Stratos Mavrogiannis
Director and Curator
Stratos currently works in the financial services industry and at the same time he is enthusiastically engaged with the preparation of TEDxGoodenoughCollege. He was born in Greece and he moved in the UK at the age of 18 where he acquired a MEng in Civil Engineering, a MSc in Finance and a MSc in Project Management. Stratos is part of TEDxGoodenoughCollege for three years in a row. This year, he is curating the event and coordinating the team in order to create an innovative and extraordinary experience.
“To me, “What Next” means the challenges of the future”
Angeliki Maria (Marilina) Toli
Head of Marketing and Design
Marilina is undertaking a PhD in Construction and Project Management at The Bartlett, UCL. Her research focuses on smart city management and organizational culture. Her academic interests lie in multidisciplinary topics such as the application of the service-dominant logic on smart cities organizations, the use of decision-making analysis in urban regeneration projects and studying the reciprocal relationship between environmental and economic analysis in urban design.
Marilina is passionate about sustainable design, smart cities and TEDx. She has been an active member of the TEDx community for the past three years. She was Director and Curator of TEDxGoodenoughCollege 2017.
“To me, ‘What Next’ is all about movements of change”
Andrea Smith
Head of Speaker Managers
Andrea has just completed her PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health and now works as a Research Associate in Behavioural Obesity in a new Policy Research Unit at UCL. She is passionate about her current research on the development of innovative tools to inform policies which support healthy weight development from infancy in the UK.
Andrea has been involved with the organisation of TEDxGoodenoughCollege for four years, and this year has taken on the exciting position of Head of Speaker Management.
“To me, the theme ‘What Next’ brings together new ideas which hint at how we can take an active role in shaping our future”
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 5 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
Jennifer Köhler
Speaker Manager
Jennifer is currently working towards her PhD in Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she looks at the economic history of female empowerment. With a mixed academic background in economics, philosophy and history, she is particularly passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to science. Jennifer’s free-time activities include horse riding and writing. She has worked as a free-lance journalist for several years during her undergraduate studies and she is currently competing for the LSE in the BUCS Equestrian league.
“To me, ‘What Next’ reflects possibilities alongside peril, and thus an excellent platform to discuss ideas that are outside the box”
Simon Altman
Speaker Manager
Simon is currently pursuing an MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics, where he researches Universal Basic Incomes in developing areas. His insatiable curiosity has led him to study economics, where he hopes to find the most coherent picture of how the world works and how to improve it. His desire to use economics for the common good has previously led him to work at Canada’s central bank and at an environmental pricing policy think tank. In his spare time, Simon binge watches TED talks. He claims there’s nothing more enjoyable than an interesting idea told well. As a speaker manager, Simon hopes to bring innovative, inspirational, life-changing ideas to the audience.
Alexander Fries
Speaker Manager
Alex is currently studying for an MSc in Brain and Mind Sciences at UCL in collaboration with ENS and UPMC in Paris. His attraction to the interdisciplinarity in neuroscience is further fed by his belief that a better comprehension of the brain will impact many other domains of life. Similarly, Alex is passionate about science communication and views TED talks as a splendid way of engaging broad and nonscientific audiences. Despite keeping a busy schedule, he enjoys exploring London’s rich cultural and intellectual scenes as well as practicing his French. As a speaker manager, Alex contributes to the selection and management of talks.
“In times of uncertainty and seemingly endless possibilities, I hope ‘What Next’ will provide a glimpse into what the future has in store”
Event Management
Amaia Uriz
Head of Event Management
Amaia is a PhD Chemistry student at Imperial College London, working on the development of cancer immunotherapies. She comes from Pamplona, a small city in the north of Spain worldwide known for its lovely people and its festival San Fermin. Here she studied Chemistry and her passion is to contribute with her grain of sand to keep improving medical treatments and helping millions of lives. She loves travelling and dancing, needing very little excuse to start dancing to no matter what music, as happiness is the best of all treatments.
“To me, ‘What Next’ is an open door to change our future. Let’s see what we find on the other side!”
Madeleine Adamson
Events Manager
Maddy is currently pursuing an MSc in Public Policy at UCL and is interested in foreign policy and conflict resolution. Before moving to London, Maddy obtained her BA in International Relations, with minors in Economics and Chinese, at the University of California, Davis. Having lived in 4 countries, she is passionate about traveling and enjoys exploring the markets, museums, and parks that places have to offer.
