TEDxBeverly Grove

Speakers

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

• Aaron Michael Krinsky

  A father navigating life inside broken systems

  Aaron Michael Krinsky has spent his career at the intersection of technology, design, and innovation. He began his career at IMAX in its digital division and has since co-founded and invested in companies across media, technology, and healthcare. Raised in Laguna Beach, California, Krinsky studied at Yale University and earned his master’s degree from the University of Southern California. He lives in Central Oregon with his wife, Emily, and their three children. At TEDxBeverlyGrove Aaron Michael Krinsky will share “Complexity Is the Enemy of Care: What My Daughter’s Illness Taught Me About Broken Systems.” It’s a field report from inside a system that means well—and still fails people. The takeaway isn’t a perfect solution; it’s the discipline of removing friction so responsibility stays close, empathy stays intact, and care becomes doable again.

• Chef Aitor Zabala

  Three Star Michelin Chef

  Aitor Zabala is Owner and Executive Chef of Somni, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in West Hollywood. Born in Barcelona, he trained at three-Michelin-star Akelarre before joining El Bulli, where he spent four years in the kitchen and elite test kitchen. After a decade as Creative Director at José Andrés' ThinkFoodGroup, Zabala opened Somni in Beverly Hills in 2018, earning two Michelin stars before the pandemic forced its closure. He reopened Somni in West Hollywood in 2024 and, seven months later, earned three Michelin stars, becoming the first Spanish chef to achieve this distinction outside Spain and the first to receive all three stars simultaneously. At TEDxBeverlyGrove Chef Aitor Zabala will share The One More Day Principle—an operating rule for endurance when motivation disappears. Not the glamorous version of resilience—the version where you keep showing up, make the strategic sacrifice, and rebuild the identity required to carry what comes next.

• Eron Zehavi

  Entrepreneur, Speaker, and Transformational coach

  Eron Zehavi is an entrepreneur, speaker, and transformational coach who helps individuals and organizations break through limitation and activate their full potential. A former co-founder of a billion-dollar startup and the founder of Soultivation, a global education and community platform, Zehavi bridges high-level leadership with deep personal transformation. Drawing from lived experience and decades of inquiry, his work explores how meaning, perception, and authorship shape both life and business. At TEDxBeverlyGrove Eron Zehavi will share “Paralysis Is a State of Mind: How Meaning Shapes What’s Possible.” He draws a clean line between events and interpretation—between what happens to us and the story that turns it into a sentence. This isn’t recovery as a slogan; it’s the usable skill of spotting the narrative that traps you, and rewriting it when circumstances won’t cooperate.

• Isaac Jean-Paul

  World-record-holding Paralympic Medalist

  Isaac Jean-Paul is a two-time Paralympic medalist (bronze, Tokyo 2020; silver, Paris 2024), world-record holder in high jump, and World Champion (2017 World Para Athletics Championships). He is an NCAA Division II national champion, All-American, and is currently training to become the first Paralympian to win Olympic gold at the LA 2028 Olympic Games. At TEDxBeverlyGrove Isaac Jean-Paul will share “We Don’t Handicap People. We Handicap Environments.” His claim is blunt: performance is shaped less by labels than by the ceilings built around them—lowered expectations, overprotection, and systems that quietly train limitation. You’ll leave with a sharper lens for what to redesign—at home, at work, and in your own standards—so potential has room to show up.

• Johnny Wu

  Celebrity Mentalist and Transformational Speaker

  Johnny Wu is a celebrity mentalist and keynote speaker known for blending illusion with powerful insights on identity, ambition, and performance. With over 2,000 five-star reviews and performances for brands like Google, Netflix, Amazon, and Bvlgari, Johnny brings both credibility and depth to the stage. Born in Taiwan and raised in Toronto, Johnny’s journey from bullied immigrant to nationally recognized performer shaped his core message: many of us are chasing a version of success we never consciously chose. Through storytelling and live demonstrations, he invites audiences to examine the invisible expectations shaping their path — and to climb their own mountain with clarity and courage. At TEDxBeverlyGrove Johnny Wu will share Is Your Success Just an Illusion?—a story-led look at the oldest trick in the modern playbook: confusing applause for alignment. Not a pep talk. A mirror.

