TEDxNorthern Quarter

Speakers

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

• Aimie Skillen

  CEO of Feel Good Club

  Aimie Skillen is co-founder of Feel Good Club and Feeling. Everything she creates comes back to connection, community and helping people feel good in a way that feels real. Over the years, they've built that in real life in Manchester through community-led events, panel talks, podcasts, out-of-home campaigns, a coffee shop that ran for five years and a book published with HarperCollins. Online, they continue those conversations with a community of over 500,000 people, creating content that encourages honesty, connection and feeling a little less alone.

• Alex Atherton

  Award-winning Gen Z speaker

  Alex Atherton is the ex-secondary school headteacher who heard the word ‘snowflake’ once too often about his former students. He is on a mission to change how we understand Gen Z, the most misunderstood generation. Alex recently published his book The Snowflake Myth. His unique insider perspective on generational workplace culture comes from daily frontline experience leading multigenerational teams and understanding what genuinely drives today’s young professionals. He is a Yorkshireman with a strong connection to Manchester having lived there throughout the nineties. The northern quarter is where he spent his formative years as a young professional, and he cannot wait to return for TEDx.

• Asia Sharif

  Multi-Award Winning Software Engineer

  Asia Sharif is a multi-award-winning software engineer, mentor, and inspirational speaker whose extraordinary journey spans continents and defies expectations. By teaching herself to code during lockdown, eventually becoming a prominent figure in fintech and a multi-award-winning engineer. Along the way, she has mentored dozens of aspiring technologists and advocated for greater diversity in tech, especially for women of colour and those from underrepresented backgrounds. Asia’s life took another dramatic turn when she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in the midst of her rising career. Her resilience in overcoming multiple relapses, a stem cell transplant, and the loss of her physical identity has made her a powerful voice on what true resilience really means; Asia continued to inspire, despite the obstacles against her. In her TEDx talk, Asia shares how breaking down and rebuilding from the ground up shaped her life, and how we can engineer identities that are truly our own.

• Daniel Bui

  Online Chef

  Daniel is a former actuary turned full time cooking content creator whose work centres on transforming food into meaning. Through thoughtful storytelling and visually driven cooking, he uses food as a metaphor to explore life, culture, and human experience in a way that is both relatable and accessible. A passionate advocate for global cuisine, Daniel celebrates flavours from around the world, highlighting the beauty of cultural diversity while thoughtfully breaking down the key flavour profiles that define each cuisine and the stories behind them. His content bridges education and emotion, inviting audiences to see food not just as sustenance, but as a language that connects people across backgrounds. Beyond food, Daniel brings the same discipline and curiosity to bodybuilding, marathon running, and ultramarathon racing. These pursuits shape his creative philosophy, reinforcing themes of patience, resilience, and craftsmanship that run throughout his work

• Dr Rajan Bedi

  Rocket Scientist and Award-Winning Entrepreneur

  Dr Rajan Bedi has worked in the global space industry for 25 years, designing and developing the technology used on-board satellites and spacecraft. In 2014, Dr. Bedi founded Spacechips to bring-to-orbit his inventions, winning Start-Up Company of the Year and High-Reliability Product of 2025, 2018, 2017 and 2016. In 2024, Rajan won Technology Entrepreneur of the Year and in 2020, Disruptive Entrepreneur of the Year, at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. Rajan became fixated on space technology at the age of five while stargazing in the crystal-clear Northern-Irish skies, becoming mesmerised by the beautiful constellations. Like most children, he read every book on space from the local library and knew then he wanted to spend his life designing and building spacecraft. Rajan also wondered if space technology could be used to help people and make our world a safer and happier home!