“To me, ‘What Next’ means to evolve and adapt for the better”
Emma Searle
Events Manager
Emma is pursuing an MSc in Art, Law and Business at Christie’s Education London. Whilst originally South African, Emma has spent most of her life living in Hong Kong and defines herself as “a wanderer with a lot of suitcases.” She studied International Relations at The University of Edinburgh, where she ran the History of Art Society and founded an arts publication. Emma is particularly interested in the relationship between politics and aesthetics. When not travelling, Emma enjoys spending afternoons in the National Gallery, learning about women’s rights, watching Tech start-up interviews, Googling unusual animal species, and re-reading the Harry Potter books.
“To me, ‘What Next’ epitomizes the underlying spirit of TED: the spreading of transcendent ideas so as to help one imagine future possibilities”
Sam Campbell
Events Manager
Sam is currently studying a Masters in Gender, Sexuality and Culture at the University of London, Birkbeck. Before pursuing her current degree, Sam obtained both a Bachelors and Master’s degree in Music, with a focus on singing and Music Psychology. Alongside her background in music she has worked in performance based events for 5 years, working in Front of House theatre management at one of Sydney’s largest performing arts venues. Sam is passionate about the performing arts, politics, feminism, education and travel and hopes to carve a career combining these interests.
“To me, ‘What Next’ means opportunity”
Niko McCarty
Technology and Innovation Manager
Niko is a postgraduate student in Systems and Synthetic Biology at Imperial College London, where he is engineering cells to manufacture pharmaceuticals and chemicals as a Fulbright Scholar. A native of Chicago, Niko moved to Iowa City and completed his BSc in Biochemistry and Clinical Sciences at the University of Iowa, where he spent four years researching diabetes and heart failure. Niko is also an avid writer and enjoys painting. As the Innovation and Technology Manager, he is eager to use technology to share interesting ideas from TEDxGoodenough 2018 and help shape What comes Next.
Rodolfo Acevedo Rodriguez
Stage Designer
Born in Mexico, Rodolfo moved to the UK in 2000. He has since completed a BA in Architecture at Oxford Brookes University, a MArch in Architecture at UCL and an MSt in Building History at the University of Cambridge. Besides practicing as an architect, Rodolfo lectures on design at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, and works as an independent researcher for The Paul Mellon Centre in London. A practicing etcher-printmaker, he also devotes time to fencing and playing the piano when possible. Rodolfo is excited to join TEDxGoodenough 2018.
“To me, ‘What Next’ is about creating a moment future generations will to look back on”
Pooja Monga
Sponsorship Manager
Pooja is currently pursuing a Master’s in Management student at London Business School. She is also a scholarship recipient. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from SRCC, Delhi University, India. She has an internship experience in Financial Advisory at Deloitte and in the Ministry of Finance, India. She is passionate about theatre and volunteer work.
“To me, ‘What Next’ means the beginning of a new chapter.”
Marketing and Design
Teresa Francis Cherukara
Marketing and Communications Manager
Teresa is currently pursuing a MA in Comparative Literature from King’s College London. Her research interests cover diasporic and South Asian literatures, with a special focus on issues of migration and displacement. She is a published author and has previously spoken at a TEDx conference in her hometown, Dubai. She is committed to promoting the arts as a tool for education and consciousness-raising. You may find her at any given point of time reading, or forcing unwilling peers to look at pictures of her pet cat.
“To me, ‘What Next’ is about engaging with difficult questions, and promoting constructive dialogue in a world where debate can often turn totalizing”
Emma Ruiters
Graphic Designer
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Emma currently studies Development Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A self-described renaissance woman, she loves writing, reading, economics, politics, and learning languages. She is currently studying Japanese and Spanish. She hopes to work as a development economist with a focus on industrial development and education in Southern Africa. She is passionate about the future of Africa.
“To me, ‘What Next’ is the question that both shapes and describes the future. This means it is the most important question to ask right now”
Amankay Roa Callizo
Photographer
Amankay holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication, and is currently studying a Masters in Fashion Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of the Arts London. She is from Asunción, Paraguay.
Her goal is to work in the fashion industry with fair trade and a special focus on creating new techniques to reduce environmental impact. This has led her being awarded a Chevening Scholarship.
She has worked in the Retail Industry for the last three years under ALDO Shoes and Accessories. She loves travelling and is passionate about education, art, photography and ballet. Making portraits is one of her favorite activities.
“To me, what next means hope”
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.