WE ARE AT A PIVOT POINT.
St. Louis, and the world, is at a pivot point.
To pivot is to shift. A change, but not a complete redo. Keep one foot planted, but change direction. A pivot is usually intended to help recover from a tough period. Think about the current state in new and interesting ways. Reimagine & think more broadly.
VIRTUAL EVENT DETAILS
With our virtual event you can attend from anywhere in the world!
Join us for a virtual gathering of local influential speakers who will share fresh perspectives on the current state of our world.
Register on Eventbrite to hold your spot. Prior to the start time, a link to the online platform will be sent and you will be able to join the live event.
WHEN
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
6:00pm - 7:30pm
TICKETS $0
TEDxStLouis is bringing you this virtual event, free of charge! Just select the Free Registration ticket option below.
DONATIONS WELCOME
If you feel so inclined, you may make a donation in support of our organization’s mission to create an inclusive & equitable community of thought-leaders in St. Louis. Just put any dollar amount in the Donations field below.
Meet our speakers. The thought-leaders helping St. Louis pivot to something different.
Hear from a dynamic group of speakers who have unique perspectives for our city. They’re the people of Saint Louis who truly care — invested in local innovation, social justice, change, and pivoting to something different.
NASA Switches Gears | Dan Goods
Visual Strategist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
While NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory usually works on Mars Rover Perseverance and redirection of asteroids, in times of crisis they focus their collective energy for the greater good. Learn about what it was like when NASA had to pivot during the pandemic.
ABOUT DAN:
Dan Goods is passionate about creating moments in people’s lives where they are reminded of the gift and privilege of being alive.
He leads an extraordinary team of creatives, called The Studio, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory transforming complex concepts into meaningful stories that can be universally understood. Their work is seen in public spaces, art museums, and is in outer space.
He was recently honored with NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Award. In the past he was selected as “One of the most interesting people in Los Angeles” by the LA Weekly. In 2002, he graduated valedictorian from the graphic design program at Art Center College of Design. He currently lives in Altadena, CA with his wife and three kids.
Twitter @dangoods
Instagram: @iamdangoods
Secrets of a Reluctant Leader | Tishaura Jones
Treasurer, City of Saint Louis
Sometimes we are called upon to lead when it doesn’t seem ideal. Sometimes we say NO many times before we say YES. But maybe the reluctant leader has something to teach us all.
ABOUT TISHAURA:
Hon. Tishaura O. Jones is the first woman to hold the office of Treasurer in St. Louis and the founder of a citywide children’s savings program.
Jones started her political career in 2002 as Democratic Committeewoman of the 8th Ward in the City of St. Louis. She served two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives, and was selected as the first African American woman in Missouri history to hold the position of Assistant Minority Floor Leader.
In her tenure as Treasurer, she launched the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) to help St. Louisans make better financial choices, as OFE’s College Kids Program has helped over 16,000 public school students through educational savings accounts.
Twitter: @tishaura
Web: www.stltreasurer.org, www.parklouie.org, www.stlofe.org
Watch Tishaura's 2019 TEDx Talk “Children's Savings Accounts”
Pandemics, Progress, and Prejudice From a Historian's Perspective | Christopher Alan Gordon
Director, Library & Collections at Missouri Historical Society
What can we learn from a historian than can help us put COVID-19 in perspective? This TEDx talk will explore positive learnings of past pandemics. Despite the tragedy, a pandemic can be a time for serious advances in science, medicine, and societal lessons.
ABOUT CHRISTOPHER:
Christopher Alan Gordon is the director of library and collections for the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis. His career in the history, museum, and archives field is driven by a desire to better understand our collective history and the ways in which that history can be used to better understand the present. As a museum professional, he is dedicated to preserving artifacts, books, and documents that provide us with the resources needed to research and study the past.
As a historian and lecturer Gordon’s book Fire, Pestilence, and Death: St. Louis 1849 explores the ways in which a convergence of urban crises —the Great Fire of 1849, a terrifying cholera pandemic, and nearly unbridled population growth— forced St. Louis to adapt and rebuild itself into a modern urban center.
For his book, Gordon drew heavily on historical sources that provide eyewitness accounts of the events of 1849. History, he believes, must be viewed through the emotions, experiences, and beliefs of those who lived it in order for us to truly understand it.
Conservation's Link to Humanity & Hope | Peter Raven
Botanist and Environmentalist, President Emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden
An organic conversation between Peter Raven & Kyra Krakos will explore the connections between humanity and a sustainable world, including a call to action we can each take in our own lives.
ABOUT PETER:
A well-known botanist and conservationist, Peter Raven served as Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University and president of the Missouri Botanical Garden starting in 1971. Earlier, he held a postdoctoral fellowship in London and a faculty position in the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University. His undergraduate degree was from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. from UCLA.
A recipient of the National Medal of Science and of MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, he led the Garden to a worldwide role in education, research, and conservation, concentrating on Latin America, Africa (especially Madagascar), and China. Citizen of the Year in St. Louis, he has received honorary degrees from Washington University, St. Louis University, and the University of Missouri as well as from Harvard, Yale, Leiden, and others. Raven has published nearly 800 papers and some 20 books, including The Biology of Plants, the best-selling botany textbook for the past 50 years. He served as co-editor of the 49-volume Flora of China, and has consistently encouraged colleagues around the world in their research efforts.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_H_Raven
Conservation's Link to Humanity & Hope | Kyra Krakos
Associate Professor of Biology and Program Director for the On-Line Sustainability Program at Maryville University, Research Associate at Missouri Botanical Garden
An organic conversation between Peter Raven & Kyra Krakos will explore the connections between humanity and a sustainable world, including a call to action we can each take in our own lives.
ABOUT KYRA:
Dr. Kyra N Krakos was named Science Educator of the Year by the STL Academy of Science in 2016. She teaches courses in Ecology, Plants and People, Evolution, Conservation and Sustainability, and Botany. She focuses on research that emphasizes the need to understand the dynamics of the natural world in a changing environment, the evolution and ecology of plant reproduction, including plant-pollinator interactions and breeding systems, invasive species, and more.
Kyra did both her undergraduate and Masters in Integrative Biology at Brigham Young University, focusing on the impacts of invasive species on the pollination systems of tropical plant species. She did her doctorate at Washington University. She is a member of the Botanical Society for America, American Women in Science, and served as the co-director the Missouri state Junior Science, Engineering, and Humanities Symposium from 2012-2016.Kyra is a St. Louis Biodiversity Fellow in the Living Earth Collaborative.
Watch her 2015 TEDx Talk “Plants, Pollinators and People: A Love Story”
Matuschka Briggs (event emcee)
Director of Special Projects and Strategic Support in the Community Development Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
ABOUT MATUSCHKA:
Matuschka Lindo Briggs is responsible for establishing and maintaining the communication strategy of the Community Development department, in support of the department’s focus on low- and moderate-income populations across the Eighth Federal Reserve District. Prior to joining the team, she worked in the Bank’s Treasury Relations and Support Office and in Public Affairs.
Before joining the St. Louis Fed, Briggs was a television news reporter for NBC affiliates and a radio show co-host for an ESPN affiliate. She also served as press secretary for a Missouri gubernatorial candidate. In addition to her role at the St. Louis Fed, Briggs serves on various community boards and continues to do public speaking and voice-over work.
Briggs received a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communication from William Woods University in Fulton, MO.