Retired Coast Guard Captain Martha LaGuardia-Kotite draws on a lifetime spent on the ocean to reveal one of Earth’s most overlooked natural superpowers. Through stories of leadership, rescue missions, and environmental urgency, she makes the case for protecting the force that sustains life on our planet. #TEDxSarasota Captain Martha LaGuardia-Kotite US Coast Guard (retired) spent her life in, on or near the ocean. She is one of the first female officers to serve aboard two Coast Guard cutters, patrolling the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Caribbean Sea, leading all-male crews and teams through numerous disasters during her decades long military career. Her awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, six Commendation Medals, three Achievement Medals, and numerous service and team accolades. An award-winning author of So Others May Live: Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers Saving Lives Defying Death (used by Kevin Costner for his role in the movie The Guardian) and two other books. She built a robust second career as a keynote speaker and coach, inspiring current and future leaders on how to be bold, first and authentic to achieve their biggest dreams. 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

Investor and entrepreneur Marsha Wulff shares lessons from decades spent helping build transformative companies across Africa and beyond. In this talk, she explores how innovation ecosystems, collaborative leadership, and long-term thinking can unlock extraordinary economic and human potential. #TEDxSarasota Marsha Wulff is an American impact investor who focuses on tech-driven innovations. She has helped build seven multi-billion-dollar companies - three American-led and four African-led - across multiple sectors and continents. Having lived and worked on six continents, she brings a deeply global perspective shaped by decades of building businesses and mentoring leaders worldwide. Her life experiences - spanning scarcity and abundance, mobility and physical limitation - have informed her belief in collaborative leadership, passionate teams, and investment strategies that balance profit with long-term impact. Since the late 1990s, Marsha and her team have pioneered seed stage venture capital in Africa to empower large-scale economic transformation. They are part of an evolving investor ecosystem that supports the next generation of aspiring founders. 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

Transformative technology of blockchain is not enough to re-engineer finance. Traditional accounting methods that have existed for years need to be integrated with this advanced technology. Paul Dowding has worked over 35 years in financial operations management, innovation, design and re-engineering. He has designed and helped build a patented Blockchain/DLT networked accounting ledger solution for the regulated TradFi and Crypto/DeFi industries — TapestryX (L4SCorp.com). Paul has held management positions at major global banks and brokers and consulted at fund managers, hedge funds, clearing houses and depositories. He has worked in London, New York, Singapore and Sydney. Paul holds a BSc (Hons) in Aeronautics & Astronautics. 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

The same communication strategies that help doctors save lives in a trauma bay—the hospital’s version of a “crisis command center”—can also transform the way we connect in our homes, workplaces, and relationships. Dr. Brian Kendall is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician and core faculty at Trident Hospital in Charleston, SC, where he also serves as Clerkship Director for VCOM students. He has held leadership positions as Assistant Medical Director of a Level 1 Trauma Center emergency department and Course Director for Advanced Trauma Life Support. His career includes academic appointments, numerous invited presentations on trauma, quality, and communication, and publications in both peer-reviewed journals and medical education. He is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and has been recognized with awards for teaching, professionalism, and clinical excellence.Dr. Brittany Bankhead is an Associate Professor of Surgery at MUSC and is a Trauma and Surgical Critical Care surgeon who trained at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and UT Austin Dell Medical School. She has served in leadership roles nationally with the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and internationally through the CovidSurg Collaborative, contributing to multiple landmark studies in The Lancet and British Journal of Surgery. Her research spans communication in the trauma bay, resident education, and surgical resilience, and she has delivered invited talks at major conferences across the United States. She is passionate about translating lessons from the trauma bay into strategies for leadership, communication, and resilience in everyday life.Dr. Kendall & Dr. Bankhead met in college and attended medical school together. Now, they bring a rare dual perspective as both a married couple, parents of 2, and frontline physicians, blending the immediacy of the ER with the complexity of trauma surgery to offer lessons that transcend medicine. 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

A teen-age martial arts champion demonstrates that perseverance and passion can pay off On top of being an all "A" honor student, this15-year old is a Black Belt in Goju-ryu Karate and a 4x NASKA World Champion. Trey is also a student leader in his dojo. Not only has he dedicated to the mastery of the art, but he also serves as a mentor/coach and instructor to other students. Treyden is also a powerful gymnast with great tumbling ability and has committed himself to the study of the art of acting and stunt performing, making his television debut in 2022 with an acting role on, Netflix's, "Raising Dion S2". 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

