TEDxPenn

Speakers

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

• James Payne

  James Payne is best known for his YouTube channel “Great Art Explained.” Through his channel, Payne analyzes historical works of art, sharing their themes and strengths with audience members with a variety of exposure to art history. His career takes these pieces from the walls of museums to anyone with an internet connection, connecting art pieces to their social and cultural significance.

• John Grant

  John Grant works to facilitate conversations and professional training on contentious ethical qualms, promoting the importance of sharing and consuming perspectives different from your own in and beyond your workspace. In his enduring career as the first Civil Liberties Engineer at Palantir, Grant is a funnel for employees to engage in critical thinking, particularly towards privacy and civil liberties.

• Lakshay Sharma

  Lakshay Sharma is a robotics engineer who founded and serves as the CEO of Cerulion, a robotics middleware service that provides efficient, excellent ways to build, test, and deploy robots. A Penn and MIT alum, his academic and professional experiences point to the argument that the way in which robots are designed reveals the assumptions held by their designers more than the limitations of the technology itself.

• Mike Israetel

  Mike Isratel is a renowned sports physiologist, educator, and the co-founder of Renaissance Periodization. He holds a PhD in Sport Physiology from East Tennessee State University and is widely recognized online for his expertise in dieting and strength training. Aside from his extensive online presence, he shares his expertise across the globe at various scientific and performance conferences such as the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid.

• Seema Hingorani

  Seema Hingorani is the Founder and Chair of Girls Who Invest, a non-profit organization focused on increasing the number of women in the asset management industry. Her career is characterized by deep expertise in investment management coupled with a longstanding passion to advance gender equity in finance. She previously served as Chief Investment Officer of the New York City Retirement Systems and held senior leadership roles at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, including Managing Director, Senior Client Advisor, and member of the Operating Committee.

• Tracy Viola

  Tracy Viola is an author, speaker, and long term recovery advocate whose work focuses on resilience, personal responsibility, and the power of rewriting your own story. Her #1 bestselling memoir, Pretty Wrecked, shares the brutally honest and unexpectedly humorous story of her journey through addiction, recovery, and the life she rebuilt afterward. After becoming sober at a young age, she went on to earn degrees from Villanova University and Temple University. Since then, she spent decades speaking with students and communities about recovery, accountability, and hope.

• Zack Kass

  Zack Kass is a global AI advisor and the former Head of GTM for OpenAI. Following his experience publicly launching ChatGPT, he now advises Fortune 1000 companies on AI strategy. In addition to his professional roles, he is an Executive-in-Residence at the University of Virginia. Kass recently authored a book The Next RenAIssance detailing the implications of AI on society at-large. As an avid techno-optimist, Kass specializes in rewriting the prevalent dystopian narrative on technology in the media.