseball. In addition to the work listed above, Andres writes, lectures, and speaks to the media about baseball analytics, the effects of sticky stuff on baseball pitching, and effects of anabolic steroids on baseball players. He also initiated, designed, and taught the highly popular BU MOOC “Sabermetrics 101: Introduction to Baseball Analytics” on the edx.org platform to more than 60,000 registered students. His former students occupy front offices in the NBA, MLS, and MLB, where one was recently named General Manager. In addition to consulting with industry and professional sports teams, Andres is also an MLB datacaster at Fenway Park, a Data Analyst for BaseballHQ.com, and former Head Coach/Lead instructor for the MIT Science of Baseball Program. These pursuits allow the lifelong fan and athlete to synthesize his twin loves: baseball and scientific inquiry.

Angela Ruggiero

Angela Ruggiero CEO & Co-Founder, Sports Innovation Lab Angela Ruggiero is the Co-Founder & CEO of Sports Innovation Lab, a technology-powered market research firm empowering industry-leading sports brands to identify the trends, products and services that will fuel the future of sports. As global fan experience and engagement experts, Sports Innovation Lab helps their clients create breakthrough fan experiences through technology. Angela is a recognized, global sports leader, advocate, entrepreneur, author, brand ambassador, investor, motivational speaker, and podcaster. She has been recognized as an SBJ 40 under 40 recipient, Forbes Top 25 most powerful woman in sport, and Top 100 Most Influential People in Hockey. She is a four-time Olympian and Gold Medalist in Ice Hockey and was the first female non-goalie to play in a men’s professional hockey league in 2005 with the Tulsa Oilers. She is a member of the 2019 USA Olympic Hall of Fame, the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame, and the 2015 Hockey Hall of Fame (as only the 4th woman in the world). She has been a distinguished International Olympic Committee Executive Board Member for over a decade, having served on the Executive Board of the IOC and as the Chairperson of the Athletes’ Commission, and has also served as the Chief Strategy Officer for the successful Los Angeles 2028 bid to host the 2028 Olympics. She is a graduate of Harvard College (BA) and Harvard Business School (MBA), and earned a Masters in Education from the University of Minnesota.

Angelina Botticelli

Angelina Botticelli is a 20-year-old Creative from East Boston, Massachusetts. From a very young age, she has been an active community member, musician, and motivated student leader through her involvement with Boston-based organizations such as ZUMIX, Boston Arts Academy, and Berklee College of Music’s City Music Program. Currently a Music Business and Entrepreneurship major at Berklee College of Music, she’s focused on using creativity and innovation to make a positive social change. On a daily basis, you can find Angelina working on projects ranging from wardrobe styling a friend’s show, writing a business plan, composing a new song, or really anything having to do with living a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, including eating lots of yummy plant-based foods!

Barry Greene

Barry Greene CEO at Sage Therapeutics Barry E. Greene joined Sage as CEO in December of 2020, bringing more than 30 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience to this position. He previously joined the Sage Board of Directors in October of 2020. Prior to Sage, he served as president of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since 2007, and he previously held the position of chief operating officer when he first joined the company in 2003. Prior to his 17 year tenure at Alnylam, Mr. Greene was the general manager of Oncology at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he led the Company’s global strategy and execution for its oncology business, including strategic business direction and execution, culminating in the successful U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and launch of VELCADE® (bortezomib) in mid-2003. Prior to joining Millennium in 2001, Mr. Greene served as executive vice president and chief business officer for Mediconsult.com, a healthcare consulting company. Earlier in Mr. Greene’s career, he held multiple leadership positions at AstraZeneca (formerly AstraMerck), and was a partner of Andersen Consulting, where he was responsible for the pharmaceutical/biotechnology marketing and sales practice. He is a member of the board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). He received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and served as a Senior Scholar at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Brandon Woods

As a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and a multi-talent, Brandon’s career lies at an intersection of science, music, film, writing, and education. Consequently, his life story is about pushing the boundary of what is possible. For him, neuroscience is more than a set of principals arising from data backed premises. Rather, neuroscience is a discipline that we can come to appreciate and apply in our daily lives as we reach for our dreams. www.brandonjwoods.com

Brittany Bychkovsky

Dr. Brittany Bychkovsky is a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Her clinical practice and research interests span the cancer continuum from prevention to end-of-life care. She is passionate about cancer genetics and advocating for improved access to cancer genetic testing among diverse populations who may harbor a pathogenic variant in cancer gene. In July 2020, Dr. Bychkovsky's sister, Larissa Lee, was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer. Tag words: Cancer Genetics, Cancer Prevention, Colon cancer awareness For twitter: #BCSM, @Oncoalert, #GCchat, #Coloncancerawareness, @ccalliance, @FightCRC, @NCIEpiTraining

Brock Reeve

rock Reeve is Executive Director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. In partnership with the Faculty Directors, he has overall responsibility for the operations and strategy of the Institute which is comprised of the schools of Harvard University and its affiliated hospitals and research institutions. Under the leadership of its Executive Committee, HSCI invests in scientific research and its faculty has grown to include over 350 Principal and Affiliated members. The Institute is engaged with several leading pharmaceutical companies and foundations in joint research projects and its faculty have founded over 40 stem cell-related startup companies and serve on leading Scientific Advisory Boards. Brock came to HSCI from the commercial sector with extensive experience in both management consulting and operations for technology-based companies, with a focus on life sciences. Brock received a BA and MPhil from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Cameron Myhrvold

Cameron Myhrvold is an Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. His work specializes in the development of CRISPR-based technologies for studying RNA, with an emphasis on detecting and destroying RNA viruses. He received a PhD in Systems Biology from Harvard in 2016. His PhD studies in synthetic biology and nucleic acid nanotechnology, supported by a Fannie and John Hertz Foundation fellowship, involved the development of three technologies that demonstrated a variety of applications for self-assembled nanostructures. During his postdoc, he turned his attention towards the RNA-targeting CRISPR effector protein Cas13, where he has led or co-led the development of four Cas13-based technologies, including CARMEN, CARVER, and SHINE.

