Theme: Elevate

Returning for its eighth year, TEDxOshkosh will again present speakers who will challenge conventional thinking, stretch perspectives, and inspire the audience The day is designed to build community and conversation during breaks allowing audience members to engage with speakers and other attendees, and during a catered lunch.

For 2024, the TEDxOshkosh team has selected the theme, Elevate, emphasizing the power of innovative ideas to elevate perspectives, discussions and community engagement.

The Grand Oshkosh (formerly The Grand Opera House)
100 High Ave
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 54901
United States

Courtney Dvorak

Corporate activist, Change management practitioner

Courtney Dvorak is a corporate activist devoted to empowering individuals to live as their most authentic selves. A certified Change Management Practitioner (CMP), Courtney excels in orchestrating transformative change through thoughtfully crafted, people-centric strategies. Her degrees in sociology and social welfare from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, combined with over 10 years of practical experience, allows her to coach leaders through compassionate and effective change from the initial concept through to seamless execution. Courtney lives in Appleton, Wisconsin with her husband, their daughter, and their dog. An enthusiastic cyclist and Breakthrough T1D Ride to Cure participant, she also enjoys tending to her houseplant collection, spending time outdoors, and live music events.

Gabriela Fleury

Conservation biologist

Gabriela (“Gabi”) Fleury is an Environment and Resources PhD candidate in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute. A trained conservation biologist with more than five years’ experience mitigating human-wildlife conflict on the African continent in South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, and now Botswana, she has had her community-centered human-wildlife interactions research nationally recognized by Science Friday, the American Philosophical Society, Rotary International, Forbes Magazine, and the Fulbright Student Program. Her PhD research focuses on mitigating predator-livestock conflict through deterrent testing in collaboration with Botswanan NGO Cheetah Conservation Botswana in the Kalahari Desert where she works with Indigenous San livestock producers. She holds degrees from the University of Cape Town in South Africa’s prestigious Fitzpatrick Institute (M.S.) and from James Madison University (B.S., summa cum laude).

Jennifer Skolaski

Nonprofit organizations consultant

Jennifer Skolaski, Ph.D., is the owner of Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC. and has been involved with a variety of nonprofits including organizations and collaborations that focus on environment, education, health care, safety, youth, domestic violence, substance use, and poverty. She has taught at both University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and has played various roles in nonprofits, ranging from staff member, board member, intern, to volunteer. These experiences have inspired her to continue working in the nonprofit sector to bring results through working collaborations and making an impact in the community. Since 2018, Jennifer has facilitated the Winnebago County Overdose Fatality Review (OFR), which is a multidisciplinary team that works to prevent overdose deaths through systems change and collective impact work. She currently serves as the Project Manager of the OFR team.

Masha Pavlova

Entrepreneur, NGO founder

Masha’s journey includes being a young immigrant overcoming trauma, undiagnosed neurodiversity, and homelessness on the pathway to becoming a successful entrepreneur, only to have that taken away thanks to crumbling health. Since then, by mastering perseverance, she has since rebuilt her dreams from the ground up. Today, Masha serves as the Founder of the 24-Hour Pause for Peace - a worldwide concert uniting hearts with music and love, guided by future generations. Working within PEAC Institute, an international NGO, along with a member of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning team and other extraordinary, like-minded, beautiful individuals, this mission invites the whole world to witness a day where peace is not just a hope, but a reality. Masha is a three-time #1 international bestselling business book author..

