Marilina (Angeliki-Maria) Toli
Director and Curator
Marilina is an architect currently dividing her time between her research in Sustainability and TEDx. She was born and raised in Greece, moved to Italy at the age of 17 where she acquired a BSc in Architecture and an MSc in Sustainability Design. Six years later she moved to London where she acquired her MSc in Construction Economics and Management. She is passionate about sustainable smart city development, vertical farms and TEDx. Marilina joined this team because she believes that TED is a silver lining in a world drowning in an overload of -true or false- information. She is coordinating the TEDxGoodenoughCollege team in order to create a [R]evolutionary event.
Andrea Smith
Head of Events
Andrea is currently finalizing her PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL. She is passionate about her current research on the genetic and environmental factors that shape food, beverage & sugar preferences in relation to weight development. Nevertheless, listening to TED talks provides her with the perfect distraction, and inspiration, to overcome the inevitable days when writer’s block sets in.
For the third year in a row, Andrea has taken on the role of Head of Events Management. In collaboration with her fantastic Events Management team, she organises the entertainment for the evening, oversees the ticketing system, and ensures that all guests are treated to a tasty selection of food & drinks, to make this a truly extraordinary event.
Efstratios Mavrogiannis
Head of Space Management and Finance
Stratos is involved in the financial services industry. He is a civil engineer with an interest in innovative strategic actions that will help organizations move forward and make a real impact on the economy. He is passionate about technology, gadgets and travelling. Stratos is part of the TEDxGoodenoughCollege team for the second year in a row. As Head of Finance and Operations he is actively contributing in the creation of a platform for ideas worth spreading.
Javier Elkin
Consultant and License Holder
Javier is finishing a PhD in Applied Neuroscience where he finds practical applications for research. Javier holds the license for the event and has been a proud member of TEDxGoodenoughCollege for 4 years. He is passionate about TED talks as these represent a repertoire of the brightest people depicting the most important aspects of what it means to be a good human: innovative, inspirational, caring, and enacting positive change in the world.
Speaker Management
Alia Kajee
Speaker Manager
Alia is currently pursuing a one year MSc in Environment, Politics and Development at SOAS as a Chevening Scholar in the UK. With a background in environmental sciences from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa, she pursued a career in corporate sustainability before tackling the world of environmental politics and its conflicts with development.
With a passion for diversity, Alia has joined the TEDx team to bring about true representation through the panellists. This role entails filtering speaker applications and shortlisting applicants to interview, select, and therefore help prepare for the big day.
Evgenia Markova
Speaker Manager
Jenny has just started a PhD programme in Molecular Biology between UCL and Birkbeck. She is interested in the workings of the brain on a fundamental level and particularly in how they are altered in mental disease. Apart from a scientist, she is also a traveller and an explorer who loves to observe other people’s realities. Contrary to most, she is enthusiastic about discussing abstract concepts for hours without aiming to reach a conclusion. Jenny’s passion for TED stems is born out of a dream that ideas are able to transcend borders and personal differences. To her, TED is like a breath of fresh air – refreshing, liberating, and inspiring.
Gergő Bohner
Speaker Manager
Gergo is finishing his PhD at UCL in Theoretical Neuroscience and Machine Learning this year, focusing on understanding the computations that happen in the lowest levels in our brains, implemented as communication between individual neurons.
Here, however, Gergo wishes to address a much higher level issue: how humans may best communicate their ideas to one another.
The TED format gives an excellent opportunity to present complicated ideas in a rigorous yet approachable way. Thus Gergo, as a Speaker Manager, hopes to bring life-changing revelations to the audience.
Julia Sun
Speaker Manager
Julia is a postgraduate student in Bioengineering at Imperial College London, where she is developing new nanotechnology-based strategies for neuroscience as a Fulbright Scholar and PhD candidate. Before moving to London, Julia obtained her BSc in Chemical Engineering at MIT and received multiple awards for her interdisciplinary research in wound healing, microfluidics for cancer therapy, and heart regeneration. Outside of science, Julia enjoys traveling, teaching, and spending afternoons in the French Impressionist room at the National Gallery. As the Speaker Manager, she is excited to discover and showcase innovative and passionate talents for TEDxGoodenough 2017.
Public Relations
Kelly Grant
Marketing Manager
Kelly is pursuing a Conflict, Security & Development MA in the War Studies Dept at King’s College London. Prior to moving to London, Kelly worked at a tech company in Los Angeles and, prior to that, she worked remotely as a terrorism and radicalization researcher while backpacking around Southeast Asia and South America. Her interests are as varied as her experience, but her passion for travel has always remained constant. She plans to see as much of the world as possible and, like so many TED enthusiasts, she hopes to someday make that world a better place.
Amy Walker
Communications and Marketing Manager
Though Amy is currently studying for an MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, while studying for a Bachelor’s degree in political science, she never imagined a career related to health, science, or medicine in any capacity. Prior to moving to London in September, Amy lived in Washington, DC where through a career that spanned the DC political landscape – working on Capitol Hill, for a government relations firm, and for a trade association – she discovered a passion for the prevention of infectious diseases. In these positions, Amy frequently referred to TED talks to learn more about topical health issues.
Amy is serving as a Communications and Marketing Manager for TEDxGoodenough 2017. She looks forward to working with the entire TEDx team to promote this fantastic event and to contributing to the sharing of ideas worth spreading.
