Imagining: Notes from Session 2 of Countdown Summit

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There’s a lot of information on what we’re doing wrong when it comes to climate, and what the world would look like if we keep up the damage. But there’s very little information on what life could look like if we all did our job to repair the planet.

At Session 2 of the Countdown Summit, seven speakers stretched our imaginations — envisioning what it will take to create a different, better future and exactly how far (or close) we are from realizing it.

The event: Countdown Summit: Session 2, hosted by Paris Climate Agreement architect Christiana Figueres and TED’s Bruno Giussani, with facilitation by Leaders’ Quest’s Jayma Pau and Carolina Moeller, at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland on Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Speakers: Solomon Goldstein-Rose, Tzeporah Berman, Dan Jørgensen, Vandana Singh, Enric Sala, Thomas Crowther, Nicola Sturgeon

The talks in brief:

Solomon Goldstein-Rose, climate author

Big idea: To really power our grid from clean energy, we must build more production capacity than we think we need — a lot more. Although many estimates show that we need two and a half times more green production than we currently have, Solomon Goldstein-Rose says we need five times that: a grand total of 12 times today’s clean energy production. Where can we get all this power?

An answer: To go net-negative (not net-zero), to electrify everything with renewables in all parts of the world (not just the wealthy ones) and to power things that can’t be electrified (like airplanes), climate author Solomon Goldstein-Rose affirms that we need more than a green revolution in production. To get where we need to go, the world needs an entirely new electricity grid. As he puts it, we should be “building new things that we’ve barely ever built before, in massive amounts, to create a new system entirely.” Although it’s a tall order, the benefits of such a transformation go far beyond survival: if we can reimagine our power production, we will also create a healthier, cleaner and more prosperous world for everyone.

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Tzeporah Berman, environmental campaigner

Big Idea: The fossil fuel industry has gone largely unregulated. It’s time to wind down its rampant production with a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty for the future of our planet.

How? As climate policy experts negotiate policies set to reduce carbon emissions, the fossil fuel industry continues to grow and pollute for the sake of oil, gas and coal, says environmental campaigner Tzeporah Berman. “Our governments are only regulating emissions and not production of fossil fuels,” she says. As a decades-long advocate for the protection of Canada’s Great Northern Forest, Berman has spent years reaching out to CEOs of oil companies and studying climate policies and has come to a crucial conclusion: without a single mention of “fossil fuels” in the 2015 Paris Agreement, fossil fuel production has escaped regulation. “We are currently on track today to produce 120 percent more fossil fuels in the next decade than the world should burn to stay below 1.5 degrees,” she says. It’s time to stop relying on future technologies that are not yet at scale to solve the problems we’re facing today and begin curbing destructive processes now. The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty can help us get there.

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Dan Jørgensen, Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities of Denmark

Big idea: Wind energy will be the cornerstone of the green transformation the world needs.

How? Over the last two decades, the wind energy industry has grown at a dizzying pace. (Fun fact: one wind turbine’s single rotation generates enough electricity to charge 1,314 cell phones.) Building off of this exponential growth, Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, lays out his country’s decision to cut 70 percent of its emissions by 2030 and close down the nation’s oil industry by 2050. Their aim is to direct all investment and innovation towards a fossil-free future and create the world’s first “energy islands”:” think scaled-up wind farms that can generate enough electricity for 10 million European households. Offshore wind power could supply the world’s entire electricity demand 18 times over, Jørgensen says, making it a true game-changer in the fight against climate change.

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Vandana Singh, climate imagination fellow

Big idea: Science and speculative fiction can support new narratives about our climate future — and inspire action instead of dread.

How? Earlier this year, Countdown partnered with the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University and to create the Climate Imagination Fellowship. In collaboration with ClimateWorks and the United Nations, the fellowship aims to support visionary thinkers who engage with the climate crisis by imagining vibrant futures. Speculative fiction writer and physics professor Vandana Singh is one of four inaugural Climate Imagination Fellows. On the TED stage, she shares an excerpt from her latest work: a captivating tale of how collective dreaming could help humans recognize our interdependence with the planet — and take action to protect it.

