TEDxAtlanta has announced the speaker lineup for its inaugural TEDxAtlanta Youth conference, scheduled for the afternoon of Oct. 3 at Atlanta International School in Sandy Springs. The event is part of TEDxAtlanta 2026's Bold. Brave. Unbreakable. season and will feature speakers ages 16 to 23, along with an intergenerational On the Spot conversation. The program is divided into two parts: Seen and Unleashed.
Jacqui Chew, TEDxAtlanta licensee and organizer, emphasized the conference's focus on the present contributions of young people. "Young people hear constantly that they are the future. We were much more interested in what they have to say about the present," Chew said. "These speakers are asking questions that affect all of us: Whose ideas get taken seriously? What gets lost when technology doesn't understand culture? And what becomes possible when young people have the opportunity to build rather than wait?"
The Seen segment explores what changes when young people's experiences and perspectives are taken seriously. Temple Lester, a STEM advocate, will discuss her experience being sidelined at science camp as the only girl and what ideas society misses when young people are told to wait their turn. Nidhi Madam, a language and culture explorer, will share how a K-drama binge led her to Korean and back to Telugu, her family's language, and how artificial intelligence can translate words without understanding cultural nuances. Zoe Oli, a young entrepreneur, and her mother Evana Oli will engage in an On the Spot conversation about what happens when a child's idea becomes a real enterprise and parents navigate when to step in, step aside, or step forward together.
The Unleashed segment focuses on young innovators questioning existing systems and building alternatives. Kanushi Dua, a circular systems designer, will discuss how a forgotten bin of nearly new children's clothes led her to question garment disposability and explore an unexpected role for artificial intelligence. Ian Sun, a community-centered technologist, will ask who gets a say in how AI is built and what communities stand to gain or lose. Akos Vida, an accessibility innovator, will share how building an accessible gaming controller taught him that designing for someone isn't the same as designing with them. Ethan Benater, a possibility engineer, will discuss his experience developing a vaping-cessation solution and what young people can create when they stop treating entrenched problems as inevitable.
Together, Seen and Unleashed move from recognition to agency, asking audiences to consider young people not simply as inheritors of the future but as participants in creating it now. Back-to-School Ticket Prices for TEDxAtlanta, TEDxAtlanta Youth, and Complete Passes that include both conferences are available now. TEDxAtlanta is Georgia's largest TED affiliate and a year-round platform for ideas, conversation, and community. For more information, visit www.TEDxAtlanta.com.
