Theme: TEDxAjijic

TEDxAjijic: The ART of POSSIBILITY

Join us for the debut of TEDxAjijic on the scenic shores of Lake Chapala, just a short drive from Guadalajara, on March 22, 2025. This inspiring event will take place at the Centro para la Cultura y las Artes de la Ribera in Ajijic and will feature 12 dynamic speakers and performers, each with Ideas Worth Spreading that aim to make our community, our country, and our world a better place.

Program Highlights
Doors open at 1:00 PM, with the program starting at 1:45 PM. Over two engaging sessions and a short intermission, you’ll hear talks on topics such as aging, personal growth, education, humanity, philanthropy, and more. The program concludes at 5:15 PM, followed by a unique opportunity to meet the speakers.

Introducing the Mexican Cancer Tapestry
One of the event’s highlights is the unveiling of the Mexican Cancer Tapestry, a groundbreaking project that captures 1,000 stories of cancer. This initiative, inspired by Scottish artist and TEDxAjijic speaker Andrew Crummy, weaves together the science of cancer care and the human experience of compassion, connection, and community support.

What is TEDx Ajijic?
TEDxAjijic is a locally organized event under the global TED brand, known for fostering Technology, Entertainment, and Design. With the theme “The ART of POSSIBILITY,” this event highlights how bold ideas and creative thinking can spark transformative change.

Speakers include: Andrew Crummy, Jesus Cochegrus, Kathleen Durham, David Ellison, Jesus V. Lopez Vega, Fraser MacLean, Kat Miller, Michael Nuschke, Kat O’Sullivan, Barbara Wilson, Dr. Joshua Greene, and the Ghela Quartet.

Get Your Tickets!
General Admission: $250 pesos
VIP Reserved Seating: $350 pesos

Tickets are available at https://ted.com/tedx/events/58995 and The Garden of Dreams and on Thursdays from 10am - Noon at the Lake Chapala Society.

Sponsorship Opportunities
Support TEDxAjijic and enjoy exclusive benefits with sponsorship starting at $10,000 pesos. For more information, contact us at tedxajijic@gmail.com.

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the ART of POSSIBILITY on March 22. Because ideas truly change everything!

Centro para la Cultura y las Artes de la Ribera
Carretera a Chapala-Jocotepec 168, Col. La Floresta
Casita
Ajijic, Jalisco, 45920
Mexico

Andrew Crummy

Artist, Illustrator, Muralist, and Tapestry Creator

Dr Andrew Crummy MBE is a Scottish artist who is well known for designing and drawing large scale community arts projects such as The Great Tapestry of Scotland. He has also completed over 80 murals, these are community based that involve many people. He studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Dundee, then Glasgow School of Art. He became an illustrator and then a muralist. Since 2010 he has designed many community based tapestries. His most recent project is the Cancer Tapestry, which aims to collect thousands of stories of how cancer impacted.on their lives.

Barbara Wilson

Rotary International Advocate and Community Philanthropist

Barbara Wilson is a retired special education teacher, administrator and school superintendent from the San Francisco Bay Area. A long-serving member and Leader in Rotary, she was appointed as an International Service Director due to her interest in helping others around the world. Her focus has been how to best use limited resources to support projects that are sustainable and would have a long term impact, for example, a project in Nogales, Mexico, that funded micro credit to beginning entrepreneurs in that community. Barbara retired to on 2010 and joined the Ajijic Rotary Club, and was a founding member of the Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club. Since her work with the Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club, she is most proud of her ability to make connections and form relationships with other Rotary Clubs and its members, as well as private donors to bring resources for student scholarships, and projects in clean water, and sanitation, dentistry, diabetes, and kidney disease.

David Ellison

Educator, Administrator, Mentor, Writer, and Community Activist

During his thirty-six-year career, David Ellison was a teacher, mentor teacher, school administrator, education columnist and community activist. He worked in schools foreign and domestic, public and private, grades four through college. He served as the New Haven Unified and the American Council of School Administrators Region VI Teacher of the Year in 1996. He has published four books including Bloodletting: Why Education Reform is Killing America’s Schools.

Dr. Joshua Greene

Environmental Engineer and Water Conservationist

Joshua Greene is the co-director and founder of Rios Vivos, a project which seeks innovation in the water and sanitation sector in the Upper River Santiago Watershed. The project began as an outcome of investigations that Dr. Greene participated in, trying to understand the cause and effect of the contamination devastating the area. Greene has a Masters in Global Policy with a specialization in water, water finance and development from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. His doctorate comes the University of Geneva where he co-directed a research team looking at the socio-economic impacts of water access in Mexico. Today he works at Mexico’s premier anthropological research institute CIESAS where he coordinates and directs various levels of interventions in the regional water space. The project Rios Vivos is focused on bringing educational and financial resources into communities where simple solutions can be applied and built upon

Fraser MacLean

Animation Skills Coordinator and Educator

In addition to being Animation Skills Coordinator at Escuela Escena, Fraser is also the author of “Setting The Scene: The Art & Evolution of Animation Layout” which was described by Total Film Magazine as, “….a museum, a film school and an art gallery all in one”. He has been working in commercial animation since 1987 and his screen credits include “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, “Space Jam” and Disney’s “Tarzan”. Fraser currently lives in Guadalajara and has taught at a wide range of different universities, colleges and art schools in a number of different countries - including Costa Rica, Norway, Scotland, Lebanon, Ireland and Austria.