Michael Ford

Public administration professor

Michael Ford is a Professor of Public Administration and Director of the Masters of Public Administration program at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. He has published over 40 peer reviewed articles on public and nonprofit governance, and one peer reviewed book on education policy. In addition to his role at UW Oshkosh, he served as an elected member of the Oshkosh Common Council, as a member of the Oshkosh Plan Commission, and as President of the Midwest Public Affairs Conference. He writes monthly columns for the Public Administration Times and the Oshkosh Herald. His work has been featured in a variety of media, including the Washington Post, the Houston Chronicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Associated Press, and Wisconsin Public Radio. He holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Marquette University, a Masters of Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a Ph.D. in Urban Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Natraj Shanker

Manufacturing consultant

An evangelist for the micro-factory concept, Natraj is retired after a lengthy career in a wide variety of engineering and manufacturing leadership capacities. He started his career with General Motors/EDS and worked on plant automation projects as a functional lead and project manager. He became part of EDS Consulting and worked on just-in-time and Kanban projects for GM parts manufacturers. He later joined Rockwell Automation as program manager for global supply chain, then moved on as Director of IT Process Excellence. Leaving Rockwell Automation, Natraj started his own consulting practice and worked on critical projects for a wide variety of clients. He then joined Adobe as project manager and later program manager for implementation of Adobe's marketing cloud solution. During the COVID pandemic, he started a small venture to make and ship 3D printed custom novelty products for the local market and extending the market using Etsy.

Pallavi Tiwari

Biomedical engineer, Inventor

Dr. Pallavi Tiwari is a leading researcher and thought leader in Artificial Intelligence for precision medicine. She serves as an Associate Professor in the Depts. of Radiology & Biomedical Engineering; and as the Co-Director of Imaging and Radiation Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research has evolved into over 70 peer-reviewed publications, 60 peer-reviewed abstracts, and 14 patents (8 issued, 6 pending). Dr. Tiwari has been a recipient of several scientific awards, most notably being named as one of 100 women achievers by the Government of India for making a positive impact in the fields of science and innovation. In 2018, she was one of Crain’s Business Cleveland Forty under 40 awardees for her contributions to Case Western University and the State of Ohio. She has also been awarded the Johnson & Johnson Women in STEM scholar award for her research contributions in healthcare and technology.

Seon Yoon Chung

Nurse, Healthcare educator & administrator

Seon Yoon Chung is an administrator, educator, researcher, nurse who is dedicated to contributing to the society by promoting health and well-being through empowering the healthcare workforce. As a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator and certified Nurse Educator, she is a great proponent of experiential learning, leveraging state-of-the-art teaching and learning technologies, to support learners’ competency development in a psychologically safe environment. Seon Yoon is a Dean at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. She holds PhD from the University of Maryland, where she also served as a faculty member prior to joining Illinois State University as an administrator, preceding her taking her current role at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Shaheda Govani

Dentist

Shaheda Govani is a dentist working in, and originally from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In addition to her day-to-day work as a practicing dentist, she is highly active in the non-profit sector and the dental community at large, with professional dental involvement at both the local level, and as a member of the Wisconsin Dental Association. She has served on Wisconsin Dental Associations’ Ethics Board and Membership committees, with past experience as a representative to the Wisconsin Dental Association’s House of Delegates. In the non-profit sector, she has been a member of Oshkosh Rotary, a board member of the Oshkosh Area United Way, & the Oshkosh YMCA, and currently spends time serving as core member with Woman Who Care of Oshkosh working to raise funds and awareness to local nonprofits. The first in her family to graduate from college, she received an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, and a DDS from the Marquette University School of Dentistry.

Shermin Kruse

Lawyer, Professor, Global transactions expert

Shermin Kruse is an author, global transactions expert, lawyer, board advisor, speaker, professor, TEDx producer, and idea curator. She currently teaches global transactions, tactical empathy, complex negotiation, and leadership at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She is the author of the textbook Global Transactions and Regulation: Political, Legal, and Cultural Frameworks, published by Northwestern University Library, which examines current and relevant business, legal, regulatory, and ethical issues arising from commercial transactions across national borders. In addition to her teaching and corporate negotiations experience, Shermin was a partner at the law firm of Barack Ferrazzano, where she represented international and Fortune 500 companies for 17 years. Her nearly two-decade-long legal practice provided her with in-depth knowledge of corporate business management, high-stakes negotiations, and complex cross-border transactions.