About | TEDx Southlake

About TEDxSouthlake

Our Story: TEDx Southlake

Founded in 2020 by Uma Devireddy, TEDx Southlake began as a platform driven by a passion to help young individuals conquer their fear of public speaking. Over the past five years, we have grown into a transformative community event that empowers youth and adults alike to find their voices, share their ideas, and become leaders. What started as a small initiative has become a beacon of inspiration, driving impact across generations.

Bridging Generational Gaps

One of the defining aspects of TEDx Southlake is our unique intergenerational impact. Since 2021, we have expanded our focus to include not only brilliant young minds but also seasoned professionals. TEDx Southlake provides a platform where youth and adults collaborate, learn from each other, and thrive together.

Youth Leadership and Achievement: Every year, we coach 20 to 22 speakers, with over 80% of our pre-collegiate speakers gaining admission to Ivy League colleges. This achievement speaks to the power of our platform in shaping future leaders.
Adult Success Stories: Our platform has also catalyzed professional growth for many adult speakers, helping them transition into professional speaking roles and advance their careers.
Collaborative Learning: By blending youthful energy with the wisdom of experienced professionals, TEDx Southlake fosters an environment of collaborative learning, where every generation benefits from the exchange of ideas and perspectives.

Our Impact and Goals

TEDx Southlake’s impact continues to grow. At our most recent event in 2024, we showcased 20 global voices, representing a melting pot of cultural and professional diversity. This event demonstrated our commitment to fostering global connections and highlighted our evolution into a platform for cross-cultural dialogue.

As we prepare for our next event on October 27, 2024, we are focused on expanding our influence and securing the support necessary to sustain and grow our volunteer-driven, nonprofit efforts. Our goal is to continue transforming the public speaking landscape, making it a powerful conduit for personal and professional growth across generations.

Our Values: The Foundation of TEDx Southlake

Empowerment: We empower speakers of all ages, helping them craft impactful messages that inspire others. By preparing youth for prestigious educational opportunities and helping adults advance in their professional lives, TEDx Southlake opens doors for growth and success.
Inclusivity: At TEDx Southlake, every voice matters. We prioritize diversity, inviting students, industry veterans, and community leaders to share their unique perspectives and ideas. This intergenerational dialogue enriches our platform, ensuring that diverse viewpoints are represented on our stage.
Community: At the heart of TEDx Southlake is our volunteer-driven commitment. Our teams dedicate countless hours to mentoring and guiding our speakers, demonstrating the strength of a community that comes together to create meaningful change, without monetary gain.

Looking Ahead

Through TEDx Southlake, we aim to continue building a platform where generations connect, cultures converge, and ideas ignite change. We invite you to be part of this empowering journey—whether as a speaker, attendee, or supporter. Together, we can transform public speaking into a tool for personal and professional growth, across generations.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago, TED has grown to support its mission with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan, and Daniel Kahneman.

The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Vancouver, British Columbia. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; TED Translators, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED has established The Audacious Project which takes a collaborative approach to funding ideas with the potential to create change at a thrilling scale; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self-organized TED-style events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED, on Instagram at https://instagram.com/ted.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)