Past TEDx event
TEDxSapiens UP School Youth
Rise Like a Phoenix
Speakers
Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.
Alina Ashortiia
Tech entrepreneur, AI & Sales mentor
Alina is the founder of JOIDY, an outstaffing and outsourcing company, and co-founder of Nobori.ai, an AI tool helping brands become visible in AI-driven search. She is also a speaker, AI&Sales mentor, and a Board Member at W.Tech, where she supports women in tech. Beyond titles, she believes that growth begins when one allows themselves to be imperfect, and her mission is to help people step into IT and realize their true potential. She holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and started her career as a developer, later moving into QA Automation. She finds real joy in sharing hard-earned lessons, believing they can make someone else’s path clearer. What inspires her most is impact — when one idea shifts how a person sees themselves. This is why she stepped onto the TEDx stage: to remind people that it is okay to fall apart, as long as they find the strength to begin again.
Alona Lytovchenko
EFL teacher, Teacher trainer, DELTA-qualified methodologist
Alona is an EFL teacher, teacher trainer, and methodologist (DELTA) with over 20 years of experience in education. A twice-cancer survivor, her life has been shaped by profound turning points rather than linear success. After surviving cancer twice, becoming a single mother of two, losing both parents, and rebuilding her life multiple times due to war-driven migration, she has learned resilience as a lived practice rather than an abstract idea. She is deeply interested in youth empowerment and helping young people understand that growth happens through difficulties — not after them.
Bartłomiej Łukasz Zimny
Student, Book author, Sports coach
Bartłomiej is a fifth-year law student preparing for his PhD and an active participant in numerous international scientific conferences. He is a former Polish breakdance champion, a Ninja Warrior Poland contestant, and a personal trainer. He is also the author of books, including 3 Fundamenty (published in multiple languages), and has organized over 100 author meetings to connect with readers. He was inspired to become a TEDx speaker through his conversations with young people, where he noticed how much anxiety they feel about living up to the labels society gives them. He wants to use this stage to show that stepping away from past successes to start entirely from scratch is not a failure, but the most courageous way to grow.
Ivan Kobiakovski
University Student
Ivan is a university student. He tries to stay active and keep a consistent routine, with a strong interest in action sports and fitness. He enjoys pushing himself physically and spending time moving, whether training or staying outdoors and engaged. Alongside that, he works on creative and digital projects, especially ideas he can build from scratch. He is always looking for simple ways to improve, stay disciplined, and keep growing both physically and mentally.
Kira Sarana
School Student
Kira is a 9-year-old student who loves to sing and discovered that being honest about fear is a superpower. After almost giving up on performing, she learned that sharing her vulnerability is what actually builds confidence. Now, she wants to show others that “shaking hands” are just the beginning of a new story. She was inspired to become a TEDx speaker to share a simple secret — when you name your fear out loud, you find the wings to rise like a phoenix.
Maria Tymtsias
Tech entrepreneur, Mom of two.
Maria is the Co-Founder at Palau — an ecosystem of AI tools and an expert community. She is also a mother of two. She spent years pretending to belong in careers others chose for her until she found sustainability and built something of her own. She wants to be a TEDx speaker because nobody told her at 17 that it is okay not to know who you want to become — and she wants to be that person for someone else.
Marya Yermagambetova
Arts teacher, Graphic designer, Community organizer
Marya is a graphic designer, art educator, and community organiser based in Warsaw. Originally from Kazakhstan, she has over five years of experience teaching art and design, work she approaches as a way of helping people see and understand the world around them. She is the co-founder of Ne Äñgime?, a volunteer-run Kazakh cultural community in Warsaw connecting hundreds of people through language, creativity, and shared memory. Her work explores how art, identity, and shared spaces can help people reconnect with their culture and with each other. No theme had ever felt quite right. Until this one. Rise Like a Phoenix didn’t just catch her attention — it felt like it was written about her life. This talk is her answer to it: honest, personal, and long overdue.
Olzhas Zhambyl
Business and Economics Student, Business Development Specialist
Olzhas is a student at Lazarski University, Faculty of Business Economics. He also works as a Business Development Specialist at an IT consulting company. He likes to find meaning in everything. His biggest inspiration is speaking about vulnerable life moments and encouraging others.
Toby Gorniak MBE
Transformational coach, Actor, Author, Speaker, Hip Hop artist & Choregrapher, Entrepreneur
Toby’s journey began in Poland, where as a Roma child he faced daily humiliation from teachers, extreme poverty, and violent attacks that left him in a coma at 11. Arriving in the UK as a teenage refugee, homeless and unable to speak English, he vowed that no one should ever feel invisible, silenced, or worthless the way he had. For over two decades, he has devoted his life to transforming lives, volunteering over 40,000 hours, running free weekly dance sessions, mentoring young people in gangs, in care, or struggling with mental health, and empowering people with additional needs. Through his Gorniak Method, he helps thousands access education, employment, and creative careers. His work has been recognised globally: he has received an MBE, an honorary fellowship, and over 50 major awards, and has inspired the first Hip Hop PhD in the UK. Returning to Poland for TEDx, he shares how trauma can be transformed into hope and empowerment.
Zakhar Dralov
Business and Economics Student
Zakhar, 19, originally from Kyiv, currently residing in Vienna. He moved to Vienna at 15. Now he is a business student with experience in event and project management, constantly adapting to new languages, cultures, and environments. He is also working part-time. He went to a regular school, did lots of sports, learned many languages (English, German, Polish, etc.), and explored different industries (psychology, economics, ecology, architecture, design, fashion) — constantly replanting himself into different environments and predicaments.
