Salmaan Sana

Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Connector, Consultant, Doctor, Educator/Teacher, Global soul, Idea generator, Writer/Editor

Facilitator | Leadership Educator | TEDxAmsterdam Board Member I believe in the power of well-held space. When people feel safe enough to speak their truth and brave enough to listen deeply, something extraordinary happens. New possibilities emerge;l for connection, collaboration, and change. My work lives at the intersection of leadership, culture, and collective intelligence. As a facilitator and educator, I guide teams, organisations, and communities in navigating complexity, embracing dialogue, and leading with purpose. I’ve worked across sectors; from tech to health, corporate to NGO, always with the belief that people, when invited with care and clarity, can rise to meet the challenges of our time. Currently, I serve on the board of TEDxAmsterdam, helping shape its future as we transition into a new chapter, marked by fresh leadership and bold ideas. I’m especially excited about how TEDx can continue to be a platform for unlikely voices, intergenerational learning, and civic imagination, and how we can foster communities of action around the ideas worth spreading. Over the past 15+ years, I’ve designed and led leadership journeys for global companies such as Heineken, Polaroid, L’Oréal, Novartis, and Doctors Without Borders, as well as intimate gatherings for grassroots organisers, social entrepreneurs, and artists. My style blends systems thinking with storytelling, creative facilitation with strategic clarity. Whether in a boardroom, a forest, or an online room of 100 people from around the world, I care most about creating moments that matter — where trust is built, values are tested, and something shifts. I’m also a board member at the School for Moral Ambition, a Dutch initiative that supports young people in living lives of integrity and impact (founded by a TED Speaker Rutger Bregman). I’ve been a speaker, coach and host for events and conferences across Europe and Africa, and continue to explore how to make big conversations feel personal, and personal stories feel universal. Initially trained in medicine and international development, I found my way into facilitation through curiosity: how do people learn, change, and grow, especially together? That question still drives me. Along the way, I’m a faculty member for THNK School of Creative Leadership, The School of Life, and have been mentored by brilliant thinkers and elders, and made plenty of mistakes that taught me the difference between performance and presence. I’m based in Amsterdam, where I live with my partner Mahsa and our two young children. Parenthood has been the most humbling and hilarious of leadership labs — reminding me daily that growth is rarely linear, and that love is the most powerful organising principle we’ve got. If we cross paths, ask me about: remote teams (hybrid leadership), cultural rituals, wilderness work, why I think silence is underrated, or what makes a truly great question.

People wanting to make a change in the world and giving them a platform and tools in order to do so.

How can we transform anger & frustration into a positive and forward-moving force?

Described here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tedxamsterdam-journey-till-now-salmaan-sana/?trackingId=JXGnDarzTh%2B2d8aiY4pyXg%3D%3D My TEDxAmsterdam journey began before I even knew how far it would take me. Back in 2009, I had the chance to be part of the very first edition of TEDxAmsterdam. I was younger, full of curiosity, and didn’t yet realise how meaningful the experience would become. Fast forward to 2018 — nearly a decade later — when Jim Stolze invited me to contribute to a ten-year anniversary video that Erik Jumelet-Boom was producing. Watching that video again, with old footage and familiar faces like Irene Rompa and Anne Cramwinckel, something stirred in me. That original spark — the energy of this platform, the ideas, the people — reignited. When the video was shown at the main event at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, it all came rushing back. TEDxAmsterdam had shaped part of who I’d become. I had made friendships that would last a lifetime, and found myself part of a global movement of people trying — each in their own way — to make the world a little more thoughtful, more inspired, and more human. A few months later, I was invited by Mie Dries and Paul Rispens to join the board. The team was in transition, and so was I. After the 2019 edition — themed Planet Act — I took the stage during the closing to speak about how the theme came to life, and what it meant in that moment. With that also came a new responsibility: to set up a new board and steer the TEDxAmsterdam ship into its next phase. It felt daunting, but also deeply aligned. In early 2020, I began rallying a fresh group of people, reaching out into my network. We were planning our first physical meet-up when — like the rest of the world — everything suddenly shut down. Amid the uncertainty, Ailin Haijer joined the board, and together with Robin Masereeuw, Yona Hümmels and others, we laid a new foundation. We adapted quickly and managed to organise two digital Salon events that year, keeping the flame alive. By 2021, organising a physical event still felt like a gamble — but we tried anyway. Eke Bon joined the board, and Susan Kessing led our Impact Program. Despite the shifting sands of COVID protocols, we pulled off an intimate in-person event with fewer than 100 attendees, seven powerful speakers, and that unmistakable TEDxAmsterdam energy. It felt like a homecoming. The following year, 2022, was about quietly rebuilding. We wrapped up the Impact Program with a final Salon and turned inward: building a new structure, team, and foundation. Our public channels went silent for a while — but behind the scenes, we were assembling a strong, purpose-driven team. Piece by piece, person by person, we built up every part of the operation: from programme to production, partnerships to comms. Slow, steady, meaningful work. Today, the current board are very different in personality and style, but united in heart and mission. Together with our tenacious, creative, and big-hearted team, we’ve been preparing for what’s next — a new chapter for TEDxAmsterdam. One rooted in the values that started it all, but bold enough to imagine something different for the future. We don’t yet know how it will all unfold. However, what I do know is this: I feel privileged to be part of a community like this — one where ideas inspire people, and people inspire ideas. We’ve got something cooking. I’m eager to share it with you.

People don’t know I’m good at connecting things that don’t seem to go together. I used to study medicine, a path rooted in rigour and science, and at the same time, I was secretly passionate about breakdancing and DJ’ing. The body, rhythm, healing, storytelling… it all somehow made sense to me. Although I didn’t pursue medicine or music professionally, the ability to sense patterns, read the room, and move with intuition has stayed with me and now shows up in how I facilitate, parent, and lead. I also write, quietly but consistently. Musings, reflections, and often unfinished thoughts that help me make sense of the world. One day, I might pick the decks or the dancefloor back up again. But for now, my craft is in words, questions, and space.