• Edidiong Ishola

  Perinatal Mental Health Expert || Biomedical Scientist

  Edidiong is a perinatal and family mental health expert, biomedical scientist, and social impact founder whose work sits at the intersection of science, psychology, and lived experience. Her journey into maternal and family well-being began when training in biomedical science exposed her to the realities of reproductive health, risk, and prevention. Over the past nine years, she has supported parents and families across different cultural and socioeconomic contexts, with a consistent insight emerging from her work: a child’s sense of safety and regulation is deeply shaped by the emotional state of the adults who care for them. Her work focuses on helping parents understand how stress, trauma, and nervous system overload influence parenting, relationships & child development. She advocates for a model of parenting that prioritises emotional regulation, prevention and collective support, reframing perinatal mental health as a public health issue rather than a private struggle.

• Elliot Kay

  Inspirational Speaker

  In Watch Me Go, Elliot Kay challenges the assumption that we need to feel ready before we move. He explores a different possibility: confidence is not always the cause of action. Very often, it is the consequence of it. When we take action despite uncertainty, something important happens. We create evidence.We discover that we can walk into the room. We can survive rejection. We can learn the skill. We can recover when something goes wrong. We can do something today that yesterday's version of ourselves wasn't certain was possible. That experience begins to change the story we tell ourselves about who we are and what we are capable of.

• Funmi Oluwajana

  Pro Wellness Champion & Consultant in Restorative Dentistry

  Funmi is a Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, women’s health and fitness coach, and professional bodybuilder who works at the intersection of science, performance, and human behaviour. Her work explores how strength, resilience, and identity are built under pressure. Specialising in head and neck cancer rehabilitation, while coaching women toward sustainable health and performance, and pushing her own body and mind to extreme limits as an athlete, Funmi operates in environments that demand discipline, adaptability, and long-term thinking. Drawing on both clinical practice and elite sport, her work challenges cultural ideals of balance, comfort, and external validation, inviting people to reclaim strength as something internal, earned, and deeply human.

• Jess Nicks

  Leadership Coach & NLP Trainer

  Jess Nicks is a coach, NLP Trainer, performer and creator of Debitch Your Brain®, a programme that sweeps away self-criticism, doubt and burnout, especially in neurodivergent minds, and replaces it with self-confidence and focus. She unhooks clients from the burden of patriarchy, perfectionism and people-pleasing so they can lead from their own truth. Her work has become a powerful catalyst for women with ADHD and other creative, high-performing brains who are tired of fighting themselves. Jess spent 22 years as a creative leader across the music, advertising and TV industries. During that time she went through breakdown, burnout, late-diagnosed ADHD and a life-threatening health crisis, but has transformed those experiences into the Debitch Your Brain® concept and her one-woman stage show Bitch on the Mic, performed at the Brighton Fringe. Jess is a compelling new voice in the global conversation about neurodiversity, self-leadership and what it really takes to reclaim your mind.

• Jess Robinson

  Impressionist & Voice Over Artist

  Jess Robinson is a multi-award-winning impressionist, singer, comedian and voice-over artist whose extraordinary vocal range and razor-sharp character work have made her a familiar face and voice across British television and radio. Shows include The Last Leg, Spitting Image and Dead Ringers. Equally at home hosting major corporate events, performing live with a band, or transforming into a gallery of iconic women through song, she blends powerhouse vocals with forensic comic detail and a warmth that makes every audience feel in on the joke. Her debut memoir, "Life is Rosi: Grandma, Me and Our Diaries" is a moving and darkly funny exploration of identity, inheritance and creativity. The book intertwines Jess’s own diaries at 23 with those of her German Jewish grandmother, revealing striking parallels across generations while examining body image, ambition, love and survival.

• Josh Strife Hayes

  Content Creator & Gaming Streamer

  Josh started life as a baby and has since been a child, a teenager, a go-kart mechanic, a paintball marshal, a martial arts instructor, a warehouse labourer, a drama teacher, a theatre actor, a trampoline party host, a film actor, a stage host for events including TEDx, Runefest, FormatGG and the indy game awards, a youtuber, a twitch streamer, a game design consultant and now, a full time content creator. Through that journey, he's met many interesting people, and done many interesting things, including writing this bio, which absolutely ranks within the top 50.

