TEDxAtlanta has announced 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. The event follows the main TEDxAtlanta conference and is part of the 2026 season themed 'Bold. Brave. Unbreakable.' The Youth conference will feature speakers aged 16 to 23, with a program divided into two parts: 'Seen' and 'Unleashed.'
'Young people hear constantly that they are the future. We were much more interested in what they have to say about the present,' said Jacqui Chew, TEDxAtlanta licensee and organizer. '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 being sidelined at science camp as the only girl and the ideas we miss 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, discovering that AI can translate words without understanding culture. An intergenerational 'On the Spot' conversation between entrepreneur Zoe Oli and her mother, Evana Oli, will explore what happens when a child's idea becomes a real enterprise.
The 'Unleashed' segment focuses on young innovators questioning existing systems. Kanushi Dua, a circular systems designer, will discuss why children's clothes are treated as disposable and the unexpected role AI can play. Ian Sun, a community-centered technologist, will ask who gets a say in how AI is built. Akos Vida, an accessibility innovator, will challenge assumptions about designing for versus designing with people. Ethan Benater, a possibility engineer, will share his experience building a vaping-cessation solution, raising questions about what young people can create when they stop treating entrenched problems as inevitable.
Together, 'Seen' and 'Unleashed' move from recognition to agency, encouraging audiences to view young people as participants in creating the present, not just inheritors of the future. Back-to-School ticket prices for TEDxAtlanta, TEDxAtlanta Youth, and Complete Passes are available now.
TEDxAtlanta is Georgia's largest TED affiliate and a year-round platform for ideas, conversation, and community. Since its first conference in 2009, more than two dozen speakers have been featured on TED. The event is an initiative of nonprofit Ideas into Action. For more information, visit www.TEDxAtlanta.com.
