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).

Hordern Pavilion
1 Driver Avenue
Sydney, New South Wales, 2021
Australia

Andrew Nunn

Andy Nunn has dedicated his life to unravelling the mysteries of the mind. Using the power of magic and mentalism, Andrew Nunn challenges the status quo and aims to change how his audience sees the world. An avid scuba enthusiast and ultramarathon runner, Andrew is energised by his curiosity and undaunted by the uncomfortable. With over 25 years of experience, beginning his magical journey at the esteemed Magic Circle at the age of 10, he offers incredible insights into the boundless capabilities of the human mind.

Bill Edgar

Bill Edgar is the ‘Coffin Confessor’ - a successful businessman, counsellor, author and one of Australia’s leading private detectives, Bill crashes the funerals of his clients telling those that were loved just how much they were loved and those his clients loved to hate to F*** off. Bill’s job is not for the faint of heart or those that fear and whether you like him or loathe him you won’t forget him.

Dana Tomić Hughes

With a disarming blend of authority and approachability, Dana is an accomplished interior designer turned visionary digital publisher. She is the brainchild behind Yellowtrace — a globally esteemed design publication she began as a passion project over a decade ago. Today, Yellowtrace is an eminent platform beloved by the global design fraternity, championing design excellence and groundbreaking innovation. Her profound belief in the transformative power of design propels Dana to make the sometimes intimidating world of design accessible to everyone, regardless of their familiarity with the subject. Dana's been catapulted to the status of a stalwart global influencer, with recognition from industry heavyweights. Named among the "Top 200 True Global Influencers of the Design World" by AD Germany and recognized by Vogue Living as one of the most visionary female creatives on the planet, Dana's influence extends well beyond her native Australia. Elle Décor Italia and Danish RUM Interiør Design have hailed her as a pivotal tastemaker. Through her multi-faceted work as an editor, curator, creative director and keynote speaker, Dana empowers others to appreciate and engage with design in transformative ways. Dana balances her seriousness about design with a relatable and down-to-earth persona. Her innate sense of humour, humility, and generosity make her a beloved design figure, fostering a warm connection with audiences worldwide.

Emma Myers

Emma Myers is a screenwriter, actor and journalist with cerebral palsy based in Newcastle, NSW. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and 1st Class Honours degree on the representation of women, disability and intimacy in contemporary culture. Emma is passionate about educating audiences about the intersection of womanhood, sexuality and disability through the medium of screen. The critically acclaimed 2022 SBS Digital Originals’ series Latecomers, which Emma co created and wrote, gained a Series Mania nomination and won a SPA Award as well as the Screen Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2023. She is one of this year’s recipients of Screenworks Inside The Writers Room program, as well as one of the representatives recently chosen to serve on Screen Australia's Gender Matters Task Force during 2023 to 2025. Emma was also the recipient of the ABC Regional Storyteller Scholarship in 2020 and has two years experience working as a Features Reporter for ABC News.

Feras Shaheen

Feras Shaheen is an artist curious in letting his conceptual interests lead him across a variety of mediums. Using choreography, installations, visual art, film, performance, digital media, and street dance to communicate his ideas, the core of Feras’ practice is to connect and engage audiences. Born in Dubai to Palestinian parents, and moving to Western Sydney at age 11, Feras uses his practice as a way to reflect and examine how he views the world, addressing local and global issues. Winner of The Australian Ballet’s Telstra Emerging Choreographer (TEC) in 2021, Feras has performed and exhibited at Carriageworks, Venice Biennale, Pari, Kampnagel, Campbelltown Arts Centre, and Théâtre de la Ville. Holding a Bachelor of Design from Western Sydney University (2014), Feras often subverts traditional relationships between mediums to challenge audiences' perspectives. Recent works include ‘Cross Cultures’, ‘Plastic Bag’, ongoing collaboration ‘Klapping’, and ‘Forum Q’. Feras is currently working with Marrugeku's ‘Jurrungu Ngan-ga’, a collaborative production that addresses issues regarding the fear of cultural differences.

