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).

HWZ University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich
Lagerstrasse 5
Zurich, Zürich (de), 8021
Switzerland

Jonathan Moritz

Biography Chapter 1: 0 – 12 years Jonathan Moritz listened to adventure stories up and down and joined the scouts early, where excitement was guaranteed. Chapter 2: 13 – 24 years The adventure had become real by now and freedom called in many ways. After his apprenticeship as a polymechanic, he robbed his bank account and traveled through the USA which was a turning point in his life. This was followed by studies in business engineering and a semester abroad in New Zealand concluded with a longer trip to Fiji, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and later Australia. Chapter 3: 25-today The time had come to turn to the more serious topics of life. In his career he took on a leadership role and managed projects worth several hundred million Swiss francs. Privately, despite exploring the world, he could never really let go of his first love from the neighboring village. He married her in 2016 and the adventure shifted from skydiving, river rafting and bungee jumping to building sandcastles at the beach and splashing around in the children’s pool with his three kids. A different kind of adventure. To his surprise, by far no less horizon-expanding than traveling the world as he used to do before.

Lucie Kendall

Lucie was born in 1992 in Paris and was educated in Boston, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. An early inquisitiveness for all things food led to a science degree in food engineering. Since 2018 she has worked in innovation, both in ‘proof of concept management’ for start-ups and product development within Migros Industrie AG. Lucie enjoys pushing the boundaries of our concept of traditional food. Experimenting with ingredients started in her teens, creating unconventional edible cake decorations. She progressed from there to producing novel snacks at university to developing the world’s first vegan hard-boiled egg, available since November 2021 in retail.

Martin Koch

Growing up in a small town near the German-Polish border, Martin has always had a mind of his own. He left home at an early age, studied industrial engineering and began his career in a manufacturing corporation. Although he took on cross-departmental purchasing projects, his constant forward momentum somehow seemed to get in the way. Martin was fixated on numbers and often demanded precision – he had to learn to allow himself to make failures. Today, he leads transformation projects and puts the aspired impact into the focus of decision making. At Implenia, he is part of a team that will drive the change of the construction industry in Europe. He is “hands-on”, brings structure to complex problems and believes in the power of shared commitment. Martin has simplified his world: family – vocation – sport. And he is convinced that failure is part of his own personal success story.

Martina Meyer

As the youngest of three siblings, Martina Meyer quickly learned not to admit defeat so quickly. She developed her own strategies to beat the always much stronger brother in fighting and secure a place next to the beautiful and smart big sister. In the process, she soon realized that trying to be good at the same things as her siblings brought little attention. To her, it was important to find her own niche. And that’s what her drives now in life: To find the uniqueness in every person. As a communication and branding specialist it’s also the uniqueness of a company that she’s looking for to build a unique brand identity and to tell and write the story about this uniqueness across every communication channel. And as the mother of two girls, she’s curious about how they manage to find their niche and she’s happy to support them and be part of their lives.

Nicolas Huxley

Nicolas is an entrepreneur who has founded a recycling company in Cambodia named Elephbo, the circularity App TauschToni and a sustainable gadget start-up called LilyBeKind. He is a fan of minimalism, a frenetic adventurist who has cycled 4 continents and is passionate about creating impact in developing countries.

Patricia Thenisch

Patricia has always been a curious mind and loves anything related to culinary arts. After graduating from the hotel management school in Lausanne where she had met many people from different cultures and backgrounds, she pursued a career in marketing and sales. On this road she explored various business sectors whilst always focusing on creating a unique customer experience. Her passion for travel, her hospitality background and her Swiss-Hungarian roots have significantly impacted her approach on how she tackles new challenges. While attentively driving the digital transformation in her organization she manages to integrate operational excellence and strategic foresight together with her team.

Rob Holub

Rob Holub is a sought-after MC and public speaker, an accomplished television and film producer and a singer/songwriter. Equal part explorer and entertainer Rob investigates in some of the world’s foremost topics and digital trends with the sole purpose of connecting people, evoking feelings and discovering our present humanity. Driven by his fascination with the impact of digitization on our lives, he is currently producing his first feature documentary film „Searching for Contact“. In the film he reflects a struggle that millions share, living in a society where the greatest currency in the world is public attention. Rob studied media, journalism and sociology in Fribourg, Switzerland and in California, USA, and graduated bilingual with a Master of Arts degree. His studies and travels around the world, have deeply influenced his work.

Sarah Genner

Sarah Genner is a digital expert, consultant, and board member based in Zurich. She has a PhD in internet research, she teaches at various universities and is a keynote speaker. She is passionate about digital technologies and about navigating their impact on society and the world of work.

Suba Umathevan

Suba Umathevan has a Master’s degree in International Relations specialising in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Modern Languages from the University of Ottawa in Canada. She started her international career as a research fellow at the UNESCO International Bureau of Education. In her ten-plus-year career in nonprofit management, she focused on the rights of women and children. She also managed development programmes in many countries in Africa, Asia and South America and developed strategies helping managers to identify global megatrends and prepare for change. Before joining DROSOS FOUNDATION, she led Plan International Switzerland, an organisation advancing children’s rights and equal opportunities for girls. Suba Umathevan is a member of the Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Yvonne Samaritani

Yvonne Samaritani already thought in the upper school: If this history book was written more attractively, we would understand much more connections. How do you simplify the complex? How do you tell a story in such a way that the message remains? How do you promote opinion formation? Yvonne was a journalist vor 10 years. Today she is a communication professional and mother of two kids. Seing so many colleagues and friends getting back to financial dependence after motherhood, she asks herself: What do we need to finally find more equal family models? Questions like that lead her to take an interest again in topics from her first profession as a banker.