Meghan Gupta

Pioneer High School

12th Grade

Meghan is a senior at Pioneer High School. She enjoys taking a variety of classes, ranging from literature to environmental science, but she intends to study economics in college. She hopes to earn a PhD in gender economics as well as a JD degree. Outside of the classroom, Meghan is a passionate figure skating coach at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, and she especially enjoys working with the Ann Arbor Special Olympics Figure Skating Team. Meghan believes that education is a universal right and hopes to use her career to fight for equal educational opportunities for people all over the world.

Why I will be the next billionaire

Mustafa Syed

Skyline High School

12th Grade

Mustafa is a senior at Skyline High School. He is a self-proclaimed entrepreneur and inventor. Narrating his journey through success, Mustafa discusses the steps he is taking to become successful in his field and inspire the audience to light their own path.

Understanding my sister

Kiran Kumar

Pioneer High School

11th Grade

Kiran is a junior at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, MI. In school he is involved in Pioneer Orchestra and miRcore. Outside of school he enjoys playing piano, tennis, and biking. He believes that autism awareness is important and that it is imperative that we enable people to better teach and communicate with those on the spectrum.

Creativity and innovation in education

Neha Seshadri

Skyline High School

11th Grade

Neha is a junior at Skyline High School. She is an outstanding leader and mentor who is extremely passionate about Girls in Technology and education both locally and internationally. She wants to inspire the youth of today to change the world by incorporating creativity in education. In her free time, Neha loves swimming, singing, and participating in outdoor activities.

The importance of solitude

Catherine Nicoli

Community High School

11th Grade

Catherine is a junior at Community High School in Ann Arbor. She plays ice hockey for Ann Arbor Skyron and is a Peer Educator with Planned Parenthood. Nature has played a big role in her life, but this past summer she learned how much of an impact it could have on a single person.

Defying death: why we should extend health span

Mary Claire Manley

Pioneer High School

11th Grade

Mary Claire Manley is a junior at Pioneer High School, and the world’s biggest science fan since Bill Nye. She also loves riding, Tolkien, baseball hats, crosswords, the West Wing, Saturday Morning Physics, and plotting world domination with her three siblings. She hopes one day to wield her microscope against the Grim Reaper’s scythe, and maybe visit Mars in a few hundred years. She is involved with NHS and Peer-to-Peer, and would like to pursue a career in either international relations or biotechnology and genetic engineering.

Bullying, an unnatural disaster

Sam Kass

Pioneer High School

10th Grade

Sam Kass enjoys playing varsity field hockey and lacrosse for Pioneer High School. The sophomore is a three-time member of the Ann Arbor Youth Poetry Slam Team, as well as a trumpet player in Pioneer’s Concert and Jazz bands. Her favorite books are Dreamland Social Club and Love is the Higher Law.

Just to clear the air

Anna Dang

Skyline High School

12th Grade

Anna Dang is a 17-year-old senior at Skyline High School. She primarily lives in Ann Arbor with her mom, brother, two dogs, and cat. Having spent time with patients suffering from digestive disorders, she aims to raise awareness on the topic of flatulence in her TEDxTalk “Just to Clear the Air”.

Sparking social change in 140 characters or less

Madeline Small

Skyline High School

11th Grade

Madeline is a junior at Skyline High School. She is the president and founder of The Social Awareness Club and a Writing Center Tutor. She's passionate about various social issues and strives to help initiate positive change anyway she can.

Why you should get out of town

Rutger de Voer

Community High School

12th Grade

Rutger is an exchange student from the Netherlands. He is a senior at Community High School and a teaching assistant at the University of Michigan. Traveling is his favorite thing to do. He thinks traveling and stepping out of one's comfort zone are very important for psychological, mental, moral and social development.

Mindfulness: train the brain

Sanomi Croos-Dabrera

Pioneer High School

11th Grade

Sanomi Croos-Dabrera is a 16-year-old at Pioneer High School. She grew up in Ann Arbor with her brother, sister, and two Sri Lankan-born parents. Her TEDxTalk, Mindfulness: Train Your Brain, is centered on incorporating ancient Eastern philosophy in the busy pace of today's life to help maintain proper physical and mental health.

Beauty: the true beast

Aabi La'al

Skyline High School

12th Grade

Aabi is a senior at Skyline High School. She runs on the Track and Field team and plays cello in Skyline’s symphony orchestra. Aabi loves to travel and try new things. She hopes that you enjoy her TEDxTalk today, and that you always keep an open mind.

Flags can be vexing

Joseph Ryan

Huron High School

9th Grade

Joseph Ryan is a freshman at Huron High School. He is also a Cadet Chief Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol and is interested in getting his private pilot license. Through the Civil Air Patrol he volunteers much of his time in community service on search and rescue missions as well as performing various duties on his squadron honor guard. Joseph is interested in cellular biology, especially genetics. He is also very interested in politics and hopes to possibly become a congressman. He plans to put these many ambitions together to hopefully attend the United States Naval Academy to become a helicopter pilot and study political science or general science.

Speaking out against anti-semitism

Laila Krugman

Skyline High School

9th Grade

Laila Krugman is a freshman at Skyline High School. She enjoys acting and singing and is currently in a production at her school. She loves to spend time with her friends and her cats! Laila is Jewish and is starting a Jewish youth group in Ann Arbor. She feels passionate about her religion and wants to educate others on Judaism and why it matters to many people.

Speaking out against anti-semitism

Rachel Rothenberg

Skyline High School

9th Grade

Rachel Rothenberg is a freshman at Skyline High School. She enjoys playing tennis, debating, and public speaking. Rachel is very opinionated and feels passionately about social equality. She is jewish and enjoys celebrating her religion through the youth group she is starting. She wants to inform society about her religion and ideals through her TEDxTalk.