Jesus Cochegrus

Computer Scientist

Jesus Cochegrús is a Computer Science Engineer with +20 years of experience leading companies in video games, animation, and advertising. He worked on projects for Coca-Cola, Nike, Nintendo, and Audi (among many others). He directed the first Mexican company certified by Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation, and his team launched the first Latin American game to reach #1 on iTunes Mexico. Jesús has delivered +400 keynotes in 24 countries (America / Europe) for renowned management conferences (WOBI, MDRT, TEDx, YPO) and top international brands like Disney, BVLGARI, Coca-Cola, HSBC, SAP, and Walmart, among many others. His purpose: helping others become GAME-CHANGERS… the heroes of their own video game.

Jesus Victoriano Lopez Vega

Artist, Sculptor, and Muralist

Jesus Lopez Vega explores the intersection of the personal and the cultural in his paintings, sculpture and murals. He has works in private art collections all over the world, and has exhibited in galleries throughout Mexico. In Jesus’s mystical works you will find the visions of the ancients, the energy of Mexico’s native traditions, the schemes of its political reformers, and an individual’s psychological experience of it all. Jesus is largely a self-taught artist, and he credits his childhood immersion in art as the reason he has found a high-level of artistic success today. “I was so fortunate to find myself at the Neil James’ children’s art program each Saturday,” he says. “There, I learned technique and was given confidence.” Whenever he’s not honing a new artistic vision, Vega can be found teaching in volunteer capacity at the ongoing Children’s Art Program at the Lake Chapala Society in Ajijic, founded forty five years ago by Miss James, one of Ajijic’s original expatriates.

Kat Miller

Expert on Aging Gracefully and Fully

Kat Miller, MA, is passionate about promoting authentic aging. Dedicated to dismantling ageist narratives, she empowers individuals to embrace the inherent beauty of growing older. As the founder of Age Freely, she offers counseling, event speaking, and podcast guesting. Kat inspires us to cultivate fresh approaches to aging and dying that prioritize joy and inner freedom while acknowledging the true losses of aging. She is also the co-creator of the conversational card game, Older: A Renewable Life, available on Amazon.

Kat O'Sullivan

Transition Coach, Author, Speaker, and Podcast Host

Kat O’Sullivan is an author, speaker, podcast host, and transition coach. She is known for doing the seemingly impossible and helping others do the same. For over 25 years, Kat worked across sectors -- corporate, nonprofit, education, and privately owned businesses, providing a roadmap, support, and tools to bring their vision to life. Her new book, From Doubt to Do: Navigating Your Pathway to Possibility supports people wanting to make a significant transition to move toward the future just waiting for them to say, “Hell, YES!” to dreaming big, living boldly and creating a fulfilling life they will love.

Kathleen Durham

Writer, Solutionist, and Promoter of Self-development for a Peaceful World

Kathleen Durham’s mission is to help people and organizations find and use their sweet spot for giving back and standing for world peace through personal and organizational development. She practiced Business and Employment Law in California and New York. As the former Executive Director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York, Durham promoted leadership training as practiced by Eleanor Roosevelt in the areas of social justice, human rights, and socially conscious leadership. Durham served on a number of non-profit boards in New York and Georgia and believes service is the “rent you pay for your space on earth.” Kathleen has been recognized for her leadership and service. In 2017 she received the prestigious Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal and the Athena International Leadership Awards Presently she is the author of a biweekly Substack post called Hola Mrs. Roosevelt, It’s Me! Kathleen resides in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico.

Michael Nuschke

Retirement Futurist and Mexico Relocation Expert

Michael Nuschke is a Retirement Futurist and a “Retire in Mexico” expert. Michael enjoyed a 35 year career as an investment and retirement advisor. He writes and speaks about the future of retirement via his company RetirementSingularity.com He is author of “The End of Retirement As We Know It” and chapters in two books about the future including, “Anticipating 2025” and “The Future of Business: Critical Insights into a Rapidly Changing World from 60 Future Thinkers”. He lives in Mexico and Canada, and is co-owner of FocusOnMexico.com – a business that helps educate people about moving to Mexico.

Phil Rylett

Master of Ceremonies

Phil Rylett was born in Yorkshire, England and attended Leeds University where he received a BSc. (Hons.) in Pharmacology. His research at University resulted in a published paper in Lancet, one of the world's leading medical research publications. He furthered his medical training and became a State Registered Nurse from the University of Sussex (1979) and worked as nurse in UK and US. A life-long learner, Phil returned to school at California State University, Sacramento, and worked as a programmer, database designer, and system analyst. He developed the systems for a State and National breast and cervical cancer detection program for under-served women. When he retired and moved to Mexico, he became a fixture in the Ajijic community, and has served as Master of Ceremonies (MC) for the Easter season's Pasion de Cristo for the past 6 years, as the MC for the Annual Thriller charity event, as the moderator for Open Circle at the Lake Chapala Society, and now as MC for TEDxAjijic.