TEDxAtlanta has unveiled the speaker lineup for its first-ever TEDxAtlanta Youth conference, set to take place on the afternoon of Oct. 3 at Atlanta International School in Sandy Springs. The event is part of the TEDxAtlanta 2026 season, themed Bold. Brave. Unbreakable., and will feature young innovators, entrepreneurs, and advocates whose ideas span artificial intelligence, accessibility, language, sustainability, and the role of youth in shaping the world.
Organized by TEDxAtlanta licensee Jacqui Chew, the Youth conference will include speakers aged 16 to 23 and an intergenerational On the Spot conversation. The program is divided into two parts: Seen and Unleashed. 'Young people hear constantly that they are the future. We were much more interested in what they have to say about the present,' Chew said. 'These speakers are asking questions that affect all of us: Whose ideas get taken seriously? What gets lost when technology doesn't understand culture? And what becomes possible when young people have the opportunity to build rather than wait?'
The first part, Seen, explores what changes when young people's experiences and perspectives are taken seriously. Temple Lester, a STEM advocate, shares how being sidelined at science camp as the only girl led her to advocate for inclusion, questioning what ideas are missed when young people are told to wait their turn. Nidhi Madam, a language and culture explorer, discusses how a K-drama binge led her to learn Korean and reconnect with her family's Telugu, discovering that AI can translate words but not necessarily the culture they carry.
Also in Seen, entrepreneur Zoe Oli and her mother Evana Oli will engage in an On the Spot conversation, turning the tables on traditional parent-child dynamics as they explore what happens when a child's idea becomes a real enterprise and parents must decide when to step in, step aside, or step forward together.
Unleashed, the second part, turns from voice to action. Kanushi Dua, a circular systems designer, questions why children's clothing is treated as disposable, proposing an unexpected role for AI in circular fashion. Ian Sun, a community-centered technologist, asks who gets a say in how AI is built, emphasizing the importance of community involvement. Akos Vida, an accessibility innovator, challenges assumptions about designing for versus designing with people with disabilities, based on his experience building an accessible gaming controller. Ethan Benater, a possibility engineer, discusses his vaping-cessation solution and what young people can create when they refuse to accept entrenched problems as inevitable.
Together, Seen and Unleashed move from recognition to agency, urging audiences to view young people not just as inheritors of the future but as active creators of the present. Back-to-school ticket prices are available for TEDxAtlanta, TEDxAtlanta Youth, and Complete Passes that include both conferences.
TEDxAtlanta is Georgia's largest TED affiliate and a year-round platform for ideas, conversation, and community. Since its first conference in 2009, more than two dozen speakers have been featured on TED. For more information, visit TEDxAtlanta.com.
