Adult Speakers
Richard Lyons, UC Berkeley Chancellor
“Breaking boundaries in higher education”
Rich Lyons is an EB Alumni parent and the 12th Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to serving as Chancellor, he was the Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship from 2020-2024, leading the development and expansion of innovation and entrepreneurship campuswide. Lyons also served as the Dean of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business from 2008-2018.
Lyons received his BS degree from UC Berkeley in 1982 and returned to campus in 1993 as a faculty member at the Haas School of Business after receiving his PhD in Economics from MIT and following six years on the faculty at Columbia University. In 1998, he was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award, Berkeley’s highest teaching award.
Asked at a meeting among colleagues what his “six-word memoir is,” Lyons responded with “long-term love affair with ideas, learning.” As an alum and contributor since shortly after leaving Berkeley in the 1980s, he delights in mixing it up with alumni and working together to steward this remarkable university, truly one of society’s most important, and distinctive, assets.
Neris Frucht, Student & Musician
Performance
Neris Frucht (Class of 2022) attended EB from kindergarten all the way through 8th grade. Currently a junior at Bishop O’dowd High School, Neris’ passion is music. She plays guitar, piano, ukulele, sings, and writes songs. She recently released her first single called “Used to be”, and plans to release many more.
Monique Jonath, Educator/Advocate & Poet
“Rethinking interpersonal communication”
Monique Jonath is a peer health educator and advocate, EB Alum (Class of 2016) and award winning poet. As a queer Black poet, Monique’s work explores themes of identity, gender, and sexuality, garnering widespread recognition as a twice named finalist for the prestigious Oakland Youth Poet Laureate title in 2018 and 2019. Monique’s poetry has been featured in several notable publications, including the Youth Speaks anthology “Between My Body and the Air” (2020), Visitant Lit, and the Sixteen Rivers Press youth poetry contest. Their literary accomplishments extend to being both a finalist and a winner of the writer-voted Sixfold poetry contest, further cementing their status as a rising star in the poetry world. A recent graduate of Brown University in Gender & Sexuality Studies and Psychology, Monique is currently a Patient Navigator at Spring Fertility in Oakland, CA.
Adrian Bijan White, Data Scientist
“Using math to reimagine the world”
Adrian Bijan White is an EB alumni (Class of 2009) who pursued his education in statistics, and career in marketing data science. After spending several years in Madrid learning Spanish, making paella, and working on a multinational team, he recently relocated back to the Bay Area to be closer to home. Professionally, he has focused on implementing advanced statistical models to help businesses understand user behavior, measure advertisement spend efficiency, and optimize resources. Outside of work, he enjoys meditative activities like classical piano, athletics, and discovering eccentric Spanish recipes.
Student Speakers
8th Grade (Class of 2025)
Genevieve Bled
“Why everything you know about twins is probably wrong”
Genevieve (GV) is an 8th grader at EB who is excited to be presenting her first talk. Unlike most of her peers, GV is a teenage girl lucky enough to experience life with a twin by her side. She is passionate about her unique life, and hopes to inform people about what it’s like living life with a doppelganger, and inspire them to view the world through a different lens.
Colette Carrière
“Sustainable projects to get excited about”
Though Colette Carrière has been at Ecole Bilingue since kindergarten, this is her first time participating in TEDxYouth@EB. Tired of hearing about all the terrible things humans are doing that are destroying our planet, Colette’s talk will focus instead on the ways in which humans are innovating to help solve climate change.
Hope Hairston
“What its like to adopt a sibling”
Hope is an 8th grader who just moved back from Georgia to California, in all her years here this will be her first TEDxYouth@EB. During the pandemic, her family adopted two children, in December of 2020 a seven-year-old boy, and in October of 2021 a two-month-old girl. Hope wants to share what it is like to be a biological child with adopted siblings, what type of support she wishes biological children can or should receive, and how to encourage anyone who is considering adoption.
Mila Castañeda Parcero
“How a Negative Body Image Affects Us“
Mila is an 8th grader at EB and this is her first time participating in TEDxYouth@EB. Mila’s talk will focus on body image, insecurities and self-expression. She wants people to feel safe to look the way they look without being shamed or made fun of. Have you ever experienced insecurities because of the way you look? If so, did it affect you in a negative way?
7th Grade (Class of 2026)
Alexandra Diehl
“Symbiotic relationships in nature as a model for humanity”
Fundamentally, Alexandra is fascinated with the animal kingdom. She believes that by taking a deeper look our fellow creatures we can learn important lessons. In her talk, Alexandra explores the wonders of symbiotic relationships and reflects on the ways observing and applying them might positively impact our everyday lives.
Louise Gimon
“The dangerous impact of fast fashion“
Fashion is one of the most personal, everyday expressions of creativity, but how does the business of fashion–especially Fast Fashion, shape or even distort that expression? Why do we buy fast fashion? How can we shop sustainably? Louise’s talk about Fast Fashion will explore the dark sides of the consumeristic trends causing it and resulting from it.
Lia Petrossian
“Celebrating Neurodiversity”
This is Lia’s first time on the TEDX youth stage, where she will be talking about the importance of acceptance and support toward neurodivergent students in school systems. Why is it important? What difference does it make?
Naomi Goldstein
“Every drop counts”
What are the causes and effects of water scarcity? How does it affect me? Why should I care? In her talk, Naomi will discuss the growing problem of water scarcity, from the perspective of what we can do to help.
Maya Degrafinried
“Affordable healthcare for all”
Healthcare is an issue that touches all of us and a boundary always in motion, always in pursuit of innovation. But what about those left behind? Is healthcare a community challenge or an individual concern? How does inequality impact public health? Maya’s talk takes aim at these critical issues, focusing on the affordability and accessibility of healthcare in the US, and the pivotal role this plays in society.
Nico Watt
“Facing our racial history”
Nico is a passionate student athlete, active in the arts, and committed to improving society, particularly, preventing racism. He is a first time TedX speaker whose goal is to confront our history of racism.
Tymoteusz Zawadzki
“Imagine the freedom of self driving cars”
As cars become smarter and more sophisticated with each new generation, Tymoteusz poses some important questions about self-driving vehicles (SDVs). What are the safety concerns for both drivers and pedestrians? Why is this new technology so exciting? Tymoteusz argues that SDVs are a positive example of the future of AI, and its possibilities warrant both attention and investment.
Olivia Jeffers
“Is he really worth 100 times more?”
Olivia plays for a competitive soccer team as goalkeeper, and has been a US Women’s National Soccer Team fan since the 2023 Women’s World Cup. After watching documentary about female soccer players’ ongoing fight for equal pay, she immediately knew it was an issue. She has been passionate about the matter ever since. How can equal pay change the world of women’s sports?
Mathew Tsai
“Space energy: the next frontier”
Matthew finds space fascinating. As a first time TEDx speaker, he will share his passion for deep space and how we can capture and use the energy of stars.