Speakers

John de Graaf is a documentary filmmaker, author, and activist. As Co-Founder of the Happiness Initiative and National Coordinator of Take Back Your Time, an organization challenging time poverty and overwork in the U.S. and Canada, John is a frequent speaker on issues of overwork and over-consumption in America. He is co-author of the best-selling AFFLUENZA: THE ALL-CONSUMING EPIDEMIC and more recently, WHAT'S THE ECONOMY FOR ANYWAY?

John has worked with KCTS-TV, the Seattle PBS affiliate, for 30 years, as an independent producer of television documentaries. More than 15 of his programs have been broadcast in Prime Time nationally on PBS. He is also the recipient of more than 100 regional, national and international awards for film-making, including three Emmy awards. 

Serving on the board of Earth Island Institute, John has played a major role in the Simplicity Forum--a national think tank for the Voluntary Simplicity movement, World Food Day in Rome, and the Forum on Social Wealth.

Carol Sanford believes that business can and will play a major role in creating a better world. She has worked with businesses for four decades who have successfully done so BY building great businesses. 

To that end, Carol has been leading major consulting change efforts in both Fortune 500 and new-economy businesses for more than 30 years including Colgate Europe and Africa and DuPont Canada, US, Asia and Europe, Intel, Agilent and leaders of corporate responsibility such as Seventh Generation.

Carol has published dozens of works in 10 languages and was shortlisted for Best Business Book of the Year (out of 11,000 Biz books) and she was named to Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior - 2012.

Imani Sims is a Seattle native who spun her first performance poem at the age of fourteen.  Since then, she has developed an infinitely rippling love for poetry in all of its forms.  She believes in the healing power of words and the transformational nuance of the human story.  She allows her selves (Healer, Woman, Poet, Storyteller, Survivor) to tell their truths through her work.  Imani is a Board Member and teacher at Bent Writing Institute, and the founder of Split Six Productions in Seattle, WA.  She is also a 2012 CD Forum Creation Artist and has featured in productions with Poetry + Motion, Generation Waking Up, Arts Corps, Seattle SPIT, Ladies First, Voices Rising, Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center, The Tribes Project, and Hampton University. Her book Twisted Oak is available on Requiem Press.

Alan Durning, founder and executive director of Sightline Institute, will share how Northwesterners have already come together to change the rule books for the better and offer inspiration for further reform that will set the region on a path towards a greener and more prosperous economy. “Making Sustainability Legal” is one of a suite of ideas offered by Sightline Institute, an independent, nonprofit research and communications center working to make the Northwest a global model of sustainability. 

Alan is a sought-after speaker having lectured at the White House, major universities, and numerous conferences. He is author of numerous publications including the award-winning This Place on Earth: Home and the Practice of Permanence. 

Thach Nguyen, Realtor and Philanthropist, has been a guest on local and national radio and TV, including being featured on CBS, “The Early Show, American Hero". His mission is to inspire and empower a billion people. A Vietnamese refugee who once lived in a homeless shelter, Nguyen became a self-made millionaire at age 27, three years ahead of his aggressive schedule.

Driven by a desire to help others, Nguyen participates in various philanthropic ventures, including the American Dream program, Scoutreach Foundation, and First Place School helping homeless families. Nguyen also co-founder of The Gift, which is also an online community to connect people and teach them how to achieve their dreams by being of service to others.

Sarah van Gelder is co-founder and executive editor of YES! Magazine and YesMagazine.org. YES! is an innovator in solutions journalism, featuring topics ranging from cooperative economics to prison alternatives, from climate justice to sustainable happiness.

Sarah writes, commissions articles, and speaks on these and other topics with a focus on the powerful ideas and practical actions that can lead to a more just and sustainable world. Sarah also co-founded a cohousing community, organized low-income tenants, built a farm-to-urban cooperative network, and lived in China, India, and Central America. She serves on the board of the Suquamish Tribe’s foundation, and worked in partnership with the Tribe to win the return of Old Man House Park, the home of Chief Seattle.

Matt Smith is a performance artist, a world class fundraising auctioneer, a writer, an improv teacher, a communications consultant and a film actor. His film credit include Outsourced, Sleepless in Seattle, Spiderman, and KING TV's Almost Live. His solo performances include My last Year with the Nuns, Helium and All My Children, which was just selected as one of sixteen  (out of 186 productions) for the Best of Fest Encore Series at FringeNYC in New York. Matt has taught many thousands of people to improvise, based at Freehold, in Seattle for 20 years.

He is a partner with Cookus Interruptus, the popular web based cooking show where healthy meets funny. And Matt is an ambassador for Hanford Challenge, dedicated to the clean-up of The Hanford Nuclear Waste Site. 

Choklate is an international singer songwriter based in Seattle, WA. She has shared the stage and/or collaborated with the likes of Anthony Hamilton, Musiq Soulchild, De La Soul, Eric Roberson, BoysIIMen, Bilal, Anthony David, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, Nikka Costa, Baaba Maal, Res, Erykay Badu, Dwele, Raheem DeVaughn, Roy Ayers, Blacksheep and many more. The release of her self-titled 2006 CD and its re-release in 2008 created a tremendous global buzz for Choklate’s music and live performances. With the release of her 2009 "To Whom It May Concern,” Choklate once again teamed up with hip-hop/soul producer Vitamin D. The Seattle Weekly says “When the album's listened to in one sitting, it's clear Choklate has matured and found a sound that can revive contemporary soul, just when others were questioning if it was dead.” She has toured Sweden, France, Italy, Japan and the UK, and performed at the Blue Note in New York, Jazz Alley in Seattle, and countless other historical music venues around the world, and headlined her own U.S. tour. She continues to stretch the boundaries of Soul music. 

Shari Storm is an executive, author and mother who believes that the skills we use to raise children are the same skills we need to help our employees thrive at the office. By drawing parallels between business and family, we create a frame work for discussing business that is more accessible and empowering for working women and working mothers in particular. Storm’s book, Motherhood is the New MBA: Using Your Parenting Skills to be a Better Boss (St. Martin’s Press) has been featured in Redbook, Time Magazine, Costco Connection, on Martha Stewart’s radio program and magazine, as well as numerous other media. The publishing rights have been purchased in Canada, Brazil and China.

Jeffrey Van Dyk is an international thought leader, innovator and developer of leading edge personal growth and consciousness best practices in life and business. Jeffrey is recognized for his unique gift in helping people use business as a path of personal transformation. Jeffrey is co-founder of the Spiritual Marketing Quest and True Purpose Israel and has served on faculty at True Purpose Institute and Dream Coach University. Over the past two decades, he has worked with Circle of Excellence Consulting NPR and Microsoft, where he interfaced with Bill Gates, Jacques Chirac, Donald Trump, Peter Jennings, Ariel Sharon and many more.

Alex Cahana is an internationally recognized anesthesiologist and pain specialist. He is passionate about seeking answers to the question, "Why does pain hurt?" He practices and teaches at the University of Washington Medical Center, and is chief of the Division of Pain Medicine. Born in Israel, he studied medicine at Tel Aviv University and was awarded the Purple Heart as a medical officer in the Marine Corps. He completed his training in anesthesiology in his native Israel and completed a fellowship in pain management and palliative care at Vanderbilt University.  Most recently, he served as director of the Postoperative and Interventional Pain Program at Geneva University Hospitals in Switzerland. He is leading the creation of the National Pain Registry, and is developing the Washington State Opioid Reform Initiative. In addition to his medical degree, Dr. Cahana holds a master's degree in bioethics and medical humanities from the Faculty of Theology, University of Lausanne.

Jean Lloyd has been a coach, facilitator and speaker for 25 years, working everywhere from India to South Africa, advising corporate executives and tribal chiefs, educators and miners.  With a blend of power, compassion and humor, she inspires clients to see what they can accomplish beyond “Business as Usual.”  She is a senior consultant with Vanto Group, a subsidiary of the personal training & development company, Landmark Education.

Hosted By 

A lawyer with an MBA, Laura is Executive Director of The Happiness Initiative and former Executive Director of Sustainable Seattle.  She has focused her career on sustainability indicators, with the passionate belief that you get what you measure, and that it's time for our policymakers, businesses and society to measure and manage for the well-being of people and the planet. Her first book, a sustainability guide for business managers, will be available soon from Dō Sustainability publishing.

Anna Choi is an educator, mother and business woman committed to empowering the next generation of leaders. Before selling her financial planning practice, she was Co-Founder of Focus & Sustain, helping couples with budgeting, life, and family planning. Anna birthed TEDxBellevue, along with her 1 year old son Eli, as a tribute to what's possible for humanity. As Co-Founder of Joy Sprouts Preschool, her first children’s book, “Aida and The Duke of Doubt,” is a story about the quest for true happiness.

About TEDx

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. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

Why TED(x)?

TEDx is a collaborative ecosystem and platform for creating positive impact. TEDx empowers people to make their voices heard in the community, embracing a wide variety of communities that have the power to turn ideas into actions.

Nearly 3500 TEDx events have taken place in three years, in 1000 cities, in over 125 countries. By increasing accessibility and encouraging TEDxers to foster TED-like experiences, the idea-sharing has been expanded at a local level, often in local language. TEDx events weave together screenings of TEDTalks and live presentations to stimulate conversations that matter while striving to elevate and expose local ideas, perspectives and insights.

Each event is unique and is planned and curated independently, on a community-by-community basis, allowing more regional voices and perspectives to be heard; fostering greater collaboration in fields of science, technology, arts and culture, design and entertainment. Pivotal to the platforms’ success is creating open and accessible programming that avoids any commercial, religious or political agenda.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.