TEDxChicago 2022
Showtime: Chi✶Time
There is a moment for every one of us when we must call upon our best: The moment the curtain opens, the spotlight shines, the clock runs down, the meeting begins, the bell tolls, the inning nears its end, or the phone call rings. In each of these moments, we must draw on courage, bravery, integrity, and the will to take a leap. Let's celebrate these moments, and do so with the vigor, love, pride, and boldness that we are as Chicagoans. Its showtime Chicago: It's Chi✶Time.
This year, TEDxChicago has arrived at its own curtain call moment: We have transformed the experience and the vision to be deeply focused on the richness of Chicago: Its people, its taste, its culture, and its pride. Chicago has a long list of incredible thought leaders, artists, and movement makers who give their hearts and minds to ideas greater than themselves, all the while catalyzing off of and within Chicago as a platform.
Speaker Lineup
Ertharin Cousin | World Hunger Ambassador
Ending Global Hunger: Yes We Can
Ertharin Cousin is the founder and CEO of Food Systems for the Future. Her career has spanned government, academia, and the private sector. She has served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program, and Chief Operating Officer of America’s Second Harvest (now Feeding America).
Dr. Mesmin Destin | Social Psychologist
How Everyday Interactions Shape Your Future
Mesmin Destin is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University in addition to a fellow of Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research. In collaboration with his lab group, Dr. Destin uses experiments and other methods to investigate factors shaping the experiences and outcomes of students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. His work carries implications for institutions and the development of learning environments that recognize and leverage student strengths and identities in ways that support motivation, achievement, and well-being.
Prof. Michael C. Jewett | Synthetic Biologist
Make anything, anywhere, with just-add-water biotechnology
Dr. Michael Jewett is the Director of the Center for Synthetic Biology and Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University. Dr. Jewett’s research focuses on advancing synthetic biology research in support of planet health and societal health. This work is creating biotechnologies for decentralized biomanufacturing, portable diagnostics, and educational kits to serve human needs. He co-founded SwiftScale Biologics, Stemloop, Inc., Pearl Bio, Induro Therapeutics, and Design Pharmaceuticals. Jewett is a Fellow of AIMBE, AAAS, and NAI.
Juliette Hulsizer & Jenny Just
How The Power of Poker is Changing the Game for Women
Juliette Hulsizer was fourteen when her father noticed a weakness in her tennis game—she wasn’t anticipating her opponent’s moves or strategies. He suggested she learn poker to develop these skills. Now, at age 16, she is a rising Senior at Lake Forest Academy, a three-sport varsity athlete, and co-founder with her mom, Jenny Just, of Poker Power, whose mission is to prepare one million girls and women to compete and succeed by developing skills such as problem solving, risk assessment, capital allocation and strategic thinking, all through the game of poker.
Jenny Just is the co-founder of PEAK6, a multibillion-dollar financial services and technology empire that focuses on transforming underfunded and undervalued businesses into high growth companies. PEAK6’s vision is to embrace and empower today’s consumer through technology which simplifies processes, improves performance and creates new wealth. Ms. Just launched Poker Power in 2020, a woman-led company that teaches poker to all who identify as female, and by extension, teaches women strategic thinking, capital allocation, and decision-making skills.
Dr. Suzet M. McKinney | Public Health Expert
Want Better Health and Better Lives? Think Life Sciences
Dr. Suzet M. McKinney is a public health expert, medical executive, thought leader, strategic thinker and nationally recognized expert in emergency preparedness and response. As Principal and Director of Life Sciences for Sterling Bay, Dr. McKinney oversees relationships with the scientific, academic, corporate, tech, and governmental sectors involved in the life sciences ecosystem. She also leads the strategy to expand Sterling Bay’s footprint in life sciences nationwide.
Dr. Prof. Manijeh Razeghi | Quantum Device Inventor
How undiscovered light will be seen by Quantum Eyes
Manijeh Razeghi is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the director and founder of the Center for Quantum Devices at Northwestern University. She is one of the leading scientists in the field of III-V semiconductor science and technology of quantum materials and devices. Her work has led to major advancements including some of the technologies which were at the core of the late 20th century optical fiber telecommunications boom. Her current motivation is to educate future generations, advance quantum semiconductor science and technology, and develop optoelectronic devices which span from ultraviolet to THz frequencies. This technology will impact all areas of human life, as well as improve the functionality of our bodies and minds. Some near term examples include development of fast and reliable chemical and biological agent sensors, portable water purification systems, high speed wireless communications, and space UV astronomy.
Mike Strautmanis | Movement Builder
The Playbook for Creating Lasting Change
Michael Strautmanis is a proud Chicagoan and foundation leader who works to advance social impact strategies. An attorney with organizing roots, he spent over a decade in Washington, D.C., increasing access to economic opportunity, strengthening the judicial system, and championing equity and inclusion. During that time, he served in the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Obama Administration. Mr. Strautmanis currently acts as Executive VP for External Affairs at the Obama Foundation, where he develops and leads outreach and engagement efforts to make communities more connected and equitable.
Performer Lineup
Nico Rubio | Tap Dancer
Your iNFINITE iNDIVIDUAL iNCANDESCENE
Chicago native Nico Rubio is one of the leading Tap Dancers of his generation. The founder and director of Shuffle Liiife Productions and tap company 333 (Three Thirty Three), Nico has traveled the world, teaching, performing and choreographing everywhere from Europe to Asia, Central America to South America. Appearing locally on Windy City Live and halftime for the Chicago Bulls, as well as abroad from UCLA’s Jazz Reggae Fest to the Beijing Contemporary Dance Festival.
In 2018, Nico received the Chicago Dancemakers Forum’s Lab Artist Award. In 2019, he choreographed and produced By Way Of Taps: A J Dilla Tribute, which was performed at Columbia’s Dance Center, in Long Beach California, and premiered in full at Thalia Hall in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. From 2020 to now, Nico has produced virtual and in-person events via Shuffle Liiife, such as shows, tap jams, workshops, and, most notably, his Footage Functions, which have furthered his contributions to preserving the art form’s past, enriching its present, and inspiring the future. With everything he does, Nico’s mission is not just to expose the majesty and humanity of Tap Dancing and other art forms, but to highlight everyone’s infinite individual incandescence (light), via Shuffle Liiife.