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Enric Sala, marine ecologist

Big idea: As a diver in the 1970s, Enric Sala saw once-lush oceanscapes reduced to underwater deserts — but later, in marine preserves like the Medes Islands in Spain and Cabo Pulmo in Mexico, he also witnessed the ocean’s power to rejuvenate itself when left to its own natural devices. Could “rewilding” the planet help us restore biodiversity and reduce the impacts of climate change?

How? Marine preserves demonstrate how quickly the environment — land or sea — can rebound from the ravages of overuse and global warming. Trees, grasslands, kelp forests and the biodiversity they shelter are our best weapons against climate change, says marine ecologist Enric Sala — but only work if we allow them to do their work undisturbed by human activity. At present, only seven percent of Earth’s oceans and less than a fifth of land are protected as wilderness. In 2018, Sala and his colleagues at National Geographic partnered with the Wyss Institute to target the biodiversity powerhouses most worth preserving, with the aim of “30 by 30”: rewilding 30 percent of the Earth’s surface and of the ocean floor by 2030.

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Thomas Crowther, ecosystem ecology professor

Big Idea: An online, open-data platform to support and connect the global restoration movement can bring transparency to humanity’s footprint on the planet. 

How? There are hundreds of thousands of local communities, Indigenous populations and more working to protect and revitalize nature — making connectivity between these efforts of utmost importance. Enter Restor, a powerful platform in development that ecosystem ecology professor Thomas Crowther describes as “a Google Maps for restoration.” With about 72,000 sites in its database, Restor holds information about thousands of projects around the world, across every imaginable ecosystem, available to explore, learn about and connect with. Crowther gives a tour of this incredible tool, showing how you can learn about native species, environmental conditions and geology to try and predict information about local ecologies. And he shares his vision for the future of Restor and a world where, thanks to data collection, supply chains become so transparent that consumers can know the exact environmental impact of products before they ever leave the store.

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Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland

Big idea: When we talk about tackling climate change, it’s often about bigger countries like the US or China. We must recognize the ambition, leadership and action of small countries, too.

Why? Small countries have no time for small objectives, says First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. For example, countries like Himalayan nation of Bhutan are leading the way towards a positive climate future, with 130 countries now following in its footsteps towards carbon neutrality; or the tiny island nation of Fiji, which played host the UN climate conference in 2017. Scotland has a special responsibility, considering its rich industrial history, to offset its disproportionate contributions to climate change. And it’s already made big steps, Sturgeon says, like decarbonizing faster than any other G20 nation and establishing a climate justice fund. When large countries fail to act, it’s the smaller regions, states and nations that keep the climate action momentum going — but that can’t always be the case. Countries of all shapes and sizes must step up to the challenge. “We cannot allow our size to be something that we hide behind when it comes to tackling climate change,” she says. “We must think big in our ambition. We must act big in what we do, and we must be big when it comes to the impact we make.”

Mark your calendar: Tune in to the Countdown Global Livestream on October 30, 2021. This virtual event will lay out a credible and realistic pathway to a zero-carbon future. Save the date.

A pathway opens: Notes from Session 1 of Countdown Summit

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Countdown is the most ambitious initiative TED has endeavored upon. A meeting point and invitation to all, from any walk of life, to participate in the story of solving the climate crisis in urgent and crucial ways. A call-in to businesses, governments, society, investors and everyday people to drive action with passion, energy and a deep desire for change.

Bringing together individuals who have spent decades pushing toward a zero-emission future and highlighting the new generation of dedicated changemakers, Session 1 took the first step on the marathon path to curtailing the world’s biggest existential threat with ambition, realism — and an invigorating dose of optimism.

The event: Countdown Summit: Session 1, hosted by Future Stewards cofounder Lindsay Levin and TED’s Chris Anderson and Bruno Giussani, at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland on Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Speakers: Zac Goldsmith, Amina J. Mohammed, Selina Neirok Leem, Johan Rockström, Gabriel Kra, Nigel Topping, Jim Hagemann Snabe, Monica Araya and Melati Wijsen

Performances: Let It Happen, a dance trio comprised of Dutch twin sisters Norah and Yarah along with younger sister Rosa, who vibrantly lit up the TED stage to remixes of classic American songs “Get On the Good Foot” by James Brown and “Hit the Road Jack” by Ray Charles.

