TEDxAtlanta has announced the lineup for its inaugural TEDxAtlanta Youth conference, scheduled for the afternoon of Oct. 3 at Atlanta International School in Sandy Springs. The event, part of TEDxAtlanta 2026's Bold. Brave. Unbreakable. season, will feature speakers aged 16 to 23 and an intergenerational On the Spot conversation, according to a press release.
Organizers said the Youth conference aims to highlight how young people are not just inheritors of the future but active participants in creating it now. The program is divided into two parts: Seen and Unleashed, moving from recognition to agency.
Jacqui Chew, TEDxAtlanta licensee and organizer, said in the release, "Young people hear constantly that they are the future. We were much more interested in what they have to say about the present. 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 Seen segment explores what changes when young people's experiences are taken seriously. Temple Lester, a STEM advocate, will discuss what ideas are missed when young people are told to wait their turn, drawing on her experience being sidelined at science camp as the only girl. Nidhi Madam, a language and culture explorer, will delve into how artificial intelligence can translate words without understanding the cultural context, a discovery she made after a K-drama binge led her to Korean and back to her family's Telugu.
The segment also includes an On the Spot conversation between entrepreneur Zoe Oli and her mother, Evana Oli, examining the dynamics when a child's idea becomes a real enterprise.
The Unleashed segment turns to action, with young innovators questioning existing systems. Kanushi Dua, a circular systems designer, will discuss why children's clothing is treated as disposable and how AI might offer solutions. Ian Sun, a community-centered technologist, will ask who gets a say in how AI is built. Akos Vida, an accessibility innovator, will challenge assumptions about who belongs in the design process, based on his experience building a gaming controller. Ethan Benater, a possibility engineer, will share his work on a vaping-cessation solution, raising questions about what young people can create when they refuse to accept entrenched problems.
The conference follows the TEDxAtlanta main conference and will feature back-to-school ticket prices for both events and Complete Passes that include both. TEDxAtlanta, Georgia's largest TED affiliate, has been organizing community-led events since 2009, with over two dozen speakers featured on TED. The event is an initiative of the nonprofit Ideas into Action, and more information is available at TEDxAtlanta.com.
TEDxAtlanta Youth is significant because it provides a platform for young voices to address pressing global issues, potentially influencing how technology, sustainability, and entrepreneurship are approached. By centering on youth perspectives, the conference challenges traditional power dynamics and may inspire similar initiatives elsewhere.
