TEDxGrafton

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Patrick Anderson

  Patrick Anderson was born and raised in Colorado. Upon finishing high school traveled to Thailand to take ordination in the Thai forest monastic tradition for 9 years. Having returned to lay life in 2003, picking up various small jobs until settling on massage therapy and yoga teaching. In 2005 he opening up a small business in Grand Forks, North Dakota named Anderson Holistic Health and Healing, or in short the Ahhh Spa.

• Dean Gorder

  Dean directs the daily operations and long-term goals of the North Dakota Trade Office, a private-public partnership dedicated to expanding North Dakota’s global trade opportunities through advocacy, education and expertise. A Grafton, N.D., native, Dean is the former general manager of Mattracks Inc. of Karlstad, Minn. Dean took Mattracks to the global marketplace and established the company’s foreign joint venture in China. Dean’s professional experience includes managing several departments within the University of North Dakota’s aviation program. His responsibilities included managing the university’s contract pilot training program and contract negotiations with China Airlines, Evergreen Airlines and Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Air and Aramco.

• Heather Szklarski

  Heather Szklarski is a self described 'lunatic farmer' as the methods that she and her husband use are somewhat unconventional by some standards. Heather is a Grafton native who's passion is food. Not just eating and preparing food, but growing it in a way that enhances taste, nutrition, soil fertility and the quality of live of those involved. Heather has a weekly radio program called Playing in the Dirt, which allows her to share her experiences and knowledge about gardening and related topics. She and her husband have a small farmstead where they grow a variety of vegetables and raise chickens for meat and eggs.

• Tessa Ringo

  I love children’s brutal honesty, it can be cruel, but it is so pure and extremely hilarious! My own Children helped me realize that in Parenthood you have to be brutally honest to survive and it is absolutely necessary to have a good time doing it. My oldest child has Special Needs and if we didn’t have Laughter in our everyday life it would swallow us whole. So join me to see how we use laughter, joy and a whole lot of sarcasm to make it through our days…

• Jeff Hermanson

  I grew up in Hampden, ND, which is in the north central area of the state. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UND. My experiences includes working in the oil field for 2 years in the early 80’s near the time activity plummeted, as a service technician for a local John Deere dealership up to the summer of 1991 when I reentered college at UND, and as a contracts administrator for Pribb’s Steel for 3 years. Since 1997, I have served in several capacities for Marvin Windows and Doors in Grafton including Senior Process Engineer, Product Group Manager and currently as a Production Supervisor. I moved to Grafton ND in 2005 with my wife and 2 children. One of my interests include working with students on robotics clubs which have included FLL (FIRST Lego League) at the middle school level and Bison Best Robotics at the high school level.

• Brent Hermans

• Tessa & Ty Ringo

  We have enjoyed dancing and teaching others for almost 12 years, we look forward to sharing East Coast Swing with you! Swing dancing is a fun way to connect with you partner or enjoy a fun outing with friends!! We are busy parents of two wonderful children and our oldest has Special Needs. It can be very straining on a marriage when you never really get the time to spend together, so dancing has been our outlet. It is vibrant, energizing and something that keeps our bonds of marriage tight! So turn up some music and dance like no one is watching!! "It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing" (doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah)