TEDxMacatawa

Speakers

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

• Andrew Peterson

  Architect & Design Lead

  Andrew Peterson is a licensed architect, design thinker, and business leader whose career spans architecture, interiors, product management, and business development. Raised by a farmer and an art teacher, he developed an early appreciation for the balance of creativity and discipline that continues to shape his work today. Based in Holland, Michigan for more than twelve years, Andrew has built his career with Haworth, served on the City of Holland Historic District Commission, taught as a university lecturer, and contributed to professional education as a CEU faculty member. His work explores how people, design, and technology shape the future

• Cecilia Puente

  Student

  Cecilia Puente is a high school junior, writer, and youth leader interested in how we communicate across differences. She has shared her writing and ideas through essays, competitions, and public forums. Through programs at Georgetown, Harvard, and the University of Chicago, she has studied courageous discourse, public speaking, debate, and approaches to building connected communities. She has carried these experiences into national youth boards and civic leadership initiatives, and is creating opportunities for dialogue in her community. Cecilia also mentors younger students and studied ballet for over a decade. She is particularly interested in dialogue and polarization.

• Chris Marco

  Housing Expert

  Chris Marco is the first-ever Director of Community Development at Lakeshore Advantage, where he supports housing initiatives in Allegan and Ottawa counties. A 26-year native of West Michigan, Chris cares deeply about the region’s communities and the people who call them home. Chris has previously presented at the International Conference on Urban Affairs and the Midwest Political Science Association. He has also delivered guest lectures and published research in Governing Magazine, Public Square: A CNU Journal, and The Urbanist. A proud Laker for a Lifetime, Chris holds degrees in Public Administration and Political Science from Grand Valley State University.

• David Flemming

  Youth Sports Coach

  While he’s had many professional titles over the past 25+ years, the one he loves the most is “Coach Dave.” In addition to an accomplished career in marketing and product development, he has simultaneously coached young athletes across a variety of levels and sports. Over the past eight years, he has been a key contributor to developing Velo Kids, a Holland-based organization dedicated to getting more kids on bikes through camps and other programming.

• David Vandermolen

  Leadership Trainer & Coach

  Most leadership training teaches you how to command a room. David VanderMolen teaches you how to go quiet in one. As a Learning Sensei at Barry-Wehmiller, he co-founded the company’s university and created a leadership and listening curriculum taught in five languages worldwide, reaching over 14,000 people. It’s still being taught. He continues that work at Inspired 2 Change, the West Michigan change agency he founded, built on one idea: changed people change companies. He’s spent 35 years proving that listening—the skill everyone assumes is intuitive and passive—is learned, and it’s the most active thing a leader does.

• Drew Morgan

  Engineer

  Drew is a Park Township based engineer, maker, and sometimes artist who has also lived in the South and on the other (salty) West coast. He enjoys the intersection of the profound with the absurd. He strives for delightful form and satisfying function in everything he does, especially when it’s unexpected. He spends his time working for Disher Engineering in Zeeland, pursuing curiosity, tinkering, and exploring West Michigan with his wife and two daughters.

• Jesse Ray

  Musician

  Jesse Ray brings a unique blend of rockabilly blues, offering a dynamic mix of energetic originals, soulful ballads, and classic covers of legends like Johnny Cash and George Jones. Armed with his electric guitar, harmonica, foot drum, and captivating vocals, Ray is a one-man rock’n’roll, Americana, and blues powerhouse that any fan of traditional American music will not want to miss. Ray began playing music in Grand Rapids at the age of 17, playing folk music at open mic nights. While attending college in Portland, Oregon, he honed his fast, loud, and emotional playing style, blending blues, country, and rockabilly influences.

• Kristin Armstrong

  Nonprofit Leader & Arts Activist

  Kristin Armstrong is an Arts and Nonprofit leader, deeply interested in creating connections and building community. She has been Executive Director at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts (West Michigan’s multidisciplinary Art Center) for 21 years and has had the privilege of working alongside artists of all genres and stripes, actors, performers, designers, educators, plus dreamers and party-throwers! Kristin lives in Holland and loves walking trails or the lakeshore, digging into new books and movies, and generally learning new things and meeting new people!

• Matt Baxter

  HR Technologist

  Matt Baxter is an entrepreneur and HR tech founder who believes the resume is noise. He started his first company, Stony Pointe Lawn Care, at 15, ran it for six years, and sold it in 2015 while studying management at Hope College. Frustrated by the friction of frontline hiring, he wanted a faster, more human way to see who a candidate actually is. So he co-founded Wedge, an asynchronous video interviewing platform built to replace the phone screen.

• Nina Shaye

  Student

  Nina Shaye is a junior at the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center and Portage Central High School. Passionate about both STEM and the arts, she conducts research in machine learning and cancer detection and has presented her work at international research conferences, including the International Science and Engineering Fair and International Youth Research Conference. Nina is also an accomplished visual artist, having won the Congressional Art Competition and received multiple Scholastic Gold Keys. She is deeply involved in the West Michigan community and founded Ladybug Art Camp, which introduces young girls in Kalamazoo to the fundamentals of visual arts.

• Travis Williams

  Nature & Education Activist

  Travis Williams is the founding CEO of ODC Network and an innovative leader helping build nature-rich communities where people and nature thrive. Over the last 25 years, he has helped grow one of the region’s most integrated approaches connecting education, ecosystem restoration, and outdoor access. Under his leadership, ODC Network has grown from a single site in Holland, Michigan into a 14-division organization with more than 260 staff, serving over 200,000 people annually and connecting more than 1.5 million individuals to nature.