TEDWomen is a three-day conference about the power of women and girls to be creators and change-makers. The program of speakers, workshops, events — and daring discussions — has sparked some of TED’s most iconic moments yet. TEDWomen 2017, hosted in New Orleans, LA, USA is onto its last day today. The sold out event has featured prominent women from vocalist Deborah Cox to UN High Commissioner Alaa Murabit to 14-year-old inventor and Google Science Fair winner, Anushka Naiknaware.
TEDWomen Theme
The theme for the event is bridges. TED best describes the impact of this subjct matter:
We build them, we traverse them, and sometimes we even burn them, for better or worse. For TEDWomen 2017, we’ll explore the theme of Bridges, in a city full of crossings and connections: New Orleans.
Over the course of six 90-minute sessions of talks, speakers will share ideas from medical to sociological, science, technology and design, as well as relationships, personal stories and perspectives that offer bridges across race, background, belief, opinion and other differences that divide.
Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes speaks at TEDWomen 2017 — Bridges, November 1-3, 2017, Orpheum Theatre, New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Stacie McChesney / TED
Last night, TED hosted a Facebook Live with Artist and poet Cleo Wade. Wade recited a moving poem about being an advocate for love and acceptance in a time when both seem in short supply the previous night. So, in line with the theme of her poem, she addressed some questions about goodness, advocacy and sameness. Her insight serves as a strong summary of the bridges we can build.
Wade argues we should all ¨be good to as many people as possible.¨ She says, ¨I just make sure I look at people and ask them how they´re doing. You can be kind and loving all the time. I don´t think it´s a chore. I think it´s a choice – and it´s free.¨
Host Alaa Murbit speaks at TEDWomen 2017 — Bridges, November 1-3, 2017, Orpheum Theatre, New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Ryan Lash / TED
In short
Women are rising above adversity in a world that denies opportunity. Conferences like TEDWomen empower a generation of women activists, artists, scientisist, entrpreneurs and more. In fact, TED aptly notes that ¨TEDWomen brings together a global community of people interested in exploring how change begins: with innovative thinkers who catalyze ideas toward action. Over the past few years, TEDWomen and TEDxWomen have launched some powerful ideas into the world.¨
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