Theme: Metanoia

The theme of TEDx AEBS is "Metanoia" - an ancient Greek word meaning "changing one's mind" or "a transformative change of heart." We chose this theme because the goal of TEDx is to spread ideas that challenge our normal ways of thinking and disrupt our typical mindsets.The talks you will hear today aim to create "Metanoia moments" - those lightbulb flashes of insight that fundamentally shift your perspective. Our speakers will share innovations, discoveries, and experiences that hopefully ignite Metanoia for you.

Zizhu Multi Purpose Hall
上海市 闵行区 谈家塘路155号华二紫竹学院
Minhang, Shanghai, 201100
China

Deano Delpleash

High-Performance Coach & Innovation Enthusiast

Deano Delpleash is the Founder and Creator of the Level Up Leader Movement. He believes that true leadership starts by mastering oneself (mind, body & spirit) so that we can be a better role model to the next generation of leaders. He is an Entrepreneur, Storyteller, Master Neurolinguistic Practitioner, and one of the world's leading High-Performance Coaches. He received his Master's degree in Enterprise Management with a focus on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Global Leadership from Zhejiang University, School of Management.

Heidi Berg

Sustainability Director

Heidi Berg is a sustainability professional focused on connecting China with "the West", as an experienced speaker for many years - several of Heidi Berg’s highlights include sharing the stage with the late Hans Rosling, one of the highest ranked TED speakers, and standing in for BBC reporter Zeinab Badawi. She regards that our global society is facing tremendous challenges: Global warming is already having devastating effects on social and natural environments, and the trend of “de-globalization” is making international collaborations harder. Issues of this scale require actions at the highest level, including governments, large corporates, and big investment funds. In her daily job, Heidi Berg works to support companies in China with these efforts. After work, she drinks Chinese tea. Through her journey in learning the rich history and culture of Chinese tea, she discovered a deep connection between tea and sustainability on the individual level.

Jianzhong Lu

China Business News Think Tank Expert

Dr. Lu Jian Zhong, currently Board Member of Global Reporting Initiative GRI and Deputy Director General of China CSR Think Tank, Deputy Chairman of Shanghai Foreign Invested Association. He performed many senior executive roles for more than 20 years in a variety of industry sectors and multinational companies, such as President General Affairs Essilor Greater China, President China of The Weir Group, and Global Partner of Brunswick Group, Executive Vice President of Singapore RGE Group (China) and Chief Representative, Chairman of RGE subsidiary Asia Symbol Paper & Pulp Ltd, Acting President of BHP Billiton (China). In his roles of leading China operation in the companies, he made significant contribution to help those companies establish and promote their business strategy, commercial development and growth, organizational development, operating excellency and continuous improvement, social responsibility, employee engagement and development.

Justin Hourn

Co-founder and Head Coach of Refuge Martial Arts

Justin Hourn is a health & fitness entrepreneur with over decade experience across Australia and Asia. During his professional sports career, Justin worked for some of South East Asia’s hottest tech start-ups in sales & marketing before setting up a martial arts community, Refuge Martial Arts, in Shanghai, China. He holds Black Belts in BJJ, Karate and Tae Kwon Do. He also was on the national team of Australia for Freestyle Wrestling and the folkstyle team captain. Growing up in the Hunter Valley town of Singleton, Justin understands the issues facing regional businesses first hand and is passionate about enabling technology and techniques to boost sales. That propelles his career in consulting while being located in Australia. On top of his experience as an accredited Digital Business Advisor, Justin holds tertiary qualifications in Business Analytics, Chinese (Mandarin), Applied Finance and Entreprenuership.Justin’s story of being an athlete +businessman has been published as well.

Olivia Plotnick

Founder, Wai Social Global Women Asia Fellow ’23-24

Olivia is a social media enthusiast, forever obsessing over how brands connect with audiences on today’s most powerful platforms, particularly in China. She holds over 8 years of experience helping brands plan and execute digital strategy for China and is the founder of wai social, a marketing and consulting agency focused on helping brands build relationships and communities with consumers in China through social media. Olivia regularly delivers talks and trainings to Fortune 500 companies and global delegations, as well as mentoring at various startup initiatives around the world. She has served on the Board of Directors for several non-profit organizations in Shanghai including IPWS - International Professional Women’s Society and FitFam - Free Fitness Community.

Pablo Rabadán

Entrepreneur, Designer, and Engineer

Pablo Rabadán, an adventurous entrepreneur, designer, and engineer, is the founder of StyleMate. Pablo moved from Madrid to Shanghai to challenge the fashion status quo by utilising AI and behavioural science to capture the way we use, curate, and express our unique style. Living with diabetes since childhood, Pablo gained a profound perspective on life, inspiring him to embrace the philosophy of "living more intensely" when faced with limited time and resources. He believes that we hold the power to decide how we utilise these precious assets and that barriers are meant to be surmounted by leaping higher. As a graduate of Industrial Design Engineering from the esteemed Polytechnic University of Madrid, Pablo further expanded his horizons through two Master's Degrees in Industrial Organization and International Leadership, attending prestigious institutions such as MIT, Harvard, and Cambridge University.

Scott Pollack

CEO + Leadership Team Coach; Founder, ROGUE SCOTT Executive Advisory

With over 30 years of strategy, business development, sales, marketing, product and consulting experience primarily in the Internet, digital media and technology space, Scott has been successful developing and growing businesses in the United States and Asia. Working in Asia since 1999 and living in China since 2005, his experience includes senior executive roles in public companies, start-ups, and global consultancies including McKinsey, Gallup and Deloitte Consulting. Scott made a purpose-driven career shift in 2017 to become a certified scale-up business coach, delivering MEANINGFUL IMPACT helping entrepreneurial CEOs to successfully scale their businesses with greater ease, speed and confidence. He also serves on multiple advisory boards; is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Shanghai American School; and is an Entrepreneur in Residence / CEO Mentor at SOSV – Orbit Startups. Scott holds a BA in economics from UC Berkeley and received both an MBA and JD from UCLA.

Wang Kai

Assistant professor of the International Education Center of East China Normal University, also the Founder of Wang Kai Calligraphy Center

Wang Kai, at the age of 5, acted in the documentary "Little Calligrapher"; at the age of 10, she played in the TV series "Butterfly Flowers" and many other films and TV calligraphy teaching programs. She has also completed the recording of calligraphy practice and appreciation classes for East China Normal University in 2021. She has taught Chinese calligraphy, stamp making and Chinese painting in ECNU for around 15 years. She was also a Visiting Professor of Ink Art and Photography courses at New York University in Shanghai for more than 10 years. Moreover, Wang Kai is an Art Consultant at the Reader Service Department of Shanghai Library, and has made a sample writing for "Tang Tablet Exhibition" (exhibited by Shanghai Library). She has also taken calligraphy videos for many top 500 enterprises such as Laikai Pharmaceutical. Wang Kai is an outstanding calligrapher and artist, and undoubtedly a well-known expert in this field.

Wu Ran

Doctor of Medicine, associate professor, and deputy director of the Mental Health Education and Counseling Center of East China Normal University.

Wu Ran holds a Doctor of Medicine and is the Chinese Psychological Association's registered psychologist and a supervisor of the Shanghai University Psychological Counseling Association. She is currently a member of the Mindfulness Psychology Special Committee of the Chinese Psychological Association, and her main research directions are mindfulness meditation intervention and psychological crisis prevention. Wu Ran has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 2011, after which she conducted academic studies. In 2016, she jointly developed simple mindfulness meditation with Professor Jiang Chunlei of the Naval Military Medical University, which is certified by the National Administration. Having published numerous papers in important domestic and international core journals such as the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Frontiers in Neuroscience, BMC Psychiatry, and the Archives of Suicide Research.