This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Khadija Gbla grew up in Sierra Leone. As a young girl, she was subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). As a woman, she lives with the consequences of FGM everyday. She is determined that this form of abuse against young girls will end, and she wants to end it in her lifetime.

Khadija Gbla was born in Sierra Leone. Her family sought refuge in Australia in 2001 after enduring a thirteen-year civil war within her homeland.

Khadija strives to combine her African and Australian heritage and values in order to advocate acceptance and equality within the community. Khadija’s passion for her community and for giving young people a voice in our community continues to motivate her involvement in diverse community projects. Khadija has represented Australia in the international arena at the Harvard National Model United Nations, Commonwealth Youth Forum and Australian and Africa Dialogue.

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)

Understanding why you feel what you feel is one of the most important aspects of human development. After understanding comes control. When you control your emotions through vertical development, you can be more successful and happy.

We’ve all seen adults behave like children and ‘throw their toys out of the pram’ if they don’t get their way. An inability to control emotions prevents us from growing up and becoming mature successful human beings.

Dr. Alan Watkins, founder of Complete Coherence, introduces the key phases of human development and explains why poor emotional control is holding back progress. He asks us to imagine a world where we never have to feel anything we don’t want to feel; where we have complete control of what we feel and when we feel it.

Emotions meet technology in a new app (Universe of Emotions). Taking us on a journey around this Universe, Dr Watkins explains how we can choose our own emotional ‘planetary’ address and live happier and more fulfilled lives.

Alan Watkins is CEO and founder of leadership consultancy, Complete Coherence. He is recognized as an international expert on leadership and human performance.

Dr Watkins has a broad mix of commercial, academic, scientific and technological abilities. Over the past 18 years he has been a coach to many of Europe’s top business leaders and has helped companies treble share price, enter the FTSE 100, salvage difficult turnarounds and establish market leadership in their industry. He has written five books and numerous peer reviewed scientific articles. He advised the GB Olympic squad prior to London 2012 and is working with them leading up to Rio in 2016. He has three degrees and is a neuroscientist by background.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

Bad driver. Math wizard. Model minority. In this hilarious and insightful talk, eighteen-year-old Canwen Xu shares her Asian-American story of breaking stereotypes, reaffirming stereotypes, and driving competently on her way to buy rice.

Canwen Xus slogan for life is “Canwen can win.” Born in Nanjing, China, she moved to the United States when she was two years old, and since then has lived in some of the whitest states in the country, including North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho. A senior at Timberline High School, Canwen is passionate about politics, and is the national membership director and Idaho state director for the Young Democrats High School Caucus. Also a programmer, she started an all-girls computer science workshop called Code For Fun and received National Runner-Up in the 2014 NCWIT Aspirations in Computing competition.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

Lilia Tarawa was brought up in the Gloriavale Christian Community on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, where she was constantly surrounded by everyone she loved. But over time, she began to see the dark side of her community, and ultimately realised that she had to get out. In this raw and emotional talk, Lilia shares the reality of life in a cult, and her heart-wrenching journey to break free.

Lilia Tarawa is a New Zealand writer, speaker, holistic health consultant and business coach. She is a member of the Māori Ngāi Tahu tribe. Lilia was born into New Zealands infamous religious cult, Gloriavale, and fled with her eleven family members at eighteen years of age. Her extraordinary life experience compelled her to pursue a career promoting human rights, welfare and empowerment.

www.liliatarawa.com/
www.youtube.com/liliatarawa
nz.linkedin.com/in/liliatarawa
www.facebook.com/liliatarawa
www.instagram.com/liliatarawa

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

As a comedian and performer, Jordan Raskopolous does not suffer from stage fright, but away from the lights it’s a different story. In this compelling and funny talk, she shares her insights into what it is like to live with high functioning anxiety and how people like her can be perceived — to be both shy and loud at the same time. A talk many will relate to and one that offers strategies for dealing with it.

Jordan Raskopoulos is a comedian, musician and digital content creator. She is best known as the lead singer of The Axis of Awesome, a world renowned musical comedy group and YouTube Juggernaut. She is the creative director of Press Start Productions. Press Start is currently producing Insert Coin, an ongoing web series about video games. Jordan is also host of This is About, a narrative non-fiction podcast on ABC RN. In 2016 she came out as transgender in a viral video called ‘What’s Happened to Jordan’s Beard’. Since then Jordan has become an inspiration to young LGBTQIA people by living her genuine life, openly and publicly and using her platform and profile to promote awareness and understanding to a broad audience through humour.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk for medical advice. Weve flagged this talk for falling outside TEDxs curatorial guidelines. This talk represents the speaker’s personal views and experiences with nutrition, mental health, and human biology. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf

