On June 11, 2023, from 12 pm to 5:30 pm, TEDxSanDiego hosts its 13th annual event, “Seeds of Change” is a half-day gathering of San Diego-based visionary speakers, innovative dance, musical, and interactive visual artists who will present powerful, short talks and performances designed to uplift, inspire and spread impactful ideas that can change our world.
Speakers
Hernán Luis y Prado, a 15-year Navy combat veteran, was faced with a challenge: more of his fellow service members were dying from suicide than bombs and bullets in conflict zones. Realizing the challenges of transitioning back to civilian life, and our nation's lack of an advanced manufacturing workforce training pipeline, Luis y Prado created Workshops for Warriors, a program that retrains veterans for advanced manufacturing careers. San Diego is the birthplace for this green manufacturing renaissance that gives veterans purposeful, dignified careers and ways to provide for their families and communities.
View BioA 15-year Navy veteran, Hernán Luis y Prado founded San Diego-based Workshops for Warriors (WFW), the only nonprofit school in America that trains, certifies, and places veterans and transitioning service members into advanced manufacturing careers to help rebuild America's manufacturing capabilities. WFW has graduated over 1,000 veterans working in every state for companies like Tesla, Boeing & Ford. Luis y Prado was named the US Small Business Administration’s Entrepreneur of The Year for 2022 for the state of California. Wfw.org. Reach Prado at IG @workshopsforwarriors.
The FBI ranks San Diego 13th in the US for sex trafficking. I didn’t need the FBI to tell me that. The streets of San Diego are where I was trafficked as an adolescent. Recovering from this nightmare taught me a lot. Too often boys and LGBTQ+ youth are overlooked. I went from being trafficked, addicted and homeless to Harvard. We can work together to ensure survivors move from living in trauma to being triumphant.
View BioJesse Leon is a bilingual social impact consultant to foundations and an executive coach focused on diversity and belonging. He creates public-private partnerships, grantmaking programs, and impact investment funds to address affordable housing, sex-trafficking, addiction, mental health, homelessness, and LGBTQ+ issues. Based in San Diego, Jesse is an alum of San Diego City College, UC Berkeley, and Harvard. He is the author of I’m Not Broken and No Estoy Roto published by Penguin Random House. www.jesseleonauthor.com Reach Leon at @jesse_leon_author and LinkedIn.
The education system is missing a big part of the picture by only measuring academics. And here's why: We're teaching whole children. We can't just teach and measure academics—we must include social emotional learning. My research on the unhoused students at Monarch shows the impact of integrating social emotional learning with academics to improve outcomes for students.
View BioKishaLynn Elliott is the VP of Operations and Evaluation for the Monarch School Project in San Diego. She pioneered the first longitudinal research study on the social-emotional learning of school-aged youth experiencing homelessness and co-authored a white paper with USD titled, "Promoting Resilience: Social Emotional Learning Sustenance at the Monarch School.” Her passions are community building, healing, and personal growth. She is also a multi-hyphenated artist, entrepreneur, author of CHILDish: Stories From The Life Of A Young Black Girl and shares her life with her wife and son. www.BLAAC.life. Reach Elliot @coachkishalynn and LinkedIn.
Food travels through immigration, migration or indenture. Our foods tell our immigrant, migrant and refugee stories—of the lands we left behind, of the lands we now call our own. How we adopt/adapt informs us on how we live and love. What we talk about when we talk about food is stories of where we call home. We were ALL immigrants once, this is our story. As the daughter of refugees (from what's now Bangladesh when India was divided during the 1947 partition of British-ruled India), and an immigrant to America as a graduate student, I have been raised on immigration issues that have affected our lives over generations.
View BioThe daughter of refugees and an immigrant, Madhushree Ghosh’s debut food narrative, KHABAAR: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family, was a Ms Magazine ‘Most Anticipated Read in 2022’. Her work has been Pushcart-nominated, Best American Essays Notable Mention, and published in The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Longreads, LARB, and others. Working in oncology diagnostics, she’s focused on gender pay parity in science, and food stories of immigrants. www.writemadhushree.com Reach Ghosh on IG @writemadhushree and LinkedIn.
Great companies are built on embracing empathy in their employees. At the customer-facing company I built, it wasn't the education or experience we looked for, it was empathy. Many employers overlook candidates because they don't fit the boxes. But the people who've had the hardest lives are the ones who have the most humanity. Only when you can tap into your vulnerability, can you truly connect with customers on a human level. Empathic employees build not only loyalty, but love with our customers. Empathy should be the core of any company's hiring culture.
View BioPat Salas is the founder and CEO of SBHIS Insurance Services, Inc. She started the agency at her home and grew it to become the largest Medicare Advantage Agency owned by a Latina Female in the country. She is a servant leader and has dedicated her life to serving Medicare beneficiaries.
She recently changed her title to Chief Dream Enabler because she wanted to focus on helping her team identify their dreams, believe in them and devise clear and concise plans to achieve them.
Providing opportunities, cheering the underdog, making the impossible possible, crushing goals, celebrating the wins and cultivating the company's culture are her passions. www.sbhis.net. Reach Salas on IG @patsalas and LinkedIn
In 2015, the Port of San Diego created the Aquaculture and Blue Technology program, and the Blue Economy Incubator, an impact investment platform to support innovation and entrepreneurship allowing the Port to partner with early-stage companies and facilitate pilot projects to test their technologies in a real world environment. The vision for the incubator is to build a portfolio of new businesses that deliver social, environmental, and economic benefits to the Port and the Region.
View BioPaula Sylvia is the Program Director of the Aquaculture and Blue Technology Program at the Port of San Diego, as well as the Port’s Blue Economy Incubator, an impact investment platform to support entrepreneurship and innovation partnerships to facilitate and scale pilot projects and build a portfolio of aquaculture, blue technology, nature-based solutions and other new businesses that can deliver multiple social, environmental, and economic benefits to the region. Connect on LinkedIn.
The most common narratives we have around climate change have long been focused on threat and urgency. While in some cases this has invited action, it also creates a wide sense of fatalism. Some key ingredients that can invite greater participation are missing: an appeal to people's identity, positive feedback, and a sense of progress. Storytelling focused on solutions can help us get unstuck.
View BioPhilippe Lazaro is a climate and justice storyteller. His work has taken him to 50+ countries, seeking to center the stories of communities most impacted by urgent issues. Lazaro is an advocate for ethical storytelling, a focus on solutions, and using creative tools to inspire proactive behavior. He oversees communications and storytelling for the organization Plant With Purpose. He is based in San Diego with his wife and their three children. Philippelazaro.com. Reach Lazaro on IG @philippelazaro and LinkedIn.
You can settle most any disagreement with the one you love in just minutes - No Fuss No Drama. After an unsuccessful attempt to save his marriage (through traditional counseling) triggered a prayer to God, Rod Jeter created "YBAngry" (pronounced "Why Be Angry"); the relationship game where all you have to do to win is play. He designed YBAngry to help couples stay together, one issue at a time. Rod's unique game approach helps couples overcome seemingly insurmountable disagreements that have lasted decades, in just minutes - NO FUSS NO DRAMA."
View BioRod Jeter is a navy veteran and married father of 5 adult children, three from his previous marriage and 2 from his current. His career spans from being a real estate broker to entrepreneur, and he has a master’s degree in software engineering. Married for 12 years, he found himself frustrated by traditional marriage counseling and sought a better way to settle disagreements with his wife. Jeter’s goal is to create happier homes and help as many couples as possible solve conflicts and disagreements with less drama and more fun through the YBAngry relationship tool. https://ybangry.com. Reach Jeter on IG @mrrodjeter and LinkedIn. Watch Why Be Angry? (2 min Intro).
We protect ourselves in many ways. Seatbelts, vaccinations, home security systems, all used when we need them, BUT women have been asked to protect themselves every single day with medication they don't need to save their life. Why are women over medicating especially if the medication causes side effects?
View BioSaundra Pelletier is the CEO of Evofem Biosciences. As one of the most dynamic women in today’s biotech industry, she is revolutionizing women’s healthcare by launching Phexxi - the first and ONLY non-hormonal FDA approved birth control used on demand. Men have had ‘sex on demand’ for over 150 years with condoms and women should be empowered in the same way. Saundra launched a global non-profit to deliver sustainable contraception to women regardless of income or geography and she uses her voice and vision for real, progressive change to deliver results. She is a force of energy that blends substance and excitement with straight talk and refreshing opinions. www.evofem.com & www.phexxi.com. Reach Pelletier on IG @saundrapelletierofficial and LinkedIn.
Wild Ideas are exponential. They are scary, you will nearly turn your back on your way to pursuing them, but if you keep following your own wild idea, especially if it involves adventure in nature, life will never be the same.
View BioShelby Stanger is the host and creator of the hit podcast, Wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-Op Studios production. Often chasing adventure herself, Stanger has surfed from Canada to Costa Rica; sand-boarded down desolate dunes in Cape Town; paddled down a remote portion of the Amazon River (so many bug bites); and interviewed countless CEOs, athletes, activists, and thought leaders. Her journalism work has appeared in Outside Magazine, ESPN, and The San Diego Union Tribune, among other publications. As a podcaster, Stanger created a show about health called Vitamin Joy, hosted a show about travel for Lufthansa, and regularly consults with brands and individuals on how to tell better stories and launch their own shows. This June of 2023, Shelby will release her first book with Simon and Schuster, Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change. Reach Stanger on IG @shelbystanger and Linkedin.
It's time we change how we divorce in this country. It's time we advocate LOVE before LAW. It's time that parents mediate instead of litigate, and place clergy, counseling and coaching before court to help minimize divorce-related conflict. "Because kids don't belong in the crossfire". NOTE: Stu Weintraub’s talk is assisted with a podium, tablet, and teleprompter app proudly provided by TEDxSanDiego. The TEDxSanDiego stage is fully accessible to individuals with disabilities and makes accommodations to help diminish stigmas that often exist for people with neurodivergent invisible conditions.
View BioStu Weintraub is a creative visionary, social impact entrepreneur, author, speaker, and shamanic energy healer. His "Waves of Love" and "Love Before Law' workshops are opening minds, healing hearts and awakening souls nationwide. As Founder & CEO of the non profit organization, Center for Child-Safe Divorce, Stu is aggregating a professional alliance to help parents seeking support from clergy, counselors and coaches so they can minimize conflict and reduce the chances of fighting in court. In his upcoming book, The HEART of Divorce (releasing spring 2023) Stu vulnerably tells his own personal story, and offers inspiring spiritual and practical guidance for parents whose children are being negatively impacted by conflict during and after divorce. www.stuweintraub.com www.lovebeforelaw.org. Reach Weintraub on IG @stuweintraub FB www.facebook.com/stuweintraub and LinkedIn.
Teresa Smith recognized the importance of helping the not-quite-homeless with a simple solution: Safe Parking. More than just a place to park your car at night, the Safe Parking program is a stepping stone to connect those in need with services and dignity, so that they are quickly back on their feet rather than stuck on the streets. Safe Parking serves hundreds of San Diegans each night, and is so successful, it's been replicated in 25 cities across the USA.
View BioTeresa Smith founded Dreams for Change in 2009 to provide comprehensive social services through innovative programming and research. Teresa was awarded the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award for her work with the development of Safe Parking. Teresa’s educational experience includes a BS in psychology from Western Michigan University, MA in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego, and a MA and Ph.D. in Human Sciences from the California Institute in Human Sciences.
Preventable harm in healthcare remains unacceptably high. One in four hospitalized patients will suffer an adverse harm event and many patients and families are not communicated with and suffer behind a wall of silence. That wall of silence causes unnecessary emotional damage to patients, families and also results in moral injury to involved clinicians. Extreme honesty shatters the wall of silence, improves healthcare quality, reduces burnout, and achieves faster resolutions for patients and families following harm. Educating the public of the power and need for honesty after medical mistakes will help amplify the importance of this type of approach to our healthcare organizations. If we can all work together to normalize compassion, empathy, honesty and transparency, we can truly help to transform healthcare.
View BioA Harvard-trained anesthesiologist, pediatrician, licensed attorney, Patient Safety/Medical Liability Specialist, and author. As Chief Patient Safety and Risk Officer for RLDatix, Dr. McDonald has taken his passion for shattering the wall of silence in healthcare and infused it into software to better support organizations who are on their journey to more compassionate honesty.Dr. McDonald has also worked with patients and family members to share their stories with healthcare organizations, to reinforce the importance of this approach. RLDatix.com. Reach Dr. McDonald on IG @rldatix and LinkedIn.
