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The independently organized TEDxAdelphiUniversity event, licensed by TED, will feature a stellar line-up of speakers.

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Gather with some of the area’s most fascinating and inspiring thought leaders and innovators for a day of networking and dialogue. The second annual TEDxAdelphiUniversity will bring together many impassioned TEDx enthusiasts on Friday, March 31, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, Westermann Stage at 1 South Avenue, Garden City. Tickets are sold out, but the event will also be streamed live.

The independently organized event, licensed by TED—a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading—will feature an exciting lineup of speakers addressing the theme of “What Now?” “The time for asking ‘What Now?’ has never been more important and essential to our community and society at large. We are thrilled to bring this event back to Adelphi to continue these critical dialogues,” said Dr. Elizabeth Cohn, organizer of TEDxAdelphiUniversity.

TEDxAdelphiUniversity

Speakers at TEDxAdelphiUniversity include:

  • Kaitlinn Estevez ’17 of Valley Stream, New York, is studying English at Adelphi University and can frequently be found performing spoken word poetry at open mic nights throughout New York City. Her work has been published in Zaum PressEast Coast Ink and The Mighty. Her goal is to integrate creative writing with her passion for outreach and missions work.
  • James W. Ferguson, B.S. ’77, M.P.H. ’15, M.D., of Brightwaters, New York, has been a family physician in East Islip, New York, for 30 years. His expertise in tropical diseases and his desire to help those in need have led him to volunteer in many foreign countries, including Ghana, Haiti, Russia and Honduras. For the past 10 years, he has run a monthly free clinic for migrant farm workers from Central and South America working in the eastern end of Long Island. 
  • Brooks Frederick of Brooklyn, New York, is an artist, environmentalist, social activist and adjunct professor in Adelphi University’s Department of Art and Art History. His recent paintings—made with oil and tar from the 2010 BP oil spill—were widely exhibited and have inspired community activism against environmental destruction. Frederick leads collective art-making events that bring people together to find solutions to societal challenges such as climate change, racism and economic injustice. His work can be seen as brooksfrederick.com.
  • Tara Funk of Port Washington, New York, has a passion for learning and language that has inspired her 20-year career in education, literacy and curriculum development. When she taught in south-central Los Angeles as a member of Teach for America, Funk soon discovered her interest in developing literacy products that help children learn to read and write. She has worked as a director of instructional technology at Benchmark Education Company and an executive editor at Scholastic.
  • Michael Hynes, Ed.D., of Sayville, New York, is the superintendent of schools for the Patchogue-Medford School District. His mission is to spread the message of the importance of a holistic approach to educating children. He’s a public school advocate and university lecturer, and has published numerous articles and been featured on many podcasts. Hynes was awarded the “Friend of Education Award” and the “Distinguished Leadership Award” by Phi Delta Kappa.
  • Sarah Liberti ’18 of Lake Grove, New York, is studying for her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education at Adelphi University, where she sings and plays clarinet, saxophone and flute. Her TEDx presentation, “Casually Suicidal: What Now,” was inspired by scrolling through social media. “It was heartbreaking to realize how many people passively or actively post about death,” she said. Liberti is interested in helping others express themselves, feel safe and find solutions to serious internal and external struggles.
  • Kelley Lynn B.F.A. ’94, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, is a stand-up comedian, actor and writer known for her comedy videos on YouTube; her video, “I’ve McFallen,” has been viewed over 50 million times worldwide. Her credits include performing in the same lineups with comic heavyweights Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan and Elayne Boosler, to name a few. She is currently writing her first book: My Husband Is Not a Rainbow: The Brutally Awful, Hilarious Truth About Life, Love, Grief, and Loss. Her proudest accomplishment continues to be when she was blocked on Twitter by President Donald Trump. Lynn has a B.F.A. in Theatre at Adelphi University, where she went on to teach courses in acting and stand-up comedy for the past 16 years.
  • Aliha Nasrullah ’18 of Garden City, New York, is the co-founder of a nonprofit called the Barkat Foundation, which provides free healthcare to underprivileged men, women and children in Pakistan. This initiative has helped more than 4,500 patients since launching last year. Nasrullah moved from Lahore, Pakistan, to New York in 2014 to pursue her bachelor’s degree in biology at Adelphi University. She is currently enrolled in the joint seven-year dental program with New York University, College of Dentistry.
  • Jeffrey Reynolds, Ph.D., of Hauppauge, New York, is the president/CEO of Family and Children’s Association, one of Long Island’s oldest and largest nonprofits. Previously, Reynolds worked for the Long Island Association for AIDS Care, and was executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. Recently, he worked on Governor Cuomo’s Heroin and Opioids Task Force, which helped shape legislation designed to address the drug crisis.
  • Katie Duffy Schumacher of Rockville Centre, New York, is the founder of the “Don’t Press Send” campaign and the author of “Don’t Press Send: A Mindful Approach to Social Media, An Education In Cyber Civics.” A frequent lecturer, she has used her years as a certified teacher, her mindfulness training and her experience as a mother of three teenagers to engage her audience and spread her message of positive reform for online communication.
  • Stephen Mark Shore, Ed.D., of West Hempstead, New York, is a clinical assistant professor at the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education at Adelphi University, where he teaches courses in special education and autism. His most recent book is College for Students with Disabilities, co-authored with Pavan John Antony, Ph.D. Shore is a board member of Autism Speaks, president emeritus of the Asperger’s Association of New England, advisory board member of Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association (AHANY) and advisory board member of the Autism Society.

To read full speaker bios, purchase tickets or sign up to get notified when the event goes live, visit tedxadelphiuniversity.com. Lunch is included in the event and audience members are strongly encouraged to stay for the entire program.

For more information, contact tedxadelphiuniversity@gmail.com or 516.877.3792.

Follow TEDxAdelphiUniversity at @TEDxAdelphiU and facebook.com/TEDxAdelphiU.

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. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today’s leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED’s annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED’s open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a “wish,” or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED at @TEDTalks and facebook.com/TED.

For further information, please contact:

Todd Wilson
Strategic Communications Director 
p – 516.237.8634
e – twilson@adelphi.edu

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