Charlie Davies

Charlie Davies Broadcaster & Soccer Analyst Retired professional athlete with an international career spanning over eleven years having played in Sweden, France, Denmark & MLS, as well as the US Men’s National Team (‘08 Olympian). Current Soccer Broadcast Analyst for the New England Revolution. Also serves as an analyst for Major League Soccer and CBS. Host of “The U.S Soccer Podcast.” Also a US Soccer Foundation Ambassador, Nike Brand Ambassador, member of the Boston Children’s Hospital Philanthropy Board and board member of Beacon Academy.

Cory Pesaturo

Cory and friends from around the world Nahre Sol - Piano, Toronto Christina & Michelle Naughton - Piano, Wisconsin Vahid Iran Shahi - Guitar, Iran Agna G, Voice, Chicago Nakash Aziz, Voice, India Yasmine Azaiez - Voice / Violin, Tunisia Ana Barreiro - Percussion, LA Tucker Antell - Tenor Sax, Boston Lucienne Renaudin Vary - Trumpet, France Elisa Rega - Citar, Oregon JR Robinson - Drums, LA Peter Godart - Keyboard, New Jersey Ellen Kelly - Guitar, Vermont Shelbie Rassler - Alto Sax, Florida Leah Zeger - Voice / Violin, LA Ralphe Armstrong - Bass, Detroit Cady Coleman - Flute, Massachusetts Cory Pesaturo, Accordion / Anything Else, Rhode Island

Crystal Emery

Founder of URU: The Right to Be Entertainment Non-Profit Crystal R. Emery is known for producing narratives aimed at creating a more equitable society. She is the Founder and CEO of URU The Right to Be, Inc., a nonprofit content production company that addresses issues at the intersection of humanities, arts and sciences. A director, author and STEM advocate, Emery is a member of the Producers Guild of America and New York Women in Film and Television. She is also an American Association for the Advancement of Science AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador. Hailed as “inspiring” by the Los Angeles Times and as a “leader in science and technology” by Good Housekeeping in its feature story “50 over 50: Women Who Are Changing the World,” Emery has a body of work that spans a broad range of topics, from diversity, inclusion and equity to children’s literature, sociopolitical issues and STEM. The virtual reality producer was featured on the Network CBS morning educational program Mission Unstoppable for her virtual reality project “You Can’t Be What You Can’t See.” The game aims to close the identification gap for young marginalized students in STEM by allowing them to experience different careers in VR. The author of Against All Odds: Black Women in Medicine, Master Builders of the Modern World: Reimagining the Face of STEM and the first two volumes of her Little Man children’s book series, Emery has written for TIME.com, Variety, Ms.Magazine.com and HuffPost. The National Academy of Medicine published an article she wrote on STEM recruitment. Emery has presented, moderated, and produced numerous panels and events, including a symposium on Black Creatives for Google Brand Studio and “Race and Ableism: The Unspoken Intersectionality of Diversity in Film” for the SlamDance Film Festival. She has been a keynote speaker at distinguished institutions including the National Academy of Science, National Institute of Health, the National Organization on Disability, RespectAbility, TEDx Beacon Street, the National Security Agency, and Kaiser Permanente. In 2021, Emery produced Courageous Conversations: Director 2 Director, a personal conversation with acclaimed filmmakers Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Lisa Cortès about the triumphs and barriers they have experienced in the media industry. Emery’s film Black Women in Medicine had its theatrical run in 2016 and later aired on American Public Television. It was screened in Ethiopia and Germany in 2018 as part of the American Film Showcase, considered the premier American film diplomacy program in the world. Emery is the recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust Leadership in Journalism Award, the BronzeLens Film Festival Spirit Award. In 2015, Emery launched Changing the Face of STEM, an innovative national educational and workforce development initiative. Two years later, in conjunction with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, she introduced Changing the Face of STEM at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, D.C. Emery believes that perseverance, faith and trusting in a power greater than oneself, comprise the road to success. She continues to shape a successful, fulfilling personal and professional life while triumphing over two chronic diseases as a quadriplegic. Recently, Crystal began production on “The Intersection of Crystal R. Emery,” a podcast exploring her life as a Black woman, filmmaker, writer and member of the disability community. A New Haven area resident, Emery received her B.A. from the University of Connecticut, her M.A. in Media Studies from The New School of Public Engagement, and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from UConn in 2018, on which occasion she spoke to an audience of over 20,000 becoming the first Black female commencement speaker at UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Danny Rivera, Jr.

Danny Rivera, Jr. is a multidisciplinary singer, songwriter, record producer, and thoughtful advocate for social impact, equity, and empowerment. With his soulful voice and powerful performances, Rivera is constantly discovering new ways to unite us all, reimagining what it means to be an artist, educator, and social activist. His musical roots and creative soul lie squarely in the gospel tradition, but experience performing and directing classical and urban contemporary music as well as possessing sonic ties to Rhythm & Blues allow him to effortlessly create music that breaks generational barriers and defies genre. In 2019, Danny Rivera, Jr. wrote and released a campaign song for U.S. Representative, Ayanna Pressley which has since propelled him to release his second full-length EP,“Rumors & Reasons” which is currently available on all streaming platforms. Danny currently studies voice at The Longy Music School of Bard College but remains busy traveling nationally as he continues to expand his reach and fulfil purpose, creating and occupying space for young artists to express their creativity to the fullest degree.

