TEDxRedmond 2011 Speakers and Performers

Adesuwa Agbonile

Adesuwa (pronounced Ah-Day-Sue-Wah) is a Nigerian-American with a smile that lights up a room. Her daily goal is to make the best out of each day and she goes about it by giving her ALL at work and at play. Her passions at “play” include swimming, writing fiction, singing, dancing, playing the piano and participating in musical theater. She is known to be dedicated, focused, passionate and very curious; traits which have consistently made her an Honors student and an asset on the chess, math, science and robotics teams at her school. A motivator at heart, she loves telling people: “You can be whoever you want to be. Don’t allow yourself to be held back.” At the moment, her dream job is being a mitochondrial researcher, due to her fascination with life science.

Birke Baehr

Over 360,000 people got to know Birke Baehr after his 2010 TEDxNextGenerationAsheville talk, “What’s Wrong With Our Food System,” got posted on TED. Today, it is the most viewed talk from a TEDx event–ever–on YouTube. The 5-minute speech (which he started with a matter-of-fact “My name’s Birke Baehr, and I’m 11 years old. I came here today to talk about what’s wrong with our food system”) has became a rallying cry to change the way we produce food. Birke continues his advocacy through speeches, interviews, his website, Birke on the Farm, and even appearances in 2 documentaries (Bite Size, about childhood obesity and Choice Point, a film about being the change you want in the world). Birke’s mission? To educate others about the problems of our industrialized food system, while presenting solutions through local, organic, and sustainable food.

Kara Chambers

Upon realizing that she could have been a slave to Ugandan rebels if only she had been born on a different continent, thirteen year-old Kara Chambers was set into action. Now sixteen and a junior at Redmond High School, Kara’s passions have caused a local community to think globally. Inspired by the work of Invisible Children Inc., Kara has been determined to create change in the area affected by Africa’s longest running war in history, in which child soldiers and child brides are the fuel to the seemingly never-ending conflict. Though dreaming of future on-the-ground work in Uganda and Central East Africa to personally help the victims of tragic war, Kara utilizes local support to make a difference in any way possible, though primarily in education.

Christina Dias

Although posting a short poem at age seven is hardly the life changing experience, the day she started blogging, Christina was drawn to sharing her thoughts, ideas, and perspectives on the world, period. Now thirteen years old, and a freshman at Redmond Junior High, Christina frequently updates her lively blog “Merry Go Round” (created in 2009) with her latest musings and strives to give her readers a more optimistic view on life. Writing has always been a passion of hers, however she is strongly inclined towards the arts in general; playing the violin since she was 7, as well as involved in musical theater, both of which she loves. “It’s all about expressing yourself,” Christina says, “…Never let go of what makes you unique and know that anything really is possible as long as you put your heart into it.”

Stephanie Engle

Sixteen-year-old Stephanie Engle taught herself photography at age 11 by examining the methods of Ansel Adams and Patrick Demarchelier. She gained in skill to the point where adult photographers chased her out of the horse shows she photographed as the photos she sold compromised their business! From selling 8×10’s for $10 apiece and her contracts to photograph ad campaigns in national equestrian magazines, Stephanie raised $10,000, which she donated to For the Love of Patricia, a Guatemalan orphanage. After finally visiting the children she has supported over the years at the peril of her own life, Stephanie was inspired to create a coffee table book of her photographs of both the orphans and the kids who lived in the dump. The proceeds from this book will improve the children’s living conditions and education, and eventually, support politicians who believe in orphan rights. Today, she continues her advocacy through her non-profit organization RAISE.

Felix Finkbeiner (via Skype)

At the age of 9 Felix Finkbeiner (today, 13) founded the Plant-for-the-Planet Children Initiative. Inspired by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, he decided to plant one million trees in each country of the world. Since then, hundreds of thousands of children from 101 countries planted almost 4 million trees and they have been spreading the vision to tackle global problems together as global citizens. They organize planting activities and empower other children to become Climate Justice Ambassadors in one-day-events (Academies). So far,nearly 10,000 children have been motivated. At the opening of the International Year of Forests on February 2nd 2011, Felix and friends represented the views of the children and youth in the General Assembly Hall in New York. In March 2011 Felix was elected President of the first Global Board of Plant-for-the-Planet.