The talks in brief:

Zac Goldsmith, UK Minister for the Pacific, environmental advocate

Big Idea: Restoring and preserving natural systems is humanity’s single greatest mission in the fight against climate change — but in order to achieve this, governments need to prioritize protecting nature.

How? Despite knowing that Earth’s ecological systems make life possible, forests continue to be cut down and oceans filled with trash as climate change reaps its effects. Clean technology has made big leaps towards curbing the destruction by pushing for green energy and renewables, explains UK Minister for the Pacific Zac Goldsmith, but tech can’t compare to the solutions nature has to offer if restored. Take mangroves, for example, which absorb carbon from the air and protect coastal communities from storms but are not as prioritized as cement defenses that function at only a fraction of the efficiency mangroves naturally provide. The issue lies in what solutions the economy values most. “Markets barely register the cost of destroying those natural systems, and until governments change that … we are always going to be playing catch up,” says Goldsmith. He urges governments to pass laws that protect at least thirty percent of land and sea by 2030, to support the world’s Indigenous peoples and to remove deforestation and degradation from supply chains. By redirecting incentives (and budgets), nature can recover from the damage of all the systems in place set against it — and thrive.

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Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General

Big idea: As we work to decarbonize the global economy, we should prioritize projects like the Great Green Wall that use climate action as a vehicle to deliver dignity, economic opportunity and equality for all.

How? When UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed was a young girl, Lake Chad looked like an ocean — it touched the border of four countries and sustained over 30 million people. Today, more than 90 percent of this freshwater basin has dried up, along with the economic opportunities it once provided for millions of farmers, fisherfolk and marketplace sellers. The devastation grows with extreme weather events like the dry, windy Harmattan, meaning “more jobs lost, hunger and families displaced — a perfect storm for instability and, sadly, more violence.” But Mohammed remains hopeful; she believes we can decarbonize our planet and meet the aims of the Paris Climate agreement through strategic climate action that invests in human potential. She provides the Great Green Wall — a project aiming to plant 100 million trees on the edge of the Sahara to stop desertification, restore degraded land and improve water harvesting — as an example. Beyond the climate benefits, Mohammed believes the project will create green economic opportunities for half a billion people. She acknowledges that transformative climate actions like this will require massive investments from rich countries and, perhaps more importantly, vocal solidarity from people worldwide. “Friends,” she says, “it’s time to make some serious noise.”

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Selina Neirok Leem, youth climate activist

Big idea: Communities at the frontlines of climate change like the low-lying Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean are at risk of losing everything to something they didn’t contribute to creating. Climate adaptation is now their only choice.

Why? For 23-year-old climate warrior Selina Neirok Leem, climate change isn’t a distant threat to be negotiated over decades-long timelines — it’s the ever-present reality of her home in the Marshall Islands. The youngest delegate at the COP21 conference that adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015, Leem and her fellow Marshall Islanders now bear witness to floods from continually rising seas that routinely send them seeking shelter on hard-to-find high ground, threatening livelihoods, access to clean water and their way of life. In a stirring poem and talk, she explains that climate adaptation is the only choice for her people now. “We’ve been told to move. To become climate change refugees,” she says. “I’m not even sure who would even take us in. But to those who think that we should just accept our fate, I want to say: adaptation and indigenous knowledge are the solutions.”

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Johan Rockström, climate impact scholar

Big idea: There are three key messages about the climate crisis that you need to know.

What are they? First, a message from the scientific community: the Sixth Assessment Report the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the latest in a series of landmark reports that assess the threat of climate change, is a code red for humanity, vividly explaining the alarming extent of the global crisis. As climate impact scholar Johan Rockström says, the alarm bell of climate change has been ringing for decades, but humanity kept hitting the snooze button. Now is the time to wake up and act. Message two: tipping points. We are now forced to consider the real risk of destabilizing the planet, as the big biophysical systems that regulate climate — from the Greenland ice sheet to the Amazon rainforest — approach their irreversible tipping points that could make Earth uninhabitable for humanity. As Rockström puts it: “We’re sleepwalking in a minefield.” Finally, message three: the window of opportunity is still open, but barely. He stresses the importance of all countries participating in the transformation to sustainability, going from billions to trillions in investment and putting end dates on coal and the combustion engine.

