TEDXSeattle

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.