About

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. These events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. TED provides the rules and guidelines, but TEDxCharlottesville is independently organized and executed. Since 2013, TEDxCharlottesville has participated in the TEDx mission to bring awareness to the rich talent, creativity and innovation found here in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Thanks to the support of our generous partners, we are able to provide a quality community event, intended to spark deep discussion and thought among attendees, speakers, volunteers and the community as a whole. With these partnerships we are also able to offer complimentary tickets to non-profit and educational groups.

Partners

Organizers

Ann Kingston

Ann Kingston is an artist manager and head of philanthropic initiatives for Red Light Management, where she works with the company’s clients to form strategic partnerships with non-profits on local and national levels, assists bands in using their voices to effect positive change, and helps produce large-scale benefit concerts. In addition to her philanthropic role, Mrs. Kingston also manages South African folksinger, poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela, and is a part of the management team for Dave Matthews Band. A graduate of the University of Virginia, she and her husband live in Charlottesville with their three young children.

Richard Averitt

A skilled storyteller with a servant leadership ethos, Richard has spent 25 years building and leading teams that turn vision into reality and flood the market with big ideas. Richard is currently leading a local software company called Starchive. Starchive represents his biggest vision yet — unleashing the creative potential of every business by giving them total control over their media assets. Richard is a founding member of the TEDxCharlottesville team and one of our Emcee's.

Jane Belisle

In TED terms, Jane Belisle is one part Brené Brown and one part Jill Bolte Taylor with a little Seth Godin thrown in for good measure. She has literally travelled around the world and all 50 states in search of meaning, wisdom, and perhaps the perfect margarita. Though happily settled in Charlottesville, Jane continues to travel the U.S. as a workflow engineer (which is much more interesting than it sounds) while also tending to her deeply rooted relationships at home. A self-proclaimed TED freak, she’s also a fan of Pop!Tech, the Do Lectures, and The Moth. While best known for her logistical mastery, Jane also brings her genuine thoughtfulness to TEDxCharlottesville in order to provide the best possible experience for all who attend.

Debi Burdick

Debi Burdick’s long career in the music business may be explained by an audience she had with Elvis Presley when she was just 6-years-old. The King bent down on one knee and kissed her cheek. At 19-years-old, Debi accepted an internship with “the grandaddy of rock promoters,” Ron Delsener, at his Madison Avenue offices. And she never looked back. Soon she was acting as intermediary between management and artists — and as a liaison with venues, such as Madison Square Garden, Beacon Theater, CBGBs, and Jones Beach Theater. She was also fortunate to work at Bill Graham Presents for the late and legendary impresario. At Silent Partner Management,she was the point person for the H.O.R.D.E. festival — a traveling festival including Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic and Phish. In 2009, she landed at Red Light Management. On her own time, Debi has also helped with charitable auctions for several Charlottesville non-profits, including MRC, Boys & Girls Club of Central Virginia, and the SPCA.

Selena Cozart

Selena Cozart has been a teacher, professor, coach, and consultant in the secondary, collegiate, and adult learner arenas since 1993. Her passion for working with people is rooted in her desire to listen closely and help others find their message and their voice. Selena holds three degrees from the University of Virginia: a Bachelor's in English language and literature, a Masters in teaching, and a PhD and educational evaluation. Selena enjoys singing gospel and contemporary Christian music and has served as worship leader and soloist for over 10 years. Her most recent endeavor is becoming a Doula in order to listen to and amplify the voices of women in their birthing experience. This is Selena's second year serving as one of the Emcee's.

Chris Farina

Chris Farina is an award-winning Charlottesville-based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film, World Peace and other 4th-Grade Achievements, depicted John Hunter and his students as they participated in Hunter’s innovative exercise called the World Peace Game. It had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival, has been screened all over the world (including at TEDx events in Philadelphia, Boston, Palm Springs, Antwerp, Australia and New Zealand), has been presented at such diverse venues as the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival, the Pentagon, the United Nations and twice at Harvard University, and continues to be broadcast on US public television. Other films include Route 40 and West Main Street (both made with Charlotteville filmmaker Reid Oechslin) and East of the Blue Ridge: The James River, co-produced with Paul Wagner and Paul Roberts, a production of WHTJ. His films focus on people living and working in familiar American settings that often receive little media attention.

Isabella Jones

Speaker Liaison

A self-proclaimed body mechanic and social scientist, Isabella has devoted the past 30 years to educating American families about the truth underlying the path towards wellness. Her programs teach people how to take care of not just their bodies, but their cognitive function, moods and memory. "Movement is nourishment for the human body as well as the brain. But we need smaller amounts of movement more often..less is more..and we need to do less in a better fashion." For Isabella, teaching America how to feel better is not just a vocation-it is her avocation and passion. "The goal for each day of our lives should be feeling better. When we feel better, we will all do better." Isabella is an E-RYT 500 yoga teacher, a certified professional trainer, the creator of Yoga Vitamins ™, Resort Yoga ™, Heartbeat™ and the Betti Pot Neti ™.