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Gabriel Kra, climate tech investor

Big idea: We need to stop thinking about climate change as a problem and regard it more as an opportunity.

Why? We have better technologies, policies and, most importantly, a clearer sense of urgency bundled with some of the best minds of our time dedicated to solving the climate crisis. As an investor, Gabriel Kra knows this firsthand from his experience in Silicon Valley, where he has a bird’s-eye view of the entrepreneurs, inventors and fellow investors focused like never before on what he calls “the great business opportunity of our generation.” From his soaring optimism, he offers a few on-the-ground details from electric cars and alternative energies to sustainable architecture and optimized software that should be cause to share in his building excitement for these burgeoning technologies. And these examples are just the beginning, Kra explains. Each new or improved aspect paves a better and more realistic path toward a greener future. By constantly developing and revolutionizing innovations, we are on track to solve one of the biggest problems of our time — and that’s something to be wildly optimistic about.

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Nigel Topping, UN High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26

Big idea: There are distinct pathways to transform the economy and ratchet up climate ambition.

How? As High Level Climate Action Champion for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Nigel Topping works to help economies scale up their climate ambitions in support of local governments ahead of the landmark meeting. So, what’s changed since the Paris Agreement of 2015? Topping says there’s a much stronger sense of urgency, driven in part by our lived experiences — the disruptions of climate change feel closer to home than ever — and the reality that we can not just achieve sustainability but instead make it the key development story of this century. The focus now should shift to positively disrupting the patterns of the global economy that keep us from climate action and creating ambition loops between policy and the private sector to accelerate progress.

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Jim Hagemann Snabe, Chairman, Mærsk and Siemens

Big idea: We need dramatic, exponential scale expansion in solar, wind, green hydrogen and green fuel plants to deliver on the growing demand for green shipping.

How? At Mærsk, the world’s largest maritime shipping company, Jim Hagemann Snabe is leading an effort to decarbonize logistics by 2050. After looking at carbon-reducing options like “slow steaming” — slowing down the speed of a vessel so it uses less fuel — and running ships on battery power and liquid natural gas, Mærsk, the A. P. Moller Foundation and the Center for Zero Carbon Shipping in Copenhagen think they’ve landed on a viable path towards carbon neutrality for the shipping giant: Power-to-X. Through a special process, Power-to-X turns green electricity into a green liquid fuel that can be used in combustion engines, meaning existing ships can be retrofitted to run on renewable energy. While still expensive, the benefits of Power-to-X greatly outweigh the costs — and Hagemann Snabe urges governments to show leadership by imposing a global price on CO2, which would eliminate the affordability argument completely. “We have the technologies needed to create a sustainable future. What we need is leadership to get us there faster,” he says.

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Monica Araya, electrification advocate

Big Idea: A global movement towards emissions-free transport is one of the key steps towards a sustainable future in the face of climate change — and everyone has a role to play.

How? Leading the shift towards clean transport, 70 organizations have come together to establish the Drive Electric campaign, an initiative pushing for all new road vehicle sales to be electric by 2035. Spearheading this movement over the crucial next five years, electrification advocate Monica Araya is working to set the world on a path towards completely emissions-free transportation — which will potentially cut 160 billion tons of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions. To reach these goals, she explains, we have to work with all levers of change, from cities to politicians to corporations to citizens so this goal can be funded — and realized. The price tag for change? Araya says the switch to all-electric will cost $1 billion — and announces that the Audacious Project, TED’s initiative to inspire and fund global change, has recently secured a breakthrough $300 million in funding towards this effort. With hopes of inspiring other industries to follow suit, these big leaps towards climate stability show that scalable change is possible and every effort towards it counts.

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Melati Wijsen, climate activist, social entrepreneur

Big idea: When starting on the journey of activism, young people need tools and support to lead and make the change they want to see in the world.

