An American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist and world record holder. At age 12, she was the youngest swimmer competing at the 2000 Olympic Trials. In 2012 Olympic Games in London she won gold three gold medals and set two world records. Dana won gold medals in the 800 meter free relay, the 400 meter medley relay and the 100 meter fly setting a world record and best time of 55.98.
Dana is a proud ambassador for the American Heart Association. Due to Dana’s experience with a heart condition as a child, she is proud to support AHA in their mission to educate women about heart disease.
Adam, also known as Mr. Mars, is a NASA engineer leading the Entry, Descent and Landing team for the Mars Rover, Curiosity. After a brief career in rock and roll, Adam graduated from Cal Tech and promptly joined the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab where his eyes have been focused on Mars ever since. Adam has the insiders view of one of the most amazing space explorations feats in the history of humankind.
11 year old “Maker” with over 1 million viewers. Sylvia’s web-show shows kids and adults that making things can be fun, easy and more rewarding than just buying them.
Super-Awesome Sylvia had been making and tinkering with things since she was 7, but it wasn’t until she attended a Maker Faire that she was inspired to create “Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show,” a web show “on everything cool and worth making.” One million views later, Super-Awesome Sylvia continues to win rave reviews from kids and adults alike. In each episode, 11-year-old Sylvia helps viewers discover that making things can be fun, easy and more rewarding than buying them.
Traci Des Jardins is a James Beard Award Winning Chef and owner of Jardiniere in San Francisco. She is active in many philanthropic organizations, including La Cocina, helping women entrepreneurs launch culinary businesses.
Traci was born to parents of Mexican and French Acadian decent in a small rural community in the agriculturally rich Central Valley of California. Her family’s passion for food undoubtedly influenced her pursuit of a career as a chef. Dropping out of college at the age of 17, Traci quickly found herself thoroughly immersed in a very intense French kitchen in Los Angeles, leading to her informal training in the cutting edge food scene. Over the subsequent years she worked in top kitchens in France, New York and Los Angeles to hone her cooking skills and two decades ago Traci settled back in Northern California to pursue the dream of owning her own restaurant.
As an executive chef she quickly rose in the ranks and became one of the top female chefs in the country garnering many accolades for the restaurants she opened. Traci has adapted to the current day demands of chefs and not only rules over the kitchen, but also has appeared on Iron Chef America beating Mario Batali, and was a finalist on Top Chef Masters season 3. She currently operates five restaurants, is a devoted mother of a 12-year old son and is active in many philanthropic organizations. In her spare time she spends as much time as possible on the ski slopes in the winter and travels whenever and to wherever she can.
American Singer, Songwriter, co-composer of Rules, one of the songs featured on the soundtrack for the blockbuster movie, The Hunger Games. Megan’s sound is influenced by an amalgam of soul, jazz, and folk, and evokes a timeless waft of nostalgia while carving a fresh new niche for itself.
Although she grew up in a musical family, Megan was not always a performer. Family vacations centered around her father’s touring psychedelic rock band. Her academic studies took her on a voyage to study landscape architecture. While she is working for a Landscape Architecture Firm, Megan has realized how much she loves singing and performing beyond the confines of her shower. Her deliciously intimate debut album, Acorn Collections also features her brother Brandon Keely, her father Bert Keely and friends from her musical community.
Jack is a fifteen year old freshman in high school. He developed a paper sensor that could detect pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer in five minutes for as little as 3 cents. He conducted his research at John Hopkins University. This research could change the face of cancer and promote early detection. He has been selected as the Intel 2012 ISEF winner and has won awards at multiple national and international math competitions. Jack is on the national junior whitewater kayaking team and enjoys playing with his dog and folding origami.
Dr. Jeannie Kahwajy gives us the context of her TEDxSanJoseCA Women's Talk.
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What is TEDx?
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.
Our event is called TEDxSanJoseCA, where x = independently organized TED event. At our TEDxSanJoseCA event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.
