TEDxNaples

Speakers

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

• Andy Godfrey

  Co-Founder

  Andy is a genuine storyteller, passionate about helping people tell their life stories. His groundbreaking documentary film 3Days2Nights, about surviving a plane crash at the age of 8, has helped thousands of people around the world heal from their own traumas. He has lectured at Georgetown University, Portsmouth Abbey School, Federal Signal Corporation, and numerous film festivals about the importance of telling your life story in order to live more authentically, and connect with others in a deeper way. Andy has been a restaurateur, small business owner, and financial advisor; he has explored various artistic methods for healing his own trauma including writing, filming, and songwriting as a way to gain agency over his own story. Most recently he Co-Founded the Godfrey Foundation for Cinema Therapy which is pioneering a new modality for treating trauma called Advanced Cinema Therapy ™ that enables trauma survivors to make short films about their stories in order to help them heal.

• Anna Fata Shemin

  Family Business Advisor

  Anna Fata Shemin is a family business advisor who helps prepare the rising generation to carry on their family's legacy through leadership skills and values. As a second-generation member of the family business her father built, she brings firsthand experience (including her own firsthand failures) to her work. After years in New York at the Holy See Mission to the United Nations, she moved to Barcelona to study family business at IESE Business School. During her time in Europe, she noticed that many of its oldest families live differently than wealthy Americans do, and that the difference wasn't money. It was formation. She hosts the Gravitas Podcast, where she interviews accomplished people across many fields on the themes of meaning and legacy.

• Bryan Norcross

  Fox News Hurricane Specialist

  Bryan Norcross is on-air Hurricane Specialist at Fox Weather. He is based in Miami. He previously served as the Hurricane Specialist for WPLG-TV in Miami and Senior Hurricane Specialist for The Weather Channel. Through 2008 he was the in-house hurricane analyst for CBS News in New York and anchored the coverage of numerous hurricanes for CBS and NBC from Miami. Bryan became nationally known after he “talked South Florida through” Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and was named an Expert Adviser to multiple committees tasked with improving the emergency-preparedness and insurance systems in Florida by the state’s governor. Bryan has received multiple awards, including DuPont and Peabody awards. Bryan’s most recent book, My Hurricane Andrew Story was released in 2017. Bryan’s first book, The Hurricane Almanac, a comprehensive guide to hurricane science, history, and preparedness, was published in 2006 and 2007.

• Carla Davis

  Chief Forensic Genetic Genealogist

  Carla Davis reconstructs family trees for people who no longer have names. As Chief Genetic Genealogist at Othram, she and her team use DNA evidence and genealogical research to help law enforcement solve cases once thought unsolvable. Under her leadership, the team has generated thousands of investigative leads, with hundreds reaching publicly announced resolutions across North America. Through this work, Carla has seen what happens when an identity is lost—and what it means to a family when, sometimes decades later, a name and a story are finally restored.

• Dottie Li

  Founder and CEO

  Founder and CEO of TransPacific Communications, Dottie Li has built a career translating across cultures, from journalism to corporate PR to the White House Press Corps. As the Voice and Voice Coach of Rosetta Stone's Mandarin program, her work reaches millions.

• Emilio Sanchez Vicario

  Founder, Emilio Sanchez Academy

  Emilio Sánchez Vicario, a former tennis world No. 1 doubles player and Olympic silver medalist, won five Grand Slam titles and reached No. 7 in singles during his professional career. After retiring as a player, he co-founded the Sanchez-Casal Tennis Academy, where he coached future champions such as Andy Murray. He later led Spain to a Davis Cup title as team captain.

• Greg Chasson

  UChicago Professor, Psychologist

  Dr. Greg Chasson is a board-certified clinical psychologist, Full Professor, and the Director of Behavioral Interventions for the Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders Clinic at the University of Chicago. A Harvard Medical School-trained fellow and the author of over 70 scientific publications, he has spent over two decades investigating and treating the extreme edges of human rigidity, anxiety, and chronic second-guessing. He is the author of the award-winning book Flawed: Why Perfectionism is a Challenge for Management. As an international speaker and organizational advisor, he translates this cutting-edge behavioral science into practical frameworks that help leaders and teams eliminate redundant validation loops, cure process paralysis, and reclaim their execution speed.

• Greg Dukes

  Musician, Filmmaker

  Greg Dukes is a musician turned filmmaker and creative technologist whose work explores the intersection of storytelling, culture, and human experience. His interest in frisson began while producing a BBC short documentary about why music can cause chills and goosebumps. That experience led him to explore what this powerful physical response might reveal about awe, memory, connection, and our capacity to move beyond ourselves. Drawing on documentary storytelling and research in neuroscience and psychology, Greg translates complex ideas into accessible, cinematic stories about what it means to be human.

• Jennifer Ann Johnson

  Founder, Speaker, Author

  Jennifer Ann Johnson is a keynote speaker, Amazon bestselling author, and the founder of True Fashionistas, Florida's largest lifestyle resale store. Over 25 years as an entrepreneur, she built a $50 million+ resale business, and she brings that lived experience to stages of every size, from small business audiences to leadership conferences and mid to large companies.

• José H. Leal

  Marine Biologist

  José H. Leal, Ph.D., is the Science Director and Curator of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum and has served the Museum since 1996, initially as its Executive Director. Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, José received his BSc in Marine Biology and MSc in Zoology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and his PhD in Marine Biology and Fisheries from the University of Miami. He was a Visiting Researcher at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France) and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC). In March 2010, under José’s leadership, the National Shell Museum and Aquarium was awarded its first accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. José is also a past-president of the American Malacological Society and of Conchologists of America and is currently a council member of the international organization Unitas Malacologica.

• Kayla Pfeiffer

  Chef and Operating Partner

  Chef Kayla Pfeiffer is the chef and operating partner behind Bicyclette Cookshop and Heyday Cookshop in Naples, Florida. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, she returned to Southwest Florida with a vision of creating restaurants that celebrate curiosity, collaboration, and a strong sense of place. Her work has earned national recognition, including a recommendation in the Michelin Guide, recognition as a James Beard Award Emerging Chef semifinalist, and a win on Chopped. Beyond the kitchen, Kayla is passionate about building teams, mentoring young chefs, collaborating with local farmers and fishermen, and creating spaces where people feel connected through shared experiences. She believes the lessons learned in hospitality, discipline, resilience, trust, and generosity, have the power to influence how we lead, build communities, and care for one another.

• Niran Al-Agba

  Pediatrician

  Niran S. Al-Agba, MD is a board-certified pediatrician with more than 20 years of clinical experience in rural private practice. Dr. Al-Agba is an author, educator and expert witness. She has evaluated hundreds of complex pediatric cases, particularly those involving allegations of child abuse. Her work is grounded in evidence-based medicine, critical thinking, and the belief that every patient--and every family--deserves an objective second opinion when the stakes are highest.

• Paul Jack Fronczak

  Founder

  Paul Joseph Fronczak (Jack Rosenthal) is an Author, Actor, Musician, Investigative storyteller, Advocate, and Founder, whose life has been shaped by powerful currents of identity, discovery, and purpose. Raised believing he was Paul Fronczak—a baby kidnapped from a Chicago hospital in 1964—Jack learned through DNA testing decades later that he was not the missing child. That revelation redirected the course of his life, launching an extraordinary search that uncovered his true identity, helped identify the real Paul Fronczak, and revealed that Jack had been born a twin. His sister, Jill, remains missing.

• Rachel Joy Swardson

  Investigative Journalist

  Rachel Joy Swardson went to the bathroom. Actually, hundreds of them. Far from the reach of any social media algorithm, she secretly taped up postcards with a link to a survey in public restrooms across the country. She hoped to understand why some women are better at friendship than others. Driven by her own painful friendship breakup, this former private investigator and television journalist now believes she's uncovered hidden common denominators to help us better understand platonic love.

• Susan Constantine

  Body Language Expert

  Susan Constantine, MPsy, is a leading authority on body language, deception detection, and nonverbal communication. With over 20 years in human behavior sciences, she has appeared on more than 3,5000 television, print, and radio programs, including CNN, Fox News, and Good Morning America, offering expert analysis on political leaders, celebrities, and high-profile trials. Susan holds two Master’s degrees—a Dual Master’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Behavior, Credibility Analysis, and Communication—and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. She is the author of How to Spot a Liar in 7 Seconds or Less, being released in February 2027.