How? Activism is a tough job, especially for young people yearning for immediate change — something climate activist Melati Wijsen has learned over ten years of pushing for environmental protection, starting at age 12 in her home on the island of Bali, Indonesia. How can young changemakers acquire the skills they need and keep from burning out? First, Wijsen says, activists must take care of themselves. When exhaustion sets in, it’s time to take a break and rely on colleagues to continue the work. Second, create support networks to share resources, information and inspiration — like Circle of Youth within YOUTHTOPIA, an educational platform where activist peers learn from each other. Third, look out for companies touting youth activism to advance their brands — a tactic Wijsen calls “youthwashing.” Young people seeking change need seats at the bargaining table, not lip service for their causes.

Mark your calendar: Tune in to the Countdown Global Livestream on October 30, 2021. This virtual event will lay out a credible and realistic pathway to a zero-carbon future. Save the date.

Impact: A day of talks in partnership with DWEN

Everything you do boils down to impact. Whether personal or professional, you build, design and imagine in pursuit of creating lasting change for the wider world. So, how do you make it happen? At TED Salon: Impact, a virtual event presented by TED and Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN), four speakers and one performer explored the driving force behind the decisions and actions that move women’s entrepreneurship forward.

The event: TED Salon: Impact, presented in partnership with DWEN, hosted by TED technology curator Simone Ross and director of speaker coaching Briar Goldberg, with opening remarks from Vice President of Dell Global Field Marketing Kristen Nolte.

Music: From her stoop in Brooklyn, singer-songwriter Madison McFerrin performs “TRY” — a synth-infused invitation to chase your dreams, despite what others say.

The talks in brief:

Julia Dhar, business strategist, champion debater

Big idea: Every conversation (or disagreement) you have can be a productive one, if you approach it with curiosity. 

How? As a world debate champion, Julia Dhar is no stranger to having conversations with people she disagrees with. Rather than viewing these encounters as a chance to change someone else’s mind, she instead approaches them as opportunities to find common ground and strengthen the resilience of her own point by learning from other perspectives. “We need to figure out how we go into conversations not looking for the victory, but the progress,” Dhar says. She shares three essential features of having productive disagreements: go in with curiosity; be adaptable with your idea; and focus on the common ground. The end result? Constructive conversations that sharpen your argument — not the relationship.

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Patty McCord, consultant

Big idea: The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that, despite previous resistance, it’s possible to improve the way we work.

How? Patty McCord believes we can finally change our professional lives for the better. The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered offices and strong-armed a reliance on remote work, teaching companies important lessons about their employees and their businesses. On the one-year anniversary of the start of the coronavirus lockdown, McCord reflects on four essential learnings that have the potential to improve work-life for everyone — even after the pandemic is over. After taking Zoom calls alongside our kids at the kitchen table, we’ve learned that separating work from family life is crucial to our productivity. Additionally, bosses have gained trust in their employees working from home, allowing them to make more autonomous decisions and focus on the results that matter. Companies have thrown “best practices” out the window and begun developing better business structures. And everyone has learned the true value of clear communication, which ensures efficiency. By understanding these key learnings, we can begin to rethink all the ways we work — and create new practices that work for everyone.

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Natsai Audrey Chieza, biodesigner

Big idea: Through design, we have the power to imagine a future where people and nature can thrive together —  powered by multidisciplinary, nuanced and systemic solutions.

How? When Natsai Audrey Chieza was in school, she participated in a time-capsule project where she and her friends visualized a green, equitable world. Now 20 years later, in the face of decades of global inaction, many obstacles still block our path to those imagined futures — but Chieza is still exploring how we can get there. She founded Faber Futures, an innovation lab and creative agency that brings together experts from different disciplines to explore the intersection of biology, design and technology. She shares creations that came from unexpected collaborations — between Afro-futurists and astrobiologists, food researchers and Indigenous campaigners. And she invites us to ask ourselves what kind of world we wish for — and what systemic changes and collaborations need to happen for them to exist.

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Esther Perel, therapist, speaker, consultant

Big question: How do we effectively deal with stress in our daily lives and work a year into the COVID-19 pandemic?

Some answers: The first step is to recognize that stress is multidimensional, says Esther Perel. We wrap up a lot of different feelings into the word “stress”: isolation, grief, anger, economic insecurity, existential anguish, prolonged uncertainty. So we must start by breaking it down into parts, naming and framing the different aspects. A major one, Perel says, is the loss of “eros”: the serendipity, surprise and mystery that lit up our pre-pandemic lives. (People are working hard to recapture eros at home, Perel says, with activities like baking bread and adopting puppies.) Likewise, the boundaries that once demarcated our lives — between work and home, coworker and spouse — have evaporated, leaving us without a sense of groundedness. So what are we to do? Be intentional about creating routines, rituals and boundaries, Perel says, and work to integrate these multiple realities, rather than hiding them. (For instance: don’t stress if your kid walks on camera during a work meeting and says hello. It’s natural!) What’s more, Perel says she’s noticed a shift towards “anti-small talk” at work: things people normally didn’t talk about at the office, like family and mental health, are now regularly entering into conversation. That’s good, she says: we’ll only get through this pandemic with mass mutual reliance, a deep sense of interdependence and social connection — our greatest source of resilience.

Ignite: The talks of TED@WellsFargo

World-changing ideas that unearth solutions and ignite progress can come from anywhere. With that spirit in mind at TED@WellsFargo, thirteen speakers showcased how human empathy and problem-solving can combine with technology to transform lives (and banking) for the better.

The event: TED@WellsFargo, a day of thought-provoking talks on topics including how to handle challenging situations at work, the value of giving back and why differences can be strengths. It’s the first time TED and Wells Fargo have partnered to create inspiring talks from Wells Fargo Team Members.

When and where: Wednesday, February 5, 2020, at the Knight Theater in Charlotte, North Carolina

Opening and closing remarks: David Galloreese, Wells Fargo Head of Human Resources, and Jamie Moldafsky, Wells Fargo Chief Marketing Officer

Performances by: Dancer Simone Cooper and singer/songwriter Jason Jet and his band

The talks in brief:

Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez, sales and trading analyst

Big idea: As an immigrant, learning to thrive in America while watching other immigrants struggle oddly echoes what flight attendants instruct us to do when the oxygen masks drop in an emergency landing: if you want to help others put on their masks, you must put on your own mask first.

How? At age 15, Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez found herself alone in the US when her parents were forced to return to Mexico, taking her eight-year-old brother with them. For eight years, she diligently completed her education — and grappled with guilt, believing she wasn’t doing enough to aid fellow immigrants. Now working as a sales and trading analyst while guiding her brother through school in New York, she’s learned a valuable truth: in an emergency, you can’t save others until you save yourself.

Quote of the talk: “Immigrants [can’t] and will never be able to fit into any one narrative, because most of us are actually just traveling along a spectrum, trying to survive.”

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Matt Trombley, customer remediation supervisor

Big idea: Agonism — “taking a warlike stance in contexts that are not literally war” — plagues many aspects of modern-day life, from the way we look at our neighbors to the way we talk about politics. Can we work our way out of this divisive mindset?

How: Often we think that those we disagree with are our enemies, or that we must approve of everything our loved ones say or believe. Not surprisingly, this is disastrous for relationships. Matt Trombley shows us how to fight agonism by cultivating common ground (working to find just a single shared thread with someone) and by forgiving others for the slights that we believe their values cause us. If we do this, our relationships will truly come to life.

Quote of the talk: “When you can find even the smallest bit of common ground with somebody, it allows you to understand just the beautiful wonder and complexity and majesty of the other person.”

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Dorothy Walker, project manager

Big idea: Anybody can help resolve a conflict — between friends, coworkers, strangers, your children — with three simple steps.

How? Step one: prepare. Whenever possible, set a future date and time to work through a conflict, when emotions aren’t running as high. Step two: defuse and move forward. When you do begin mediating the conflict, start off by observing, listening and asking neutral questions; this will cause both parties to stop and think, and give you a chance to shift positive energy into the conversation. Finally, step three: make an agreement. Once the energy of the conflict has settled, it’s time to get an agreement (either written or verbal) so everybody can walk away with a peaceful resolution.