Why do we wait until someone dies to honor them and tell them how they’ve made a difference in our lives? Say It Now is a movement that inspires people to pay tribute to someone while they’re alive. We never again have to live with regret that comes from not expressing gratitude. This tradition does not make any sense. This is the societal shift the world needs to live a more fulfilling, purposeful life.
View BioWalter Green was Chairman and CEO of Harrison, a leading executive conference center management company. He authored the bestselling book, This Is The Moment, which inspired him to launch the Say It Now movement as its founder. He is actively involved in mentoring and his philanthropic initiatives are focused on San Diego’s underserved. Green and his wife, Lola, funded WE College’s School of Hospitality and Tourism in Kenya. They have twin sons and two grandchildren. www.justsayitnow.org. Reach Green on IG @sayitnowmovement.
Artist in Residence
Katie Ruiz is a Chicana artist, She is an interdisciplinary artist, making work in painting and fiber sculpture. She is most well known for her blanket series in which she portrays couples standing or lying under colorful Mexican blankets. Geometric patterns and bright colors are reiterated throughout her work. She is also known for her activism work with refugees, The Pompom Project, and children’s book Brian the Wildflower. The Pompom Project has the ability to transform a space and the people who created it. People cried, hugged, grieved, and calmed down while focusing on simple craft tasks. Folks took pride in their pompoms and made new friends. When the artwork has created a sense of pride filled the space and visitors came in to gasp at the beauty of thousands of pompoms coming together to make Fine art.
Musician in Residence
Justin "Jay James" Adu-Acquah is an artist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist from San Diego, who was born in Ghana. Jay creates lush and cultivating soul music using mostly live instrumentation and combining his favorite musicals styles from all over the world, including soul, jazz, hip hop and folklore Ghanaian music. Playing over 10 different musical instruments, Jay writes, composes, arranges, produces, performs, and mixes all of his own projects as well as creating creative marketing campaigns to release his work. He highly appreciates collaboration and being commissioned to work with other artists, labels and filmmakers.
A 2018 San Diego State University graduate with a degree in Music, Recording technology and audio design, Jay also posesses plenty of composition and production experience as well as in-studio work. His favorite TED Talk is "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" by Sir Ken Robinson.
Performers
: transcenDANCE is a nationally recognized Creative Youth Development organization that facilitates dance and performance experiences as a catalyst for powerful personal and collective change. transcenDANCE centers young people, their voices and creativity, to bring forth inspiration and transformation for communities in San Diego. transcenDANCE was founded in 2005 and works in Title I school and community settings reaching over 1,800 young people each year through holistic, long-term programs. Their new home, the transcenDANCE Arts Center in Lemon Grove, is a hub for their work with youth, as well as adult dance companies in residence. Please visit tdarts.org for more info.
Plexusplay is the brainchild of Matt DiBiase, a jazz vibraphonist, dance music producer and motion graphics artist based in San Diego, California. Plexusplay shows invite the audience to interact and vote on their journey through Matt's original music. These audience decisions and Matt's live improvisations are visualized on stage using cutting edge real-time visual softwares. Plexusplay aims to recontextualize a love for improvised music in today's visual and tech driven world. Musically, his sound draws on lush jazz harmonies, infectious house and brazilian grooves, and melodic jazz improvisation to produce a show that's as dazzling as it is impactful. From emotional slow moving interludes, to high intensity animated dance songs and stunning solos, Plexusplay's show offers a wide range of possibilities for us to explore and immerse ourselves in.
The Southern Sea Kun Seng Keng Lion and Dragon Dance Association was founded with the goal of preserving the tradition of lion and dragon dancing. Today, Southern Sea is one of the largest and most reputable groups in San Diego, whose performances can be seen at various events including weddings, parades, and multicultural festivals. They recently competed at the 2022 US National Lion Dance competition where they placed third.
J. Garner's Djangophonique is a modern vintage ensemble performing Jazz Manouche (gypsy jazz,) 1920's & 30's jazz, and original compositions. Lorelei Garner on rhythm guitar/melodica, Jon Garner on lead guitar and Paul Tillery on acoustic upright bass. Embracing the ethos of pre-war jazz, they infuse their music with the romantic, sweet, fiery and hot joy of life found in the great Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.