• Jsky .

  BBC / Gaydio Presenter

  Jsky is a British creative powerhouse whose work sits at the intersection of music, fashion, broadcasting, and cultural change. Celebrated by BBC 1Xtra and Vogue Magazine amongst others, he has built a career defined by bold firsts and meaningful impact. A singer, songwriter, and fashion innovator, he also fronted Channel 4’s hit body‑positivity series Naked Beach and has been recognised as one of Manchester’s leading “changemakers and unsung heroes” by the Manchester Evening News as well as a “Pioneer of Colour” by the LGBT Foundation. His commitment to purpose-driven work continues through high-profile campaigns, including BBC Children in Need’s thousand‑mile challenge. He champions new emerging talent as a host for BBC Introducing and is a judge for the Pride of Britain Awards. Jsky joins our TEDxNorthernQuarter lineup, bringing his unique insight and perspective to challenge us to look beyond digital metrics and refocus on the impact we make in real life.

• Julian Brown

  Independent Creator & Founder of NatureJAB

  Julian Brown is an independent creator and the founder of NatureJAB. Since his teens, he has spent several years developing and publicly documenting a series of small-scale prototypes involving microwave-assisted pyrolysis and plastic waste. By sharing the successes, setbacks and challenges of that journey online, Julian has built a substantial community interested in experimentation, invention and environmental issues. At TEDxNorthernQuarter, Julian will explore what it means to begin pursuing an ambitious idea before you have conventional credentials, institutional backing or permission. His talk considers the importance of curiosity and persistence, while recognising that responsible experimentation also requires humility, safety and openness to evidence.

• Scott Thomas

  TV Personality & PR Consultant

  Scott Thomas is a British television personality, entrepreneur and keynote speaker best known for his breakthrough appearance on Love Island in 2016, where he reached the final and became a familiar face on UK screens. Since then, Scott has built a successful career beyond reality TV: he’s the founder and CEO of The Social PR, a creative agency and talent management business, and has launched podcast projects like Learning As I Go and Mancs on the Mic with his brothers. Drawing on his experience in media, business and personal development. Scott speaks with energy and insight about entrepreneurship, resilience and navigating life in the public eye.

• Thomas Gionis

  Chairman & President, American Board of Maritime Medicine Physician & Surgeon

  Dr. Gionis is a current active practicing Physician - Surgeon (50 years), and Lawyer, a United States Fulbright Scholar in Law, former United States Fulbright PEER Review Committee Member (Global-Public Health), and has twice (2X) served as UCLA Visiting Scholar in Public Health, Division of Healthcare Management, UCLA School of Public Health. He was the youngest individual in the US to be awarded the M.D. degree (completing 3 ½ years of college in 1 year, starting medical school at 17, and being awarded the M.D. degree at 21). Performing his first solo cardiac surgery at 24 years of age. Licensed to practice medicine and surgery in Florida, California and New York, is Board Certified by the American Board of Quality Assurance & Utilisation Review Physicians, and is a Fellow of both the American Institute of Healthcare Quality and American College of Forensic Examiners. A fully trained Cardiovascular Surgeon, he has actively worked in Emergency Medicine for approximately 45 years.

• Vicky Owens

  Award-Winning Social Media Virality Specialist

  Vicky Owens is an entrepreneur, creator, public speaker, and podcaster. Recognised by the Forbes Business Council and celebrated as an industry leader in marketing and leadership. Vicky is also an award-winning public speaker whose work has been featured in major global publications, including Forbes, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The New York Times, and more. Vicky is best known for helping brands go viral on social media and championing young people in business, sharing her insights through captivating talks, powerful social media content, and her top 1% globally ranked podcast, Business Class. She's built a following of over 200,000 from speaking about the reality of owning a business.