TEDxGrinnell “Speak Out!”

A sold-out TEDxGrinnell conference Feb. 21 featured seven notable Grinnell College alumni. Talks addressed a variety of issues on the theme “Speak Out!” — from children learning to speak to speaking out against injustice.

“TEDx is not a place for people to learn everything there is to know about physics or art history,” says Meghna Usharani Ravishankar ’17, organizer of TEDxGrinnell. “It’s a place for self-discovery and curiosity, encouraging people to challenge preconceived notions and push themselves out of their intellectual comfort zones.”

Presenters included:

• Lester Alemán ’07, trainer and program director for the Posse Foundation in Los Angeles;
• Zander Cannon ’95, comic-book writer and artist;
• April Dobbins ’99, filmmaker and recipient of the S. J. Weiler Fund Award;
• Emma Kelty-Stephen ’04, assistant professor of psychology at Grinnell, specializing in children’s language development;
• Wadzi Motsi ’12, analyst at Clinton Health Access Initiative in Zimbabwe;
• Tarell “Ahmed” Rodgers ’93, imam and teacher who speaks on the role of spirituality in the world; and
• Joshua Tepfer ’97, assistant clinical professor at Northwestern University School of Law and co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth.

Kathy Clemons ’95 coached the speakers. You can watch their presentations online.

TEDx conferences, which are self-organized events operating under license from TED, are local events that bring people together to share “ideas worth spreading.” The conferences emulate the TED conference, an annual gathering of leaders in technology, entertainment, and design.

TEDxGrinnell was sponsored by Grinnell College and the Donald L. Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership.