TED and TEDx

My journey with the TEDx program began in January 2011 as a senior in high school. I was the Student Lead Organizer of TEDxYouth@SanDiego 2011, an event that brought together 25 speakers and over 400 high school students in the audience. 

In the Spring of 2012, I helped put together the first annual TEDxFoggyBottom conference, which brought together 4 speakers and 100 attendees centered around the theme of "Changing Paradigms." Following this, I was accepted to attend TEDGlobal 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and went that summer of 2012 as the curator and licensee. 

Following TEDGlobal 2012, I spent the next year, with one other friend, putting together TEDxFoggyBottom 2013, an event that gathered over 300 attendees and 7 speakers based on the theme of "The Power of Human Connection."

After 2013, asking for help became the most important task. We gathered a team of around 30 fellow undergraduate students and worked tirelessly for 12 months. The outcome was TEDxFoggyBottom 2014: Illuminate; a full-day conference that brought 21 speakers from around the country, and over 1,300 attendees from around the DMV area. Two of this event's talks were chosen as TEDx Editor's Picks, and one was featured on Upworthy. 

During my fourth year as curator, I worked with an incredible team of 42 to produce TEDxFoggyBottom 2015. Our theme was Be Rebellious, and after another 12 months of planning, we brought together 20 different speakers and performers and a sold-out audience of 1,500. 

Today, TEDxFoggyBottom is one of the largest student-run TEDx events in the United States, has amassed millions of views online, and in 2020 will celebrate its 9th anniversary.