Megan Knutson

Megan Knutson leads the Customer Success team at Digital ReLab, where she ensures that the company’s clients have an amazing experience as they build, curate, and get creative with their media archives. She relocated her family to the Charlottesville area after more than a decade as a professional in the Nashville music industry. Though relatively new to the area, she is inspired and enthused by the amazing people she’s met, the beautiful blue ridge mountains, and the opportunity to engage with TEDxCharlottesville. She and her husband live in Crozet with their two young children.

Susan Kreiner

Susan Kreiner is an Indiana native recently transplanted in Charlottesville, VA. She loves this town and all the cultural diversity it has to offer to her family and herself. Susan works for Red Light Management in the marketing department.

JF Legault

JF Legault is the Principal for three Charlottesville-based companies, The AV Company, The Event Company, and the Restaurant Group, LLC. That is to say, JF is a one-stop-shop for any event. His expertise in all aspects of event management makes him and his crew particularly adept at planning the audio and visual needs for TEDxCharlottesville this year.

Anna Tay Riedesel

Anna Tay Riedesel works at Red Light Management and Starr Hill Presents. She assists the head of charitable initiatives, collaborates with the marketing team, and stays creative with in-house graphic design. Anna received her BFA in Crafts and Material Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University. With this unique degree, Anna's past work experience includes managing an art gallery in New Zealand, working as an astrological graphic designer and managing a local jewelry design studio.

Jonah Tobias

Jonah Tobias is a Charlottesville based freelance motion designer who has helped shape a series of successful projects through his entertaining informative graphics. Jonah created the animations for Oscar nominated Super Size Me; TED conferences and the TEDTalks intro; American Idol; Dave Matthews Band; the Azerbaijani Olympic Bid; the 2012 Democratic National Convention; and About.com. He has had the honor of having had one of his graphics parodied by The Onion! To date his graphics have been seen by over one billion people. Jonah's favorite TED Talks are Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, and Simon Sinek.

Roger Voisinet

Roger is one of the most experienced Real Estate Brokers in the Charlottesville, Virginia Real Estate community. Roger has been active in the real estate and construction business in the Charlottesville area since he moved here from Montreal in 1977. He was among the very first individuals to live on Charlottesville’s historic Downtown Mall when he moved in 1980 to the first condominium conversion at 107 W. Main St. At this location, he started Charlottesville’s most successful solar engineering and contracting company, Virginia Solar Contracting Services, following up on his work as an Environmental Planner in Canada and New York. Roger values community and historic preservation and has been renovating, since 1982, his historic 1830’s home called “Moon River” located on the Rivanna River in the Woolen Mills part of town. He is very active in the community as a volunteer serving on the Board of Directors for the Charlottesville Waldorf School’s Building Foundation, the US Green Building Council’s local chapter and is best known for his work as the Coach and GM of the University of Virginia Ice Hockey team. In 2008, Roger was one of only six graduates of the Charlottesville Police Academy, an eleven week course where he worked closely with all the departments of the Charlottesville Police Force.

Speaker Coaches

Kate Bennis

Lead Coach

Kate is an actor, writer, and speaker coach. She coaches speakers for all kind of events ranging from TED Talks to commencement speeches, key note addresses, pith fests and even wedding toasts. Kate’s work focuses on crafting and delivering extraordinary speeches, while allowing each speaker’s best self to shine through by shedding the habits and anxieties that cloud their natural expression. Her clients have included leaders in the corporate, educational and non-profit worlds including: American Express, AOL, Deloitte and Touche, The Federal Reserve Bank, the Central Intelligence Agency, University College London, Harvard Business School Executive Education, Columbia University Executive Education, Darden Business School Executive Education, Live Arts Theater, and the UVA Women’s Center. A professional actor with over 30 years experience in TV, film and stage, Kate has performed in NYC, Boston, and at the Edinburgh Fringe. In NYC she worked extensively with the Barrow Group and the Circle Rep Lab, where she is a member. She was a Visiting Artist at the Cleveland School for the Arts for many years, developed and taught programs in NYC with the National Actors’ Theater, and has taught Acting for the Camera for the Lighthouse and Live Arts in Charlottesville, VA. As a clinical social worker, Kate has worked with children and adults in a private practice as well as inner-city schools and prisons. Kate holds a BA in theater from Wesleyan University and a Masters of Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work. She lives in Charlottesville with her husband, Hal, two children, and two one fish. kate@katebenniscoaching.com

Selena Cozart

Selena Cozart has been a teacher, professor, coach, and consultant in the secondary, collegiate, and adult learner arenas since 1993. Her passion for working with people is rooted in her desire to listen closely and help others find their message and their voice. Selena holds three degrees from the University of Virginia: a Bachelor's in English language and literature, a Masters in teaching, and a PhD and educational evaluation. Selena enjoys singing gospel and contemporary Christian music and has served as worship leader and soloist for over 10 years. Her most recent endeavor is becoming a Doula in order to listen to and amplify the voices of women in their birthing experience. This is Selena's second year serving as one of the Emcee's.