Alejandra Gama

Born in August 1994 in Los Angeles, California to two Mexican-immigrant parents, Alejandra Gama has grown up in Arizona–seeing firsthand the local and national struggle around the polarizing issue of illegal immigration. The proposal of an Arizona bill that would revoke the Constitution’s 14th Amendment (thus preventing children born in the United States to illegal immigrants from receiving US citizenship) made Alejandra decide to tell the stories of such children through a documentary film. Alejandra’s love for storytelling began at the age of 11, when she decided “with the strongest conviction, that I was going to be a Broadway actress.” From there, Alejandra thought of nothing else but reaching her goal–writing her own roles, short stories, and scripts. She says, “Through that I realized that what I loved was not to portray characters, but to create them. Since then I have been completely and totally enamored with storytelling. However, I did not discover my favorite way to tell stories until high school. My junior year, last year, I took a film class and all I can say is that the rest will become history.”

Roberto Granados

Over the years, many young people have felt tugged to guitar–whether for its “cool” status, or for idolizing famous musicians. How many continue the instrument can be another story. Roberto Granados is an example in dedication to an instrument. His initial inspiration for playing the guitar came from watching his uncle play guitar and listening to Jimi Hendrix. The four-year-old would spend hours strumming his guitar while listening and singing along. At 6, he began seriously studying guitar, and today has a broad repertoire of not only classical and flamenco works but also the music of greats like Dylan, Hendrix, and Lennon. Roberto’s skill has earned kudos from music lovers and politicians alike–in 2009, he was invited to perform at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser (Organizing For America) attended by President Barack Obama. That  same year, he also represented “From the Top at Carnegie Hall” at the 36th annual Emmy Awards. The self-taught entomologist, magician, poet, amateur plant botanist, and (of course) guitarist is obviously going places in every sense of the word.

Yoni Kalin and Gawan Fiore

When is a crayon more than just a crayon? Yoni Kalin was eating at Outback Steakhouse when he saw a server throw away perfect, unused crayons. For most people, the story would have stopped there. Not so with Yoni. Challenged by this waste, he enlisted help from his friend, Gawan Fiore, and together they started the Color My World Project. The project is aimed at reusing resources (crayons) to give children an artistic outlet they might not otherwise have. Yoni and Gawan envision a more responsible world where people learn to both reduce their waste and provide equal opportunities for children, regardless of socioeconomic status. The duality of this mission means that they can have a greater impact in their community and across the nation in hopes of preparing a smarter, more societally and environmentally aware generation. Yoni and Gawan see the world as a place where positive and productive change can happen anywhere—there just needs to be a determined individual driving the process. The Color My World Project was a finalist for the 2011 All American High School Service Team, and it has expanded to five states across the country.

Samhita Karnati

Samhita Karnati may seem like any other Honors student–driven, accomplished, and very busy–but the Redmond High School sophomore is also an unusually motivated researcher. While competing in the prestigious, and highly competitive, National History Day (NHD) contest, the then-freshman beat out 86 other national-level entries in the Senior Individual Documentary category (many from students several years older). She won a gold medal and History Channel’s $5,000 scholarship for her documentary, “What Was Promised: Northwest Indian Fishing Rights Debated.” She believes that success in any area needs passion and perseverance, and has translated these values into other aspects of her life including competitive swimming, music, and community service. Samhita hopes to continue competing in NHD the rest of her high school years.

Cameron Manor

Twelve-year-old Cameron Manor is one of twelve Discovery Girls’ Top Role Models in North America. Her favorite hobby is hatching butterflies–she loves watching them change from translucent cocoons into living works of art. She was recently appointed Butterfly Caretaker at the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach. Through her charity, Cam’s Caring Cakes, she creates and delivers free cupcakes to the elderly. Cam also loves creating fun educational science videos, and is honored that her humorous stories about her adventurous escapades with her older sister were published in an international children’s magazine.

