At TEDxRedmond, we’re privileged to have a dedicated committee made up of middle and high school students. Additionally, we would like to thank all the parents who have been driving our committee members to meetings and supporting TEDxRedmond–we appreciate your help. The parents of our committee members have sent emails, called companies, and always provided support to the team at TEDxRedmond. Joyce Svitak (Adora and Adrianna’s mom), has helped TEDxRedmond tremendously by reaching out to other parents, sponsors and the media to promote the conference, as have Lakshmi Ganesan, Neelam Chowdhary, Bola Agbonile, and all the hard working moms and dads of TEDxRedmond’s team. Thanks!
The TEDxRedmond 2011 Planning Committee:
Adora Svitak, TEDxRedmond Curator
After publishing her first book at the age of seven, Adora Svitak started teaching students about the importance of literacy and loving learning. Now thirteen, she video conferences regularly with classrooms around the world on a variety of topics including reading, writing, social studies, and 21st Century skills. After speaking at TED Long Beach in February, Adora decided to organize her own TEDx event–and TEDxRedmond was born.
Adesuwa Agbonile
Adesuwa Agbonile is an eleven-year-old seventh grader who enjoys participating in extra-curricular activities like math team and robotics club. She also plays the piano and is her student body president. She loves singing and dancing to any kind of music. She is super excited about being on this year’s planning committee and hopes to bring what she can to this year’s TEDx.
Adrianna Svitak, Entertainment Co-Curator
A skilled musician who plays both piano and violin, fifteen-year-old Adrianna Svitak enjoys listening to bands and artists ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles to Beyonce. She has won awards at numerous piano competitions, and is concertmistress for the Redmond Junior High Honors Orchestra. Last year, she was concertmistress for the All-State Junior Orchestra. Adrianna’s artistic interests extend far beyond piano and violin, however–she also loves to sing, dance, and draw.
Airin Jiang
Airin is a sophomore to-be junior at Redmond High School. She is extremely passionate about music, art, and drama and is involved in TEDxRedmond’s video and graphic design as well as public relations and electronic material. Airin is driven by her love for the arts and is ecstatic to be joining TEDxRedmond’s planning committee for the 2011 event.
Apoorva Chowdhary11-year-old Apoorva Chowdhary attended TEDxRedmond last year; she is very excited to now be on the organizing committee. She likes playing piano, reading, math, and karate. She has recently become a black belt in karate. Apoorva also enjoys writing on her blog, where she covers everything from child obesity to favorite Google doodles.
Christina Dias
A thirteen year old who attends Redmond Junior High, Christina is actively involved in ASB Student Leadership, but also indulges in hobbies such as swimming, playing her violin, and chess. Christina also writes poetry and random tidbits regularly on her own blog, “Merry Go Round” and finds writing a great way to express herself. After attending TEDxRedmond last year, and leaving the event highly inspired, Christina hopes to help bring the same magic to this year’s conference as last year.
Fourteen-year-old Hannah Yang is active in student government (she was recently named the ASB Secretary)as well as academics. She enjoys reading literature and writing poetry and prose. Last year, Hannah participated in the PTSA “Reflections” contest in the Literature division; she was honored with an Award of Excellence from the Redmond Junior High PTSA for her short story, “Absence.” Most recently, she authored the young adult novel Fall of Another.
Hattie Yang, Entertainment Co-Curator
I’m a sophomore at Redmond High School, and my hobbies are playing viola and talking to others about the environment! I’m loud, crazy, and sometimes a little bit overwhelming. I will always speak up for what I believe in, and you’ll never find me backing down from anything. My vision of a ‘perfect’ world is one in which humans have learned to live in harmony with the Earth. Stay awesome 
Julian Pradeep
An active athlete, song writer, and mathematician, Julian Pradeep always tries to actively participate in competitions and live with passion. Just recently, he helped represent his math club in a Math Bee, where he was one place off from heading to nationals, and was awarded a medal for his performance at the 8th grade level. Julian is currently at Redmond Junior High and is engaged in the school’s activities and government. He is looking forward to this summer to begin writing short stories and screenplays, which he hopes to later publish!
Kelly Jiang
Ever since a young age, Kelly has shown great aptitude in mathematics. In 8th grade, she qualified for the USAJMO (United States of America Junior Math Olympiad), a proof-based competition that selects the top 230 math students under 10th grade in the entire country. She has won countless other awards in other regional and state level math competitions, and seems to have an aptitude for learning languages as well as a surprising obsession with French.
Lisa Marie Dias
Lisa Marie is a current 6th grader at Bellevue Children’s Academy. Lisa Marie enjoys playing competitive chess and participates in a lot of State and Local tournaments. Lisa Marie uses her free time to write stories, short skits, and poetry. Her interests also lie in scientific inventions, and was recently awarded for an invention she created for “Toshiba ExploraVision.”
Maya GanesanAn accomplished writer and poet, thirteen-year-old Maya Ganesan already has a published book (Apologies to an Apple) under her belt. Active in reading and writing long before she released her poetry collection, Maya was reading chapter books at two years old, writing poems at four, and participating in the the Redmond Spokenword competition at age eight. Today, Maya continues writing on her blog Allegro.
Priya GanesanIn contrast to those who consider themselves “right-brained” or “left-brained,” “better at math” or “better at languages,” Priya Ganesan is well-rounded in every sense of the word. The varsity tennis team member and nine-year piano player is not only skilled in mathematics (she’s received awards at statewide and regional math competitions), but is also a prolific blogger and writer whose insightful book reviews, commentary, and poetry on the widely read blog, “Book Crumbs,” both entertain and inform her readers.
Shaan Shridhar
A competitive sailor, Shaan Shridhar is a fourteen-year-old with a passion for sports and fine arts. Her musical experience includes being part of the Redmond Junior High Advanced Orchestra and playing the piano, the violin, and the guitar. Shaan also enjoys soccer and going sailing; she currently has a black belt in Taekwondo.
TJ Egbejimba
Hi, I’m TJ Egbejimba. I live in Renton, Washington and I am 13 years old. I am currently attending Sacred Heart School in Bellevue, where I’m in the 8th grade. My favorite hobbies are basketball, soccer, and football–pretty much any sport with a ball. I joined TEDxRedmond last year as a volunteer. Seeing how much fun the committee was having, I decided to join myself and see if I was good at it.
Victoria Bawn
Victoria is a fourteen-year-old with a passion for art. She designed stationery for her school, helped several teachers with various technological jobs, and created a tee-shirt design that may be used in an upcoming science extravaganza. A member of last year’s TEDxRedmond committee, Victoria contributed to the design of the official TEDxRedmond poster and was official stage manager on the day of the event. When she isn’t digitally coloring her own drawings (ranging in subjects from humans to canines), Victoria enjoys hanging out with friends.
