TEDxAlpha School Austin Youth

Speakers

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

• Andie Childress

  Alpha Student

  Andie Childress is a student-athlete and artist who has learned firsthand that grades and good behavior only tell part of the story. Through mentorship, sports, and a demanding academic program, she discovered the difference between meeting a standard and setting one for herself. This is her first time on a TEDx stage.

• Anya Ackerson

  Alpha Student

  Anya is a 6th grader at Alpha School Austin where she attends with her two sisters. During her first year at Alpha, she gave a TedX talk and created a student band that performed at a music festival planned entirely by 4th and 5th grade students. She came up with the idea for her talk while reading about Vasily Arkhipov on one of Alpha’s learning apps.

• Ella Dietz

  Alpha Student

  Ella Dietz is a student civic leader and founder of Vote On, a student-run nonprofit dedicated to closing the civic engagement and resource gaps facing young Americans. A member of the graduating class of 2028, she ran for and won a seat in student government before channeling that experience into researching why Gen Z disengages from the political process. She challenges her generation to reject inherited division, think independently across party lines, and make their voices heard through embracing the democratic process of voting.

• Emma Baklanova

  Alpha Student

  Emma Baklanova is a 4th grade student at Alpha School’s Orange County campus and living proof of her own message: that kids are limitless. At just 9 years old, she founded her own macaron business, teaching herself to bake the notoriously tricky French cookie and turning a passion into a real venture. That same drive fuels her talk—Emma is on a quest to make sure her skills keep pace with her ambitions, and to show every kid that they’re capable of anything, too. When she’s not baking or dreaming up her next big idea, you’ll find her playing, spending time with her family, or hanging out with her beloved companion, BunBuns.

• Kai Abromovitz

  Alpha Student

  Kai is an eleven-year-old speaker at Alpha School whose talk makes the case that failure isn't the opposite of success. It's the first step toward it. He started playing chess at six and won trophies until tougher opponents began beating him, and rather than push through, he hid, cried, and eventually quit, a fixed mindset he now says cost him something he loved. Years later he failed the qualifying test for the National Geography Bee by a single point, was too ashamed to admit it to his parents, then went back, studied the exact questions he'd missed, and passed on his second try. Drawing on Carol Dweck's research on growth and fixed mindsets, he argues that failure is inevitable, that mindset is the one variable we actually control, and that failing better is a skill anyone can learn. He's also the kind of kid who still believes he can get into Harvard at sixteen, and who knows he'll never find out unless he's willing to fail trying.

• Rania Caberwal

  Alpha Student

  Rania Caberwal is a middle school student at Alpha School Austin, where she attends with her two younger brothers. She is the author of The Sun-Drenched Tangerine Farms, a mystery novel about a city girl who uncovers the secrets of a small farming town. As a writer and storyteller, Rania has a gift for turning invisible inner battles into stories that make people feel seen.

• Sarah Hunter

  Alpha Student

  Sarah Hunter is a 4th grader at Alpha School Brownsville and a valued member of the Alpha community, known for her leadership, reliability, and servant heart. After participating in a workshop that raised funds for a local food bank, Sarah learned about food insecurity in her community and felt inspired to use her voice to raise awareness and encourage others to help. When she is not inspiring others through her TEDx Talk, Sarah enjoys reading, crafting, making slime, and spending time with her big brother, Jude.

• Tara Srinivasan

  Alpha Student

  Tara Srinivasan is a dancer, published author, and app builder who spent over 10,000 hours discovering that passion isn't something you find, but something you build. Trained across hip-hop, jazz, ballet, and the Indian classical form Bharatanatyam, she turned her love of movement into a HarperCollins book, a PBS documentary, and research on dance and adolescent mental health. She's here to hand her generation a better map than "find your passion": a continuum of joy, curiosity, and skill.