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).

UC Santa Barbara
UCSB Multicultural Center
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California, 93106
United States

Ana Parejo Vidal

Ana Delia Parejo Vidal moved four years ago from Granada, Spain, to pursue her PhD in Physical Chemistry at UCSB. Last year, she was awarded with the Japan Promotion of Science fellowship and moved to the Tokyo Tech Institute to conduct research. In the near future, Ana wants to pursue an academic career so she can keep doing science and provide her future students with a willingness to indulge their scientific curiosity.

Ellia Harris

Ellia Harris is a leadership coach and organizational trainer who gets leaders and teams out of habitual thinking so they can solve challenges with creative solutions they couldn’t see before. She has over ten years of experience as an organizational trainer and has held senior roles at a global benefits consultancy and at several well known nonprofits in the US and UK. She currently lives in Seattle with her second husband, and enjoys exploring the world.

Jonathan Stewart

Jonathon E. Stewart is an accomplished studio screenwriter with a BA in Developmental Psychobiology from Dartmouth College and has studied generative artificial intelligence at MIT and UC Berkeley. As a passionate advocate and enthusiastic user of AI, he believes we are on the brink of a technological revolution comparable to the rise of the internet in the 1990s. Jonathon views generative AI as a powerful tool for unlocking human creativity and discovering our true purpose.

Kirra Moore

Kirra Moore is a dedicated student at UCSB, fervently advocating for environmental sustainability. In high school, Kirra initiated a groundbreaking program in her hometown, focused on educating the community about sustainability. She developed comprehensive curriculums for 4th and 5th graders, empowering them to actively participate in these vital efforts. Currently, Kirra is leading a research project in the linguistics department at UCSB, studying the sociolinguistic landscape of the United States.

Melody Chen

Melody Chen is a senior at UCSB, where she is double majoring in Data Science and Philosophy and preparing for a future career in law. Over the past three years, Melody has been deeply involved as a research assistant at the Digital Political Inequality Lab at UCSB, where she examined the impact of digital behaviors on political engagement. Most recently, Melody served as an intern for the President’s Advisory Commission at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians.