Meet the TEDxPhiladelphia 2014 Speakers

TEDxPhiladelphia has revealed who will be speaking at the upcoming all-day conference. The 19 speakers will each explore Philadelphia’s “rich past and promising future as a hub of global innovation” with this year’s theme “The New Workshop of the World.”

Tickets for TEDxPhiladelphia are mostly sold out, but a waitlist is available. Any remaining tickets will be released for sale next Monday, March 10.

Check out the full list of the speakers below. Bios are taken from the TEDxPhiladelphia speaker page:

✓ Nikki Adeli: a junior at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia and an active Philadelphia citizen and a passionate advocate for quality public education, serving as Youth Commissioner to Mayor Michael A. Nutter, and Vice President of the School District of Philadelphia’s Student Government.

✓ Chris Bartlett: executive director of Philadelphia’s William Way Community Center and a gay activist, feminist, educator and researcher.

✓ Andrew Dahlgren: a lecturer of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and faculty in Product Design, at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.

✓ Geoff DiMasi: founder of web and software design company P’unk Ave, co-founder of Indy Hall and co-founder and curator of Ignite Philly.

✓ Genevieve Dion: Assistant Professor and director of the Shima Haute Technology Laboratory at Drexel University, a state-of-the-art laboratory that conducts multidisciplinary research on smart textiles and wearable technology.

✓ Terry Gillen: an economic development adviser with more than 20 years of executive experience in the private, nonprofit and public sectors.

✓ Helen Gym: a parent and community activist who advocates for quality public education for all Philadelphia schoolchildren.

✓ Stephen K. Klasko: President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital System.

✓ Brian McTear: is the owner of Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia’s Fishtown, and a nationally recognized producer and musician.

✓ Joshua H. Nims: co-founder Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund in 2000 and is Operations Manager for Schuylkill River Development Corporation (SRDC), an organization with the mission to revitalize and redevelop the lower Schuylkill River and reconnect it to Philadelphia’s urban core.

✓ Natalie Nixon: the Director of the Strategic Design MBA program and Associate Professor in Fashion Merchandising & Management at Philadelphia University.

✓ Chris Rabb: a consultant, teacher and thought leader on the intersection of entrepreneurship, media, civic engagement and social identity.

✓ Katherina M. Rosqueta: the founding executive director of The Center for High Impact Philanthropy and adjunct faculty of the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) at the University of Pennsylvania, and a former consultant with McKinsey & Company where she served clients in the areas of strategy development and post-merger management.

✓ Sonia Sanchez: an award-winning poet, activist, scholar, and national and International lecturer on Black Culture and Literature, Women’s Liberation, and Peace and Racial Justice. Sonia is the former Poet Laureate of Philadelphia.

✓ Austin Seraphin: a programmer and accessibility consultant. Blind since birth, Austin started programming at age seven and developed a life-long passion for technology and a first-hand insight into how it affects the lives of the blind.

✓ Simran Sidhu: the executive director of YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School, a diploma-based program that provides young people who have dropped out of high school with an opportunity to reconnect with their education and to serve their communities in a meaningful way.

✓ Dominique Streater: designs for her self-titled line, and appeared on the Emmy Award-winning television series, Project Runway, where she made her mark on the fashion industry by winning the competition in 2013 through her use of bold and daring color and prints.

✓ Mathieu Turpault: a Managing Partner and Director of Design at the product design firm Bresslergroup. He has been published in many leading design journals and speaks frequently about multisensory and immersive design, brand building, integrated design methods, and sustainability.

✓ Richard Vague: a managing partner of Gabriel Investments, an early stage investment fund; Chairman of The Governor’s Woods Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropic organization; and managing director of The Miletos Group.

Full disclosure: Generocity.org is a media partner for TEDxPhiladelphia 2014. 

(Images courtesy of TEDxPhiladelphia and Kevin-Monko.)