Theme: Kaleidoscope

TEDxMcGill is an independently organised single-day TED conference in Montreal started in 2009 by students from McGill University. The upcoming event, scheduled for February 2024, will carry the theme 'Kaleidoscope.' This theme represents a celebration of diversity, innovation, and the ever-evolving panorama of human creativity. Like a kaleidoscope, which creates intricate patterns by reflecting and refracting light through various mirrors, shapes, and colors, TEDxMcGill serves as a platform where a diverse array of perspectives, disciplines, and backgrounds converge. Through the theme 'Kaleidoscope,' TEDxMcGill aims to bring together a wide range of human thoughts and experiences. By turning the kaleidoscope of ideas, attendees will have the opportunity to uncover new patterns of thought and discover bright, colorful perspectives.

Le National
1220 St Catherine St E
Montreal, Quebec, H2L 2G9
Canada

Bradley Crocker

Brad Crocker is a PhD candidate in the Healthy Living Lab at McGill University, where he uses mixed methods research to explore how people get information, form attitudes, and make decisions relating to their health. Brad has been awarded over $250k in scholarships towards his graduate studies, which will be wrapping up in Spring 2024. Brad has won multiple best-presenter awards at academic conferences and competed as a finalist in McGill’s 3-Minute Thesis program, as well as at the 2023 SSHRC Storytellers Showcase. Brad hopes to foster critical thinking in people searching for health information online, and aims to empower people to feel they can live a healthy evidence-based lifestyle.

Elaine Xiao

Elaine Xiao craves stress and the feeling of being busy. She grew up in BC before moving to Montreal to study Pharmacology and Philosophy at McGill, where she enjoys getting involved in equity and sustainability initiatives around campus. She works at the Eating Disorder Centre, is a volunteer first responder, and is involved in student government. She is also burnt out. Over the past two years, Elaine has spent a lot of time reflecting and realizing she is functioning on autopilot to the point that she hardly feels human. The shadow of overcommitment is a familiar presence in the lives of many undergrads and students. As a student with a fear of the unknown and the future, Elaine will be talking about navigating overcommitment and how to dedicate our limited time to activities we value. Beyond bustling around campus, she loves to hike, read a book she's been trying to finish for months, and attend spin classes.

Jiordana Saade

Jiordana is a clinical nutritionist & hypnotist with a degree in behavioural psychology. After overcoming obesity by recovering her own relationship to food, Jiordana helps woman all over the world let go of overeating, increase confidence and release the excess weight without dieting. Jiordana is the co-author of “Reversible Journal”, a book written with Dr. Mohammed Abrahim on reversing obesity and its related disorders, and the sole author of “The Mind-Full Journal”, a journal for behaviour change. Jiordana firmly believes in the brain-body connection and helps clients to recover their mental and physical health through the use of clinical nutrition, hypnotherapy and the psychology of eating.

Linnea Nguyen

Linnea Nguyen is a second-year student at McGill University pursuing a double major in Political Science and Sociology. As the Strategy and Global Partnerships Officer on Amnesty International Canada's National Youth Action and Advisory Board (NYAAC), Linnea is responsible for seeking out global opportunities for Amnesty's youth membership and the development of the National Youth Strategy. Linnea additionally serves as a U-Report Ambassador for UNICEF Canada and a Crisis Responder for Kids Help Phone. She also fulfills advisory roles as a member of the RCMP National Youth Advisory Committee and of the UNESCO Global Youth Community (GYC). Through her talk, Linnea hopes to articulate her vision for the integration and engagement of young perspectives in democratic processes, along with the steps to achieve this objective. She emphasizes the significance of empowering youth to embrace and partake in their ability to shape the world.

Nicholas Cholmsky

Student

Nicholas Cholmsky is a first-year undergraduate student at McGill pursuing psychology. For years, Nick has passionately spoken on mental health in a variety of settings. From small-scale seminars to national speech competitions, he has used public speaking as a vessel to break down the stigma surrounding mental health. Most recently, he spoke on the issues facing Canada’s mental health care system in the National Speech and Debate Canada’s 2023 Persuasive Speech Competition and was awarded first place.

Nithya Mahasenan

Born and raised in the United States and Canada, Nithya Lakshmi Mahasenan is an Economics, Finance and International Development student at McGill University. As a woman of colour, Nithya seeks to understand the intersections between identity and industry, and how our backgrounds in an ever-changing world affect our individual life experiences, particularly in regards to other women. Nithya was the recipient of the 2023 South Shore University Women's Club Award for an outstanding female student who made significant contributions to gender empowerment, through her initiatives to raise awareness towards the lack of financial literacy education amongst women in North America. Outside of her studies, Nithya is involved in JED Consulting, Canada's #1 student-run consulting firm, and is the VP Mentorship of McGill Women in Leadership, where she aims to foster a community on campus that empowers, celebrates and uplifts women and their aspirations.

Oran Magal

Professor

After completing his PhD in philosophy at McGill, Oran has been teaching as a course lecturer at McGill and at Dawson College. His main work in recent years has been on expanding the scope of what is taught in undergraduate philosophy courses to include non-Western philosophical traditions.