Speaking out against anti-semitism

Yakirah Mitchel

Skyline High School

9th Grade

Yakirah Mitchel is a freshman at Skyline High School. She enjoys writing, playing ukulele, and being involved in social activism. She loves being around her friends and hanging out downtown. Yakirah is starting a Jewish Youth Group with Rachel and Laila in Ann Arbor. She feels passionate about educating people on Judaism and why respect for it is so important.

Identity crisis under a hijab

Mecca Muhammad

Skyline High School

11th Grade

Mecca Muhammad is a 17-year-old junior at Skyline High School who loves playing golf and running track. Mecca is a passionate and caring person who wants to make a difference in the world. Her future aspirations deal with pediatric medicine and Doctors Without Borders. Mecca is excited to use her voice to help others understand what Islam is, and what it’s like to be a Muslim living in America.

Don't count on me

Kareem Shunnar

Skyline High School

12th Grade

Kareem Shunnar is a current senior at Skyline High School. Although he participates in a wide variety of activities from theater to tennis, his biggest passion is standing up for today’s youth. During his time at Skyline, Kareem has tutored at Haisley Elementary, worked at the amazing camp Al-Gon-Quian, and accumulated over 150 hours of volunteering at the Hands On Museum in under a year. As captain of the school's Forensics team, Kareem has prior speech experience; however this is his first TEDx Talk. He hopes to further the notion that every kid is better than a study or statistic.

No one is for sale

Lana Heaney

Skyline High School

9th Grade

Lana Heaney is a freshman at Skyline High School. She loves to sing and dance. She is an advocate for women's rights and racial and gender equality. She believes in equality for all and is working hard to educate others on the dangers of human trafficking and how to help.

The shadows of black masculinity

Anika Love

Skyline High School

11th Grade

Anika is a junior at Skyline High school. She is an activist and mentor; Anika is dedicated to the liberation of those repressed by social constructs and institutions. She is a peer educator for SafeHouse, and is passionate about ending sexual and domestic assault; she travels to schools to inform teens about healthy relationships and consent. Anika is an artist and poet who enjoys conveying her frustrations though her expressive work. Her talk, which focuses on America’s distorted perception of black males, was inspired by one of her powerful poems.

System of failure

Bram Lesko

Skyline High School

11th Grade

Bram Lesko is a junior at Skyline High School. He enjoys filmmaking and ultimate frisbee. He has always had a passion for helping those who cannot help themselves and wants to bring voice to an under voiced population.

To publish or not to publish

Katherine Crawford

Pioneer High School

11th Grade

Katherine Crawford is a seventeen-year-old junior at Pioneer High School. She is an artist and writer and prefers to spend most of her free time reading or running. Katherine is interested in teaching, law, medicine, and art, but she hopes to pursue creative writing in the future and become a published author! Having written a book and considering publishing it, Katherine chose to talk about the unique relationship between fans and creators and how it affects her own decision.

The underestimated power of words

Samuel Martin

Skyline High School

11th Grade

Samuel Martin is a 16-year-old junior who attends Skyline High School. Whilst balancing a part-time job, playing football, running track, and attending school, Sam realized the underestimated power of words. He made the distinction between intent behind words and the impact that actions have. Sam is excited to share his ideas at this year’s TEDxYouth@AnnArbor conference.

What’s under your shirt?

Rachel Starosta

Pioneer High School

11th Grade

Rachel Starosta is seventeen years old and attends Pioneer High School. She is from Quebec and has moved many times, which spun a love for traveling inside of her. Besides traveling, Rachel enjoys cooking, swimming, and playing water polo. Rachel knows that there are many other important issues that are happening currently, but she believes every problem has the right to be addressed. In her talk, she will be explaining how people are judged upon appearance, specifically piercings, within the professional world. She will be talking about stigma that people with certain piercings are given, affects other people’s judgement and apparently their future. Rachel is extremely excited to share her ideas at the 2017 TEDxYouth@AnnArbor conference!

Sustainable global solutions

Morgan Gallimore

Greenhills Upper School

11th Grade

Morgan is a junior at Greenhills High School. She plays volleyball and violin, and is a member of the Greenhills Robotics Team. She loves science and technology, and enjoys learning new things about them and using them to help the greater good.

Silence the secrets

Brynne Hindle

Greenhills Upper School

11th Grade

Brynne is a junior at Greenhills School. She plays volleyball and runs track. She is a volunteer camp counselor at YMCA Camp Thunderbird. When Brynne was ten years old, her father took his own life, opening her eyes to mental health, suicide, and the stigma around it. Brynne is passionate about teaching youth tools to eradicate the stigma around mental health.

Breaking mormon

Andie Kemmerle

Pioneer High School

12th Grade

Andie is a senior at Pioneer High School. She enjoys traveling and being exposed to new cultures and ideas. Born and raised in the Mormon church, she has recently undergone a religious transformation and is fascinated by all religious discussion.

Never work a day in your life

Phillip Crumm

Emerson School

7th Grade

Phillip is a 7th grade student at Emerson Middle School. He is a blackbelt in taekwondo, and has been training in martial arts for seven years. At his martial arts school, Saline ATA Martial Arts, he is part of a leadership program focusing on how to educate others in taekwondo. He also enjoys other activities such as: lacrosse, tennis, yo-yo-ing, origami, and rubik's cube solving. Both in and out of school, Phillip pursues many different interests and pushes himself to fully explore these new hobbies. His talk focuses on how diving deep into passions is the most powerful path to take. Through showcasing his beliefs about exploring one's passion, Phillip hopes to inspire the next generation of inventors, innovators, and influencers.