Quote of the talk: “There is a resolution to all conflicts. It just takes your willingness to try.”

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Charles Smith, branch manager

Big idea: The high rate of veteran suicide is intolerable — and potentially avoidable. By prioritizing the mental health of military service members both during and after active duty, we can save lives.

How? There are actionable solutions to end the devastating epidemic of military suicide, says Charles Smith. First, by implementing a standard mental health evaluation to military applicants, we can better gauge the preliminary markers of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression. Data is a vital part of the solution: if we keep better track of mental health data on service members, we can also predict where support is most needed and create those structures proactively. By identifying those with a higher risk early on in their military careers, we can ensure they have appropriate care during their service and connect them to the resources they need once they are discharged, enabling veterans to securely and safely rejoin civilian life.

Quote of the talk: “If we put our minds and resources together, and we openly talk and try to find solutions for this epidemic, hopefully, we can save a life.”

Rob Cooke, premier banker

Big idea: Work-related stress costs us a lot, in our lives and the economy. We need to reframe the way we manage stress — both in our workplaces and in our minds.

How? “We tend to think of [stress] as a consequence, but I see it as a culture,” says Rob Cooke. Despite massive global investments in the wellness industry, we are still losing trillions of dollars due to a stress-related decrease in employee productivity and illness. Cooke shares a multifaceted approach to shifting the way stress is managed, internally and culturally. It starts with corporations prioritizing the well-being of employees, governments incentivizing high standards for workplace wellness and individually nurturing our relationship with our own mental health.

Quote of the talk: “We all know retirement is all about saving more now, for later. What if we treated our mental health and overall well-being in the same capacity? Develop and save more of you now, for later in life.”

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Aeris Nguyen, learning and development facilitator

Big idea: What would our world be like if we could use DNA to verify our identity?

Why? Every year, millions of people have their identities stolen or misused. This fact got Aeris Nguyen thinking about how to safeguard our information for good. She shares an ambitious thought experiment, asking: Can we use our own bodies to verify our selves? While biometric data such as facial or palm print recognition have their own pitfalls (they can be easily fooled by, say, wearing a specially lighted hat or using a wax hand), what if we could use our DNA — our blood, hair or earwax? Nguyen acknowledges the ethical dilemmas and logistical nightmares that would come with collecting and storing more than seven billion files of DNA, but she can’t help but wonder if someday, in the far future, this will become the norm.

Quote of the talk: “Don’t you find it strange that we carry around these arbitrary, government assigned numbers or pieces of paper with our picture on it and some made-up passwords to prove we are who we say we are?  When, in fact, the most rock-solid proof of our identity is something we carry around in our cells — our DNA.”

France Villarta, communications consultant

Big idea: Modern ideas of gender are much older than we may think.

How? In many cultures around the world, the social construct of gender is binary — man or woman, assigned certain characteristics and traits, all designated by biological sex. But that’s not the case for every culture. France Villarta details the gender-fluid history of his native Philippines and how the influence of colonial rule forced narrow-minded beliefs onto its people. In a talk that’s part cultural love letter, part history lesson, Villarta emphasizes the beauty and need in reclaiming gender identities. “Oftentimes, we think of something as strange only because we’re not familiar with it or haven’t taken enough time to try and understand,” he says. “The good thing about social constructs is that they can be reconstructed — to fit a time and age.”

Quote of the talk: “To anyone reeling from forces trying to knock you down and cram you into these neat little boxes people have decided for you — don’t break. I see you. My ancestors see you. Their blood runs through me as they run through so many of us. You are valid. And you deserve rights and recognition. Just like everyone else.”

Dean Furness, analytic consultant

Big idea: You can overcome personal challenges by focusing on yourself, instead of making comparisons to others.

How? After a farming accident paralyzed Dean Furness below the waist, he began the process of adjusting to life in a wheelchair. He realized he’d have to nurture and focus on this new version of himself, rather than fixate on his former height, strength and mobility. With several years of rehabilitation and encouragement from his physical therapist, Furness began competing in the Chicago and Boston marathons as a wheelchair athlete. By learning how to own each day, he says, we can all work to get better, little by little.

