About TEDx,
x = independently organized event
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, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. 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.)

2022 Speakers, Performers and Hosts
Naheed Nenshi
Naheed Nenshi is a passionate Calgarian, an accomplished business professional, and a
community leader with a solid track record of getting things done.
Yolanda Sargeant
Yolanda Sargeant is the Queen of Lo-Fi Soul. A genre that she and her producer Comrade (Evgeniy) pioneered after not being able to find an appropriate label that fits their eclectic style.
Zaire Ink
Zaire is an emerging hip-hop artist with deep roots in spoken word poetry.
Sujeev Chohan
As a student of both the Indian Classical and Western Classical arts, Sujeev has been learning and performing music from a very young age.
Shelley Youngblut
Shelley Youngblut connects the world’s best authors with the world’s best audiences as the CEO & Creative Ringleader of Wordfest.
Louise Halfe
Louise Bernice Halfe, also known as Sky Dancer, was raised on Saddle Lake Reserve and attended Blue Quills Residential School.
Julie Sedivy
Julie Sedivy spends her time thinking and writing about how people succeed and fail at communicating with each other and how they might transcend the barriers of differences in identity, personal history, and values.
Paul Johnston
Paul A. Johnston is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Mount Royal University.
Kaysi Fagan
Kaysi Fagan is an award-winning lawyer, educator and public speaker. She is the only practicing Criminal Defence Lawyer in Canada with three law degrees (including two Masters) from three different countries.
Dr. Gabrielle Lindstrom
Dr. Gabrielle E. Lindstrom, Tsaapinaki, is a member of the Kainai Nation, Blackfoot Confederacy. Dr. Lindstrom is an assistant professor in Indigenous Studies with the Department of Humanities at Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta.
Dr. Morgan Vanek
Dr. Morgan Vanek is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Calgary. Her research includes writing about weather and climate from British literature in the 18th century.
Mackenzie Putici
Mackenzie is a co-founder of Web3 Calgary, an entrepreneur, polyglot, avid traveler, and certified sommelier.
Alia Aluma
Alia is an independent creative director working in the fields of app development, fine art, and cultural wellbeing with numerous organizations, including Downtown Calgary Association, Alcove, ADVANCE Canada, and LaLoba.
About TEDx
For more than ten years, TEDxYYC has welcomed an impressive list of the world’s brightest minds, representing all that is new and inspiring in the fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design. As Calgary’s largest and most well-attended independently-organized TED event, TEDxYYC is geared up to bring the very best to our stage for our eleventh year.
We believe sharing ideas about our future is essential in building a stronger community; and what better way to do that than by attending one of the most exciting, most talked about events in Calgary?
TEDxYYC is a catalyst for the power of ideas and positive change. Be part of the movement, and join us at our TEDxYYC annual event!
About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago, TED has grown to support its mission with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.
The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Vancouver, British Columbia. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; TED Translators, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED has established The Audacious Project that takes a collaborative approach to funding ideas with the potential to create change at thrilling scale; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self- organized TED-style events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
More TEDx in Calgary
In addition to the TEDxYYC event in Calgary, we are lucky enough to have several other active TEDx licensees who host independently-organized TEDx events, for our local audience, in a variety of formats. You can find out more about TEDxCalgary at www.tedxcalgary.ca and TEDxYouth@VictoriaPark at tedxyouthvictoriapark.ca