David Sinclair

David Sinclair, Australian biologist and professor of genetics at Harvard University, shares his insightful research into the science of age reversal and anti-aging medicine.

Dori Clark

Dorie Clark Author, Duke & Columbia Business Prof Dorie Clark has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, and was recognized as the #1 Communication Coach in the world by the Marshall Goldsmith Leading Global Coaches Awards. Clark, a consultant and keynote speaker, teaches executive education at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School, and she is the author of The Long Game, Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine. A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, Clark has been described by the New York Times as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” A frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, she consults and speaks for clients including Google, Microsoft, and the World Bank. You can download her free Long Game strategic thinking self-assessment at dorieclark.com/thelonggame.

Emmanuel Schanzer

Dr. Emmanuel Schanzer spent several years as a program manager and developer before becoming a public high school teacher and middle school academic coach in Boston. He is the founder and co-director of Bootstrap, which he first designed as a curriculum for his own students. He has long been involved in connecting educators and technology, connecting parties at the Computer Science Teachers Association, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and at universities across the country. He holds degrees in computer science and curriculum development, and completed his doctoral studies at Harvard with a research focus on using programming to teach algebra.

Erika Angle

Entrepreneur and biochemist Erika Ebbel Angle, PhD, has dedicated her life to studying the gut. Dr. Angle is the CEO and co-founder of Ixcela, the Internal Fitness™ Company. Ixcela evaluates the gut microbiome using a blood sample, and then offers personalized recommendations to restore gut health. Used by fitness enthusiasts, career-driven mental “athletes,” and those battling uncomfortable health issues, Ixcela strives to improve health and wellness for its customers. Angle shares her lifelong love of science in many ways, including through her nonprofit, Science from Scientists, which brings scientists into classrooms to promote STEM careers and science education. A graduate of MIT and Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Angle is also a former Miss Massachusetts who used her platform to encourage students to pursue STEM careers and scientific discovery. Erika Ebbel Angle, Ph.D., is the CEO and Co-founder of Ixcela, a biotechnology company aimed at developing tests and interventions to improve gut microbiome efficacy and health. She is also the Executive Director and Founder of Science from Scientists, an award-winning national nonprofit focused on improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) attitudes and aptitudes for children aged 9-13. Outside of work, Erika enjoys scuba diving, skiing, and classical piano.

Erin Vadala

Erin Vadala is a 19 year old student of music therapy at Berklee College of Music. She is a composer, singer, pianist, and bandleader, and tutors students in music theory, songwriting, and voice. She also works with the Center of Accessibility Resources for Students at Berklee. Someday soon she hopes to work as a music therapist working with survivors of sexual assault. Erin is very passionate about social justice and the power music has in effecting change.

Esther Dyson

Esther Dyson Executive Founder at Way to Wellville I’m the executive founder (i.e. active fulltime but reporting to CEO Rick Brush) of Way to Wellville, a 10-year nonprofit project dedicated to demonstrating the value of investing in health. The benefits accrue over time and not always to the investors directly, but overall human bodies and minds are the key to our collective future…. and Wellville wants to show what it looks like when act on that fact. We work in five small communities (Clatsop County, OR; Lake COunty, CA; Muskegon County, MI; North Hartford, CT; and Spartanburg, SC), advising local leaders on scaling local initiatives in areas such as early childhood development, diabetes/obesity reduction, mental health support/trauma-informed care. We advocate a data-rich approach with learning and accountability along the way – Wellville.net. I spend the other 50% of my time (!) exploring new space, health and IT start-ups and technologies, writing about them and actively (and with full disclosure) investing in some of them. I love what I do and I love all the travel it entails! Board seats include 23andMe, Luxoft, Meetup (now graduated to a new launchpad with WeWork), Pressreader, Wellpass, and Yandex. Also ExpandED Schools, Long Now Foundation, Open Humans Foundation.

Francisco Aguilar

Francisco is CEO of Bounce Imaging, a Harvard Innovation Lab/MIT startup that develops advanced 360/VR cameras for first-responders. Originally from Costa Rica, Francisco has a background in private and social sector strategy with experience in electronics, advanced materials, energy, and telecom. He has worked in the U.S., Latin America, East Africa, and Central and East Asia. Bounce Imaging’s Explorer camera system has been named a Best Invention by CNN, Popular Science, TIME, and others and offers first-responders revolutionary situational awareness in dangerous environments, keeping them and civilians safer.

