‘The Broken Box’ to be the focus of TEDxWakeForestU

Wake Forest University will host TEDxWakeForestU, an independently organized event licensed by TED, on Saturday, Feb. 17 from 12 to 4 p.m. in Wait Chapel.

This year’s theme seeks to challenge all those who attend this conference to not only think outside the box, but to ask how can we break the “boxes” in our lives that are keeping us from our full potential.

Tickets are free for all students, faculty and staff with valid ID. Tickets are $15 for the general public. Register here.

TEDxWakeForestU speakers

• Fred Blackburn, executive vice president Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. – Blackburn’s clients tackle some of the country’s most critical issues -terrorist activities, drug interdiction and driverless vehicles. He leads the Justice, Homeland Security and Transportation division of Booz Allen Hamilton.
• Peter Cortle, founder of Life Changing Labs and CEO of StartupTree – Cortle is a startup enthusiast passionate about people, products and philanthropy. He runs a non-profit summer incubator and mentorship network for Cornell entrepreneurs, and is head instructor at Life Changing Summer, a program teaching entrepreneurship and programming to high school students worldwide.
• Katie Ford, founder of Freedom for All & ex-CEO of Ford Models – Ford’s experience scouting and searching for models drew her to fight human trafficking. Freedom for All combats sex trafficking, debt bondage, forced and child labor. It provides education, job skills training and community prevention programs in vulnerable areas, in the U.S. and internationally.
• Raina Haque, founder of Erdős Intellectual Property Law + Startup Legal – Haque, a patent attorney, is an advocate for innovation across multiple industries. She counsels software companies, design firms, startups, small businesses and inventors across industries. She is among the first blockchain tech patent attorneys.
• Christina Soriano, Wake Forest dance professor and founder of IMPROVment™ and Christina Hugenschmidt, assistant professor in geriatric medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine – Recipients of a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Hugenschmidt and Soriano are conducting a three-year clinical trial to determine if improvisational dance can improve gait and balance problems associated with cognitive impairment and memory loss. Read more: Trial will test improvisational dance as dementia therapy.
• Sebastian Terry, founder of “100 Things” – Terry is checking off every item on his wish list of things to add meaning to his life. “100 Things” has re-shaped Terry’s reality as he attempts to fulfill the dreams and aspirations of not just himself, but people everywhere. He also developed a community of “campaigners” for people to share their dreams and goals.
• Spence Spencer, MBA – Spencer became interested in the power of health and fitness after suffering from debilitating medical conditions at a young age. He has been inspired by his own ability and the ability of people around him to recover and build their bodies back from ground zero. Spencers’s passion lies in improving the lives of as many people as possible by focusing on bringing new health and medical technology to market.

More information about the speakers is available on Wake Forest’s TEDx website.

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