TEDxYouth@JumeirahCollege Live

Speakers

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

• Anika Monga

  Student

  Anika Monga is an inquisitive Y10 student at JC. She is constantly driving multiple initiatives with factors such as creativity and innovation that are constantly fueling her to dig deeper into our perspectives of life. She is always striving to make a lasting impact and aims to inspire change. Hobbies such as singing, dancing, arts, tennis, debates, writing, as well as academic challenges, are constantly fueling her mind with insightful and groundbreaking outlooks. She deeply values and is open-minded to everyone's viewpoints and their undertakings, to expand her understanding and to turn ideas into action. Anika’s TEDx talk will explore and uncover how individual perceptions and thinking mechanisms differ, including why they matter, to prove that understanding our world better can truly transform it.

• Arit Mukherjee

  Student

  Arit Mukherjee is the Head Boy at Jumeirah College and a member of the UAE National Debate Team, representing the country at the World Schools Debating Championships and other international competitions. He has also served as a debate judge for regional and global competitions, and has coached 100+ students at Jumeirah College and Jumeirah Primary School. Arit draws on this experience debating pressing global issues to deliver his talk on a radically different take on income and welfare.

• Divye Sitlani

  Student

  Divye Sitlani is a Year 13 student and painter at Jumeirah College who has ADHD. He founded Youth Finance Network, an investment platform for teenagers with sub 200 participants, co-founded the EV start-up Nexus EV, and ran True Colours, a mental health art auction. His talk argues that the traits usually labelled as distraction are often what let people build things others give up on.

• Ellie Burfield

  Student

  Ellie Burfield is a thoughtful, curious Year 10 student at Jumeirah College. A student driven by a passion for discussion and finding ways to think differently. She seeks to make long lasting impacts and inspire growth. She constantly endeavours to experience new things, whether it be through drama, dance, debates, sports, literature and even academics, she aims to achieve a wider understanding of the world around her and she is fueled by the need to find solutions in an ever-changing society. And now, she is ready to face the largest challenge of the digital world right now: How we look at ourselves.

• Halimah Sharjil Anwar

  Student

  Halimah is a Year 13 student interested in psychology, particularly in how people understand emotions and themselves. She is curious about the difference between emotional awareness and genuine emotional intelligence, and how the two are often confused. Her work explores why, despite being more aware of emotions than ever, people still struggle to respond to them effectively. Through her TEDx talk, she aims to challenge common assumptions about what it means to be “emotionally intelligent.”

• Jordan Lee

  Chairman of AI Acquisition

  Jordan Lee is a British entrepreneur and Chairman and co-founder of AI Acquisition. Born into a family of factory workers in the North of England, Jordan began his career at 16 through an apprenticeship at Nissan. He later moved through recruitment and EdTech, becoming a Managing Director in his mid-20s before leaving corporate life to build his own ventures. He went on to co-found AI Acquisition, which he has described as a nine-figure company operating at the forefront of artificial intelligence. Today, Jordan is based in Dubai and works with entrepreneurs and businesses globally.

• Mehak Dhawan

  Student

  Mehak Dhawan is a student innovator passionate about building technology that strengthens human connection. She is the creator of Kindling, a context-aware platform helping non-traditional families build stronger emotional bonds with their children, now hosted live on the Google Play Store and App Store. Committed to social impact, she has conducted AI literacy and website-building workshops for women in rural India, helping several secure professional internships. She has also been playing the piano for over 13 years and has achieved a Grade 8 Distinction. Her TEDx talk explores how technology, often seen as a source of disconnection, can be reimagined through a different lens to strengthen relationships and rebuild meaningful human connection.

• Naina Kundra

  Student

  Naina Kundra is a driven and intellectually curious high school student at Jumeirah College in Dubai with a strong interest in economics and global affairs. She has demonstrated academic excellence through competitive achievements, while also leading her own sustainable shopping initiative for the past 4 years. Passionate about debate, research, and impactful projects, Naina is focused on how collaboration and influence can change our world. Naina is inspired by this viewpoint to express her thoughts in her speech about how AI changes the truth in how we see our world.

• Saiprisha Ravi

  Student

  Saiprisha Ravi is a Year 11 student at Jumeirah College who is driven by a strong passion for environmental tree sciences, dance and public speaking. Her deep research in the wide field of sustainability has sparked her exploration and showcase in this speech of how even the most major challenges can be transformed into the brightest opportunities. Her curious and passionate approach has urged her into presenting various insights on stage such as how global warming could be the workspace of green technology. Participating in multiple public speaking competitions and embracing multiple leadership roles such as eco and charity councils has developed her confidence and instilled the desire to make change.

• Shahzeen Kamran

  Student

  Shahzeen Kamran is a Dubai-based student passionate about social systems, leadership, and the ideas that shape society. In her talk, she explores how patriarchy doesn’t just affect women; it quietly shapes expectations for everyone. By challenging common assumptions about feminism, she invites the audience to see it not as a fight between genders, but as a movement to rethink a system that limits human potential and freedom.

• Taha Paracha

  Student

  Taha Paracha is a Sixth Form student at Jumeirah College studying Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics, with a passion for what actually happens within the body and the science of human experience. Driven by a desire to pursue medicine, he has volunteered at centres supporting neurodiverse individuals - an experience that deepened his fascination with how differently each mind perceives the world. Outside the classroom, he shares his love of science as a tutor, not only helping others see complex ideas in a new light but also exposing Taha to numerous different learning styles and personalities. His TEDx talk invites the audience to question the very nature of reality - and what it means for the way we understand, and care for, one another.

• Ved Kedia

  Student

  Ved Kedia is a Year 13 student at JC and member of the UAE National Debate Team, representing the country at the World Schools Debating Championships. He is also an avid activist and environmentalist, having founded an international initiative to improve water access, which has impacted thousands worldwide. He is driven by a strong interest in how economics and policy tools can be used to create measurable change around the most pressing emerging issues globally. Ved taps into his experience critically exploring academic theory and real-world causes on the international stage to deliver a TEDx talk that reevaluates the true nature of our climate crisis and the tools we can use to solve it.

• Zainab Salimi

  Student

  Zainab Salimi is a Year 11 student at JC and a member of the UAE National Debate Team, soon to be representing the UAE in high-level international competitions. She has also judged and helped organise regional debate events. An avid writer, Zainab has won multiple global writing competitions, with a strong passion for history and politics driving her to better understand global systems .Committed to creating change, she is a passionate environmentalist, and a qualified coral restoration scuba diver , wanting to use her platform and public speaking to advocate for ocean conservation. In her TEDx talk, she explores how scuba diving and coral restoration reshaped her perspective on change, disengagement, and why staying through uncertainty matters.