TEDxDeMontfortU

Speakers

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

• Adele Tilley-Jones

  Senior Lecturer in Enterprise Faculty of Business and Law

  Adele Tilley-Jones is a Senior Lecturer & Programme Leader in Entrepreneurship within the Faculty of Business and Law. An experienced business director whose career has been shaped not by a straight line, but by courage, change, and lived experience. Rather than following a traditional path, Adele’s journey reflects the realities of modern working life - one defined by adaptation, resilience, and the confidence to step into the unknown. Her path into higher education is grounded in this unique journey through business leadership. Rising to a director-level role, Adele gained first-hand insight into what it truly means to lead - making decisions under pressure, navigating uncertainty, and building value in ever-changing environments. These experiences didn’t just shape her career; they shaped her perspective. Today, they underpin everything she does, bringing authenticity, credibility, and real-world relevance to the way she teaches, leads, and inspires others.

• Amal Abuzeinab

  Senior Lecturer Faculty of Technology Arts and Culture

  Amal Abuzeinab is an interdisciplinary architectural academic and advisor specialising in workplace development and learning. As a certified business model practitioner, her work focuses on innovation, professional growth, and creating inclusive opportunities in the workplace. Amal is also committed to mentoring, particularly supporting women in achieving economic empowerment and professional success through education, leadership, and development initiatives.

• Brett Koenig

  Associate Head of Education Faculty of Business and Law

  Brett Koenig is the Associate Head of Law at De Montfort University, where he leads innovation in AI and education. Before entering academia, Brett practised as a lawyer and also represented England internationally in dodgeball, serving as the current captain. These experiences shaped his commitment to resilience, teamwork, and adaptability. His work explores how technology and pedagogy can create opportunity, support social mobility, and redefine learning and success in an AI-driven world.

• Chris Wright

  Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University

  Chris Wright is a practicing artist and designer alongside this he has 30 years of experience in education. With a passion to promote creativity in all forms of experiential learning and play. His work focuses on promoting innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Chris has contributed to discussions on creative education through interviews with multiple publications, a radio feature for the Learning and Teaching Festival on Radio Leicester, and presentations at teaching and learning conferences. Most recently, he appeared on a Times Higher Education podcast discussing mental wellbeing and creativity in education.

• Jane Hearst

  Research and Policy Manager, Creative Health | Author and Filmmaker | Doctor of Creative Health (PhD) Master of Business (MBA)

  Jane Hearst is the Research and Policy Manager at the National Centre for Creative Health, where she advocates for the role of arts and creativity in healthcare. Her work involves responding to NHS and Government evidence calls and supporting health systems in developing research based strategies. Jane co-hosts the podcast Creating Mental Wellbeing, based on a creative mental health framework developed during her PhD research. She is also the author and editor of two books on Creative Health and has contributed to a range of short films exploring the impact of creativity on wellbeing.

• Mark Prescod

  Associate Professor in Marketing Faculty of Business and Law

  Mark is a practised based Associate Professor and Communications Consultant. Graduating as one of the UK’s youngest MBA students his Mark has helped build brands including Carling Lager, Thorntons Continental and Highcross Leicester. Mark has worked with GRAMMY winning Directors, and 8 figure budgets to ensure customers and clients anre delighted with products and services. His passion for developing others has led him to help others work on team and individual communication.

• Mary O'Neil

  Associate Head Education School of Creative Industries and Culture, De Montfort University. Artist, Academic and Writer

  Mary O’Neill is an artist, author, and educator whose practice engages with profound cultural issues that often leave us mute, such as isolation and loss. Through her ephemeral and re-creative works, she explores the search for meaning in the face of life experiences that can render the world chaotic and incomprehensible. Her recent projects draw on maritime language and the laws of salvage as metaphors to reflect on both personal grief and the collective losses inherent in an ever-changing world. These works weave together moving images, sculpture, text, and sound-ranging from spoken word to recordings of the natural environment.

• Nicola Bishop

  Academic Enhancement Lead DMU Education Academy

  Nicola Bishop is an education developer, popular culture researcher, and self-confessed 90s sitcom superfan. Her research examines how office work has been represented in literature, television, and film since the 1850s. Her book Lower-Middle-Class Nation explores the cultural history of the white-collar office worker and how perceptions of office life shape attitudes towards modern living. Nicola is passionate about making academic research accessible and engaging, sharing her work with audiences through public talks and creative communication.