Happenings - Our Stories

Lauren Jacobs is a ‘Her’storian, a word she chooses to describe herself as she is passionate about discovering and sharing women’s stories, especially from the past. She hopes the TEDxCapeTown speaker experience will be filled with personal growth and fresh vision for the future. She adds that, “I hope to see lives changed. I hope the audience will be deeply moved, especially women when they hear that their stories and their lives hold unique value and deserve to be preserved for future generations. We all are a living story and we will leave something behind that deserves re-telling.”  

Dr Nicki Spies is a corporate coach, trainer, facilitator, gender discourse analyst and narrative practitioner. She’s inspired by observing positive change in individuals, seeing them own who they are and being more comfortable with their sexuality and in their relationships.

Gill Grose describes herself simply as a sixty-something serial volunteer who is a book, travel and tree lover, but there is far more to her story.

When the ex-librarian retired more than eight years ago, Gill looked for something constructive to keep her occupied and through a series of events she landed up volunteering 30 minutes of her time twice a week to help children who were struggling at school.

Penni Cox is a well established psychologist spending the past decade working in a variety of contexts, from patient clinics to private practice, and the humanitarian sector. These roles in the world of psychology, contributed to her vast experience in working with addiction, adolescents, as well as family and organisational systems.

The talented Preston Jongbloed loves people, something that shines through in every project he takes on whether it is public speaking or presenting on the radio. He currently dedicates much of his time to the Refocus Foundation, an organisation which specialises in working with youth at risk. This opportunity has provided him a platform to inspire troubled youth and prisoners, and change their lives for the better.

Verity is a former singer/songwriter who became one of the forerunners of crowdfunding in South Africa when she sold 2000 copies of her album that ‘didn’t exist’ in 2006. As a result, she is a sought after speaker on innovation and the power of thinking differently, and now owns and runs TAP Results where she’s a full-time speaker and facilitator.

Sam Beckbessinger is a writer, user-experience designer and entrepreneur who is on a quest to help the emerging middle class understand how to take charge of their finances. Author of ‘Manage Your Money Like a F*cking Grown Up’, she is also a co-founder of Lettuce, an app that wants to make managing your money as simple as making toast.

Jared Molko is an ex-Googler who has worked across Africa, Europe and the Middle East, training and educating people on Google products and delivering digital transformation programmes to top multi-nationals across the globe. He is now focusing his attention towards the intersection between technology and psychology, more specifically, leveraging data-driven intelligence to improve job placement and skills development.

Tegan Phillips is an adventurer, avid cyclist, comic artist and the creator of Unclipped Adventure comics. She regards adventure as a privilege, which urges one to see the world differently, and furthermore realise the possibilities for creating one’s own freedom and happiness.

Ndoni Mcunu is a PhD Candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Global Change Institute and the Founder & CEO of Black Women in Science (BWIS). She's passionate about improving the lives of our youth, specifically young women. “I believe that education is a tool to enable improved and informed personal and professional decisions. It could also be a tool to empowering rural and disadvantaged young women to improve their livelihood, ” she says.

On the 18th September 2018 our team decided to take up the opportunity to try something new, in a space we’ve recently been welcomed to utilise.

What We Do: Take TEDx beyond the stage to new audiences, to expose, engage and inspire 'ideas worth spreading'

Every year, Greenpop - in partnership with the Platbos Forest Reserve - brings people together in the Platbos Forest to plant thousands of trees, dance to live local bands, learn from sustainability leaders, camp under the stars, and be inspired by collective action.

Meet Dane Rossenrode, TEDxCapeTown’s Web and IT Team Lead. Dane has been part of the family since 2015, after he came to hear about TEDx through Kirsten Eddy, a friend and past TEDxCapeTown team member. He recalls hearing about the Open Day via Facebook, decided to attend, and has been volunteering since.

Here follows a small introduction to the force of nature that is Wyomia Mouwers. Wyomia joined the TEDxCapeTown team in 2015 after attending a recruitment drive and she hasn’t looked back since.

As per usual, the first question on our lips is what exactly drew Wyomia to TEDx and what she loves about working with the TEDxCapeTown team. “I enjoy interacting with like-minded people who want to make a positive contribution in society”, she answered. Furthermore, she boasts about how TEDx enables her to explore and develop skills in a safe environment of encouraging individuals.

Dr. Kerry Sink is the Marine Programme Manager and Principal Scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). She loves what she does, which entails exploring the ocean and mapping all the habitat types in South Africa’s oceans, assessing the state of marine biodiversity, supporting the establishment of Marine Protected Areas, and training a new generation of marine scientists with a passion for sustainable oceans.

Dane Duplessis is based at the port of Cape Town, where he works as a coordinator for the non-profit organisation Biblia, a South African Christian NGO, that inspects boats in an effort to find victims of slave labour. His key responsibility is to create awareness around slave labour among international fisherman that enter the port. “I am passionate about human rights and business governance,” he says.

Tim Conibear is the Founding Director of Waves for Change (W4C), a Surf Therapy organisation that is looking to make the provision of therapy more child-friendly. W4C is a multi-award winning organisation based in Cape Town, led by surfers and mental health professionals, in partnership with township communities and the University of Cape Town.

Michael Markovina, is a Consultant for Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) SmartFish Programme, and the co-founder of Moving Sushi, a non profit company that ‘uses scientific exploration and open access data to better understand the social, economic and biological needs for the conservation and sustainable use of key African marine resources.’ [Source MovingSushi.com]

Meet Richard Hardiman, the CEO of RanMarine Technology BV, an environmental technology company specifically focused on using drones in ports, harbo

Hayley McLellan, an Environmental Campaigner at the Two Oceans Aquarium, is passionate about a healthy environment and conscious, sustainable living choices.

Dr. Serge Raemaekers is the Co-founder and Project Director of ABALOBI, a non-profit organisation. The programme aims to build traditional fishers’ agency to partake in decisions around the state of local marine resources and help fishers empower themselves to connect directly with restaurants and consumers for the sale of their artisanal products.

Professor Wendy Foden is a conservation biologist who focuses on providing scientifically robust and pragmatic support for biodiversity conservation in the face of climate change.

Bronwyn Janse, like many of our other team members, was inspired to join TEDxCapeTown after attending the 2015 main event in Cape Town.

Devon Concar, Storyteller and the Lead of the Community Engagement Portfolio, says he finds it difficult to say no to anything TEDx since he joined the team in 2015.