TEDxOshkosh

Speakers

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

• Abraham Smith

  Raised in rural northwestern Wisconsin, Abraham Smith is an associate professor of English and co-director of Creative Writing at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. He's performed his poetry at KGB Bar, Woodland Pattern, Third Man Records, Prairie Lights, City Lights, and most everywhere in between. He's held fellowships and residencies from the Chautauqua Institution, Fine Arts Work Center, Alabama State Council of the Arts, Osage Arts Community, and Dear Butte. His recent poetry collections include Surgencies (forthcoming 2026), One Warm Morning, Insomniac Sentinel, and Dear Weirdo. His work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, American Poetry Review, and the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day. His music writing includes reviews and interviews with folk luminary Courtney Marie Andrews and liner notes for Charlie Parr, the Lowest Pair, and Jacob Kynard. Away from his desk, Smith improvises poems inside songs with the band Snarlin' Yarns.

• Angie Freeman

  Angie Freeman, M.S. (they/them) has over a decade of experience in higher education and national speaking on topics such as performative allyship, privilege, LGBTQ+ awareness and bias. Angie continues to pave a path led by self-work and action. Their mission is to create spaces for folks to connect, share, reflect, and implement action for our shared responsibility in social justice, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Angie is Black, trans and nonbinary, queer, a speaker, educator, parent, spouse, friend, leader, dancer, and instructor. Those identities and growing up around different parts of the United States have shaped who they are today – personally and professionally.

• Connie Schneider

  A CPR education evangelist, Connie started her heart-saving mission when her 17 year old nephew went into sudden cardiac arrest on the baseball field. Motivated by her nephew's survival through CPR, Connie embarked on a mission to encourage leaning about CPR and the use of automatic external defibrillators (AED). As a direct result, with community efforts of local firefighters, schools, CPR trainers, family, friends, teachers and students, 2,200 people learned CPR within the next year. Connie continues to motivate others through faith and inspiration in leadership talks and emergency training plans in community centers. She is an American Heart Association volunteer advocating at the State Capital in Madison for a Certified Emergency Response Plan (CERPS) to be put into place with Wisconsin Schools.

• Danielle Block

  Danielle Block is the Village Administrator / Director of Public Works for the Village of Kimberly, Wisconsin. She is a civil engineer with a master’s degree in Public Administration. In addition to her engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and her MPA from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, she is a Wisconsin-licensed Professional Engineer, and a University of Wisconsin Extension-certified Public Administrator. Danielle returned to the Village where she grew up, after working as the Director of Public Works for the City of Appleton for 2 years. She was the Administrator for the Village of Kimberly for five years and prior to that, had over 10 years of experience with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

• Kristin Bock

  Kristin Bock is a speaker and charisma consultant who works with professionals to become "Social Legos" — people who click with others — by teaching them how to master nonverbal cues, build trust, and spark connection both online and in person. A former nonprofit leader turned body language expert, Kristin draws from decades of experience (and a dash of quirky charm) to help teams, leaders, and everyday humans boost their presence and communicate with confidence. She’s also the voice behind The Calm Charismatic—a newsletter for those who believe quiet confidence is the new power move. She’s been featured on The List (an Emmy Award-winning national TV show), coached TEDx speakers, and spoken to thousands across the country, all with a mission to help people show up as their most magnetic selves.

• Lia Medeiros

  Lia Medeiros is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, a member of the Center for Gravitation, Cosmology, and Astrophysics, and a member of the Event Horizon Telescope. She has a masters and PhD in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and Bachelors degrees in both Physics and Astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to her scientific research, she has a passion for outreach, education, and public speaking.

• Mary Beth Connors

  Mary Beth Connors is a now-retired speech language pathologist, with over 30 years of experience. Her final position with the Oshkosh Area School District was Transition Coordinator, a role that assists students who have individual education plans in high school to be college, career, and community ready once they graduate. As a part of that role, she was instrumental in developing the school district's micro-enterprise team, which supports businesses that offer authentic work experiences for students.

• Mikki Gates

  Mikki Gates is a global people leader, changemaker, and storyteller who brings more than 20 years of HR and leadership experience to every room she enters. As Vice President of Administration for an international NGO, Mikki oversees global people strategy and operations. Her work and curiosity have taken her to over 50 countries, where she’s learned directly from communities in rural Cambodia, Nepal, Ethiopia, and beyond. She’s paddled to sky latrines, joined girls in menstrual hygiene clubs, and witnessed the quiet revolutions that happen when basic human needs—like sanitation—are met with dignity. She is also the Founder and Organizer of TEDxManitouSprings and the President of her local SHRM chapter. Mikki is a free spirit at heart: an artist, adventurer, and escape room enthusiast who’s hiked more than 20 Colorado "fourteeners" and will never turn down a roller coaster.

• Saanvi Uppalapati

  Saanvi Uppalapati is a high school senior and machine learning researcher, working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and sustainability. Her mission: to create technology that’s not only powerful, but also responsible. She developed a machine learning model that aligns AI training with solar energy availability to reduce carbon emissions, a project that has been recognized at regional and national science fairs and conferences. Saanvi’s work highlights the often-overlooked environmental cost of AI and provides practical solutions to make computing cleaner. Outside the lab, Saanvi plays the flute, volunteers as a music tutor, and enjoys baking with her younger sister. Whether she’s writing code or advocating for ethical tech, her goal is to create systems that help the world.

• Shola Adegbite

  Shola Adegbite has a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and several degrees in theology, earned across three continents. She is currently employed at Lawrence University, in Appleton Wisconsin, as a chaplain in the office of Spiritual and Religious Life. Outside of working hours, she loves to garden, dance with her kids, and practice her new hobby of sewing.

• Stav Atir

  Stav Atir is an Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources at the Wisconsin School of Business, in the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also holds a courtesy appointment in Psychology. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Cornell University and her B.S. in Psychology from Yale University. She studies how people misperceive their own and others’ knowledge. Her research on overconfidence and learning from everyday conversations has appeared in academic outlets such as PNAS and Management Science and shows that talking with strangers is consistently more informative than we expect. Beyond academia, Atir’s work has been featured in The New York Times and other international media, contributing to public conversation about how we learn, speak, and connect.