Gerald Chertavian

Gerald Chertavian is the Founder and CEO of Year Up, one of the nation’s largest youth workforce development programs. Chertavian was a successful technology entrepreneur and Wall Street banker, but it was through his many years as a Big Brother that he found his true calling. The young adults he met had immense talent, yet all too often they were stranded outside the economic mainstream. Chertavian saw that when given a fair chance, with challenging standards and high support, these young people could accomplish anything. “I thought it was so wrong that the opportunities David had access to in life could be limited by things like his ZIP code, the color of his skin, the bank balance of his mother, or the school system he attended.” In 2000, he dedicated his life and business expertise to closing the “Opportunity Divide”, and Year Up was born. Since then, Year Up has become one of the fastest growing non-profits in the nation and has been recognized by Fast Company and The Monitor Group as one of the top 25 organizations using business excellence to engineer social change. In 2008, he was appointed by then-Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick to serve on the Massachusetts State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. In 2013, he was appointed by Governor Patrick to serve as chairman of the Roxbury Community College Board of Trustees and reappointed to that role by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker in 2016. Gerald earned a B.A. in Economics, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, from Bowdoin College and in 2017 he was awarded the Bowdoin Common Good Award. He received his M.B.A., with honors, from Harvard Business School and in 2014 received the Distinguished Alumni Award. He is on the Board of Advisors for the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative and a former member of the World Economic Forum’s Youth Unemployment Council. Gerald is also an Emeritus Trustee of both Bowdoin College and the Boston Foundation. His 2012 book, A Year Up, is a New York Times best seller. Awards and Recognitions: 2002: Boston Business Journal’s 40 under 40 2003: Manhattan Institute Social Entrepreneurship Award 2005: Freedom House Archie R. Williams, Jr. Technology Award 2010: Honorary Doctorate from William James College 2012: Honorary Doctorate from Mount Ida College 2013: Jefferson Award for Outstanding Service by an Entrepreneur 2013: YouthJobs+ White House Champion of Change 2013: Top 25 Most Influential People in Boston Philanthropy 2016: Distinguished Alumni Award, Harvard Business School 2017: Bowdoin Common Good Award 2021: Glassdoor Employee’s Choice Top CEO at an SMB

Helen Greiner

CEO at Tertill Helen Greiner (born December 6, 1967) is a co-founder of iRobot and former CEO of CyPhy Work, Inc.,[1] a start-up company specializing in small multi-rotor drones for the consumer, commercial and military markets. Ms Greiner is currently the CEO of Tertill Corporation. Greiner was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2013 for leadership in the design, development, and application of practical robots.

Jason Lanier

Jason Lanier is an award winning photographer who has shot all over the world with his daring and adventurous style in his quest to capture some of the most diverse and interesting pictures from all corners of the world. He has shot numerous genres of photography as well as created documentary films on some of the most pressing issues in today's society. Jason is an accomplished speaker and educator in the photography world having taught thousands of photographers in person and millions online. His rogue style has helped set trends in the world of photography from the gear that photographers use to the style of imagery they create. He is truly a renegade in his field and loves sharing his adventures, his work, and his lessons learned along the way with fellow creatives.

Jennifer Hedrington

Jennifer Hedrington 2021 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Seventh Grade Mathematics Teacher Jennifer Hedrington has taught middle school math to secondary school students since 2004 and has worked in Massachusetts, Texas, and Baltimore. Hedrington holds a Juris Doctorate from the Massachusetts School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Atlantic Union College.

John Sharp

A board-certified psychiatrist for over 25 years treating patients and their families facing a broad spectrum of mental health issues — mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, addiction, bipolar disorder, dual diagnosis, and the risk of suicide. He has treated thousands of patients and their families in Boston and Los Angeles and consults nationally as well as internationally. Doctor Sharp is a graduate with high honors of Harvard College and The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He trained at The University of California San Francisco where he was appointed Chief Resident. Doctor Sharp has served with distinction in numerous professional leadership capacities. He is a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists, The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, and The American Psychiatric Association. He has been nominated by his peers for inclusion in Best Doctors in America every year for the past decade. As a long time faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Doctor Sharp trains first and second year students how to make their initial interactions with patients more meaningful. His teaching style is integrative: Doctor Sharp shares stories and observations from his clinical experience and brings former patients into the classroom to illustrate his points about the doctor/patient relationship and the psychiatrist/patient dynamic. At the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Doctor Sharp teaches third year students about the principles of doctoring. He has won numerous awards from students for his teaching, and received national recognition from the American Psychiatric Association. Doctor Sharp is a member of the Academy of Medical Educators at Harvard. He participated in the redesign of its Medical School’s New Pathway medical curriculum, launched in 2016 and also works actively on programs with the Dean for External Education there.

Jon McNeill

Jon McNeill Serial Entrepreneur & Former President Tesla, Former COO at Lyft Jon McNeill has deep experience as both an entrepreneur and an executive at scale. Jon has founded and scaled six companies, led teams creating tens of thousands of jobs and multi-billion dollar returns for investors. He is the 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and in 2013 he was named “Most Admired CEO” in Boston. He was President at Tesla from 2015-2018 (where revenues grew from $2B to $12B during his tenure), before becoming the COO at Lyft in 2018 to help bring the company public (revenue growth from $800M to $2B). He began his career at Bain & Company. He serves on the boards of Lululemon, TruMotion and the Brigham & Women’s hospital in Boston. McNeill is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Jordan Gray

Jordan Gray is an American Track and Field athlete who specializes in the multi-events. Her passion is the Decathlon, but she also competes in the Heptathlon. In her career, she has made Team USA for an international meet, become the American record holder in the Women's Decathlon, the world record holder in the Women's Decathlon Long Jump, and qualified for/competed in the Olympic Trials in the Heptathlon. Currently, women are excluded from being allowed to compete in the Decathlon at the Olympic level despite being ratified the same as every other event in Track and Field. Jordan is currently working to change this with the movement "Let Women Decathlon."

Justin Constantine

Justin Constantine Inspirational Speaker & Founder, The Wellness Guy Justin joined the Marine Corps while in law school, and served on active duty as a JAG officer for six years. Then as a Reservist, Justin deployed to Iraq in 2006, serving as a Civil Affairs Team Leader while attached to an infantry battalion. During a combat patrol, Justin was shot in the head by a sniper. For his service in Iraq, Justin earned the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal. Justin retired from the Marine Corps at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His writing on military and leadership issues has been published in The Washington Post, Time, CNN, The Atlantic, and Forbes Magazine. Justin has also published a leadership book and one on veteran employment. Justin was named a Champion of Change for Veterans by President Obama and was also one of the wounded warriors painted by President Bush in his book Portraits of Courage. In 2017, Justin received the Henry Viscardi Achievement Award for raising awareness and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities. Justin was diagnosed with Stage IV prostate cancer in 2020, and together he and his wife have radically changed their lives to where he is now healthier than he ever was before.

Kate Chertavian

Kate Chertavian An internationally recognized art consultant, Kate Chertavian has over 25 years of experience curating independent projects and building private collections. She built and curated David Bowie’s art collection from 1992 to 2000 and has subsequently built important collections in her fields of expertise. Her university and institutional projects include the sculpture program at Harvard Business School, a curated collection for the Barr Foundation, and a collection of important pictures for the Four Seasons/One Dalton. Kate has worked in the auction and gallery markets for over two decades and specializes in Impressionist and Modern, Post War and Contemporary, American and Modern British art markets. She is a Trustee of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, the Co-President of the Rowland Foundation and a founder of the national non-profit Year Up.

Katherine Taylor

Katherine is a Boston based documentary photographer with an emphasis on human rights. She is works in the U.S. and abroad. Her work has appeared regularly in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine and more.

Khahlil Louisy

Khahlil Louisy is an applied microeconomist in the areas of economic development, public economics, and technology. His work centers on the application of public purpose technologies and their implications for economic development, health outcomes, and human rights. He is the former Head of Global Implementation at PathCheck Foundation - a non-profit organization founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop new technologies in response to health crises. He currently serves as the founding President of the Institute for Technology and Global Health and co-heads the "AI and Technology for Public Health" group within the joint World Health Organization (WHO) and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health.

Kitty Pechet

I surf I paint, I draw a longtail (a Bermuda sea gull). We ride air currents. At some point, I give up control. I break free of the graph paper source of calligraphy Into the open space of board and brush, I ride through foam, aware Of teeming life and layers beneath My brush, no outsider, strokes Deep inside the beauty, Folly and energy of this world. I begin to paint and draw, often as play, With intention but no plan. Charcoal, paint, board take on Their own life, start to breathe, Demand nourishment, direct me.

Lane Gardner

Lane Gardner Arts Educator, Singer/Songwriter, President/Founder of THREAD As a longtime trailblazer in the field of therapeutic arts, Lane’s work is an emerging voice in a world where innovative solutions to our rising mental health crisis are desperately needed. An award winning arts educator, singer/songwriter and non-profit entrepreneur, Lane uses the power of music and creativity to facilitate healing and growth in individuals and communities suffering from trauma. For nearly 3 decades, Lane has devoted her life’s work to helping herself and others learn how to transform their personal experiences of trauma into powerful works of art. Her passion for the human journey and for cultivating connection through our shared experiences led her to develop a therapeutic and collaborative songwriting program that merges creativity, self-expression, healing and community. THREAD is a 501(c)(3) therapeutic arts non-profit organization that serves the needs of survivors of abuse, those struggling with addiction and mental health, cancer survivors, incarcerated men and women, veterans and those impacted by inequality and discrimination surrounding gender, race, sexuality and religion. It also implements programs to address the urgent needs of communities affected by gun violence, natural disasters and other crisis scenarios.

Laura Caputo

Laura Caputo is an Instructor Pilot at BETA Technologies where she teaches engineers & employees how to fly. She began her aviation career in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) after receiving her commission through ROTC and graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in Biochemistry. She’s accumulated over 4500 flight hours instructing in T-37, C-21 and KC-10 aircraft, directly supporting military operations in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, she piloted Gulfstream IV and V business aircraft for MGM/Mirage Corporation based in Las Vegas. While she continues to enjoy serving part-time in the USAF, she’s incredibly grateful her life lessons and experience landed her a spot on the all-star team at BETA. In her current role she’s able to directly impact a culture of innovation and creativity as BETA Technologies revolutionizes aviation with the development of their 100% electrically powered vertical aircraft named ALIA. Originally from the Chicago area, Laura now lives, and plays, in the Green Mountains of Vermont with her husband, Chris and their two children, Lilly and Cal."

Lauren Kuntz

Lauren Kuntz is Co-Founder and CEO of Gaiascope, Inc, a company working to harness the power of AI for electric grid applications and accelerate our energy transition. Previously, she was a NOAA Climate and Global Change Fellow at the University of Washington using ML techniques to understand rainfall characteristics. She received her PhD in earth and planetary science from Harvard University and SB in physics and mechanical engineering from MIT.

Mark Bittman

Mark Bittman is the author of 30 books, including the How to Cook Everything series and the #1 New York Times bestseller VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good. He was a food journalist and columnist, opinion columnist, and the lead magazine food writer at the New York Times, where he started writing in 1984 and stayed for 30 years. Bittman has starred in four television series, including Showtime’s Emmy-winning Years of Living Dangerously. He is a longtime TODAY regular and has made hundreds of television, radio, and podcast appearances, including on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, RealTime with Bill Maher, and CBS’s The Dish; plus NPR’s All Things Considered, Fresh Air, and Morning Edition. Bittman has written for countless publications and spoken at dozens of universities and conferences; his 2007 TED talk, “What’s wrong with what we eat,” has almost five million views. He was distinguished fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He has received six James Beard Awards and an IACP Award. Bittman is currently Special Advisor on Food Policy at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where he teaches and hosts a lecture series called Food, Public Health, and Social Justice. He is also the editor-in-chief of Heated, and is working on a book and television series titled Animal Vegetable Junk. His latest book, with David Katz, MD, is How to Eat.

