TED has had a profound effect on many people around the world and Anjali Menon wants Tri-Cities youth to be inspired by TED too.
TED is not a him. It is many people. Many inspirational persons. The Technology, Entertainment, Design conferences have been popular worldwide with the annual big one being held in Vancouver. There have been many spinoffs of it including TEDxYouth. Menon, a Coquitlam resident and Grade 12 student at Port Moody secondary, is co-organizing one of those for Nov. 17 in Coquitlam because she and her family have been big-time watchers of TED events for quite a while.
“Every weekend we’d sit down together and learn. It was fascinating for me to see how from my six-year old sister to my 79-year-old grandmother, each one in the family was able to take something away from each talk,” said Menon.
She realized although there’d been TEDxYouth events in East Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby there hadn’t been one in a community with as much diversity as Coquitlam has. “Why don’t we have something like this because we have so many talents? Why is there nothing here?” she asked.
So she spoke to her English teacher who had been to TED talks in Vancouver. He gave her support and suggested someone to talk to. That eventually led her to the City of Coquitlam and co-organizer Coun. Teri Towner.
In her search for inspiring speakers, one literally appeared before her. Menon and her eight-year-old sister were trying to raise money for the event with a bake sale when Zamir Dhanji walked up and did a magic trick.
“It was fantastic and everybody was out of their seat,” said Menon.
Turns out Dhanji is a yoga enthusiast who teaches people enveloped by the busy pace of today’s world how to relax.
“It was phenomenal [listening to him],” said Menon, who asked Dhanji on the spot to be a speaker. “We wanted him so badly because neither of us had met somebody who was so engaged. We needed somebody like this to come to show our community there was somebody like this so intriguing and fascinating.”
Another featured speaker Menon is looking forward to hearing from is Rochelle Okoye, who was born in Winnipeg but became an international gymnast for Great Britain in her youth. After her family returned to Canada she graduated from Terry Fox secondary in Port Coquitlam and then she earned a psychology degree from the University of Northern British Columbia. Her passion for gymnastics having dissipated, Okoye took up martial arts and boxing before moving on to the movies and television as a stunt double and coordinator for such shows as Deadpool, X-Men, War for Planet of the Apes, Twilight, The Flash, Supergirl and Arrow. Okoye has also written books and done motivational talks on empowerment, overcoming adversity and fears, stepping beyond comfort zones, and creating dreams.
Another speaker will be business leader Adel Gamar, who used to work with the United Nations and UNESCO, and recently ran for mayor in Coquitlam.
Other speakers are:
• Raamayan Anada, an entrepreneur since he was six years old who has created more than 40 synchronized meditation events;
• Darian Kovacs, a brand marketer;
• Helia Moghaddam, a Grade 11 student at Port Moody secondary who is an avid debater and fundraiser; and
• Kourosh Shahbazi, a Grade 11 student at Collingwood secondary school in West Vancouver who has participated in the World Scholars Cup.
TEDxYouth at Lafarge Lake will be held at the Glen Pine Pavilion (1200 Glen Pine Court) Nov. 17, 6 to 9 p.m. For more information and tickets go online to ted.com/tedx/events/30574.
