TEDXSeattle

Anticipation for the first speaker to come out fills McCaw Hall.

Melany Herrejon

Anticipation for the first speaker to come out fills McCaw Hall.

Melany Herrejon, Staff Writer

TEDXSeattle took place on November 11, 2017 at McCaw Hall in Seattle. The theme was ‘Changing Places’ and had four sessions as named below.  This is TEDX’s eighth annual event in Seattle and their fourth at McCaw Hall. Here are just some of the speakers you could see that day.

Changing the Game

Jevin West is a professor at the University of Washington who says his four words that he would use to summarize what he talks about is “think more, share less”.

Aji Piper is a 17-year-old senior at a high school in Seattle, along with being a full-time climate change activist. Piper spoke about his time juggling school and activism.

“I’m not fighting against climate change, I’m fighting for human change,” Piper said.

Changing the Future

Steve Davis is CEO and president of PATH, which is a non-governmental whose mission is to work on the elimination of diseases around the world. His organization has already helped thousands around the world and is continuing to think of ways to solve the problem for good.

Changing the Intolerable

When the Tacoma Refugee Choir came on stage there were so many people of different races, genders, sizes, and ages that it was incredible to see them all uniting in one thing together. The choir is made up of immigrants and US-born locals.

Rex Holbein and Jenn LaFreniere are a father-daughter duo bringing change in the homelessness issue plaguing Seattle by starting up the BLOCK Project, an initiative to build 125 square feet homes in the backyards of volunteers willing to house someone who did not previously have a home in them. More than fifty people have now stepped up and are in the process of building these homes. They are also planning to build many more in the future.

Changing the Human Spirit

The Northwest Tap Connection stirred such strong feelings that many in the room cried. They use dance as a tool for social justice and want to spark conversation of race and our differences.

RedWolf Pope is of Native American descent and recalled his time at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. His experiences at Standing Rock taught him that courage is an emotional muscle that needs to be strong within all of us.