Leo Li

Educator/Teacher, Project manager, Web guru

I was born and raised in a multicultural family. My parents come from different nationalities and the collision between different cultures has always been with me since childhood. Whenever my parents fought over different opinions, they would play a one-person speaking game called "Speak My Mind" to clear the air. Growing up, I witnessed countless "speeches" from my parents and giving speeches to each other gradually became a way for us to share our thoughts. Today, public speaking is not only the warmest memory of my life but also the love and passion of my life. Wherever I am in the world, I always looking for local public speaking organizations and enjoy every second of my life whenever giving or listening to a speech.By listening to the stories and thoughts of others, I have extended my own limited experience of life and made myself more forgiving. When I give a speech, I feel like I am a flame that ignites others and sparks the most beautiful thoughts together.

The main purpose of holding TedX is to enable students in my community to reflect on their own lives by listening to the speeches in different fields. I do believe the power of idea is infinite. When different ideas collide, dazzling sparks will be aroused, which may lead to new knowledge and new ideas. The students in our learning community are meant to study abroad and there is no doubt they'll meet people with different values and ideas. TEDx provides a wonderful platform for them to have a better understanding of other people's choices while listening to other people's stories. Besides, I would like to see that the youth in my community can make themselves be heard by sharing their life choices through this platform. There is no doubt that the world has never been more open to them in so many ways. So what choices will they make? What do they really think of this word? Their voices deserve to be heard by all of world.

education, language and, literature

What inspires me most to organize a TEDx event is that I do believe the power of an idea is infinite. Before I returned to China to teach Chinese in an international school, I did a three-month internship at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Working at the United Nations with people from different parts of the world, I find that every conversation is a clash of ideas. Every time I think instinctively in the face of stereotypes and prejudices, someone else with a very different set of ideas immediately stands up and reminds me how diverse the world is. The United Nations has a wealth of speech activities. In my spare time, I spent almost all my time immersed in speeches with different ideas and cultures. Three months later, I found myself not only becoming more tolerant but also being able to use critical thinking to rationally analyze the causes of many phenomena. In our international school, especially an IB school, it is our goal to train students to become qualified global citizens. I hope our students can learn to listen to different voices and accept different ideas through TEDx.There is an old saying in China called seeking common ground while reserving differences，the first step to become a qualified global citizen is to know how to accept different ideas. I appreciate the spirit and purpose of TEDx "spreading ideas and changing the world". Therefore, I hope to hold a TEDx event to break some inherent prejudice of students through public speeches in different fields, so that they have the potential to become a global citizen in the collision of ideas.

you know I was a CEO of a company