Shelby Edwards

Shelby Marie Edwards is an actor, poet, solo performer, and teaching artist based in Chicago, IL and Charlottesville, VA. Shelby is a graduate of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's professional leadership program and a former member of the 2018 Chicago slam poetry team, Lethal Poetry. Shelby has presented two original solo shows including Holly's Ivy at the 2018 Fillet of Solo Theatre Festival (Lifeline Theatre, Chicago) and Lost Home, Win Home at the Writers Exchange Series (Her Story Theatre Company, Chicago). Shelby is the Artistic Producer for CVille Series: The Open Mic Night located at the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center. In June 2019, Shelby graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master of Arts featuring a concentration in Theatre and Performance Studies.

Cady Garey

Cady Garey is an actor, director and theatre educator. She is currently a part time lecturer in the UVA Department of Drama and was on stage this summer with Heritage Theatre Festival in Middletown. Cady also leads workshops in the use of Improvisation in Business and challenging ethical situations.

Larry Goldstein

Larry Goldstein has been a longtime performer, director and co-founder of the Live Arts Theater in Charlottesville. Since 1996, his day job has been teaching drama, directing plays and working in the development office at Tandem Friends School. In 2005, he added performance coaching to his repertoire. This year he added consulting for non-profits as a partner in the ‘Board Whisperers’.

Mercedes Herrero

Mercedes Herrero has been a professional actress for over 30 years. She has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatres across the country, acting in classical and contemporary plays. She has also played many lawyers on Law and Order and was NSA Director on House of Cards. Ms Herrero has taught public speaking for business professionals and will be a Lecturer at UVA in the Drama Department this year.

Susan McCulley

Susan McCulley has been a teacher, coach and writer since 2000. A Nia Black Belt Instructor, she particularly loves teaching large groups and introducing people to mindful movement. As a coach, she specializes in working with new teachers as they learn to use their voice and body to lead a class. She writes a blog on the practical application of mindfulness practices (www.focuspocusnow.com) and has several published essays (http://focuspocusnow.com/published-essays/).

Marty Moore

Marty Moore is a director, actor, and producer in Charlottesville, VA. Her day job is as a photographer, which she has done for the past 30 years. She has directed locally, and regionally for the past 4 years. She has also directed twice for FringeNYC. She has appeared on stage at Live Arts, Four County Players and Play On. She just finished filming a web series with Darkstone Pictures entitled The 7th Guest. She is currently producing the premiere production for a new theater group, The Charlottesville Playwrights Collective which opens this Fall. This is her second time coaching for TEDxCharlottesville.

Jennifer Peart

Jennifer Peart has performed, taught, and coached performance with all ages in collegiate, public and private school, and non-profit settings for over 25 years. Her training from Teatro Nove in Florence, Italy, Ringling Brothers Clown College, and Bread and Puppet Theater serve her well in helping others uncover a full-body presence while speaking on stage. Her passion and experience for improvisation theater imbue her work with dynamism as she encourages others to approach presentation from a strong sense of play and delight. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature from California State University and a MALS from Hollins University. As a singer in her own right, she performs regularly in central Virginia and has appeared as a lead and background vocalist on five CD recordings.

Priyanka Shetty

Priyanka Shetty is an actor, director, playwright and artist educator. She recently graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting degree from the University of Virginia and teaches Speaking in Public and Acting at the UVA Department of Drama. She is currently on a multi-city tour of her one woman show The Elephant in the Room which was recently presented at Yale University and the Lincoln Theatre and has upcoming performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Priyanka is excited to serve as a speaker coach for TEDx Charlottesville. www.priyankashetty.com

Ray Smith

Ray Smith is a teacher in the Drama Department of Woodberry Forest School, where he is also the coach of the Speech and Debate team. The team was ranked in the top ten in Virginia in 2016 and 2017. Since 2015, he has directed the summer theater camp at Atlantic Coast Athletic Club. He trained at the Second City Theater Conservatory in Toronto. He has been acting and directing since 2000. Ray has performed locally at Live Arts, Four County Players and most recently acted in August Wilson's Jitney at the Jefferson School Heritage Center.

Tiffany D. Smith

This is Tiffany's fourth year volunteering as a speaker coach for TEDxCharlottesville. She was a professional actor and acting coach for 13 years in New York City and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theater. She now enjoys performing in local community theaters and owns the Virginia Shop here in Charlottesville.

Denise Stewart

Denise Stewart is a playwright, actor, coach, and former Tedx speaker. In 2012, she toured her one-woman show, Dirty Barbie and other girlhood tales, in Washington, DC, New York City and Edinburgh, Scotland. Her plays have been produced by the Diana Wortham Theatre, Lee Street Theatre, Offstage Theatre, and Live Arts. She teaches wellness and mindfulness classes for companies and individuals as well as self-esteem and creativity workshops for teenage girls. She is currently a lecturer in the UVA Drama Department.

What is tedx?

ABOUT TEDX, X = INDEPENDENTLY ORGANIZED EVENT

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. TED provides the rules and guidelines, but TEDxCharlottesville is independently organized and executed. Since 2013, TEDxCharlottesvile has participated in the TEDx mission to bring awareness to the rich talent, creativity and innovation found here in Charlotteville, Virginia.