Your Friendly Neighborhood TED Fellow

I’m happy to formally announce my participation in the TED Fellows program this coming July in Oxford, UK. I’ve been a huge fan of TED ever since I saw talks by people like Andrew Mwenda, Jonathan Harris, Jill Bolte Taylor and Jacqueline Novograts. Those people in-particular but also many others that I’ve seen along the way inspired me in many ways to do what I’m doing now. To a stranger, the connection between these four individuals of completely different backgrounds is probably obscure; one a journalist from Uganda, another a researcher and stroke survivor, a web designer barely older than myself and the founder of Acumen. All I can say is that they all affected me in profound ways; Andrews call for accountability from African leaders and Aid organizations, Jonathan’s visual manipulations of large complex datasets, Jacqueline’s insight into the needs of entrepreneurs in developing countries and Jill’s ability to detach, breakdown and analyze her own personal crisis as if she were reading it from a text book. These are all ideas that have shaped me as a person and the way I’ve approached my business, ideas that I definitely think are worth spreading.

For me TED will offer the opportunity to, not only share my own work and experiences, but to learn from others both as peers and mentors. It’s main stages have been graced by people like Malcolm Gladwell, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, Amy Tan and other incredibly influential people from various disciplines and industries. It’s intimidating, inspiring and challenging all at once and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity before me.

The TED Fellows program helps world-changing innovators from around the globe become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. Fellows are drawn from many disciplines that reflect the diversity of TED’s members: technology, entertainment, design, the sciences, the humanities, the arts, NGOs, business and more.

I’m sure as the weeks go on I’ll share more about my work in preparation for the conference but for now, thanks for the support and wish me and my fellow TEDizens (listed below) luck!

You can see some of my favorite TED Talks for yourself, by visiting my profile at http://www.ted.com/index.php/profiles/view/id/45502

TED Oxford 2009 fellows: Esra’a Al Shafei (Bahrain) – Founder, MiddleEastYouth.com/Blogger; Xavier Alpasa, S.J. (Philippines) – Founder, Rags2Riches/Parish Priest/School Director; Rachel Armstrong, MD (UK) – Teaching Fellow, The Bartlett School of Architecture/Medical Doctor/Science Fiction Author; Nassim Assefi, MD (US/Iran/Turkey/Afghanistan) – Medical Doctor/Writer/Women’s Health Specialist; Frederick Balagadde, PhD (Uganda/USA) – Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Michelle Borkin (US) – 3D Visualization Researcher, Harvard University; Constanza Ceruti, PhD (Argentina) – High-Altitude Archeologist/ Anthropologist; Candy Chang (US/Finland) – Design Specialist/Artist; Jessica Colaço (Kenya) – Researcher, SRCC/Mobile Technology Evangelist/Blogger; Shereen El Feki, PhD (Canada/UK/Egypt) – Academic, American University in Cairo/Writer; Gabriella Gómez -Mont (Mexico) – Founder, Tóxico Cultura; Jonathan Gosier (US/Uganda) – Founder, Appfrica; Peter Haas (US/Haiti/Guatemala) – Founder, AIDG/Tinkerer; Meklit Ayele Hadero (Ethiopia/US) – Singer/Musician/Cultural Activist/Resident Artist, Red Poppy House; Marvin Hall (Jamaica) – Founder, Halls of Learning/Teacher; William Kamkwamba (Malawi/South Africa) – Student, African Leadership Academy/ Inventor; V.K. Madhavan (India) – Executive Director, CHIRAG; Evgeny Morozov (Belarus/US) – Blogger/ Political Scientist/ Writer; Naomi Natale (US) – Founder, One Million Bones; Alexander Petroff (US/Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Founder, Working Villages International; Zoya Phan (Burma/UK) – Burmese Human Rights Activist/Author; Seth Raphael (US) – Hi-Tech Magician; Nuhu Ribadu (Nigeria/UK) – Exiled Anti-Corruption Pioneer/Lawyer; Fred Swaniker (Ghana/South Africa) – Founder, African Leadership Academy; Benji Zusman (US)- Co-Founder, CURIOUS/Filmmaker/Scientist