TEDxSDSU

Speakers

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

• Dave Guttman

  David Guttman is a serial entrepreneur who has bought and sold 15 businesses, raised $25M+ in capital, and earned 3x Inc. 500 recognition across 35 years of building 8- and 9-figure companies. With degrees from Brown University and Wharton, he now shares his expertise as host of an Apple Top 50 Business podcast and mentor to C-level executives and entrepreneurs. His work continues to inspire leaders with the tools to scale, lead, and succeed through sound principles, creative problem-solving, and relentless execution.

• Edward McNeal Jr.

  Edward McNeal Jr. is the Corporate Trainer for the Taylor Automotive Family and has served with them for the past 26 years. He teaches and trains within the Taylor Automotive Family and for other organizations on how to become a better teacher/trainer, strategies on goal setting & dream achievement, and personal growth & development.

• Kim Binette

  Kim Binette is a certified personal and executive coach and project management professional with more than two decades of experience leading individuals and organizations through change. Her work centers on clarity, accountability, and helping navigate complexity with confidence and intention. Kim is the founder of Elevate Your Life Coaching & Consulting and a Managing Director at a global systemically important financial institution.

• Nellie Tran

  Nellie Tran, Ph.D. (she/they) is the daughter of Vietnamese refugee “boat people” and a community psychologist who has spent her life developing the skills to read rooms, rules, and power that were never made explicit. Professor of Counseling & School Psychology at San Diego State University, her work exposes how subtle, everyday systems of bias shape who feels like they belong in schools, workplaces, and higher education. Her work on the infiltrator experience reframes ‘imposter syndrome,’ shifting the conversation from individual self-doubt to the structural forces that shape belonging.

• Roy Maimon

  Roy Maimon is an Assistant Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering and a neuro cell biologist whose work focuses on brain regeneration and therapeutic neurogenesis. His research integrates molecular biology and biomedical engineering to uncover mechanisms of adult and aging neurogenesis, with the goal of developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and educating the next generation of neuro-engineers with the same passion.

• Sona Jepsen

  Sona is a leadership strategist, speaker, and author whose work exposes the human systems behind revenue stalls and business failure. She draws on executive leadership experience and personal reinvention to challenge conventional ideas of strength, performance, and power.

• Ujwal Arkalgud

  Ujwal Arkalgud is an anthropologist and entrepreneur who studies the invisible rules that shape human behavior, decision-making, and success. He is the founder of MotivBase, a cultural intelligence company he bootstrapped from the ground up and later exited, and has worked with global organizations to help them better understand people, culture, and the hidden forces that influence choice. Ujwal is the author of Invisible Rules, which explores how unspoken cultural expectations quietly shape what feels possible in our careers, creativity, and lives. Today, his work sits at the intersection of anthropology, leadership, and innovation—helping individuals and organizations see the structures they’ve been living inside, and imagine new futures once those structures become visible.