MaCall Manor

A nationally ranked dancer, writer, actress and former Junior Olympic gymnast, MaCall Manor is truly a Renaissance girl. She has guest starred on TV shows (acting the young Faith Hill at the MTV Country Music Awards and little Amanda in “Ugly Betty”) and in televised commercials. She has also been honored at Carnegie Hall twice for her writing, winning a Scholastic silver medal in 2009 and a gold medal in 2010 for her novels. After watching bookstores declare bankruptcy and noticing the demise of reading among her peers, MaCall founded Moonman Reviews, a book review website that re-ignites children’s love of reading.

Tyler Menezes

A web developer working in the Seattle area and a University of Washington Computer Science student, Tyler Menezes has designed websites for major sites while simultaneously maintaining successful side websites, researching, and (as he put it on his website) “building cool things.” This year he co-organized StudentRND Talks, a TED-like conference for students in the Seattle area. Tyler authors papers (“A Few Simple Guidelines Related to Image CAPTCHAs” — ICASSP, 2011 and “Mixing Animation and Enforced Computation into an Efficient Human Interactive Proof” — ACM Multimedia, 2011) and writes technology commentary on his website. His age belies a wealth of experience in the technology field–he’s been designing and coding websites since he was ten years old.

Tyler Page

Tyler Page’s movement to empower youth started with an episode of Oprah covering the epidemic of child trafficking for fishing labor in Ghana. When he found out that just $240 could keep a child out of such horrible conditions for a year, he rallied classmates and friends to wash cars and raise money—nearly $1200. Today, Tyler’s nonprofit organization, Kids Helping Kids (dedicated to empowering youth ages 5-18 through hands-on leadership) has raised over $145,000 for kids locally and around the world. In addition to regular monthly meetings open to all kids in the community, Kids Helping Kids’ leadership academy was picked up as an afterschool pilot program at a middle school. When Tyler isn’t at the helm of his organization, he can be found on the football or baseball field.

Conor and Kendall Perrin

Conor Perrin is an award-winning writer, equestrian, and published photographer. In addition to founding PLANETLifeFORCE with his sister Kendall, he writes his own travel blog for kids. A long time equestrian, Conor shares his love of horses with autistic kids to help them gain confidence and improve their health. He is also a novelist and movie stunt practitioner. Kendall Perrin was one of six finalists (out of 561 entries in the nation) to win a medal from major publisher Scholastic for her novel. Titled Miss Lavender Venumn, it is the witty tale of a spank-a-holic teacher who runs a “School for Happy Orphans.” For her win at Carnegie Hall, she was featured on the front page of the Orange County Register, and a movie producer even expressed interest in turning her story into an animated film. Kendall dabbles in stunts with her brother, and helps autistic kids gain confidence and health through equestrian sports.

Ethan B. Perrin

With an innate curiosity about how things work and an ingenuity to tinker and build, Ethan is a self-learner at heart who spends a lot of his free time at his dad’s electronics table, at a woodworking bench, or researching the possibilities in the world of science. Most recently, an interest in photography led him to explore the boundaries of what can be captured by a lens. First, he rigged his point and shoot camera with a lens to shoot macro images, and then, most recently, set his sights to the sky and became intrigued with capturing images from very high altitudes, and creating the vehicle to make it all happen. Ethan is an 8th grader at Redmond Junior High in Redmond, WA.

Alexander Prior

Conductor and composer Alexander Prior has left a trail of music that stretches around the world, conducting concerts from London to Hong Kong, Copenhagen to Dallas. He served as an Assistant Conductor for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in the 2009/2010 season. Last year, he was awarded The James Levine Conducting Fellowship at the prestigious Tanglewood Music Centre in Massachusetts. Alexander’s commissions for original compositions began at the age of 12, when he was commissioned by the Moscow State Ballet to write Mowgli, which premiered at the Kremlin to great international acclaim. In 2009, at just 17–an age most students might begin college–Alexander graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Distinction and two Masters Degrees (Symphonic and Operatic Conducting, and Composition). In Russia he was awarded The Order of The Blue Cross for his contribution to the national and international arts scene, and for his charitable work—bringing music and the opportunities it offers to countless people, particularly children and teenagers in the poorest areas of the country.

