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, along with an intergenerational 'On the Spot' conversation, and will unfold in 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, ideas, and perspectives are taken seriously. Temple Lester, a STEM advocate, will discuss the ideas we miss when young people are told to wait their turn, drawing from her experience being sidelined at science camp because she was the only girl. Nidhi Madam, a language and culture explorer, will share how a K-drama binge led her to Korean and back to Telugu, her family's language, and how artificial intelligence can translate words without understanding the culture behind them. Zoe Oli and her mother, Evana Oli, will engage in an 'On the Spot' conversation about what happens when a child's idea becomes a real enterprise, and a parent must decide when to step in, step aside, or step forward together.
The 'Unleashed' part focuses on young innovators questioning existing systems and building alternatives. Kanushi Dua, a circular systems designer, will discuss why garments are treated as disposable simply because children outgrow them, and the unexpected role artificial intelligence can play in addressing this. Ian Sun, a community-centered technologist, will ask who gets a say in how AI is built, considering what communities stand to gain or lose. Akos Vida, an accessibility innovator, will share his experience building an accessible gaming controller and challenge the assumption about who belongs in the design process. Ethan Benater, a possibility engineer, will talk about building a vaping-cessation solution and what young people can create when they stop treating entrenched problems as inevitable.
TEDxAtlanta Youth aims to move from recognition to agency, asking audiences to consider young people not simply as inheritors of the future, but as participants in creating it now. Back-to-school ticket prices for TEDxAtlanta, TEDxAtlanta Youth, and Complete Passes that include both conferences are available now. For more information, visit www.TEDxAtlanta.com.
