TEDxCUNY is CUNY’s student-run organization created to bring the goal of TED, to CUNY. Established in 2014, TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. TEDx events are independently organized, TED-licensed events that embody the same goal as other TED conferences. TEDxCUNY is CUNY’s version of TED.
Emily Madray and Saanvi Goyal are the co-lead organizers of TEDxCUNY. They are both undergraduate CUNY students who greatly appreciate TED talks.
“Spreading ideas and spreading education is something that really resonated with me as an individual. TED’s mission is ideas worth spreading, and I know that if I was able to join the team, I’d have that direct opportunity to really just amplify voices and amplify education that typically you don’t really get unless you’re in a classroom. But with TED talks you’re able to really gain a nuanced understanding on a variety of different topics,” Madray said to The Ticker.
TEDxCUNY holds annual TED conferences and this year’s conference theme is “unravel.” “The main point that we want to make at this conference is really just making complicated things simple and really unraveling,” Madray explained.
She continued to explain that the conference will focus on simplifying complicated concepts and encourage people to detangle their preconceived notions that a subject or situation is too difficult.
“So, we have speakers that will be talking about AI, climate change, art, all of these things that can really just seem very complex and very difficult to understand. Their talks will be essentially unraveling what these subjects are, as leaders in their field,” Madray said.
Another main mission of the organization is to amplify CUNY voices.
A total of nine speakers will be at the event in April, all of whom are CUNY-affiliated, including Brian Haggerty, an adjunct science professor at Baruch College.
The organization hopes that the attendees will leave with many new experiences through the workshops, performances and speakers that will be at the event.
CUNY is a huge university system with 25 institutions and over 500,000 students, so TEDxCUNY’s goal with this upcoming conference is to establish a place where CUNY students can connect and get together in smaller groups. At the same time, they learn and try new things.
“A main driver that we really hope students and all attendees get is really just a way to connect with one another again. Especially because of Covid, it’s gotten a little harder to do that,” Madray said. She hopes to “establish a place where people can learn, people can grow. People, can, you know, make new friends and really just see all of the amazing things that are happening at CUNY.”
TEDxCUNY has overcome many obstacles due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, TEDxCUNY had its first in-person conference after four years. This conference was difficult for Madray and Goyal’s team to plan.
“2023 was really our year back and it was our way to reintroduce ourselves to the CUNY community, like what the heck is TEDxCUNY, that’s what that conference was about,” Madray said.
“We have our logistics and engagement team, which is dedicated toward our partners, our swag bag partners, things you get in your swag bags, and we have a budget and finance team which is dedicated to finding sponsors. So, these two teams work all year round just to make sure that we have these products, we have these sponsors. I think it’s a lot of hard work which goes into this,” Goyal said.
Attendees can expect a variety of activities such as yoga lessons, dance workshops and professional development throughout the event.
TEDxCUNY’s Unravel conference will be held on Friday, Apr. 12, at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater.
Tickets are free for CUNY students with a valid CUNY ID until Apr. 11. Tickets will also be sold for $5 at the door on the day of the event.
All attendees will also be given a swag bag filled with free products from sponsors at the end of the event.
Editor’s Note: Maya Demchak-Gottlieb, The Ticker’s editor-in-chief is the director for TEDxCUNY’s Speakers and Programming Team. She had no involvement in the editorial process for this article.