Quote of the talk: “Take some time and focus on you, instead of others. I bet you can win those challenges and really start accomplishing great things.”

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John Puthenveetil, financial advisor

Big idea: Because of the uncertain world we live in, many seek solace from “certainty merchants” — like physicians, priests and financial advisors. Given the complex, chaotic mechanisms of our economy, we’re better off discarding “certainty” for better planning.

How? We must embrace adaptable plans that address all probable contingencies, not just the most obvious ones. This is a crucial component of “scenario-based planning,” says John Puthenveetil. We should always aim for being approximately right rather than precisely wrong. But this only works if we pay attention, heed portents of possible change and act decisively — even when that’s uncomfortable.

Quote of the talk: “It is up to us to use [scenario-based planning] wisely: Not out of a sense of weakness or fear, but out of the strength and conviction that comes from knowing that we are prepared to play the hand that is dealt.”

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Johanna Figueira, digital marketing consultant

Big idea: The world is more connected than ever, but some communities are still being cut off from vital resources. The solution? Digitally matching professional expertise with locals who know what their communities really need.

How? Johanna Figueira is one of millions who has left Venezuela due to economic crisis, crumbling infrastructure and decline in health care — but she hasn’t left these issues behind. With the help of those still living in the country, Figueira helped organize Code for Venezuela — a platform that matches experts with communities in need to create simple, effective tools to improve quality of life. She shares two of their most successful projects: MediTweet, an intelligent Twitter bot that helps Venezuelans find medicinal supplies, and Blackout Tracker, a tool that helps pinpoint power cuts in Venezuela that the government won’t report. Her organization shows the massive difference made when locals participate in their own solutions.

Quote of the talk: “Some people in Silicon Valley may look at these projects and say that they’re not major technological innovations. But that’s the point. These projects are not insanely advanced — but it’s what the people of Venezuela need, and they can have a tremendous impact.”

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Jeanne Goldie, branch sales manager

Big idea: We’re looking for dynamic hotbeds of innovation in all the wrong places.

How? Often, society looks to the young for the next big thing, leaving older generations to languish in their shadow until being shuffled out altogether, taking their brain power and productivity with them. Instead of discarding today’s senior workforce, Jeanne Goldie suggests we tap into their years of experience and retrain them, just as space flight has moved from the disposable rockets of NASA’s moon launches to today’s reusable Space X models.

Quote of the talk: “If we look at data and technology as the tools they are … but not as the answer, we can come up with better solutions to our most challenging problems.”

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Rebecca Knill, business systems consultant

Big idea: By shifting our cultural understanding of ability and using technology to connect, we can build a more inclusive and human world.

How? The medical advances of modern technology have improved accessibility for disabled communities. Rebecca Knill, a self-described cyborg who has a cochlear implant, believes the next step to a more connected world is changing our perspectives. For example, being deaf isn’t shameful or pitiful, says Knill — it’s just a different way of navigating the world. To take full advantage of the fantastic opportunities new technology offers us, we must drop our assumptions and meet differences with empathy.

Quote of the talk: “Technology has come so far. Our mindset just needs to catch up.”

Anastasia Penright, business consultant

Big idea: No workplace is immune to drama, but there are steps we can follow to remove ourselves from the chatter and focus on what’s really important.

How? No matter your industry, chances are you’ve experienced workplace drama. In a funny and relatable talk, Anastasia Penright shares a better way to coexist with our coworkers using five simple steps she’s taken to leave drama behind and excel in her career. First, we must honestly evaluate our own role in creating and perpetuating conflicts; then evaluate our thoughts and stop thinking about every possible scenario. Next, it’s important to release our negative energy to a trusted confidant (a “venting buddy”) while trying to understand and accept the unique communication styles and work languages of our colleagues. Finally, she says, we need to recognize when we’re about to step into drama and protect our energy by simply walking away.

Quote of the talk: “We have to learn to accept where people are and adjust ourselves to handle those situations … to recognize when it is time to professionally walk away from someone.”