Most of us learn what a committed relationship is supposed to look like. Very few of us are taught what to do when the person we love, or the person we are, begins to change. At a time when loneliness, polarisation, and disconnection are rising globally, this talk offers a radically hopeful vision of intimacy rooted not in control or possession, but in mutual growth, freedom and evolution through a feedback cycle of communication. This talk is for anyone who has ever wondered: can my relationship, business or personal, survive change? And who might we become if it could? In this deeply personal and provocative talk, performer, researcher and writer Lauren Gauge introduces her idea of ‘radical relational intimacy’, a cyclical model for how committed relationships can evolve rather than simply endure. It is a new way of thinking about love, partnership, vulnerability, and human evolution. Known for her sharp humour and raw, lyrical storytelling, Lauren Gauge’s performances have garnered international awards (Best Actress in Russia & Grand Prix in Belgium) and her performances have appeared at Soho Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Edinburgh Fringe, the Minack Theatre and Tate Galleries. Her work blends poetry, beatboxing, music, dance, and comedy to showcase nuanced stories about experiences that resist easy categorisation. In this talk, she brings the same unflinching honesty she applies to the stage to one of the most intimate questions she knows: what does it really mean to connect and commit to another person, and to yourself, at the same time? What if relational intimacy wasn’t just reserved for our romantic relationships and could transform how we lead, love, and live?Known for her sharp humour and raw, lyrical storytelling, Lauren Gauge’s performances have garnered international awards (Best Actress in Russia & Grand Prix in Belgium) and her performances have appeared at Soho Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Edinburgh Fringe, the Minack Theatre and Tate Galleries. Her work blends poetry, beatboxing, music, dance, and comedy to showcase nuanced stories about experiences that resist easy categorisation. She trained in stand up comedy at Soho Theatre. Her creative and academic practices consistently centres marginalised voices and interrogates the structures - social, relational, and political- that constrain how people live and love. Alongside her artistic work, Lauren founded a business consultancy at twenty-five, working across entertainment PR, business development training and creative strategy. In this talk, she brings the same unflinching honesty she applies to the stage to one of the most intimate questions she knows: what does it really mean to connect and commit to another person, and to yourself, at the same time? What if relational intimacy wasn’t just reserved for our romantic relationships and could transform how we lead, love, and live? 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 this engaging talk, Maha Mouelhi explores why climate change remains difficult to communicate despite its growing impact on our daily lives. Drawing on personal experiences and local realities, she highlights the importance of turning complex environmental challenges into relatable human stories that inspire action. Her talk is a call to move beyond awareness and transform concern into meaningful change. Maha Mouelhi is a farmer, agroecology trainer, and founder of Zerriaa, which means “seeds.” Through Zerriaa, she works with farmers, communities, and young people across Tunisia and beyond to regenerate soils, grow healthy food, and rebuild the relationship with nature through agroecology and permaculture. 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

A colorful, exciting festival on stage representing cultural diversity through the arts. Featuring students from the Watoto Academy of the Performing Arts at Meeting Street Schools, this stage production entitled The Happy People features the music, costuming and movements from African to Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico the Caribbean. 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

Why do the best teachers often create the best leaders? Educator and leadership strategist Katie Trowbridge explores how curiosity, psychological safety, and deeper thinking can transform the way organizations lead, collaborate, and grow. #TEDxSarasota Katie Trowbridge is an award-winning educator, TEDx speaker, leadership strategist, and CEO of Curiosity 2 Create, with more than two decades of experience helping people think more deeply and lead more boldly. A former marketing director turned high school English teacher, she brings a rare blend of corporate, educational, and nonprofit leadership experience to her work. After spending 23 years in the classroom, Katie saw firsthand how curiosity, creative thinking, and psychological safety drive engagement and growth. School leaders - and later business leaders - began asking how her approach could be applied beyond education, forming the foundation of her leadership philosophy that the business world has much to learn from great teachers. Katie is the creator of the trademarked CREATE Method™, a practical framework used to transform teams and organizations into environments where curiosity, collaboration, and problem-solving thrive. She is the author of multiple books, including Deeper Thinking in the Classroom, and her work has been featured in Newsweek, Fortune, Yahoo News, and more. 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

A performance by a world-class yo yo champion At just nine years old, Grayson Rhea is redefining what’s possible, one yo-yo throw at a time. He picked up a yo-yo for the first time in June 2024, and just a year later became the 2025 U.S. National Yo-Yo Champion (9 & Under) and ranked 12th in the world in the Junior 16 & Under Division. A proud member of Team Spotlight, Grayson brings creativity, focus, and joy to every performance. 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