Theme: Reading the Changes

We live in a world of perpetual change. From climate change to political change and cultural change, things are constantly moving. And yet, in that change, we can also find and make something new or reimagine what we thought we knew before.

In jazz, reading the changes refers to the capacity of the player to notice and respond to the various harmonic changes happening in the music and in the other players, and to embrace the dissonances while making something new out of what seems old and familiar. It is the art of making new music out of what seems like just noise.

In this series of TEDx talks, we're going to explore the possibilities and innovations embedded in the changes found in a variety of disciplines and communities. Psychology, politics, fashion, science, culture, design, management, and music are all going to mash-up in this space to create new improvisations that make the changes feel not strange but sublime.

Are you ready to read the changes together??

Irvington Library
12 S Astor St
Irvington, New York, 10533
United States

Ayse Birsel

Award-Winning Designer/Management Thinker/Author

Ayse (pronounced Eye-Shay) Birsel is one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People 2017 and is on the Thinkers50 Radar List of the 30 management thinkers most likely to shape the future of organizations. She is the author of Design the Life You Love and gives lectures on Design the Work You Love to corporations. Ayse is the co-founder of Birsel + Seck, the award-winning design and innovation studio, and consults to Amazon, Colgate-Palmolive, Herman Miller, GE, IKEA, The Scan Foundation, Staples and Toyota, among others. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

Joel Weinberger

Psychologist

I am both a clinical and research psychologist, which I see as synergistic. My research interest is in unconscious processes. I have just completed a comprehensive book on the subject with Valentina Stoycheva, published by Guilford Press and have published numerous journal articles. My clinical orientation is psychodynamic/integrative with an emphasis on unconscious processes. I am a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. On a more applied level, I am a founder of Implicit Strategies which helps political campaigns, non-profits, and businesses discover what people unconsciously think and feel about their candidate, campaign, product, and/or brand. My political and business commentaries have appeared in various podcasts and media outlets.

Kendra Porter

Award Winning Image Consultant, Body Expert and Stylist

An award-winning image consultant, body expert & wardrobe stylist, Kendra Porter's method of body-centric styling teaches you what works best for your body, personality, & lifestyle. With over a decade of experience backstage at NYFW, she has dressed for designers from Oscar de la Renta to Carolina Hererra. Creating fashion presentations for Westfield & Simon mall properties across the country, and managing the Personal Shopping Offices for Bloomingdale’s & Lord & Taylor she has styled thousands. In 2021, Kendra moved into television signing with NBC Sports working with on-air talent and joined the wardrobe team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games. These days you’ll find her on a microphone, producing events for well-known retailers like Neiman Marcus, teaching at the FIT, or facilitating private workshops on style. Press highlights include Yahoo!, CNN, Marie Claire, SHAPE, Essence, Shoe Retailing Today and Black Enterprise.

Nishant Lahiri

Climate Change Researcher & Innovator

In my freshman year of high school, I was named by 3M and Discovery Education as one of America's Top Ten Young Scientists. With the funding I received, I continued to develop my project. I have recently (May) received major recognition for my ideas and research, placing first in chemistry at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, the world's largest pre-collegiate science competition. Among others, I won the Ricoh USA Sustainable Development Award and best in category at the Sigma Xi Student Research Showcase. I presented my work on "Polyethylenimine Impregnated Adsorbents for a Community-Based Carbon Capture and Sequestration Approach". These accomplishments validated and inspired me to share my ideas and spread my reach.

Ruth Gotian

Educator/Coach/Author

Dr. Ruth Gotian is the Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology and former founding Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of the Mentoring Academy at Weill Cornell Medicine. She has been hailed by the journal Nature and Columbia University as an expert in mentorship and leadership development and was recently recognized as one of the top 20 mentors in the world. In 2021, Thinkers50, dubbed the Oscars of management thinking, ranked her the #1 emerging management thinker in the world to bridge theory and practice. She was also a semi-finalist for the Forbes 50 Over 50 list. In addition to publishing in academic journals, she is a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Psychology Today, where she writes about ‘optimizing success’. Her research is about the mindset and skill set of peak performers, including Nobel laureates, astronauts, and Olympic champions, which she writes about in her book, The Success Factor.

Tina Parker

Courageously Authentic Leadership Coach/Speaker

Tina Parker is the founder and CEO of Lead Outside the Lines, guiding visionary executives and entrepreneurs to “stop checking the box” and start creating remarkable results with certainty, clarity, and ease. With 20+ years as a C-level leader and trusted executive advisor across private, public and non-profit sectors, Tina currently serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve; the Chief Marketing Officer for The Mentor Project; and the Chief Experience Officer for Platform One, a secure software development team for the Department of Defense. With an M.A. in Leadership and Management, and certifications in Design Thinking, Executive Management, Transformational Facilitation, Neuroencoding, Brain Health, & Leadership Coaching, she is a changemaker in aligning and elevating executive leadership, marketing, and innovative strategies with courageous authenticity.

Tom Heany

Musician/Music Educator

Tom Heany is a songwriter and guitarist from the Hudson River Valley in New York. His songs call to mind the traditional music of the United States, the classic songs of the '30s and '40s, and the stories we tell when families get together. FIRST, LEARN TO PRACTICE is Tom's book about practicing. "...both simple and effective... a must for anyone who is serious about learning to play." Suitable for all musicians - professional, amateur, student or beginner - FIRST, LEARN TO PRACTICE can show you how to get the most pleasure, and the most progress, out of your practice time. PRACTICING FOR PARENTS is an inexpensive guide to practicing for parents of beginning music students.