Berkeley Hosts First Ever TEDxBerkeley
TED, a globally recognized nonprofit organization, serves as a vessel to share people’s ideas and experiences through short inspirational speeches. Berkeley had the privilege of hosting its very own TEDxBerkeley event on Saturday, September 26, 2015 in the Gries Center for the Arts and Sciences’ Gabos Recital Hall.
The theme of the event, “Communities of Practice,” was the topic of speeches performed by many of our own students and faculty members. The speeches encompassed a wide range of topics, from Bob Gries Jr.’s talk about his experiences in finance, focusing on the importance of trust and respect in the business world, to Senior Sarah Ali’s presentation about her contribution to children in Kenya through an organization that she co-founded called the Global Spark Foundation. Other student speakers included Brandon Maxwell ’17 who spread awareness about budget cuts for arts programs in public schools and shared his passion for the performing arts and senior Nicole Stevens who shared her experiences spreading environmental awareness through Berkeley’s environmental club. Another very familiar Berkeley face was Upper Division Community Service Director Kim Graham Lawless, who inspired the audience by speaking about her time working with at-risk youth at a school in Washington. She also debuted the upcoming Berkeley Academy, a program to provide quality summer education to non-Berkeley youth in the community. Furthermore, Mallory Lykes Dimmitt ’94 gave a speech about a project she is a part of called Keep Florida Wild.
Other speakers included Isabella Schlact ‘19, Sareet Majumdar ‘81, Matt Miller, Austi Critchfield ‘16, David Luther and Middle School teacher Susan Alexander.
Overall, the TEDxBerkeley event was a huge success. Everyone who was involved seemed to have a great time as evidenced by freshman speaker Isabella Schlact who said, “I was so honored to have been given such an amazing opportunity through Berkeley to tell others about my ideas….There is a wealth of knowledge and ideas that the people in our community have, and this event gave us an opportunity to showcase that.”
