TEDxStLouis’ 25th milestone event filled the Touhill Performing Arts Center on Friday, September 5 with bold talks, fresh energy, and a leadership handoff. From roads to AI to cultural spaces, the ideas on stage showed how St. Louis is shaping the future, and why collaboration and creativity remain at the city’s core.

The Touhill Performing Arts Center buzzed with anticipation as TEDxStLouis marked its 25th milestone event, Future Focus: Envisioning What’s Next. What unfolded on stage wasn’t just a lineup of talks, but a series of deeply personal visions for where St. Louis, and the world, can go from here.

The afternoon brought together ideas on infrastructure, technology, health, transportation, and cultural spaces, and even broke things up with a performance that put movement, rhythm, and community front and center. Afterward, Innovation Alley turned into a lively gathering place, with local innovators showcasing their work and St. Louis musician Devon Cahill providing the soundtrack.

Premium ticket holders kicked things off with Leading Ladies: A Creative Leadership Salon, hosted by COCAbiz, the professional development arm of the Center of Creative Arts. COCAbiz is known for using the arts to spark creativity at work, and this time they guided the group through exercises that loosened people up and got them thinking differently, a fitting warm-up for an afternoon all about bold ideas.

Small solutions, big impact

When Lindsey Hermes took the stage, she spoke as both a builder and a pragmatist. “Every time we preserve a mile, we save money and emissions,” she said, making the case that data-driven maintenance is a smarter, greener alternative to tearing up and replacing entire roads. “This isn’t a climate pitch,” she explained. “This is a practical solution to a structural problem.” Her message was clear: sometimes the most powerful transformations come not from sweeping overhauls, but from the steady accumulation of small, smart decisions.

Owning the “wildcard” in an AI world

Emily Hemingway, who leads TechSTL, the region’s technology council working to grow St. Louis into a top-tier tech hub, told the crowd about being labeled “too much of a wildcard” early in her career. Instead of shaking it off, she’s come to see it as an asset. “Wildcards don’t wait for permission,” she said. “They jump, they test, they build, they disrupt.”

For Hemingway, those traits are not only valuable, but essential in an era reshaped by artificial intelligence. “AI is the biggest wildcard of them all,” she said. “Every business is becoming a tech business… The only way forward is to stay agile, collaborative, and open.”

Beautiful, healthy, resilient

Artist and healer-farmer Dail Chambers rooted her talk in conversations with neighbors during the pandemic, when she asked them how they saw themselves. The answer was simple and profound: “Beautiful. Healthy. Resilient.”

That response has since become both a mantra and a mission. Chambers has cultivated food forests across North St. Louis, growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs while nurturing connection through story circles and shared meals. Even after a tornado hit her community earlier this year, she said, that resilience held. “I wanted to supplement and support the work that had already been done in the community that I've entered.” 

A reset through sound and movement

As the event progressed, musician and entertainer Volume Speaks reminded the audience that ideas don’t live only in conversation. The St. Louis multi-instrumentalist and beat battle champion filled the hall with music, urging people to stretch, move, and reset. It was a break that underscored her larger point: creativity is participatory, embodied, and contagious.

Collaboration at the hub

Transportation leader Mary Lamie shifted the focus to infrastructure that many take for granted. St. Louis, she explained, is the Agricultural Coast of America, a critical hub where river, rail, roads, and runways connect. “Each mode of transportation is powerful,” she said. “But when they’re not connected, they become a disconnected spoke. When they are connected, they become a wheel, and that wheel moves the world forward.”

She emphasized that collaboration across those modes lowers costs for everyday goods and strengthens the region’s role in global trade. “It’s not just about moving commodities,” she added. “It’s about connecting people’s lives.”

A cultural space that saves lives

The final talk came from Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of Left Bank Books, who described the bookstore as something much larger than a shop. She told the story of Melissa, a young lesbian who once found refuge at the store but later died by suicide. “I made a promise to myself and to Melissa,” Kleindienst said, “that as long as I was a bookseller, I would create a space where everyone could feel welcome and wanted.”

For Kleindienst, bookstores are cultural infrastructure, places that nurture identity, foster empathy, and hold difficult conversations. “We’re cultural workers, and the bookstore is that elusive third place, the place outside of home and work, where folks come together to affirm their own identities and also build empathy for the identities of others,” she said. 

A milestone and a new chapter

The event also marked a turning point for TEDxStLouis itself. After 13 years of leadership, co-founder Steve Sommers has stepped back from the role of Executive Director. “After years of effort, I’ve met lifelong friends, including my wife, helped create a positive force for St. Louis, and found a new chapter in solar,” he said. “I’m stepping back with a happy heart and great expectations.”

Stepping into the role of Interim Executive Director is Sara Vaughan, who has served as Director of Production and Chief of Staff since 2021. "TEDxStLouis is where big ideas meet a global audience, and where the world sees what makes St. Louis extraordinary. It’s an absolute privilege to volunteer my time and energy alongside this amazing team of people in this amazing community,” she said. 

Co-founder and license holder Mich Hancock summed up the moment: “Steve has been profoundly impactful, and I’m equally thrilled for our future under Sara’s leadership. Her passion, intellect, and vision are already leveling us up.”

Powered by partners

The milestone event was supported by U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance as premier sponsor, with additional backing from Mackey Mitchell and the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. Community partners, including COCAbiz, 100th Monkey, Nine PBS, and the Missouri Historical Society, played a key role in connecting the talks to the broader St. Louis community. We are also grateful to our in-kind partners, 4 Hands Brewing, Chandler Hill Vineyards, and Excel Bottling, for generously providing beverages that helped make the gathering even more memorable.

What’s next

TEDxStLouis will return on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at the Missouri History Museum with another program designed to connect ideas with action and highlight the region’s role in shaping the future.

About TEDxStLouis

TEDxStLouis is a volunteer-driven, independently organized TEDx program. Its mission is “to foster positive public relations for the St. Louis region resulting in impactful and meaningful engagement by showcasing St. Louis' profound impact on our local community, the nation, and the world."