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).
Speakers
Dr Martha Deiros Collado
Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Martha Deiros Collado is a clinical psychologist with over 20 years’ experience. Holding a Doctorate from UCL, she is HCPC-registered & a chartered member of the British Psychological Society. Her career highlights include leading psychological services for the East of England Diabetes Network, developing national protocols for Cystic Fibrosis care, and establishing young adult cancer services at Guy’s Hospital. Alongside her clinical work, Martha is dedicated to making psychology accessible and practical for everyday life. A mother of 2, fluent in English, Spanish & French, she brings cultural and personal insight into her work on parenting, child development and family wellbeing. Through her large Instagram audience, she tackles both everyday parenting challenges and complex topics like consent, gender and loss. Martha is the Sunday Times bestselling author of ‘How to Be The Grown-Up’ and ‘The Smartphone Solution: When and how to give your child a phone’.
Duncan Wardle
Former Disney Head of Innovation & Creativity
Duncan Wardle began his remarkable 30 year career at the Walt Disney Company in 1986 as a barman in the Rose & Crown Pub at Epcot. He rose to become Head of Innovation & Creativity, where Duncan helped teams at Disney Parks, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, Imagineering and Animation to innovate, creating magical new storylines and amazing experiences for consumers around the globe. Duncan now brings his Disney experience to organisations around the world to help people capture unlikely connections, leading to both disruptive thinking and revolutionary ideas. He is a frequent contributor to Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes, and he teaches Innovation and Creativity Masterclasses at Yale and Harvard Universities. Duncan holds the American Citizen Award presented at the White House, an Honorary Doctorate from Edinburgh University, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award, presented by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.
Jennifer Bartram
BBC News Broadcaster
Jennifer Bartram is perhaps best known for her 12+ years presenting the weather news for BBC Look North. Her BBC career extends over 20 years. As a presenter, Jennifer has fronted live TV and radio broadcasts for BBC local TV, BBC Radio 1, BBC 5Live and the BBC World Service. Outside of her presenting work, Jen is passionate about teaching and coaching communications. She is a qualified university lecturer and previously held the post of course leader in Radio and Digital Media at the University of West London. Since then she has worked as a communications trainer where she loves helping people find their great stories and then understanding the best way to deliver them to audiences.
Pip Hare
Pip Hare is a world-class sailor, record-breaking athlete, and one of the most determined figures in offshore racing. In 2020 she was the eighth woman in history to finish the Vendée Globe which is considered to be the ultimate test in ocean racing and one of the toughest solo tests in the world of sports and extreme exploration. It enjoys a global audience of millions when runs every four years as sailors from around the world navigate the gruelling 24,300 mile race around the world. Top tier Vendée Globe campaigns run into the tens of millions of pounds in budgets. The boat alone can easily run north of £2m in cost. Remarkably, Pip started her campaign with a £25k bank loan. And so while the race, like Formula One, is typically known for pushing the edges of technological innovation, Pip’s innovations were all around how much performance she could squeeze from the tiniest of budgets. Pip will be discussing her heartbreaking 2024/25 campaign to be the first woman to ever finish the Vendée Globe twice and her long physical and psychological journey back when her race catastrophically ended 800 miles south of Australia dead in the water alone and without help.
Prof Carlos Frenk
Professor of Cosmology
Prof Carlos Frenk has been a Durham University physics superstar for decades now. He is one of the world’s leading cosmologists and a pioneer of the “cold dark matter” model, which transformed our understanding of how galaxies and the universe formed. A Professor of Cosmology and founding Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology, his simulations of the universe have helped reveal the invisible structure of the cosmos.
Prof Sophie Scott
Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience
Professor Sophie Scott CBE is a leading British cognitive neuroscientist whose research has transformed understanding of human vocal communication. In 2022, she wrote The Brain: 10 Things You Should Know. Earlier she was a featured speaker at TED2015. As Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, Sophie heads the Speech Communication Group, investigating how the brain processes speech, voice, and nonverbal sounds. Her pioneering studies revealed the neural systems underlying speech perception and production, as well as the distinctive role of the right hemisphere in processing intonation and emotion in voices.
Prof Sue Black
Professor of Computer Science
Sue Black is a Professor of Computer Science at Durham University, recognised by Forbes Magazine as a World Top 50 Woman in Tech & has received an OBE for her services to technology. However, Sue’s journey to professional success was an unconventional one as she left school at 16 and was a single mum of 3 children by age 25. Fortunately for Sue she had an unusual ability in technology and this served as an extraordinary socioeconomic elevator for her career and life prospects. Sue has since devoted much of her energies to helping bring the many opportunities enabled by technology to women around the UK and the wider world through initiatves such BCSWomen, #techmums and most recently the award-winning TechUP programme.
Sir Vince Cable
Former Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party (UK)
Sir Vince Cable is best known for his tenure as Leader of the Liberal Democrats and as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills during the coalition government. As the former Chief Economist for Shell plc, he is renowned for his sharp economic insight and is credited as one of the earliest prominent voices forewarning the 2008 financial crisis. Presently Vince is a Visiting Professor at the LSE and remains a prolific writer. His latest book is Eclipsing the West: China, India & the Forging of a New World published by Manchester University Press in Autumn 2025. Previous books include The Storm (2009), After the Storm (2015), Open Arms (2017), Money and Power (2021) and The Chinese Conundrum (2022).
UKEBOX Ukulele Band
Music Band
Ukebox has been described as the world’s only ukulele boy band. Hailing from Liverpool, these four exceptional musicians perform across a variety of genres and will deliver a musical experience unlike anything you may have experienced before. Their melodic vocalisations and unique arrangements seamlessly blend comedy, musicianship, and creativity.
