In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
1664 N. Virginia Street
Reno, Nevada, 89512
United States

Britt Curtis

Director of the Holland Project

Ellen Hopkins

Poet; Award-Winning Author

Ellen Hopkins is a poet and the award-winning author of twelve NY Times bestselling young adult novels-in-verse, and three novels for adult readers. Mediabistro has called her the bestselling living poet in the US. She lives near Carson City with her extended family, two dogs, one rescue cat and too many aquarium animals to mention here.

Jesse Leaman

Post Doctor Affiliate at the University of Nevada, Reno

Jesse Leaman received a B.S. in Astronomy from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2002, and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004, and 2008, respectfully. While pursuing his education he started working for NASA, first as a summer intern at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, AL in 1998 and in 1999 at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD. From 2000 to 2010 he worked his way from Co-op student in the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics (LHEA) at GSFC, to a Post Doctor at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffet Field CA . He is now a Post Doctor Affiliate working on the iChair project in the Computer Science and Engineering department at the University of Nevada, Reno. His current research interests include intelligent power wheelchairs, cosmology, and teams drones.

Sharon Ellison

Award-Winning Speaker; Author; Creator of the Powerful Non-Defensive Communication™

Sharon Strand Ellison is an award-winning speaker, creator of the Powerful Non-Defensive Communication™ process and author of Taking the War Out of Our Words. Sharon & her daughter, Ami Atkinson Combs co-authored the audio book, Taking Power Struggle Out of Parenting, winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award. Sharon was a nominee for the Leadership for a Changing World Award, sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Advocacy Institute. As keynote speaker for the 11th annual Kaplan Lecture, she was given an honorary award as a pioneer in the field of communication. Sharon provides keynotes and training programs for people in more than a dozen professions as well as for the public. Her clients include Hewlett Packard; Lockeed Martin; Kaiser Permanente; the Women’s Global Health Imperative; Stanford University, the Association for Multicultural Education, the Smithsonian, The Canadian Bar Association and the Centre for Dispute Resolution in London, England.

Steven Hayes

Professor at University of Nevada, Reno; Author

Steven C. Hayes is Nevada Foundation Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada. An author of 41 books and more than 575 scientific articles, he has shown in his research how language and thought leads to human suffering, and has developed "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy" a powerful therapy method that is useful in a wide variety of areas. His popular book "Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life" was featured in Time Magazine among several other major media outlets and for a time was the number one best selling self-help book in the United States. Dr. Hayes has been President of several scientific societies and has received several national awards, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy.