TEDXSeattle

Debra Music, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Theo Chocolate

Debra’s background combines her degrees in philosophy and developmental psychology with many years as a strategic brand and cause related marketing consultant for both Fortune 100 companies and public health care systems in the US and abroad. As Joe Whinney’s ex-wife, she took a 3,000 mile leap of faith and moved to Seattle with him to launch Theo Chocolate in 2004.

Theo’s brand values reflects Debra’s core belief that doing well in the world is inextricably linked with doing good.

Joe Whinney, Founder and CEO, Theo Chocolate

After spending many years researching sustainable agricultural and agro-forestry in the humid tropics, Joe pioneered the organic cocoa and chocolate market into the US in the early 90’s. Many years later, Theo Chocolate is the culmination of Joe’s experiences working with cacao farmers and his expertise in navigating the economics of cocoa and chocolate manufacturing from beans to finished confections. Joe’s dedication to the fundamental principle that there is no luxury in products that benefit us today, while depleting the resources of future generations is at the core of Theo’s mission and vision as a company.

David Edelstein, Director of the Grameen Technology Center (GTC), Vice President of Technology Programs at Grameen Foundation

David Edelstein is the Director of the Grameen Technology Center (GTC) and the Vice President of Technology Programs at Grameen Foundation. He guides the foundation’s efforts to create innovative and sustainable approaches for using technology to benefit the world’s poor.

The GTC develops tools and services that leverage technology to put information and capital into the hands of the poor and those serving their needs. This includes an open source software platform (Mifos) which extends the scale and impact of Microfinance Institutions. The GTC also has extensive experience working with mobile phones, delivering services that put vital information on health, agriculture and other topics directly to people with access to basic mobile phones. Together with Google and MTN Uganda, Grameen Foundation’s Application Laboratory was awarded the Global Mobile Award for the “Best Use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development”.

Prior to joining the Grameen Foundation, David spent three years at Microsoft designing business models to provide affordable technology products for people in emerging markets. David also worked in Brazil for four years, with the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he developed business strategies tailored to the needs of consumers and businesses in developing countries. Previously, David conducted economic analyses and evaluated public policy with the White House Council of Economic Advisers and with Resources For the Future.

Ignacio Mas -  Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Ignacio Mas is a Deputy Director in Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Most recently, he served as a Senior Adviser in the Technology Program at CGAP.  Prior to joining CGAP in September 2007, Ignacio was Executive VP of Marketing and Account Management at interTouch (an NTT-DoCoMo Group Company), Director of Global Business Strategy at Vodafone Group, and Senior Manager responsible for telecoms investments in Europe at Intel Capital (Intel Corp’s venture capital arm). He has also been a consultant, and was at the World Bank in the early part of his career, where he worked on financial sector reforms in Latin America as well as in the Treasury department. Ignacio has been a Visiting Professor of International Business at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. He holds undergraduate degrees in mathematics and economics from MIT and a PhD in economics from Harvard University.

Scott Macklin – Bridging Community and Education (South Africa and Seattle)

Scott serves on the advisory board of the Head Start Center for Inclusion and on board of the South African NGO Saving our Schools and Community (SOSAC).

Scott – along with his wife, Angelica and two children, Case (11) and Nikko (6) – makes award-winning documentary films, raises chickens and brews up bio-fuel. Scott uses social media as a powerful tool for learning and building meaningful relationships that create opportunities to engage in acts of social justice. You can get a glimpse of some of his work at: http://www.vimeo.com/openhandreel/videos

Fiona Lee – Google

Fiona Lee is the Africa Project Manager for Google. Under her leadership, Google embarked on a multi-player partnership with the Grameen Foundation and MTN Uganda to launch Google SMS in June 2009. Google SMS is a suite of mobile applications that allows a user to find information on topics as diverse as sexual & reproductive health, and agriculture to sports scores and weather. It also includes a new marketplace application, Google Trader, that has help buyers and sellers find each other. In February 2010, the Google SMS initiative won a Global Mobile Award the for “Best Use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development.”

Elan Lee, Founder/Chief Designer at Fourth Wall Studios

One of the inventors of the Alternate Reality Game genre, Elan has spent his career finding and sharing ways to extract adventure from the world around us. From designing storylines and characters for Halo, to broadcasting a radio drama over thousands of ringing payphones, Elan has pioneered breakthroughs in the area of entertainment and immersive gaming. Elan started his career at the Microsoft Games Studio where he was a Lead Designer for the X-Box launch portfolio. Next, he co-founded and served as the Vice President of 42 Entertainment (the company behind I Love Bees, Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero, and The Dark Knight.) Elan was also the Co-Founder of EDOC Laundry, a company that embeds secret narratives in clothing.

Elan has spoken all over the world on the future of gaming. He has been featured in WIRED magazine, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and the Wall Street Journal. He has won awards for best web game of the year, best advertising campaign of the year, and best idea of the year. Also, his mom claims he’s a very nice boy.

Amanda Koster – Founder of SalaamGarage

Amanda Koster is an internationally acclaimed photographer who combines her anthropology background with media skills to create projects about human rights, cultural diversity and global equality. She has received numerous awards and grants for these projects around the world.

She is the founder of SalaamGarage and organization which connects citizen journalists with international NGOs and local non-profits. She created SalaamGarage for a few reasons 1) many asked “Can I Come With You” [on her international projects] 2) wondered what would happen if tourists visited an NGO and added that to their photo album 3) wondered what would happen if people plugged intentional, powerful content into their social media sites.

Her book “Can I Come with You?” (Bennett & Hastings, 2008) is a collection of over a decade of international social documentary projects, including excerpts from her personal journals. Currently Amanda is working with the NYU Dept. of Global Health creating a multi-media project related to HIV/AIDS research and tech in Kenya and also with the International YWCA creating a multi-media project, “African Women of Empowerment,” which begins in South Africa.

Ron Krabill – Associate Professor in Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences – University of Washington

Ron teaches in the fields of media and cultural studies, particularly as they relate to politics and social change. He is also affiliated with the Department of Communication and the African Studies Program on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington, and is the Project Director of “My World Cup,” a transnational community media project aimed at producing and disseminating short media pieces made by South African youth during the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He is the author of Starring Mandela and Cosby: Media and the End(s) of Apartheid (2010) and is the recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Teaching Award.

Ben Huh – icanhascheezburger.com

Ben is the CEO of the Cheezburger Network, the company behind the hugely popular blogs I Can Has Cheezburger?, FAIL Blog, There, I Fixed It, and more than 25 others. His job is to make the Internet laugh for 5-minutes a day. In addition to making people laugh, Ben is a a true innovator in business models for user generated content websites.

Martha Gonzalez – Fandango Without Borders

Martha Gonzalez will speak about another technology for building cross cultural community through her with with the Fandango Without Borders. The Seattle Fandango Project is dedicated to building relationships through participatory music. Its supporters include the American Music Partnership of Seattle (AMPS–a collaboration between EMP, KEXP, and the University of Washington), the UW School of Music, UW Department of Women Studies, UW School of Social Work, UW Dance Program, UW Diversity Research Institute, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, El Centro de La Raza, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and The Vera Project.