Sheila Pham

Blogger, Brainstormer, Concerned citizen, Connector, Consultant, Foodie, Photographer, Student, World traveler, Writer/Editor

While I was living and working in Chiang Mai for an agency focusing on global health communications, I brought TEDx to Chiang Mai by organising TEDxDoiSuthep 2011, the city's first ever TEDx event. I was a curator for TEDxSydney 2012 and 2013. More broadly, over the past fifteen years I have held a wide range of communication positions in Australian and British non-government organisations, government agencies and educational institutions because I aspire to serve the public interest. I have a Master of Bieothics and a Master of Public Health, alongside undergraduate degrees in science and linguistics from the University of Sydney. I'm currently undertaking a PhD at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation and a casual lecturer of public health ethics at Macquarie University.

creative writing, public health, literature, film, music, linguistics, blogging, making friends, cooking, travelling, discovering cuisines, contributing to worthwhile causes, good conversation

Soon after I moved to Chiang Mai, I did some searching on the TED website to see if anything was planned here and found that the only events planned for Thailand were in Bangkok. So I got excited by the idea of organising an event but got stuck after a few weeks. I guess I had a lot of other things to get my head around first: a new home in a new city in a new country. It was only meeting Katherine LeRoy some months later, and then talking to her about TED in September, that it suddenly seemed like this could be a reality. With her, I knew it could happen. We decided to go with the idea and through our various networks started to find other like-minded people who were just as committed to the concept as we were. TEDxDoiSuthep couldn't have happened without such a dedicated team. Through that experience, I've learned what it means to take on a leadership role and look forward to more opportunities to promote ideas and creativity.

ordering for big groups in restaurants, hanging out with people whose first language isn't English, finding the most cosmopolitan neighbourhoods in foreign cities, talking someone down from a ledge