TEDxIroquoisRidgeHS

Speakers

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

• Anya Kaur

  Student

  Anya Kaur is a Grade 11 student and the 2025 Ontario Youth Speaker Search First Place winner, deeply passionate about using her voice to challenge ideas that are often suppressed or left unspoken. Having lived in four countries, with Dubai as the place she called home the longest, Anya brings a global and deeply personal perspective to her work. Beyond the stage, she is an avid runner, especially at the beach, and has played the harmonium for over ten years as a way to stay connected to her faith. In her TED talk, Women, Life, Freedom, Anya explores how her understanding of womanhood has been shaped by each country she lived in, unpacking the paradoxical and often conflicting realities of being a woman in today’s world.

• Asmi Gupta

  Student

  Asmi is a talkative student who loves family, eating, friends, music and… more eating. Asmi is in the ninth grade and participates in Concert and Jazz Band, DECA and Mock Trial. In her free time, you can find her playing the saxophone or the flute. She is also often lost in her screen, debating between watching The Office or a random 70s classic she’s never heard of. Soon, she plans to use her words to widen the perspective of her community. In her speech “Finding Us in Them,” she explores how our judgments shape our values, and the hidden reasons why we make them.

• Daniella Nwafor

  Student

  Daniella is a Grade 10 student who balances a love for logic and creativity. As an exec for Women in STEM and a member of the Wellness Club, she is passionate about understanding both how the world is built and how we care for one another. When she’s not busy on the field, or constructing something new, you can find her making music or experimenting in the kitchen. Like many of us, Daniella spent her childhood captivated by the simple hero-villain dynamics of Disney movies. However, as she moved past the "awkward stages" of early adolescence, she began to realize that real life doesn't fit into a fairytale script. In her speech, "Labels are for Boxes, Not People," Daniella explores how the labels we instinctively place on others—and ourselves—can become dangerous final verdicts. By challenging the "good vs. bad" binary, she invites us to trade our quick judgments for a deeper, messier, and ultimately more human understanding of the people around us.

• Ekansh Bansal

  Student

  Ekansh is a Grade 10 student at IRHS. Outside of school, he enjoys playing basketball, listening to music, reading, and doing absolutely nothing productive. He has been drawn to public speaking for as long as he can remember (especially the part where people actually listen) using it as a way to explore ideas and spark meaningful conversations. In his speech, The Power of Perspectives, he explores how our beliefs are shaped, challenged, and influenced by the people and media around us and why understanding different viewpoints matters more than ever.

• Gavin Geng

  Student

  Gavin Geng is a Grade 11 student at Iroquois Ridge High School who is interested in leadership, communication, and how people interpret the world around them. He is involved in school life and enjoys thinking about how perspective shapes everyday decisions, relationships, and self-understanding. Outside of school, you should find Gavin at the ski hill only as he enjoys skiing and staying active. In his TEDx talk, “The Lens You Never See,” he explores how perspective quietly influences how we judge others, react to situations, and view ourselves. Using personal experiences and ideas related to personality and perspective, Gavin encourages the audience to reflect on the lens they use to see the world — and why learning to question it can lead to greater clarity and empathy.

• Idil Karaaslan

  Student

  Idil is a Gr. 12 student with a strong interest in urban planning, cities, and all things concrete. She is working on a project focused on improving her school community, which she will be presenting at an upcoming 1UP conference in Toronto. In her spare time, you can find her making art, watching the news, listening to music, or rereading her favorite author’s books in multiple translations and editions. She describes herself as oddly artistic, mildly nervous when speaking, but full of strong opinions and more than willing to debate them. In her speech, Idil will explore how one’s immediate environment shapes what societies allow to matter, arguing that proximity influences empathy, from cracks in a sidewalk to global crises across the world. By zooming in on the familiar spaces we move through every day, she invites the audience to reflect on perspective, normalized indifference, and the responsibility to notice what lies just beyond our immediate view as a first step toward change.

• Sara Afshar

  Student

  Sara Afshar is a passionate Grade 11 student at Iroquois Ridge High School, an artist, runner, and aspiring lawyer. She currently serves as Co–Vice President of Mock Trials and Co-Captain of the Cross Country team. Outside the classroom, Sara spends her time training for marathons, strength training at the gym, and debating with her twin sister and older brother. Having spent much of her childhood in Dubai, she draws deeply on her lived experiences, many of which shape the story she shares today. In “Becoming a Shark in a World That Told Me Not To,” Sara explores how systemic discrimination and limiting perspectives can shape identity - and how reclaiming that narrative can change everything.

• Soufiya Ruhomaun

  Student

  Soufiya is a passionate Grade 12 student with a knack for the arts & humanities, social justice and poetry. This year, Soufiya serves as Co-President for Film Club and the Muslim Student Association (MSA) alongside the Ridge Equity & Culture Council (RECC) as a Communications Executive and an active member of the Arts & Design SHSM. Outside of the school community, you can find Soufiya picking apart her friends’ essays, having a good laugh, raving about fan theories and crocheting like there’s no tomorrow. Her found love for public speaking was planted when discovering spoken word poetry; blossoming into a tool used for raising awareness and competing in interscholastic tournaments. In her speech, “The Power of Perspective: Multiverse of the Mind” she discusses society’s obsession with other’s opinions and the importance of being true to oneself, despite the constant pressure we put on ourselves.

• Tianne Nan

  Student

  Tianne is a Grade 10 student at Iroquois Ridge High School. She is a passionate BP debater, actively involved in community volunteering, and loves binge-watching The Rookie in her free time. But outside of all that, she’s also just someone figuring life out, like the rest of us. Growing up might teach us how to succeed, but it also teaches us how to change who we really are. So, how do we find our way back? In her talk, “When Did We Forget How to Be Ourselves?”, she uses storytelling to explore why we trade authenticity for achievement — and how finding our way back might be the most important and fulfilling success of all.