Mina Khan

Mina is a final-year Ph.D. student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. She grew up in Pakistan and moved to the US for her undergraduate. She has a triple major in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science, and her Ph.D. focuses on AI, Behavioral Science, and Human-Computer Interaction. Before her Ph.D., Mina worked as a Software Engineer in Google and is soon going to be a Research Scientist at Deepmind, Google. She has also interned in Google, IDEO, Udacity, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, and High Altitude Observatory. Mina is also a Google Anita Borg Scholar, LEGO Papert Fellow, and MIT Media Lab Learning Fellow. Mina aims to use her diverse skills and experiences to solve real-world problems. https://khanmina.github.io/

Mohsin Mohi Ud Din

Mohsin Mohi Ud Din is Kashmiri-American artist, activist, and the founder of the award winning global non-profit, #MeWeIntl (www.MeWeIntl.org) which innovates communciation and storytelling tools to advance the psyhcological wellbeing and leadership skills of underrepresented and marginalzied communities.

Mónica Abarca

Mechatronics Engineer with 8 years of experience in innovation, robotics, drones and sensing technology for air quality and health. Mónica has a master's degree in Management and Policies of Innovation and Technology, she is CEO and co-founder of qAIRa, a company based in Peru dedicated to environmental monitoring that has established the largest air quality monitoring network in Peru with a vision of growth in LATAM; she also co-founded Bloomer Tech, a company using textile sensors embedded in a bra to generate digital biomarkers and improve outcomes for heart disease and stroke in women.

Nathan Pearson

Genomicist Nathan Pearson explores what DNA reveals about our health and history. Teaming with fellow scientists and genome-curious layfolk — from historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr., to rocker Ozzy Osbourne, and journalist Carl Zimmer — he has long worked to make inner data personally and scientifically useful. Trained at Stanford and the University of Chicago, he led research efforts at Knome and the New York Genome Center, and, in memory of his mom (who died at 34 of blood cancer with no marrow donor), founded RootDeep.com to reward tissue volunteers with wise, personal, and free insight from their own most vital genes.

Ofer Levy

Ofer Levy MD, PhD, brings precision medicine principles to vaccine research. He does this by building collaborative, multi-disciplinary international teams that create innovative vaccines tailored to the specific needs of vulnerable populations. Together with his colleagues, he has developed unique, blood-based systems that enable study of human immunity outside the body. Using these tools, the team discovered that the human immune system changes markedly with age, revealing the need to develop vaccines optimized to protect specific populations at high risk of infection such as the very young or older adults. Dr. Levy is the Director of the Precision Vaccines Program, staff physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Boston Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. He is currently leading an NIH/NIAID-funded Human Immunology Project Consortium center, which is working to define molecular mechanisms of vaccine protection in infants across the globe, including West Africa and Australasia. His research projects also include NIH- and Gates foundation-supported discovery and development of adjuvants, small molecules that boost immune responses and can be used to create age-specific vaccines. Dr. Levy and the Precision Vaccines Network are now working on adjuvant-boosted vaccines to provide protection against COVID-19, influenza, pertussis (whooping cough), HIV, and opioid use disorder/overdose. A member of the U.S. FDA coronavirus vaccine advisory committee, he has authored of over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles in journals such as Science Translational Medicine, Nature Reviews Immunology and Immunity. He has given multiple TED/TEDx talks and his work has been featured on news outlets such as CNN, FOXBusiness News, NBC Nightly News, BBC World Service, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, National Geographic and Scientific American. ----------------------- Ofer Levy MD, PhD Staff Physician & Principal Investigator Director, Precision Vaccines Program Division of Infectious Diseases Boston Children's Hospital Professor, Harvard Medical School Associate Member, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard

Pardis Sabeti

Pardis Sabeti Computational Geneticist & Professor at Harvard University Dr. Sabeti is a computational geneticist with expertise developing algorithms to detect genetic signatures of adaption in humans and the microbial organisms that infect humans. Her lab’s key research areas include: (1) Developing analytical methods to detect and investigate evolution in the genomes of humans and other species (2) Examining host and viral genetic factors driving disease susceptibility to the devastating and deadly diseases in West Africa, Ebola Virus Disease and Lassa hemorrhagic fever. (3) Investigating the genomes of microbes, including Lassa virus, Ebola virus, Plasmodium falciparum malaria, Vibrio cholera, and Mycobacterioum tuberculosis to help in the development of intervention strategies. (4) Determining the microbial cause of undiagnosed acute febrile illness. Dr. Sabeti completed her undergraduate degree at MIT, her graduate work at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and her medical degree summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School as a Soros Fellow. Dr. Sabeti is a World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leader and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, and was named a TIME magazine ‘Person of the Year’ as one of the Ebola fighters. Her awards included the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Natural Science, the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise, the NIH Innovator Award, the Packard Fellowship, and an Ellis Island Medal of Honor. She has served on the MIT Board of Trustees and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Women in Science, Medicine, and Engineering. Dr. Sabeti is also the lead singer and co-song writer of the rock band Thousand Days. Dr. Sabeti is one of the co-founders and a shareholder of SHERLOCK Biosciences, a company dedicated to improving health worldwide through accurate, fast and affordable testing. She is on the board and a shareholder of Danaher Corporation, the parent company of both Cepheid and IDT. She is a scientific advisory board member and shareholder of NextGen Jane, a women’s health company launched by two lab alumni.

