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.

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxYouth@Portland, where x = independently organized TED event. At our TEDxYouth@Portland event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

Here at TEDxYouth@Portland, we want to showcase youths who are active in their communities for the audience to understand that they have the power to impact local changes, despite their ages. All of our speakers are high school or college students from the Portland area. Additionally, we hope to demonstrate the talents of Portland youths not only as speakers, but as graphic designers, volunteers, and marketers. TedxYouth@Portland works to provide a forum for audience members across Portland to openly discuss ideas and work together.