TEDxAtlanta has unveiled the speaker lineup for its inaugural TEDxAtlanta Youth conference, set to take place on the afternoon of Oct. 3 at Atlanta International School in Sandy Springs, following the main TEDxAtlanta event. The Youth conference, part of the 2026 season themed "Bold. Brave. Unbreakable.," will feature speakers aged 16 to 23 and an intergenerational "On the Spot" conversation. The program is structured in two parts: "Seen" and "Unleashed," moving from recognition of young people's perspectives to their capacity for action.
According to Jacqui Chew, TEDxAtlanta licensee and organizer, the conference aims to shift the narrative from young people as future leaders to their current contributions. "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 in a statement. "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 ideas are taken seriously. Temple Lester, a STEM advocate, will discuss her experience being sidelined at science camp as the only girl and the 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 learn Korean and reconnect with her family's Telugu, highlighting that artificial intelligence can translate words but not always understand cultural nuances.
The segment also includes an "On the Spot" conversation between entrepreneur Zoe Oli and her mother, Evana Oli, examining what happens when a child's idea becomes a real enterprise and how parents navigate supporting versus stepping aside.
The "Unleashed" part focuses on young innovators challenging existing systems. Kanushi Dua, a circular systems designer, will discuss how a forgotten bin of nearly new children's clothes inspired her to question garment disposability and the potential role of AI in sustainable fashion. Ian Sun, a community-centered technologist, will ask who gets a say in how AI is built, considering the implications for communities. Akos Vida, an accessibility innovator, will share how building an accessible gaming controller taught him that designing for someone differs from designing with them. Ethan Benater, a possibility engineer, will talk about his experience creating a vaping-cessation solution and the broader question of what young people can achieve when they refuse to accept entrenched problems as inevitable.
The conference aims to present young people not merely as inheritors of the future but as active participants in shaping the present. Back-to-school ticket prices for TEDxAtlanta, TEDxAtlanta Youth, and Complete Passes covering both events are now available. TEDxAtlanta, Georgia's largest TED affiliate, operates as a year-round platform for ideas and community, organized by volunteers under the nonprofit Ideas into Action. Since its first conference in 2009, more than two dozen speakers have been featured on TED. More information can be found at TEDxAtlanta.com.
