Norman Siegel is a civil rights lawyer and former director of the NYCLU. His talk is about the challenge to achieve freedom, justice, and equality for ALL. He focuses on two themes that have been and continue to concern him: 1) racial discrimination and the undermining of equal protection under the law and 2) freedom of speech under the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States and how it applies to the government being prohibited from determining which views are permitted and which are not. Norman encourages students and non-students to get involved, make their voices heard and their actions count. Norman Siegel is a civil rights and civil liberties lawyer, graduating from Brooklyn College and NYU School of Law. Beginning his career in advocacy, he worked with the American Civil Liberties Union on cases challenging the exclusion of African Americans and women from jury pools and later led the Youth Citizenship Fund to register young voters. From 1973-76, he was the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Field Director and later directed MFY Legal Services. In 1985, he became NYCLU’s Executive Director, and for 15 years, he led efforts like creating the Civilian Complaint Review Board. Since 2002, he has been in private practice and co-founded Siegel Teitelbaum & Evans in 2012. In his legal career, he has represented 9/11 families in obtaining emergency tapes and was part of the defense team that acquitted Nick Hillary in 2016. Norman has served on the Jackie Robinson Foundation's Board since 1978 as well. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Et si appuyer sur "Play", c’était plus qu’un simple choix ?Et si c’était une manière de redéfinir le succès – non pas pour soi uniquement, mais pour toute une communauté ?C’est une invitation à transformer la pause en action, à faire du sommet un lieu partagé, et à appuyer sur Play… ensemble. Amina Sall, auteure du livre "Ubuntupreneur" et conférencière TEDx. Professionnelle des technologies de l'information et entrepreneure en série, elle compte plus de 15 ans d'expérience en gestion de projets technologiques. Fondatrice du Black Woman Market - Marché des Femmes Noires, une organisation à but non lucratif qui donne de la visibilité aux entreprises détenues par des personnes noires dans le Grand Montréal, Amina s'investit dans l'autonomisation des femmes noires et la promotion de l'excellence en affaires. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

What happens when 20,000 people are given the same instruction—to fold and tear an A4 sheet of paper? The results are never the same. Each design is unique, just like how we each perceive and interact with the world. This simple activity opens a powerful conversation about perspective, learning, and the human journey.In this inspiring TEDx talk, Vyankatesh Kharage shares how embracing acceptance, engagement, and self-empowerment can transform our lives. From learning teamwork and resilience as an athlete to founding a social enterprise that taught life skills to children through sports, he discovered how differently each child perceives the world—a realization that led him to cognitive science.When financial challenges forced him to close his sports venture, he turned to management studies and followed his father's advice to travel like Gandhi, observing overburdened teachers, under-resourced schools, and the deep passion that kept them going. These experiences shaped his philosophy of "Asude" (acceptance) while we cannot control everything, we can control our actions and how we engage with life. The opposite, "Rahude," is disengagement and resistance.During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vyankatesh and his life partner worked with high school students in Marathwada to prevent dropouts, helping students from rural communities to continue their education and build a future. His journey eventually took him to Harvard to study cognitive science and learning design, giving him a global perspective before returning to empower children in India.This talk is a reminder that when we practice acceptance, engage mindfully, and empower ourselves, we can turn life's challenges into opportunities. Vyankatesh Kharage is a social entrepreneur and founder of Asudé Foundation, focused on providing career education and life skills to rural Indian students. A Harvard alumnus with a Master's in Learning Design and Technology, he blends innovation, social-emotional learning, and human-centered design to improve education. He holds a PGPDM from S.P. Jain Institute and is a recipient of the Social Impact Fellowship at Harvard Innovation Labs. His philosophy, "Asudé," means Acceptance. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Professor Halikiopoulou dismantles the myth that the rise of the far right is solely based on immigration, and explains how economic and strategic factors play a decisive role. Far from being just a reflection of cultural fear, it is a political maneuver aimed at uniting diverse voters through nationalist narratives.Daphne Halikiopoulou (PhD LSE) is Chair in Comparative Politics at the University of York. Her research focuses on party politics, voting behavior, the far right, populism, and nationalism in Europe. She is the author of Understanding Right-Wing Populism and What to Do About It and The Golden Dawn’s ‘Nationalist Solution’, as well as numerous articles in leading journals such as the Journal of European Public Policy, West European Politics, and the Journal of Common Market Studies. Her work has been recognized with the Best Paper award from the APSA. She is a member of the PopuList team, joint Editor-in-Chief of Nations and Nationalism and Political Studies, and co-editor of the Springer book series in Electoral Politics.This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

In “sex-tip” magazine articles from Cosmopolitan to Playboy, or books by sex experts, most sexual advice available to couples overlooks one small idea that research shows has a big impact on a couple’s sexual satisfaction: sexual communication. As a couple of sex researchers (pun intended) an licensed marriage and family therapists, Dr. Rebecca Lucero Jones and her husband Dr. Adam Jones have published several papers on sexual communication in committed couples, and they even started a podcast to make our work more accessible to the public. As sex therapists and researchers, couples are often surprised to find that this couple's work focuses less on suggesting new sex positions, sex toys, or finding the right contraceptive, and more on helping couples communicate differently about sex. In this TEDxTWU talk, they address the common misconception by clinicians and couples that improving general communication skills translates to the bedroom and highlight how sexual communication is a distinct skill that sexually satisfied couples possess, sharing research-based strategies that couples can use to develop sexual communication skills and improve their sex life. Dr. Rebecca Lucero Jones and Dr. Adam Jones are a dynamic duo of marriage and family therapists, and in addition to their professional partnership, they are happily married to each other. As professors at Texas Woman’s University in the School of Human Sciences, they bring a wealth of expertise to their work on sexual communication in couples. Together, they host the engaging podcast Keeping it up with the Joneses, where they delve into their published research on sexual communication within committed relationships, offering valuable insights and research-based guidance for couples. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Access is more than opportunity—it is the right to fully inhabit one’s body, voice, and identity. As a Mexican-Honduran American creative/performing artist, lecturer, and PhD candidate, Celéste Lanuza has lived the power of movement and voice as tools for reclaiming agency in a world that imposes limitations. Growing up with a stutter, dance and music became my first languages, offering a space where she could express freely without fear. Lanuza's talk explores how embodiment—through dance and voice—can be an act of resistance, healing, and empowerment, particularly for those silenced, marginalized, or made to feel invisible. Society privileges specific ways of speaking, moving, and being, making it difficult for many—especially women, artists of color, and those with non-dominant narratives—to access full self-expression. By reconceptualizing limitations as sites of transformation, we create pathways for self-reclamation. This talk speaks to anyone who has ever felt unheard, unseen, or constrained by societal expectations. Celeste Lanuza is an award-winning artist and Fulbright Specialist who has been featured in TIME Magazine and Dance Teacher Magazine. She graduated from the University of California Irvine with an MFA in Dance and the University of the Arts with a BFA in Dance and Musical Theater. A Professor of dance and industry professional with over 30 years experience, Lanuza is passionate about mentoring and empowering upcoming artists to reclaim their bodies as instruments of agency resisting any notion of feeling unseen, thus mobilizing visible acts of resistance igniting leaders of tomorrow. Lanuza is currently a PhD Candidate in Dance at Texas Woman’s University where she has led numerous presentations at the ebi Dance Symposium. When not mentoring upcoming artists, Celeste Lanuza can be found producing films, performing with her band, and going out salsa dancing. A proud Latina and advocate for education, she believes there is no significant impact without continual life-long learning. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx