TEDxMilton District High School

Speakers

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

• Aadhya Jain

  Aadhya (Grade 8) is a young author, community leader, and advocate from Milton, Canada. As one of the country’s youngest published writers, she authored the Curious Crew Mystery Series at ages 11 and 12, earning recognition from local and national leaders. She serves on the Youth Advisory Council for MPP Zee Hamid. Aadhya advocates youth mental health and environmental awareness in her community. Through her work, Aadhya aims to empower young people to find their voice and create meaningful change.

• Ameya Krishnan

  Ameya is a Grade 8 student who attends Sam Sherratt Public School. She lives in Milton where she resides with her parents and younger brother. Ameya is passionate about a wide range of things, from history, art and trivia with her family. She enjoys getting involved in her school and takes part in clubs like Student Ambassadors, band, Vex Robotics, Eco Club. She also plays the flute and piano and is a member of her school’s Volleyball & Basketball team. When she isn’t busy with homework, Ameya shares her artwork on YouTube. Ameya's speech focuses on maintaining creativity through the age of AI and how AI isn't always the best alternative.

• Drabya Saud

  Drabya Saud is a student at Milton District High School and the speaker of “The Decision That Builds You.” In his talk, he speaks about how the small decisions we make each day slowly shape who we become, especially in moments of pressure conflict. He encourages people to pause, reflect, and think about what their reactions are building over time. Drabya hopes to become a doctor in the future and believes that qualities like discipline and self-control are built long before a career begins. Outside of school, he enjoys reading, learning about medicine, playing sports, and training in Muay Thai.

• Fares Elhelali

  At 13, Fares became the youngest person ever accepted into SEEDS, a competitive three-year youth leadership program. He spent his first year watching two projects fail spectacularly. By 16, he'd graduated with distinction, given a speech in front of hundreds, worked at the #1 AI text-to-speech app in the world, and landed a role at the fastest-growing startup in Canada. He was named one of Canada's Top 50 Under 18. People still tell him to "just be a kid." That tension, too young to be taken seriously, too old not to have it all figured out, is what his TEDx talk is about. Not the wins. The weird, messy, in-between space where nobody thinks you belong, and why that's exactly where you need to be. Fares is a chess player, a sports lover, and an active voice on LinkedIn. He's passionate about growth strategy and plans to spend his career scaling startups that matter. Favourite Quote: "The smartest people aren't interested in appearing smart and don't care what you think."

• Graylon Wawrzyniak

  Graylon Wawrzyniak is a student innovator and founder of STEMroots, a youth-led nonprofit dedicated to making STEM education accessible and engaging for young learners. At just 16, he has led hands-on workshops and developed programs that encourage kids to explore, question, and think like scientists. His talk aims to challenge the idea that kids are “losing curiosity,” arguing instead that curiosity is abundant but often diminished by the environments around us. He highlights how simple opportunities to explore can unlock excitement, creativity, and deep thinking. Through his work and ideas, Graylon calls for a shift in how we support young people, focusing less on changing them and more on creating spaces where their curiosity can thrive.

• Maram Elnour

  Maram Elnour is a grade 12 student from Milton District High School. Maram is a student speaker and advocate for inclusive school communities. Drawing from her own journey of adapting to a new country, she explores the often-overlooked challenges of belonging, connection, and identity in unfamiliar environments. Her perspective highlights powerful truths. Through her talk, Maram challenges her generation to rethink connection in an increasingly digital world, emphasizing the importance of empathy, kindness, and everyday courage. She encourages audiences to take small but meaningful risks, like starting a conversation, as a way to build stronger, more inclusive communities where everyone feels seen and valued.

• Muadh Abbas

  My name is Muadh Abbas, and I’m a Grade 9 student at Milton District High School. I'm particularly interested in breakthroughs in technology, especially AI and all the ways it could be used in our daily lives. I will be talking about the impact of artificial intelligence on the modern sports industry. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity as I'm excited to share my ideas with an audience and connect with new people. Personally, I’m a huge soccer and basketball fan so I believe that the topics I will be talking about will truly improve the game. I also play professional table tennis at a state-wide level, so I deeply understand how newer technologies can improve performance. I'm also interested in business and design through my experience with DECA and art programs.

• Shiara Sribalan

  Shiara Sribalan is a Grade 9 student at Craig Kielburger Secondary School who is passionate about challenging the pressure of perfection placed on today’s generation. In her speech, “Why Perfection Is the Enemy of Progress,” Shiara examines how the fear of being imperfect silences ideas, limits creativity, and weakens innovation. Motivated by her own journey of overcoming the fear of failure, she encourages students to prioritize resilience over recognition and progress over perfection. A quote that has guided her from a young age is: “You always pass failure on your way to success.” Outside of speaking, Shiara has played piano and danced since the age of four and enjoys volunteering within her community. Through her work, she hopes to inspire others to embrace imperfection and pursue growth with courage.

• Wajed Hossain

  Wajed Hossain is a grade 11 student at Milton District Highschool, and has always heard the same idea for years: focus on grades, do your homework, the rest will take care of itself. However, the belief of that formula started to crack, when he realized how unpredictable the future of our generation of highschoolers truly is. Wajed is passionate about questioning the traditional ideas of achievement and exploring the skills that matter most beyond grades alone. His favourite quote is that of Albert Einstein, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned at school.” Outside of school, Wajed enjoys cross-country, track and field, and can play a very mean game of Monopoly.

• Xavier Rodrigues

  Xavier is a 15-year-old student and aspiring physicist driven by curiosity about reality, both the physical laws of the universe and the digital forces shaping his generation. In his TEDx talk, Echoes of Tomorrow, he explores how algorithms influence what we think and believe, and why learning to pause might be the most powerful skill of his generation. Outside of school, Xavier enjoys playing piano and basketball, studies German at night school, and enjoys gaming–strictly for the “strategic thinking aspects”, of course. He’s inspired by Isaac Asimov’s reminder: “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”

• Ziyan Malik

  My name is Ziyan Malik. I was born in Kerala, India but I’ve lived in Canada for almost my entire life. I am currently in eleventh grade and attending Milton District High School. I have had a passion for the Arts ever since I was a young kid and grew to also love Business when I was introduced to it in high school. A quote that particularly resonates with me comes from the renown painter Vincent van Gogh: “Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.” The topic of my speech, “Investing in the Future” is about teaching youth how to invest their money and manage it. I feel that financial literacy is not prioritized as much as it should be in schools’ curriculums. Money management is a skill all teenagers should learn, as it’s a great way for them to support themselves financially as well as increase the strength of our economy in the future. The world is already an unforgiving and tricky place to navigate, so how can we make it easier for the adults of tomorrow?