TEDxProvidence 2017
TEDxProvidence 2017
Event Details
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Have you ever wondered what the future of artificial intelligence is or what the connection is between culture and innovation? TEDxProvidence is one of Providence's most beloved annual events, a full day of speakers, performances, and community connection through our state's most inspiring "ideas worth spreading."
Join us on September 30th as 15+ speakers, representing a diverse cross section of our state, gather to share their stories and ideas around the theme of “Past, Present, and Future," designed to ground us in our unique community history and identity amidst a rapidly changing social and political landscape. Prepare to be dazzled by performances and inspired by scientists, educators, entrepreneurs, students,
and beyond.
For a Schedule of Sessions CLICK HERE
Speakers participating in this year’s event include:
- Kiara Butler is the CEO and Co-Founder of Diversity Talks, which provides K-12 school districts and higher education institutions with student-led professional development grounded in the cultural competencies of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Butler is a strong advocate for student voice and because of her advocacy, she was awarded the Generation Citizen Community Partnership Award at the Rhode Island State House this year. Today, she is a participant in The Lean Lab Incubator Fellowship and is expanding Diversity Talks to Kansas City, Missouri.
- Christopher Johnson is a Providence-based performance artist, poet, educator and playwright. He uses these and other mediums to humanize issues like race, incarceration, and mental illness. Johnson’s most recent works include the Freedom Project with Everett Company Stage and School, Invisible UpSouth with Wilbury Theater, and New and Dangerous Ideas, which is currently in creation.
- Arnell Milhouse is a tech community influencer, cryptocurrency investor, and co-founder of CareerDevs Computer Science Academy and IntraCity Geeks. Milhouse is currently working on developing a pipeline of innovation- driven software developers and startup-entrepreneurs who will add tremendous value to their hiring companies or go on to launch disruptive moon-shot startups in Rhode Island. He is also the co-founder of the hackathons for the State of Rhode (HackRI) Island and the City of Providence (HackPVD). His non-profit teaches rigorous computer science at the K-12 level and has a mission to disruptincome-inequality for those in under-served and under-skilled communities.
- Paul Salem is a co-founder and senior managing director of Providence Equity Partners. Salem is chairman of the board of Year Up, a national non-profit focusing on closing the opportunity divide for urban young adults and a board member of Edesia Global Nutrition, a non-profit focusing on feeding severe acute malnourished children. Salem also serves on the advisory board for the Brown Institute of Brain Science (B.I.B.S). He received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University.
- Shannon Shallcross is a data-enthusiast who believes that data holds the key to solving healthcare’s toughest challenges. She has served as an executive in the insurance and health industries over the past decade and has advised a broad range of Fortune 500 clients. As the co-founder and CEO of BetaXAnalytics, her company uses the power of data “for good” to improve the cost, transparency and quality of healthcare.
- Cheryl W. Snead is the founder, President, and CEO of Banneker Industries, Inc., a world-class provider of Supply Chain Management solutions, including product sourcing, value added warehousing, and logistics services. A mechanical engineer by training, Snead has worked in Corporate America, small businesses, and serves on various non- profit and for profit boards locally, regionally, and nationally. She is a passionate, motivational speaker advocating for youth, minority, and women empowerment.
- Javier Juarez is a research fellow at the Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University. Juarez and his father came to Rhode Island 18 years ago from Peru with nothing but the clothes on their back looking for a better future. He also serves as a community outreach member at the Coalition of Advocates for Student Opportunities (CASO), a non-profit that focuses on the betterment of undocumented and first-generation immigrant students in Rhode Island. Juarez is a graduate of Rhode Island College and currently enrolled in a masters program at Brown University.
- Colleen Daley Ndoye is the Executive Director of Project Weber/RENEW, a peer-driven organization providing street outreach, HIV prevention and testing, harm reduction, case management, and social support for sex workers and other high-risk populations, including transgender individuals. Ndoye has dedicated her career to creating opportunities for individuals to succeed and grow through the peer-driven model, and building innovative partnerships in service of marginalized populations at the intersection of substance abuse, HIV, homelessness, and sex work. Concentrating on Africana Studies at NYU, Ndoye loves traveling to Africa and lived in Nairobi after graduating. She is also involved with local efforts to mentor recent Congolese refugees in RI.
- Dr. Raymond Mis is a board certified gastroenterologist with a practice in Warwick, RI and the first visually impaired gastroenterologist to be accredited by the State of RI. Dr. Mis has taught medicine at the New England College of Osteopathic Medicine and has been chief of the gastroenterology department at Kent County Memorial Hospital. In 1998, Dr. Mis lost a significant amount of his hearing and in 2001 was declared legally blind.
- Amara Berry is the Director of Sparkle Program, an educational non-profit program she founded which teaches college-level STEM topics to elementary students across the Ocean State. In 3 years, the program's reach has expanded to almost 500 students at locations across New England, with continued plans to close the STEM gap by reaching and teaching more scientists in kindergarten through middle school. The program focuses on concepts most vital to understanding Biology, Chemistry, Astrophysics, and Quantum Mechanics, taking a hands-on and student-centered approach to equipping each participant with problem-solving skills for life.
- Michael L. Littman is a Computer Science Professor at Brown University, studying machine learning and decision making under uncertainty. He is co-director of Brown's Humanity Centered Robotics Initiative, a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and has earned multiple awards for his teaching and research. An enthusiastic performer, Michael has had roles in numerous community theater productions and a TV commercial.
- Lulu Locks is the founder and owner of Suite Tart, a West Side salon that blends old-school techniques with fashion forward aesthetics, and Providence Pin-Up, a vintage styling and photography studio. She has styled performance art for Liz Collins at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston and Dawn Kasper at the Whitney Museum, and has been the key artist for Lindsay Degen’s look books, videos and runway shows at New York Fashion Week. Locks has performed at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and is a frequent emcee for charity events like The Sojourner House and Rhode Island Pride.
- Adeene Denton is a scientist, historian, and dancer focused on approaching future planetary exploration from a scientific and humanistic perspective. She is currently completing her PhD in Planetary Science as a Presidential Fellow at Brown University; Adeene also holds degrees in geophysics and history from Rice University.
- Raymond Two Hawks Watson is an artist, community activist, educator, cultural practitioner, and convener with 10 years of experience in nonprofit executive administration. In 2016, Watson was the recipient of an Innovation Fellowship from the Rhode Island Foundation for his project, the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative.
- Shawndell Burney-Speaks was born and raised in Providence, RI. Shawndell has worked with inner city youth and their families for over 20 years. She is the creator of Fortunate Cookies girls group, where she established after school programs with young ladies in both middle and high school in the Providence Public School system from 2009-2013. Shawndell is also the owner and founder of Burney Consultations where she assists families with children and their mental health needs who were unable to afford services provided.
- U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has been a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island since 2006. Senator Whitehouse is a member of the Budget, Judiciary,Environment and Public Works, Health Education Labor and Pensions committees, and is the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism and of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Oversight. Prior to being elected as a U.S. Senator, Whitehouse was appointed as RI’s U.S. Attorney in 1994, and he was elected to be RI’s Attorney General in 1998. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law.
Ticket Information
Tickets are available for purchase online, by phone at (401) 421-ARTS (2787), or at the PPAC Box Office located at 220 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence. Box Office Hours are M-F, 10A–5P; Sat 10A-2P. Summer hours are M-Th 10A-3P. The VETS on-site Box Office is only open on show days. Children under the age of six are not permitted to attend performances unless it is designated as a family show. Please call the Box Office at (401) 421-2787 to see which shows are appropriate for younger children. All persons regardless of age are required to have a ticket for family shows. Ticket pricing subject to change without notice.