TEDxUSJ

Speakers

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

• Angela Abou Abboud

  Meet Angela Abou Abboud, an 18-year-old first-year pharmacy student who lives boldly, seeks challenges, and makes every moment count. You live life to the fullest. You push yourself beyond limits. But what about the part of you that shapes how you face challenges, your mind? In her TEDx talk, she demonstrates how training the mind can equip you with the strength and resilience to face whatever life throws your way.

• Anna-Maria Wanna

  Anna-Maria Wanna is an 18-year-old Law student at USJ, founder of the digital marketing agency Media Home LB, as well as a dance instructor and Muay Thai athlete. Refusing to be defined by a single path, she has built a multidimensional journey shaped by ambition, discipline, and authenticity. In her TEDx talk, “I Wasn’t Lost, I Was Early,” she draws on her lived experience of taking on significant responsibility at a young age, navigating the solitude of existing between different worlds, and redefining success beyond conventional timelines. Honest, reflective, and deeply human, her talk resonates with anyone who has ever felt out of sync with expectations, and empowers them to embrace their own pace of growth.

• Anthony El Beainy

  Anthony El Beainy is a 28-year-old Lebanese architect and PhD candidate in philosophy at ILO–USJ. He explores Surarchitecture, an approach that conceives architecture as a dynamic and evolving process of becoming. Within this framework, space, experience, and meaning are continuously shaped, layered, and renewed, positioning architecture as a philosophical discipline that influences how we exist and how we cultivate a more meaningful way of living.

• Clawdia Zmokhol

  Clawdia Zmokhol is a fifth-year medical student at the Faculty of Medicine at Saint Joseph University (USJ) and a former athlete. Following a series of injuries that led her to step away from competitive sports, her perspective on performance, identity, and strength underwent a profound transformation. Her journey now explores the delicate balance between pushing limits and learning to listen, to pause, and to rebuild, ultimately redefining what it truly means to be strong and resilient.

• Cynthia Younes

  Cynthia Younes is an 18-year-old student athlete at the University of Saint Joseph, currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Speech and Language Therapy. After sustaining two ACL injuries while playing basketball, most recently during a second division game, her passion for the sport evolved from performance to a deeper interest in injury, recovery, and prevention. In her talk, she explores the heightened vulnerability of female athletes to such injuries, shedding light on both the physical and psychological challenges they encounter. She advocates for more inclusive, research based, and gender-specific training approaches to better support women in sports.

• Jack Kassabian

  Jack Kassabian is a 24-year-old Physical Therapist, Osteopathy Master’s candidate, and Mental Health Coach. A life-threatening medical emergency at the age of 22, caused by a perforated appendix and resulting peritonitis ,profoundly transformed his perspective on life, time, and human connection. Rather than returning to his previous routine, this experience marked a turning point, leading him to redefine his purpose and approach to living. Today, Jack is the founder of Lebanon’s largest running and walking community, bringing together thousands of individuals across the country through movement and shared experience. His story is not only one of survival, but of transformation, highlighting the shift from merely living to intentionally embracing life with purpose.

• Liliane Al Achkar

  Liliane Al Achkar is a chemical engineering student who dedicates her free time to writing. Through her work, she explores themes of identity, emotion, and resilience, with the aim of transforming personal experiences into meaningful reflections that can inspire others. In her talk, she shares insights on finding a path that truly resonates with who we are, embracing uncertainty, and cultivating the courage to remain authentic in a world that often encourages conformity.

• Mariam Makki

  Mariam Makki is a Lebanese influencer and entrepreneur known for her presence onvarious platforms, where she shares lifestyle, beauty, and wellness content with a huge audience. Recently, she founded Maqui by Maro, a beauty brand focused on accessible beauty products that combine aesthetics with everyday functionality. Through her work, she reflects a new generation of creators who seamlessly bridge innovation and entrepreneurship. In her talk, she will share her journey from starting with no resources to building one of the leading emerging cosmetics brands on digital platforms. She will highlight how she developed and marketed innovative products, navigated the challenges of entrepreneurship, and successfully grew her brand while still pursuing her studies, offering insights into resilience, creativity, and the power of digital platforms.

• May El Khalil

  May El Khalil is the Founder and President of the Beirut Marathon Association, which oversees the annual Beirut Marathon and has been held every autumn since 2003. It was accredited by the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) in 2009. In 2014, the race attracted over 38,000 runners from 104 countries. El Khalil has been recognized for her work nationally and internationally; she has received the AIPS Power of Sport Award in Lausanne, and the Laureus World Sports Academy Lifetime achievement award in Abu Dhabi. She has been decorated by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman with the National Order of the Cedar, and has been granted appreciation awards from the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, The Brazil-Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, and the Lebanese Ministry of Youth and Sport. El Khalil was also a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International for 2010 and 2011. In 2013 she was presented with an honorary Ph.D. from LAU