Pennie Saum

Pennie Saum is an author, speaker, advocate, law changer, and voice seeker who has dedicated her life to help victims use their voice to move through trauma and grief. She has a passion for helping child sexual abuse victims become thrivers. Pennie is determined to impact those who are struggling the trauma of child sexual abuse. She is an advocate for child sexual abuse victims at the hands of military soldiers. Pennie Saum was instrumental in the passing of the Child Abuse Accountability Enhancement Act, eliminating the protection of military retirees pension, when child sexual abuse has been prosecuted and a judgement has been awarded. The CAAEA was signed into law 12/2017. Pennie also facilitates Steward of Children training to help prevent child sexual abuse to her community. She also facilitates writing to heal sessions for victims of sexual trauma. Pennie brings her passion to help survivors in all that she does. She resides in the Pacific Northwest.

Ramses Alcaide

Dr. Ramses Alcaide CEO of Neurable - Hearable technology is constantly evolving. Currently, headphone and earbuds are used for listening to audio, but very soon, they’ll be able to interpret a person’s cognitive state using brain-computer interfaces (BCI). This technology will be as common as a computer and will give you the ability to text with your mind. Join me as I show you the future of hearable technology!

rebecca Kleinberger

Rebecca Kleinberger is the mother of hedgehogs and a PhD candidate doing research at the MIT Media Lab. Her work mixes science, engineering, design and art to explore ways to craft experiences for self-reflection and human connection. As part of the Opera of the Future group at the MIT Media Lab, she creates unique experiences to help people connect with themselves and with others. She accomplishes this using approaches that include virtual reality, rapid prototyping, deep learning, real-time digital signal processing, lasers, wearable technologies and robotics. Through 5 years of work on self-reflection technologies, Rebecca has developed unique expertise on the human voice as a means of expression, both to others and within ourselves. Her research spans a wide range of fields, including neurology, human-computer interaction, psychology, cognitive sciences, physics, biology, clinical research, linguistics, communication theory and assistive technologies. This broad range of work has enabled her to create tools and experiences that help people discover more about themselves through the uniqueness and expressivity of their own voice. Rebecca's work was used for a Financial Times magazine cover and has been shown at a wide range of events and venues including, the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, Le Laboratoire in Paris, Siggraph Art exhibition in Los Angeles, “Hacking Consciousness” at Harvard divinity school, and EMF camp in the UK. She has collaborated with Microsoft Research UK and the Google Magenta team and has presented her research at a host of international conferences. Working with Tod Machover’s team, her research has also been used outside of the MIT Media Labs as part of live shows and novel esthetic experiences at Maison Symphonique de Montreal, the Luzern Festival in Switzerland, and the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. Rebecca graduated from École National des Arts et Métiers in Paris with a Masters of Mechanical Engineering, and from University College London with a Master of Research in Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualization. She is home-schooled in the art of raising hedgehogs.

Richard Kane

Richard Kane, Chairman and CEO Verijet, is an Inc. 500 CEO and founder, a researcher in Artificial Intelligence with cornerstone patents, and a world-class expert in high-performance computing and parallel processing. Richard serves on the boards of Verijet, The Lindbergh Foundation, The Strategic Forum, Coastal Aviation, and New Horizons Service Dogs. Richard is an aviator with world speed, distance, and efficiency records.

Robinson Fulweiler

Robinson Fulweiler Professor, Departments of Earth & Environment & Biology at BU Robinson (Wally) Fulweiler is an ecosystems ecologist and biogeochemist, whose research is focused on answering fundamental questions about energy flow and biogeochemical cycling of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica), carbon, and oxygen in a variety of environments. She is especially interested in how anthropogenic changes affect the ecology and elemental cycling of ecosystems on a variety of scales (i.e., local nutrient loading; regional/global climate change). Current research is centered on the transformations and the ultimate fate of nitrogen in the marine environment and the impact of climate change on benthic-pelagic coupling. Dr. Fulweiler maintains the Coastal Ecology & Biogeochemistry Lab and has a joint appointment with the Department of Biology.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Rosabeth Moss Kanter Harvard Business School Advanced Leadership Initiative Rosabeth Moss Kanter wrote her first novel at the age of 11. Not one to rest on her childhood laurels, Kanter’s ambition and fierce intellect earned her a BA in sociology and English Literature from Bryn Mawr, followed by an MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of Michigan. Her dissertation on 19th-century utopian communities set the stage for a long and incredibly distinguished career in business research and academia. Kanter taught at Brandeis, Harvard and Yale before joining the faculty at Harvard Business School as the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business and director and chair of the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative. A prolific writer, Kanter has published numerous books on business management, gender and race in the workplace. She served as economic adviser to Michael Dukakis during the 1988 presidential election, co- founded Goodmeasure, Inc. a consulting firm that counts IBM and British Airways among its clients, and was the last academic to edit the Harvard Business Review. Kanter’s numerous accolades include 23 honorary degrees, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an award in her name, which recognizes the best in work-family research. A trail-blazer by any measure, Kanter was named one of Boston Magazine’s “50 most powerful women” and one of Good Housekeeping’s “125 women who changed our world.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosabeth_Moss_Kanter

Russ Howard

Brigadier General (retired) Russell D. Howard is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Joint Special Operations University. He is President of Howard Consulting Services and a hobby farmer in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Previously, General Howard was the Director of the Jebsen Center for Counterterrorism Studies at the Fletcher School, and Head of the Department of Social Sciences and the Founding Director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Prior to going to West Point, General Howard was an Army Chief of Staff Fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, and Commander of the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Lewis, Washington. Other assignments include Assistant to the Special Representative to the Secretary General during UNOSOM II in Somalia, Deputy Chief of Staff for I Corps, and Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander for the Combined Joint Task Force, Haiti/Haitian Advisory Group.

Satchin Panda

Satchidananda Panda Professor Regulatory Biology Laboratory at Salk Dr. Satchidananda Panda, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. Satchin’s work deals specifically with the timing of food and it’s relationship with our biological clocks governed by circadian rhythm and also the circadian rhythm in general. Professor Panda explores the genes, molecules and cells that keep the whole body on the same circadian clock. A section of the hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) lies at the center of the body’s master clock and gets input directly from light sensors in the eyes, keeping the rest of the body on schedule. Panda discovered how these light sensors work, as well as how cellular timekeepers in other parts of the body function. He also uncovered a novel blue light sensor in the retina that measures ambient light level and sets the time to go to sleep and wake up every day. In the process of exploring how the liver’s daily cycles work, Panda found that mice which eat within a set amount of time (12 hours) resulted in slimmer, healthier mice than those who ate the same number of calories in a larger window of time, showing that when one eats may be as important as what one eats. If the benefits of this “12-hour diet” hold true in humans, it could have profound impacts on treating overeating disorders, diabetes and obesity. The circadian clock, he found, even mediates the immune system. Mice with a crucial circadian molecule missing had higher levels of inflammation in their bodies than other mice, suggesting that genes and molecules involved in the circadian clock could be drug targets for conditions linked to inflammation, such as infections or cancer.

Sly Lee

Sly Spencer Lee Co-Founder & CEO at Emerge Sly is a first generation American entrepreneur whose journey is deeply influenced by his work in developing countries, passion for frontier technologies, and quest to have a net positive impact in this world and others. He is co-founder & CEO of Emerge, an LA based company building a new paradigm for human connection and interaction at a time when society is reaching the limits of social technologies. Emerge’s first product aims to create a new standard for digital communication that incorporates sight, sound, and a new language of touch in the metaverse (imagine a virtual high five, but without gloves or wearables). He is a Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2018 recipient, Co-chair for the World Economic Forum Global Future Council for AR/VR, and can be found surfing the coast of southern California some mornings.

Steve Papa

Steve Papa, Entrepreneur Visionary, Founder & CEO at Parallel Wireless Steve leads the senior management team in setting the company’s strategic direction and is guiding the company’s evolution from its successful first customer deployment into broad commercialization and growth. Steve has been part of reimagining the technology landscape for over 20 years. As founder and CEO of Endeca, he reimagined the database to support faceted information ultimately leading to Oracle acquiring the company as its 6th largest acquisition ever when announced (reported at $1.1 billion). He was part of the team creating Akamai that reimagined global Internet content distribution – now carrying peaks of 15 terabits/s of web traffic on any given day – and led the team at Inktomi that reimagined the network cache to create carrier class caching. Earlier he worked with AT&T Teradata where enterprise computing was reimagined with the first use of Intel processors for enterprise servers. He has a BS from Princeton University and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Sylvia Ruth Gutmann

I am an author, public speaker, and contemporary witness. I am a Hidden Child survivor of the Holocaust. Through my speaking engagements, I am committed to the work of memory, healing, and reconciliation. My work encourages people to shed the guilt and shame of their pasts, and to help us all see our responsibilities to each other. It is my hope that the future will be filled with more love. I was born in 1939 in Antwerp, Belgium, where my Jewish parents had fled to from Berlin. After living as a Hidden Child in Europe until I was seven, I have lived in New York City, San Diego, Dallas, and Berlin, Germany. I now live in Framingham, MA. Like my late father, I am a great fan of classical opera and am an avid reader of books of all kinds. My memoir, A Life Rebuilt: The Remarkable Transformation of a War Orphan, was published in 2018 by Epigraph Publishing in Rhinebeck, NY. Stay tuned for updates and events through my Facebook Page.

Tom Grilk

Tom Grilk is the Chief Executive Officer of the Boston Athletic Association | Boston Marathon, taking on that role in January of 2011. He served as President of the B.A.A. Board of Governors from 2003 until 2011. In addition to his duties as Chief Executive Officer, he served as the marathon's finish line announcer from 1979 through 2013, and he is a former marathon competitor, with a personal best of 2:49 and a personal best at Boston of 2:54. He was for many years a corporate and business lawyer, both with the Boston law firm Hale and Dorr and serving as counsel and general counsel to Boston area technology companies. He is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Michigan Law School.

Travis Ambroise

Rap Artist & Singer, 2021 Rising Tides Fellow, Eureka Ensemble Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-ambroise-7b576b21b/

Vik Parthiban

Research Affiliate, MIT and Captain, MIT Hyperloop II Vik Parthiban is passionate about teams and technologies that shape how people interact with digital information and the physical world. He helped build the Magic Leap One AR headset announced in December 2017, where he led an R&D project for the advanced photonics team. Currently a graduate researcher at the MIT Media Lab, Vik is building new holographic interfaces and hardware that hope to push AR/VR technology forward. On the side, he dabbles in high-speed travel with Elon Musk’s SpaceX-Hyperloop and leads the construction of the first Hyperloop transport vehicle using air bearing technology.

Organizing team

John
Werner

Brookline, MA, United States
Organizer