• Ken Cardwell

  Systems Architect

  Ken Cardwell is a founder and systems architect working at the intersection of identity, artificial intelligence, and human representation. He is the founder of ActorForge and the Virtual Actors Guild, where he is building early infrastructures for governed synthetic performers—digital entities designed to operate with defined identity, consent, authorship, and lifecycle control. Ken has filed multiple provisional patents spanning synthetic identity binding, delegated presence, lifecycle management, and platform authorization frameworks, focused on making digital representation accountable in an age of programmable identity. At TEDxBeverlyGrove Ken Cardwell will share The Identity First Rule—a decision test for what must be true before we hand voice, judgment, and representation to digital systems. The risk isn’t “bad content.” It’s the moment assistance becomes impersonation. He’ll outline the guardrails that keep authorship, consent, and accountability attached to a real person.

• Nelly Sudri

  Dating coach, Matchmaker, and Relationship Strategist

  Nelly Sudri is a dating coach, matchmaker, and relationship strategist redefining modern connection in the digital age. She holds a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution & Negotiation from Columbia University and was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. Blending psychology, strategy, and emotional intelligence, she helps individuals build aligned, lasting partnerships in a world shaped by apps and algorithms. Sudri rose to wide attention as the lead matchmaker on the Roku series Match Me in Miami and appeared as a relationship expert in the docuseries Lonely Fans, examining modern loneliness and digital intimacy. She serves as Head Matchmaker for the dating app Blush and hosts High Value Dating, a Pionaire-produced podcast focused on self-worth, standards, and relational strategy. Based in Los Angeles, she has built a community of nearly one million followers and supports singles worldwide through coaching programs and courses—advocating for depth and intentionality in swipe culture.

• Ryan Garney

  Creative Operations Leader

  Ryan Garney is a creative operations leader who has spent over a decade managing teams through high-pressure production environments in entertainment and media. A Triple Crown Award Recipient from Toastmasters International, he has competed in the World Championship of Public Speaking and served as Immediate Past President of the West Hollywood Toastmasters Chapter, leading the club to President's Distinguished status and recognition as one of the top clubs in District 1. Known for blending history, neuroscience, and lived experience, At TEDxBeverlyGrove Ryan Garney will share “Mental Bulkheads: Why the Olympic Survived and the Titanic Didn’t—and What That Teaches Us About Leading Through Crisis.” When pressure hits all at once, most leaders get flooded. Bulkheads are how you stay operational: contain the breach, protect the mission, and make decisions that don’t spread panic through the whole ship. ‍

• Shannon Fernando, MSN-FNP-C

  Global Non-Profit Leader

  Shannon Fernando, MSN-FNP-C, is a family nurse practitioner and global nonprofit leader advancing healthcare access, women’s entrepreneurship, and food security for indigenous women and their families in East Africa and South Asia. She is the Founder and CEO of Alabaster International and works directly in remote regions of Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Sri Lanka to elevate local voices and advance equity and justice for marginalized women. Her work has been recognized with the Humanitarian Award from the 15th Annual Taste Awards, Los Angeles Times nominations, and features in NPR, LA Times, and Spectrum News. Named a 2024 Commitment-Maker by the Clinton Global Initiative, Fernando leads Alabaster’s initiatives to combat hunger in East Africa. Alabaster has also joined the U.S. State Department’s Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) Champion Program, was named a 2025 Food Planet Prize Longlist nominee, and was selected as an F5 Tech for Good winner.

• Shelby Harris, PsyD, DBSM

  Board-certified Behavioral Sleep Medicine Specialist

  Shelby Harris, PsyD, DBSM is a clinical psychologist and board-certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist in private practice in New York. She is Clinical Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and previously served as longtime Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the Sleep-Wake Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Harris is the author of The Women’s Guide to Overcoming Insomnia and The Essential Guide to Children’s Sleep, and her research and clinical writing span insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disorders, and sleep in older adults. A frequent media expert, she has been an invited columnist for The New York Times and has appeared across major outlets including The New Yorker, The Washington Post, CBS Mornings, Today, Good Morning America, and The Drew Barrymore Show. ‍

• Syd Stewart

  Foster youth advocate + filmmaker

  Syd Stewart is the Founder and CEO of Better Youth, Inc., a Los Angeles–based nonprofit equipping foster and at-promise youth with creative confidence and career-connected skills through mentoring and media arts training. A writer, filmmaker, and published poet, she has written for Johnson (Hulu) and G.R.I.T.S. (ALLBLK/AMC), is a Sundance Collab Directing Elements alum, and has been featured in The New York Times, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter. At TEDx, she will address this question: What becomes possible when access, mentorship, and creative confidence meet a young person the system underestimated? Talk title: Shift Happens