TEDxYouth@Dayton

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Bryce Turner

  Bryce’s talk focuses on how emotional development is one of the most powerful aspects of maturing as a teenager, especially as a man. Through art, he has learned that feelings are temporary, but the memories associated with them are forever. He hopes his audience can take the lessons from those experiences and shape a path where they can grow.

• Daisy Jones

  Daisy is a sophomore and has been on her school’s Hope Squad since eighth grade. Daisy also finds passion in being a member of the GEM Project Dayton team and the Speech and Debate team. She began speaking out about her own political beliefs last year and has since learned the importance of activism in her life. Daisy is excited to share her story of learning to have discussions across political lines, and how politics affects our lives.

• Eric Wiggins

  A unique thing about Eric is his openness to the ideas of others, and that he highly values expression and representation. Eric wants a world in which people can see themselves anywhere and have inspiration for who they want to become. That is why he’s giving a TED talk on the value of media representation and the power in seeing yourself.

• Ja'Niya Belcher

  poetry

  Niya is a young poet in Dayton, OH.

• Kate Silvain

  student learning differences

  Kate is a sophomore in high school and is so grateful to be participating in TEDxDayton this year! In her free time, she loves taking part in sports (like field hockey and diving), arts (like a cappella and theater), and lots of social clubs (like Speech and Debate and Academic Decathlon). She is very excited to share a message of acceptance and change through her talk and hopes you enjoy it!

• Liam Sanders

  Liam is a proud furry and LGBTQ+ advocate. He will be sharing his insights on the creativity, culture, and community that make up the furry fandom. Liam’s experiences highlight how furry spaces nurture self-acceptance, self-expression, and belonging. In this talk, he invites you to explore furry spaces and discover what being a furry taught him about being human.

• Mack Foerch

  Mack is a high school senior taking college classes this year to prepare for his undergrad and, ultimately, med school. He plays guitar and drums and loves to read. He has always been passionate about speaking when given the chance. He is very excited for this opportunity to spread his message and is grateful to be chosen.

• Matthew Petty

  Matthew could never find one subject to call his favorite. He switched from biology to medicine to math to computer science to social studies, learning everything he could along the way. Eventually, he settled on law and politics, joining his high school’s Youth and Government club and taking college courses in Constitutional Law. Being well-versed in all these fields of study revealed deeper connections that helped him better understand the relationships in his life. He hopes the unique perspectives they provide can help others understand their own complex relationships.

• Mayah Epps

  poetry

  Mayah is a young poet in Dayton, OH.

• Sonia Sanhotra

  Sonia is a senior in high school. She is a pianist and dedicated choir performer who leads her school’s choir program as President. She is also a candidate for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and the founder of Invested (a youth financial literacy initiative). Outside of school, she enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, singing, and broadening her perspective. Her experiences navigating shifting identities and the subtle messaging of culture have given her insight into leadership and claiming space.

• Vrinda Chatterjee

  Vrinda is a product of universes colliding; an occupation of a liminal space between an American world and an Indian one. Her history with self-identification—American fricatives encased in the dense echoes of Indian song—has seemed more inverted and wrong than sacred. That needs to shift. In her talk, she wants to address erasure, thus negating its silent power. She wants to grow into being alright with herself as a piece of something fractured and still invariably whole.

• Zechariah Sylwestrak

  Zech grew up in a rural Methodist community and a Catholic school. He came out as transgender three years ago after having a lot of time to discover himself during the lockdown. He wants to do this TED talk to help people gain perspective on the trans community and fight stigmatization.