Kerah Cottrell

Activist, Artist, Brainstormer, Change agent, Connector, Designer, Environmentalist, Event planner, Global soul, Idea generator, Parent, Performer, Producer, Web guru, World traveler

Artist, designer, dancer seeking to create massive culture shifts via the arts. Former multi-award-winning, multi-patented designer with limitless energy, empathy, and intuition. I aim to make each moment and situation better from my having been there.

My mantra is “We are one.” Everyone is unique and also equal. Differences should be honored and exalted, not persecuted. Everyone should live and let live, and love and let love. Exposition: I’m passionate about excellent parenting (for a bright future for all), taking care of the environment and all the earth’s beings, equitable-thinking, world peace, dancing and the arts, and great design (in everything). I believe that art, nature, and kindness are life. I'm also especially interested in eliminating racism, bolstering women's and girls' equality (as well as LGBTQ+ rights), changing gun laws, and stopping all exploitation and abuse. I recently joined a group called “Free Mom Hugs'' with whom I go to Pride events to hug whoever needs one. It’s atrocious how many LGBTQ+ kids are turned away by their own parents, and that’s one main reason why suicide rates are so high. I marched (danced :) in SF Pride the past two times. These marches were some of the best days of my life (including the Women’s March as well). We are so powerful in numbers. At Pride this year, I must’ve hugged/high-fived 500 people. I hugged one 40-something woman for over a minute as she cried on my shoulder about how her mother had just passed without ever having accepted her gayness. I started to walk away after our hug was done, and then I turned back around and said, “You know what? You get two hugs.” Her smile was priceless. In addition, a few years ago, I co-organized a huge group to take part in a global flash mob for V-Day (http://www.vday.org). I also planned and hosted a big fundraiser for Daniel Karslake's film "Every Three Seconds" (http://everythreeseconds.net/) about how every one of us has the power to do something to end world hunger. I plan to continue to help people and initiatives like these for the rest of my life. I believe that a happy, fulfilled life is not about what we take, but about what we give.

I believe that by being kind and compassionate to everyone (and upgrading judgment to discernment) we can be our best selves. In doing so, we could positively affect every person we meet. Imagine if we only interact with 3 different people in a day. At the end of our life, count the days and multiply by 3. That's a lot of positive interactions! We have created exponentially contagious positivity. :)

Acting, Activism, Art, Creating Experiences, Dance, Performing, Singing, UX Design, Web Design

My awesome friend, Marissa Mayer, told me about TED in 2004. So I applied to attend TED2005 and got accepted. I also attended in 2006 and then 2008 through 2019. Happily I got the opportunity to speak at John Werner's TEDxYouth@BeaconStreet in 2012. Also, I attended TEDGlobal in Rio 2014, and TEDSummit in 2016, as well as countless TEDx. In 2022 I co-organized AND I've attended almost every TEDWomen including the very first. TED and the people I've met through TED are awe-inspiring and changing the world, and continue to motivate me to boost the world as much as I can as well.

whistling SUPER LOUD for cabs, stage performers, and my children, and our dog. ;)