Isabella Troconis
Sponsorship Manager
Isabella is pursuing a Msc in Environmental Policy and Regulation at LSE. She is originally from Venezuela but defines herself as a “nomad with too many suitcases”. Before coming to London, she studied and worked in 6 countries. Isabella has 4 years of experience in international development and entrepreneurship. In Kampala, Isabella worked at a social start-up supporting women in running solar micro-businesses in rural Uganda. In Washington DC, she managed 3 editions of an environmental entrepreneurship competition called “Eco-Challenge”.
For TEDxGoodenoughCollege, Isabella is taking part part in the Sponsorship team with the goal of forging lasting partnerships with firms and other like-minded organizations. She finds TED talks to be an inspirational source to stimulate new ways of thinking of ‘ordinary’ aspects in life.
Event
Mary Walker
Events Manager
Mary is currently a PhD student at the William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, where she researches arthritis. As a British-Indonesian hybrid, Mary grew up in suburban Jakarta and moved to Bristol to read Biochemistry in 2009. She then worked in the field of clinical trials looking into blood clots. Although she has little free time, Mary enjoys hiking, jazz and avoiding the tube.
Amaia Uriz
Events Manager
Amaia is pursuing her Master´s at Imperial College London in Drug Discovery and Development. She comes from Pamplona, a small city in the north of Spain full of cheerful people, amazing food and the worldwide known San Fermin. There, she studied chemistry and one of her greatest achievements would be to make a career in cancer research. In her free time she loves traveling, dancing and cooking. Her recipe for a perfect evening would be a cup of good friends, a tea spoon of music and a lovely glass of wine.
Pei Ann Yeoh
Music Manager
Pei is a 2nd-year PhD student in Music at King’s College London. She is doing a practice-based research on the effects of identity in the creative process with a focus on jazz performance. That really means: She is improvising it as she goes! She is passionate about making music in the most outrageous contexts – having performed for royals and aristocrats to pagan worshippers. Neither music nor musician shall discriminate; as in the words of JK Rowling “… for neither can live while the other survives” is a mantra that she lives by. Pei plays almost any four-stringed instrument except the viola – et voila!
Being Music Manager for TEDx Goodenough 2017 means that she can combine her obsession of finding a (R)evolutionary four-stringed instrument (and other non-stringed ones) with her passion for music-making in ‘the most outrageous context’! No better platform than at TEDx Goodenough College alongside the fabulous Events Management team!
Jennifer Köhler
Affiliated Events Manager
Jennifer is currently working towards her PhD in Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science, analysing the long-run effects of female empowerment on socio-economic developments in Eastern Africa. With a mixed academic background in economics, philosophy and history, she is particularly passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to science. In this light, she views TED conferences as a brilliant way not only to disseminate innovative ideas in a variety of fields to a broader public, but also to lay the grounds for thinking outside of the borders of each discipline. Her free-time activities include horse riding and writing. She has worked as a free-lance journalist for several years during her undergraduate studies and enjoys creative writing.
Visual Arts
Aleksandra Ziemiszewska
Graphic Designer
Aleksandra is a graduate student of History of Art at UCL, where she focuses on modern and contemporary art with a particular interest in American Photography. She holds a first class honours degree in Japanese and History of Art from SOAS, University of London. Apart from art, she is passionate about modern film, literature and loves to travel. Aleksandra has spent more than a year studying and working in Japan while also travelling throughout Asia. She has experience working at the marketing departments of numerous museums and commercial galleries and has joined the TEDxGoodenoughCollege team to assist with designing marketing materials.
Christian Smith
Photographer
Christian was born in Germany to Canadian parents and lived first in Europe and then in the States. His photography career began while he was studying film at Berkeley, California. From there Christian decided to travel the world and document his experiences. His first publication was in Istanbul, Turkey, followed by stints in Brazil and Sweden. Back in London, inspired by the music scene and vibrant style of the city, he shot fashion, documentary and portraiture. He is largely self-taught, although he did participate in a mentoring program through Magnum in London and also took a Broncolor intensive in Switzerland. Christian also studied wet-plate photography under John Coffer in NY state and Will Dunniway in California. In the Fall he plans to study for an MA in Photography here in London.
Marie Sutter
Videographer
Marie is born the 06.10.1994 in Alsace. She has the German and French nationality. Marie is a professional photographer and videographer. She has attended the School of Art and Media in Zürich (ZHdK) and passed her Degree in June 2016. In February 2016 she participated at the Biennale in Marrakech “Le Laboratories de la Mondialité”. In September 2017 she will start her Master at the Royal College of Art in Photography (RCA).
Operations Management
Max Addison
Innovation and Technology Manager
Max is currently studying a Masters by research in Molecular and cellular biology at Imperial College London, with the hopes of becoming a fully-fledged scientist one day. He is very passionate about research into diseases, particularly the Negated Tropical diseases, such as Malaria, and hopes to find new ways of curing and preventing them. As well as being interested in leading the fight against various diseases Max is also an avid follower of new developments in Science and Technology, particularly those involved in AI integrating into medicine.
Max is this year’s Innovation and Technology Manager. He is looking forward to bringing new and revolutionary ideas to the public, which will lead to them evolving to new heights.
Marnelia Scribante
Space Manager
Marnelia is a Commonwealth scholar currently pursuing a Masters in Business Analytics (Data Science) at Imperial College London, and holds a Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering from South Africa. In line with her interests in IT-driven economical and societal transformations she has participated in various research and consulting projects in Europe and a multi-disciplinary international think tank. When she is not traveling, following discussion about world systems theories or attending conferences about topics such as Smart Cities she actively seeks new innovative projects to get involved in.