TEDxBute Street

Speakers

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

• Andrew Jenkins

  Andrew Jenkins is a Welsh motivational speaker, mental health advocate, and former insurance broker best known as a standout finalist on Season 2 of the BBC reality show The Traitors. He travels across the UK delivering keynotes on resilience and overcoming adversity, drawing on his miraculous recovery from a near-fatal car crash.

• Anna Louise Bates

  I am the CEO and Founder of the welsh charity Believe Organ Donor Support that I set up in 2015 following the passing of my husband and 7 year old son and their organ and tissue donation. This was just 5 days after Wales became the first home nation to adopt the soft opt out legislation but it was clear to me that we really had to look and education and support around organ donation. We have achieved a lot through the last 10 years thanks to the help from the welsh community internationally including an award winning animation with superted animator Mike Young and the first educational organ donation memorial garden to attempt to educate those around still such a taboo subject.

• Caitlin Flood-Molyneux

  I’m a contemporary Welsh artist whose work is deeply rooted in memory, emotion, and lived experience. My practice explores how personal histories and collective nostalgia shape who we are. I use painting as a way to process, preserve, and reimagine the past. I grew up in a working-class family in rural South Wales. My mum was an artist at heart but worked as a staff nurse and she was the one who pushed me to follow my passion. She saw something in me and told me to chase my dreams. I’m dyslexic and only found out later in life when I went to university, so school was a struggle. Art became my outlet my voice when I couldn’t find the words. As soon as I could, I went to university to study Fine Art and spent a year abroad in Norway, living and creating there. When I came back to Wales, I completed my degree and went straight into my master’s. During that time, my mum sadly passed away suddenly. The shock of everything and losing her almost made me give up art altogether but painting became the thing that helped me through. Art helped me feel close to her again. I realised then that art wasn’t just something I enjoyed it was something I needed to survive. Later I found notes from my mum saying she wanted to bring art into hospitals to help patients. That discovery inspired me to do the same. Having experienced firsthand how powerful art can be for mental health, I began working in hospitals while continuing to make my own work. I worked odd jobs to survive but when I got my first break I dropped everything, took a risk and decided to dedicate everything to my painting. My big break came with a solo show in London which opened doors to being exhibited at Christie’s, having my work auctioned at Sotheby’s and being shortlisted for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. My work has since sold across six continents something I could only have dreamed of when I started. But through all of it the challenges, the grief, the breakthroughs. I’ve learned that resilience and passion are at the heart of what I do. Art saved me in my darkest times, and now I want to use it to inspire others to keep going, to believe in their voice, and to find healing and connection through creativity.

• Lorraine McDonnell

  Number 1 International Bestselling Author Renowned Keynote Speaker Ambassador and Humanitarian for Survivors Dedicated to a life of service, affecting real life positive change, with everyone who engages with her. Lorraine's journey is demonstrative of breaking human barriers. It is so impactful you will be hanging on the edge of your seat. Her astounding presence is infectious. She lives a life of purpose and service to others. It is not about her story, but how she breaks down why we get in our own way and how to move past the perceived obstacles in our minds. She shows you how to make the impossible possible and demonstrates that if your dreams are not so big that they frighten you, then they are not big enough. Lorraine reframes what it means to start over, level up and transcend all life's obstacles. She will help you find a greater sense of courage so that you can go forth in all aspects of life and do the things you always wanted to do. Now is the time! Lorraine is the first female Wim Hof instructor in Scotland and the first combined Advanced Wim Hof Instructor & Sundoor Firewalking Instructor in the UK and Western Europe. She is one of a handful of people around the world who can use breathing techniques to raise the temperature of her extremities' by up to six degrees, in the wilderness in extreme cold conditions and can use visualization techniques to ward away hyperthermia. She was the first female to Summit Mont Blanc on 3rd June 2023 when the snow conditions were thigh deep. Many climbers did not make the summit that day. There were 120 climbers in the Gouter Hut on Mont Blanc and only 2 were women. "She was Captivating. Powerful. Genuine. The kind of presence that makes you sit up straight and really listen and that is rare. I found her exactly the same in person: grounded, warm and fully authentic. Lorraine stands for something simple but profound: Strong mind. Healthy body. Courage over comfort. She helps you actually get there." David Goldstone, Global Entrepreneur

• Osamagbe Izivbigie

  I am a Welsh-based cultural entrepreneur, founder of OTID Entertainment and Afrowales, working at the intersection of culture, enterprise and public institutions. My work centres on building platforms that elevate underrepresented voices while strengthening the creative economy in Wales. I have produced large-scale festivals, youth music initiatives, cross-sector collaborations and policy roundtables that bring together artists, government, and industry leaders. Having migrated to the United Kingdom and built organisations from the ground up, my journey sits at the crossroads of identity, resilience, and innovation. I understand what it means to arrive, rebuild, and contribute. My work is not simply about events. It is about systems, narrative change, and demonstrating how culture can shape policy, community cohesion, and economic growth.

• Taiye Omokore

  Taiye Omokore is a Nigerian-born visual artist, photographer, creative director, and cultural entrepreneur based in London and Cardiff. His work explores identity, migration, resilience, and representation, using fashion and portrait photography as tools to tell deeply human stories that bridge his Nigerian heritage with his lived experience in Wales. Since relocating to the UK in 2022, Taiye has quickly built an internationally recognised body of work. His photography has been featured in publications including Vogue, BBC, Art Uk, Dazed, Aesthetica, and Cardiff Life Magazine, and exhibited at leading institutions such as Somerset House in London as part of the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition, Ffotogallery, and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. In 2023, he was named Visual Artist of the Year at the Black History Wales Awards, recognising both his artistic excellence and his social impact. His projects often focus on identity, belonging, and cultural memory. Series like Into the Unknown explored the emotional realities of migration and was shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards, while My Jeans, My Everyday was selected for PhotoVogue’s global exhibition celebrating Levi’s 150th anniversary, where he was one of 150 artists chosen worldwide and the only representative from Wales. Beyond photography, Taiye is the founder and creative director of KLAT Magazine and the KLAT Awards, platforms dedicated to spotlighting emerging creatives and underrepresented voices. Through interviews, photography, and events, he has documented and platformed over 200 young creatives across Wales and internationally, building a community that celebrates new talent and cultural storytelling. His wider creative practice spans film, exhibitions, and cultural projects. He has directed documentary work supported by the BFI, collaborated with national institutions including the National Library of Wales and the Football Association of Wales, and was endorsed by Arts Council England as a Global Talent visual artist. His debut photography book, My Story in Red, explores identity, heritage, and self-expression across Nigeria and Wales through deeply personal visual narratives. Through every platform he builds and every story he captures, Taiye’s mission remains consistent: to expand representation, preserve cultural memory, and create spaces where emerging voices can be seen, heard, and celebrated.