TEDxArkansas State University

Speakers

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

• A.D. Edwards

  A.D. Edwards is an author, speaker, and founder and host of Ingleside Reviews: Innovators Unveiled, a podcast and television show featuring entrepreneurs, founders, creators, and innovators. Originally from Chicago and now based in Houston, he draws on storytelling and conversations with people building meaningful work from the ground up. He is the author of Unveiling the Innovator in You! and explores what it takes to begin before everything is perfect. His talk, The Beauty of Starting Ugly, encourages students, creators, and emerging leaders to recognize the value of taking the first imperfect step.

• Amanda Carpenter

  Dr. Amanda Carpenter serves as the Assistant Dean for Research for the College of Nursing & Health Professions, where she provides strategic leadership for research development, scholarly productivity, and external funding activity across the college. She also holds the roles of Program Director and Associate Professor of Public Health, guiding academic and curricular excellence within the program. In addition, Dr. Carpenter serves as Associate Director of the A-State Institute for Rural Initiatives, an organization dedicated to advancing rural research, fostering community engagement, and building collaborative partnerships that address the unique needs of rural populations.

• Andi Esters

  Andi Esters, PhD, is a maritime historian and rescue diver whose research spans underwater heritage, ceramic trade, and the maritime history of medicinal botanicals. She holds graduate training in Maritime Civilizations from the University of Haifa and a doctorate in Botanical Medicine. She has presented research at the International Maritime History Association Congress in Busan, the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, and the CNRS/NASOH Conference in Ontario. She has conducted independent artifact study at the Mel Fisher Museum in Florida. A PADI Rescue Diver with shipwreck and navigation specializations, she works at the intersection of academic research and public education, connecting the objects we recover to the human stories they carry.

• Brian Arnold

  Dr. Brian E. Arnold, known as Dr. B, is a keynote speaker, university professor, author, and coach with more than 20 years of experience helping people move from knowing to doing. He founded Journey to Freedom and works with entrepreneurs and individuals on turning purpose into consistent action. His books include There Is No Tiger: Be-Do-Have, Relationship vs. AI: How to Stay Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, and The Decision Formula. He also hosts Dr. B’s 7-Minute Mindset and the Journey to Freedom Podcast.

• Cameron Wimpy

  I am an associate professor of political science and chair of Government, Law & Policy at Arkansas State University with interests in comparative public administration, election administration, political economy, political methodology, and rural public policy. Since 2022, I have also served as the founding director of the Institute for Rural Initiatives. I am an affiliate faculty with the Arkansas Biosciences Institute at A-State. I formerly served as the Research Director in the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, where I managed applied research on the scientific study of elections. I was previously an affiliate faculty member with the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science. I grew up on Crowley’s Ridge in the Arkansas Delta.

• Christin L. Webb

  Christin L. Webb is a leadership strategist, executive, international bestselling author, and global speaker whose work explores the connection between self-trust, voice, and leadership— particularly what happens when leaders have the courage to bring their clarity, values, and truth into the moments that require them most. With more than 15 years of leadership experience across the public and private sectors, Christin has led teams, advised organizations, and brought conversations about leadership and personal development to national and global platforms, including the World Bank Group, the Kennedy Center, and the Georgia World Congress Center.

• Erica Richardson

  Erica Richardson founded StillWater Strategies, a leadership development and conflict management firm that helps leaders and teams engage conflict with courage, communicate clearly, and pursue peace with purpose. Her career has included roles as a collegiate athlete, head coach, professor, sports information director, human resource director, and dean of students. She earned a master’s degree in Conflict Management and Resolution from Abilene Christian University. Today, she works with educational institutions, athletic programs, businesses, and organizations to develop healthier leaders and stronger teams.

• Gilda Wake

  Gilda Wake is a positive psychologist, coach, writer, and founder and CEO of the Mental Toughness Institute. After leaving a career in law to pursue psychology, she developed an approach to mental toughness centered on staying steady under pressure, recovering from setbacks, and moving toward what matters. Her SCARFE framework brings together self-efficacy, commitment, attitude, resilience, focus, and emotional agility. Through speaking, writing, and work with leaders and teams, Gilda translates well-being research into practical experiences and champions leadership that considers the whole person.

• Jason Holzman

  Jason Holzman has been a leading creative executive for 3 decades. He’s worked on breakthrough campaigns for global advertisers, managed marketing, production, and design for TV networks, helped create and launch Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, and led strategy, operations, and content teams for Macy’s. He’s also been an instructor at FIT and the One Club, directed an award-winning short film, and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Television Academy. Jason currently lives in New York City.

• JC Hite

  JC Hite is an entrepreneur, investor, business strategist, and founder of Hite International, a holding company that builds and acquires businesses focused on helping organizations scale with stability. Its portfolio includes Appreciation at Work, High Capacity Leadership, Hite Digital, and SWS Events. His work focuses on helping leaders grow their organizations without losing sight of what matters most.

• Jesse Favre

  Jesse Favre (she/her) is a hospital leader turned leadership trainer who views leadership development as a public health imperative as well as a business investment. She holds a dual Master of Social Work and Master of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis. Having delivered more than 1,300 seminars and workshops, Jesse translates human behavior into practical strategies that support organizational performance and employee well-being. She was named to the Employee Assistance Professionals Association International Speakers Bureau in 2024 and brings more than a decade of leadership and consulting experience to building healthier workplaces.

• Jonathan Toma

  Johnny Toma is an entrepreneur, emerging public policy leader, and student whose talk explores how mentorship can accelerate personal and professional growth. As CEO of Villen Technologies and a legislative policy associate, Johnny has experienced firsthand how relationships with experienced leaders can shape decision-making, expand opportunities, and challenge people to think bigger.

• Josh George

  Joshua T. George teaches people to think clearly in dangerous and life-threatening situations. His talk asks why the same principles are never taught for everyday conversation dynamics — where no one is trained, and everyone gets hit. He holds a seventh-degree black belt, with a promotion received at the Shaolin Temple in China, and has spent over thirty-five years teaching self-defense to military personnel, law enforcement officers, and veterans. What he teaches is split-second decision-making under pressure, where being wrong carries a physical cost. He is the founder and executive director of Believing Through Achieving, a nonprofit that uses martial arts training to build confidence and support sensory integration for people on the autism spectrum. He has extended that work from physical self-defense into emotional self-defense. His forthcoming book, Fear No Conversation, was acquired by Greenleaf Book Group.

• Karen Hite

  Karen Hite is the co-founder of Scale With Stability and Hite Digital, a consulting practice helping established business owners build operational stability and scale without sacrificing themselves in the process. After growing a franchise model from the ground up to 27 locations in just two years, Karen discovered a hard truth: rapid growth and personal fulfillment don't automatically move together. That experience became the foundation for her work today, helping entrepreneurs build businesses rooted in who they actually are, not just what the market rewards.

• Kevin Sandlin

  Kevin Sandlin has been a small-business owner and serial entrepreneur since 1999. Kevin has started 11 businesses, sold 5 of them, and crashed and burned on the others. Born in the Congo, Kevin and his wife of 33 years adopted their 2 kids from Kazakhstan. Kevin has spent most of his life in the Atlanta area. He is also an Instructor in the Georgia State Guard and at Georgia Gwinnett College. Drawing on his experience as a business owner, Kevin explores how anyone can make their work fulfilling.

• Leigh Gall

  Leigh Gall spent 20 years rising through sales and marketing leadership, including two roles as vice president of sales across the adult beverage industry. From the outside, her career looked like a clear line of promotions, but it came with a cost she could not see at the time. In 2025, she left corporate America to understand what her success had been costing her and to help others do the same. Through coaching, education, and her podcast This Seems Personal, she helps high achievers step into aligned, authentic leadership and name the experiences that often go unsaid.