Thaddeus Psarris

Using the power of both the statistic and the story, eleven-year-old Thaddeus Psarris has the unique ability to bring a complex issue–global poverty–out of the realm of the abstract. He frequently does volunteer work with his mother in his own local community (he lives in Kirkland, WA)–volunteer work like feeding the homeless, working at a Food Bank, and helping at events such as the Green Living Project film premiere. Thaddeus, a Christian homeschooler, plays the piano and violin, and loves writing, drawing, and computer programming. He also enjoys swimming, reading, and being with his friends.

Gabi Santana-Ufret

It’s all too easy for truants (students who continually miss school to the point of breaking the law) to start down a path of lost opportunities and missed chances in life. Thirteen-year-old Gabriela Santana-Ufret wants to change that. An 8th grader at Hamilton International Middle School in Seattle and a first generation Puerto Rican, Gabi is the youngest member of a youth organization called Youth Ambassadors, developing leaders through compassionate service to the community. YAs serve as powerful, “near peer” role models, helping vulnerable students annually get back on the path to fully engaging with learning. Gabi’s experience has taught her the power of listening and deeply connecting with her fellow peers, gaining a deeper understanding of the underlying issues behind truancy. With an exceptional passion and understanding of civic engagement, Gabi has inspired other youth to understand they are part of the solution. She’s particularly committed to curbing the drop out rate affecting the Hispanic community.

Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva

As 6th graders, Madison and Rhiannon earned their Girl Scout Bronze Award by raising awareness about the endangered orangutan within their community. In 2007, they made a shocking discovery: the Girl Scout Cookies they had sold for so many years contained palm oil, an ingredient that results in rainforest destruction and loss of orangutan habitat. The two girls launched a variety of campaigns in order to convince the Girl Scout organization to remove palm oil from their cookies. Now juniors in high school, Madison and Rhiannon have worked with a number of environmental organizations on new campaigns and have shared their story through national media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and the CBS Early Show. They are currently involved in a dialogue with the Girl Scout organization, and are working hard to ensure that Girl Scout Cookies are rainforest-safe in the near future.

Ray Ushikubo

Don’t let the adorable smile or bowtie fool you–Ray Ushikubo is a formidable musician with an intimidating amount of experience. (His list of awards is probably taller than he is.) The ten-year-old began learning the piano at the age of 5 and the violin at 6. On April 2011, Ray was invited to the NPR radio program, From the Top, as the youngest Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist. In 2009, Ray was invited to perform at the pianist Lang Lang’s concert in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in CA. In July of 2010, Ray won first place in the International Russian Music Piano Competition in San Jose. In addition, he was named the Most Promising Young Talent and rewarded with a performance at Carnegie Hall. Ray is the first student to be accepted into the prestigious Colburn Academy on two instruments–piano and violin. His current teachers are Mr. Ory Shihor (piano) and Mr. Robert Lipsett (violin). Ray likes math, billiards, and wakeboarding.

ShaLuJuan Williams

A junior this fall at Henry Foss High School in Tacoma, WA, ShaLuJuan Williams stands out for her dedication to making her community a better place. To this end, she is involved with the YMCA in Youth and Government and Youth Leadership Development, in addition to being Vice-Chair of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council and Secretary of Youth Leading Change. The YMCA featured her as their “Outstanding Youth of the Year” for her work. ShaLuJuan says, “My mom is a single parent of two and has taught me the value of hard work and continues to encourage me to dream big. Unfortunately, not all youth have the same experience, motivation, and support that I do. One of my goals is to encourage other youth to speak up and seek their own motivating force, because you can always achieve anything you want in life.”

Hannah Yang

A writer and an artist, Hannah Yang believes that the world is a wondrous place full of opportunities, if only you will take the chance. She started putting her flowing imagination to paper at age four, and self-published her first novel, Fall of Another, in April of 2011. Now fourteen and a sophomore at Redmond High School, Hannah remains an inspired poet, novelist, and painter. Living life to the fullest is something of a hobby, along with improving others’ lives and sketching out her future. She plans to become a businesswoman, while continuing her passions. “Follow your dreams,” she says. “A motivated person is greatness waiting to happen.”