What if the key to restoring your energy wasn’t another coffee, but a small act of kindness or even just a gentle wiggle of your toes? In this warm and deeply personal talk, Elsa Tsang shares her philosophy for living with intention, presence and grace, even in the face of exhaustion. Drawing on her own life journey, surprising moments of clarity, and her unique AREA model, Elsa invites us to become blessings in the lives of others, not by doing more, but by being more.With touching stories and grounded insights, she reframes tiredness not as something to push through, but as a signal—an invitation to pause, reconnect with your body, and return to what really matters. This is a talk about the quiet power of presence, kindness, and choosing to show up with love even on the hardest days. If you want to change the world, you change people, and to change people, you start with what they believe.This principle has shaped every step of Dr Elsa's career, from frontline social work to university teaching, corporate development, and in the international charity sector.As a former professor of social work, Dr Elsa trained future leaders in how to support people with compassion while managing organisations with clarity and integrity, always asking, "How can we serve in a way that truly transforms lives?"Her doctoral research focused on gifted and talented education, exploring what helps human potential flourish. But it was through her journey, moving across countries, cultures, and leadership contexts, that her mission became personal: to build systems where people don’t just function, but expand.Today, Dr Elsa continues her work in the charity sector, helping individuals and teams grow with purpose, lead with depth, and make decisions that honour both people and progress.Her mission is to redefine human sustainability, not as maintaining the status quo, but as creating conditions where people thrive far beyond what they once believed possible. 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
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- 7:11How Far Have We Come? Gender in Children's Literature | Jessica Hale | TEDxWCCIt’s widely recognized that children’s books play a role in gender socialization. To understand what messages are currently being conveyed, this study examined gender portrayals in award winning picture books from 2018-2022. An analysis of frequency data showed that more books featured female protagonists engaged in nurturing behaviors and male protagonists engaged in leadership behaviors, than other gender categories (gender nonconforming and gender indeterminate). Adult males were depicted with occupations more frequently than other genders and in a greater variety of roles. Continued inequalities in gender portrayals may be limiting for children’s development and society at large. Dr. Hale is a faculty member in the Department of English and College Readiness at Washtenaw Community College. She earned an M.A. in English from Indiana University (2023), an Ed.D. from Eastern Michigan University (2010) and a M.A. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan (2003). 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
- 13:48Healthcare's Blind Spot: Why Caregiving Must be Treated as Medicine | Stephanie Armas | TEDxRushUCaregivers are the backbone of our healthcare system, yet they remain undertrained, under-resourced, and overlooked. In this talk. Stephanie explore why caregiving must be recognized as a formal part of medicine—and how reimagining its role through education, policy, and support can improve outcomes for both patients and caregivers alike. Stephanie Armas is a medical student at Rush Medical College whose journey into medicine has been profoundly shaped by her experience as a long-term caregiver for loved ones with Alzheimer’s. Through that role, she witnessed the toll caregiving takes, not only physically and emotionally, but also in how unseen and unsupported caregivers often are within the healthcare system. Stephanie is a passionate advocate for elevating caregiving as a recognized and resourced component of healthcare. She believes it’s time to invest in caregiver education, policy reform, and structural support—because without caregivers, healthcare cannot truly work. 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