Health and science journalist Max Lugavere has always been close with his mom. When she began to show signs of dementia in her early fifties, it shook him to his core. Wasn’t dementia an old person’s disease? And with drug trials having a near 100% failure rate, what was there to do? In 2017, a leading Alzheimer’s organization recognized for the first time that one third of dementia cases may be preventable. And so Max decided to devote himself to figuring out how he and his peers could best avoid the disease. In this illuminating talk, Max discusses the fascinating diet and lifestyle changes associated with significant risk reduction for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and what that means. For more, pick up his New York Times bestselling book, GENIUS FOODS. Max Lugavere is a filmmaker, author, and TV personality. He is the director of the upcoming film BREAD HEAD, the first-ever documentary about dementia prevention through diet and lifestyle, and is publishing his first book in early 2018 documenting his findings on how to optimize focus, productivity, mood, and long-term brain health with food. Lugavere is a regularly-appearing «core expert» on The Dr. Oz Show, has been featured on NBC Nightly News, in the Wall Street Journal, and has contributed as a health journalist to Medscape, Vice/Munchies, the Daily Beast, and others. He is a highly sought-after speaker and has been invited to keynote events such as the Biohacker Summit in Stockholm Sweden, and esteemed academic institutions like the New York Academy of Sciences. His newest book, GENIUS FOODS, is a New York Times best seller. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

The United States accounts for five percent of the worlds population but consumes almost 70 percent of the total global opioid supply, creating an epidemic that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths each year. How did we get here, and what can we do about it? In this personal talk, Travis Rieder recounts the painful, often-hidden struggle of opioid withdrawal and reveals how doctors who are quick to prescribe (and overprescribe) opioids arent equipped with the tools to eventually get people off the meds. Travis Rieder, PhD, is the Assistant Director for Education Initiatives, Director of the Master of Bioethics degree program and Research Scholar at the Berman Institute of Bioethics.

Travis’ work tends to fall into one of two, quite distinct research programs. The first concerns ethical and policy questions about sustainability and planetary limits. Much of this research has been on issues in climate change ethics and procreative ethics with a particular focus on the intersection of the two – that is, on the question of responsible procreation in the era of climate change. The second research program concerns ethical and policy issues surrounding America’s opioid epidemic.

In addition to his more scholarly writing, Travis is firmly committed to doing bioethics with the public. He writes regularly for The Conversation and blogs occasionally at The Huffington Post and the Berman Institute Bioethics Bulletin. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

The Opioid Crisis has been more than two decades in the making. It’s time for us to move from problem to solution. We have to look at the major forces that are tragically taking more lives daily and get to the root cause. A public call for help! Dr. Manal Fakhoury is President and CEO of Fakhoury Leadership International, with over 30 years of non-profit and leadership experience, she serves on many community and national boards.
Manal is also a consultant pharmacist, inspirational speaker, coach, trainer, and mentor. Undergraduate, and doctorate from the University of Southern California, an MBA from Webster University. Manal has been recognized with many professional and community awards including Person of the Year, Pharmacist of the year and recently Communicator of the Year. Manal was honored to participate in the Climb of Hope and summit Mt. Kilimanjaro in January 2014. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Surabhi Gautam was born in an orthodox village of Madhya Pradesh, where girl child had unequal rights. Years later she walks into the same village and the entire village is celebrating her success. She talks that knowledge is the only art of recognition.

Surabhi Gautam is a RGPV Alumni, and has secured AIR 1 in Indian Engineering Services (IES), she has worked at Bhabha Atomic Research Center and Indian Railways. She has recently Secured AIR 50 in UPSC Civil Services Exam.She completed her B.tech in an ordinary engineering college and went on to work in BARC as a scientist through gate score. Later she prepared vigorously for IES-2013, with flying colors she became the first ranker. She then chose to work in Indian Railways of Signal Engineers and currently serving the nation. Surabhi Gautam is a RGPV Alumni, and has secured AIR 1 in Indian Engineering Services (IES), she has worked at Bhabha Atomic Research Center and Indian Railways. She has recently Secured AIR 50 in UPSC Civil Services Exam.She completed her B.tech in an ordinary engineering college and went on to work in BARC as a scientist through gate score. Later she prepared vigorously for IES-2013, with flying colors she became the first ranker. She then chose to work in Indian Railways of Signal Engineers and currently serving the nation. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

His TEDx talk describes his experience finding discipline and independence...through a flip phone! David Amadio teaches Creative Writing and Composition at Lincoln University, where he also edits the campus literary magazine, SIMBAA. He received his MFA in Fiction from Bowling Green State University in 2001. His work has appeared in Talking River, Masque