Jess Hitchcock

Jess Hitchcock is a Melbourne-based Indigenous singer-songwriter who has stirred the Australian music and performing arts scene as a genre-defying force. Her powerful voice and knack for storytelling has seen her shine across pop, country, folk, opera and music theatre, sharing the stage and studio with some of Australia's favourites. One of Jess's most notable collaborations is with legendary Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly. Together they performed and recorded Paul's song, ‘Everyday My Mother’s Voice’, earning standing ovations across the nation. You can occasionally find Jess in Paul's band on vocals and percussion. Jess has also collaborated with Archie Roach, Tina Arena and Kate Miller-Heidke. Together, Written by Jess Hitchcock Lyrics: We’re armed for this fight There’s no place to hide But we’re ready Behind me there stands One million people And we’re all ready This is our time We must fight for a future That we can give to our children They’ll have nothing left If we don’t stand, together now Each day it gets worse There seems like no end To gain power We’ve all lost our way Desensitised to pain To gain power Wars are all the same, the casualties and pain Are there any boundaries, that we will not cross The road ahead seems rough, but there’s no turning back We can only rectify all of this with us This is our time We must fight for a future That we can give to our children They’ll have nothing left If we don’t stand, together now

Josh Ismin

Joshua Ismin is the CEO/co-founder of Psylo, with diverse commercial and operational experience. Josh is a repeat founder with extensive fundraising and business building experience across a number of tech start-ups. He holds American and Australian citizenship, and holds an MBA and BSBA from Washington University in St Louis. www.psylo.bio

Lee Yearsley

Lee (Liesl) Yearsley has been developing AI for 20 years and has 4 patents in the field, She was founder and CEO of an AI search engine that went public. She then co-founded an AI platform Cognea that was acquired by IBM. At the time of acquisition, Cognea was serving 6 fortune 100 companies and 26 000 developers, and handling 60 million interactions across financial services, insurance, health, social chat, media, metaverse, robotics etc Yearsley is now CEO & founder of aKin, a Public Benefit AI company with its own foundation model. aKin AI are designed to be a true companion to humans and help us improve our lives, our society and our ecosystem.

Ross Harding

Equal parts trouble maker, technical mind, and artist, Harding is one of the most enthusiastic, optimistic and cheeky engineers you’ve ever met. A rare combination of dreamer and schemer: he thinks big picture about transforming cities around the world to become completely self-sufficient. At the same time working tirelessly with his team at Finding Infinity to actually make it happen. Operating across a range of scales from city-wide master planning to precincts, building design, and even temporary events, Finding Infinity are doing their best at turning dreams into reality. Short for finding a future based on infinite resources, Finding Infinity is a creative and technical environmental consultancy. His team of 10 unique characters based in Melbourne consist of architects, engineers, artists, urban agriculture specialists and more. Website: www.normalise.it

Sarah Cannard

Dr Sarah Cannard is a space systems engineer and scientist with a passion for pushing Australian technology to its limits, and then beyond. For almost two decades she has worked in the Australian Defence and Space industry and is now the Lead Engineer for an Australian Lunar Rover to support a NASA mission to the Moon. She is also at the forefront of deep-tech space research and development in Australia and a Director of a company supporting space startups. Sarah has been involved with many complex Defence and Space programs including the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa 1 Spacecraft re-entry into the middle of desert in central Australia, hypersonic sub-orbital rocket launches, weapons testing, Moon Rover research, and autonomous vehicle tests and trials.

Seyedali Mirjalili

Professor Seyedali Mirjalili is the director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Optimization at Torrens University. He has gained international recognition for his contributions to nature-inspired artificial intelligence techniques, with over 500 published works that have received more than 80,000 citations and an H-index of 90. He has been on the list of the top 1% of highly-cited researchers since 2019, and the Web of Science named him one of the most influential researchers in the world. In 2022 and 2023, The Australian newspaper recognized him as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence and a national leader in the Evolutionary Computation and Fuzzy Systems fields. He is a senior member of IEEE and holds editorial positions at several top AI journals, including Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Applied Soft Computing, Neurocomputing, Advances in Engineering Software, Computers in Biology and Medicine, Healthcare Analytics, Applied Intelligence, and Decision Analytics.

Stephen Hunt

Stephen Hunt is a serial entrepreneur who created his first company when he was 24 years old (a not-for-profit charity to tackle HIV/AIDS education). An accomplished musician, Stephen played music to pay the rent before pioneering online video advertising in the Australian market, through two successful startups. His passion for music led him to a senior role in the world's biggest music company (Universal Music Group) where he met his future co-founder, Nicc Johnson. Together they decided to transform healthcare with music - and founded Music Health in 2020.