• Neetu Rishi

  Neetu Rishi is a Dallas-based transformation coach and entrepreneur who leads The Success Door, a coaching academy, and FLY Showcase, a modeling and fashion platform. Her work helps people build confidence, overcome self-doubt, and turn their passions into purposeful work. A former Mrs. India Universe and current Mrs. North Texas, she brings together leadership, entrepreneurship, and fashion. She is the author of three books and host of The Passionpreneur Show, featuring people who have transformed their passions into businesses, careers, and purposeful lives.

• Pete Ferrari

  Pete Ferrari is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, speaker, and mentor whose story begins with hardship—and with a lesson that would shape the rest of his life: nutrition can change your trajectory. Over the decades that followed, Pete built companies in markets others overlooked and eventually brought that same energy into the wellness space.

• Randy Green

  When a company goes bankrupt, everyone asks, “Where were the auditors?” The auditors were there, but compromised, because they were hired and paid by the companies they audit. It’s the equivalent of jail inmates getting to hire, fire and pay their guards. As a veteran (survivor?) of the Enron / Andersen debacle, Randy saw first-hand how this structural conflict of interest can lead to disaster. His talk explores an innovative way to restructure audits so that auditors are working for the investing public, and not the company that they are auditing.

• Stephanie Thoma

  Stephanie Thoma is an author, speaker, and communication strategist who helps experts find and own their voice. The author of Confident Introvert, she helps people develop signature talks and bring their ideas to life through books and other forms of thought leadership. Her work explores what happens when the person you have become moves ahead of how you still see yourself. Through her work on Identity Lag and Calm Authority, Stephanie helps people stay grounded under attention, communicate with confidence, and hold the room.

• Tom Goodlet

  Tom is a bestselling author, ordained pastor, and seasoned entrepreneur whose life's work centers on equipping people with tools that improve their relationships and results. His books Blind Potential and Mentor Us reflect that passion, and his 20+ years in ministry gave him a platform to speak to thousands across the globe. As a business owner, he has built and led multiple companies, including Two Penny Publishing and Two Penny Consulting, the latter of which is a leadership and business development agency helping leaders energize their people and elevate their strategy. As a Leader Effectiveness Training facilitator and professional coach, Tom has worked with executives, medical professionals, managers, and teams across both profit and nonprofit sectors. He has consistently earned superior ratings in his training seminars and brings that same depth of experience to every stage he steps onto.

• Valentina Leonett

  Dr. Valentina Leonett is a dentist and practice owner who left Venezuela at seventeen alone to pursue her dream… only to get rejected from every dental school she applied to. That moment of collapse became the foundation for everything she has built since, including two thriving dental practices, a seven figure business, and a framework rooted in neuroscience and memory reconsolidation that transforms rejection into reinvention. Named one of Arizona’s Top Dentists for two consecutive years and a Phoenix Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree for 2026, she speaks from the intersection of science, personal reinvention, and the one question that changed everything… who do you want to become?

• Valerie Renee

  Valerie Renee is a keynote speaker and Master Certified Professional Coach whose work explores human connection, beginning with the relationship we have with ourselves. She examines how self-awareness, acceptance, and alignment with our values shape the way we connect, communicate, and live. With a career spanning business development, sales leadership, entrepreneurship, and coaching, Valerie brings a practical perspective to understanding ourselves and one another, building meaningful relationships, and finding greater fulfillment.

• Vishak Meenachi

  Vishak Meenachi is an ISEF Finalist and engineering researcher whose talk addresses how merging mechanical design, control algorithms, and machine learning can help break down barriers to research access. As a research intern at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, his experience ranges from machine learning-assisted thrust vector control and quantum navigation digital twins to AI-driven clinical triage tools. By translating high-level aerospace and computational concepts into accessible, open-source methodologies, Vishak highlights how young innovators can dismantle equity gaps in science and ensure cutting-edge research opportunities are open to all.