• Jackson Theater at Sonoma Country Day School
  • March 7, 2026
NEWSLETTER

Speakers

Get a front-row seat to the diverse minds of the most forward-thinking innovators in Sonoma, and hear how they are learning from the past, refining our present, and looking ahead to the future. Our 2026 lineup of speakers will be announced soon!

2025 Speaker Lineup

Jay Alexander

A Magical Experience

Juanita Capri Brown

Telling On Yourself

Nathan Cottam Mannakin Theater and Dance

Nathan Cottam

Bridging Through Dance

Kimberly Deterline

Resilience is a Team Sport

Maria Fernandez Guajardo

Solving for Speed

dr jennifer garrsion

Jennifer Garrison, PhD

Women's Health is Human Health

Ross Halleck

Time Traveling with Wine

Carla Johnson

Curious Once More

Miles Levin

Miles Levin

Why You Should Give Up on Your Dreams

Sally Srok

Loving Life's Curveballs

Daniel Weinzveg

The Surprising Cure for Loneliness

Jamie Woolf & Dr. Christopher Bell

Why Good People Become Bad Bosses

Check Out Previous Events

Watch talks from our 2025 Program, "Bridging Together" on You Tube

A Magical Experience
Jay Alexander

Telling on Yourself
Juanita Capri Brown

Bridging Through Dance
Nathan Cottam

Why Resilience is a Team Sport
Nathan Cottam

Solving for Speed
Maria Fernandez Guajardo

Women’s Health is Human Health
Jennifer Garrison, PhD

Could AI Bring Back Curiosity?
Carla Johnson

Why You Should Give Up on Your Dreams
Miles Levin

Three Tools to Deal with Life’s Curveballs
Sally Srok

The Surprising Cure for Loneliness
Daniel Weinzveg

Why Good People Become Bad Bosses
Jamie Woolf and Dr. Chris Bell

Check Out Previous Events

Watch talks from our 2024 Program, "Reimagine, Reconfigure, Reconnect" on You Tube

Bridging Divides for a More Courageous Democracy
Brooke Deterline

Daniela Fernandez
The Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Do

Cal Fussman
Connecting Through the Greats

Dawn Gross
Ask: The Time is Now

Quinn Halleck
Does Film Survive AI?

Luz Hernandez
Paying It Forward and Back

Guy Kawasaki
How to Murder Your Mediocrity

Alex Lazarow
The Great Diffusion

Jess Nichol
Three Strikes Injustice

Steve Pile AND Jali Bakary Konteh
Griot Music of West Africa

Mark Shapiro
Making Friends as an Adult

Check Out Previous Events

Watch talks from our 2023 Program, "This is Us" on You Tube

The Amazing Power of Awe
Jonah Paquette

Moving Beyond Boundaries
Diana Elizabeth Jordan

Burning Man: Art on Fire
Jennifer Raiser

The Future of AI
Peter Graf

Let Go and Collaborate
Gary Hirsch

Music is US
Santa Rosa Youth Symphony Orchestra

The $200 That Could Save Your Life
Tara Jasper

Protecting Earth: An Astronaut’s Perspective
Rusty Schweickart

Native Hands, Native Lands
Melissa Nelson

Fostering Differences on Common Ground
Larkin O’Leary

The Gaming Connection
Angela Roseboro

Speaker Submission

Do you have an idea worth spreading?

Thank you for your interest in speaking at TEDxSonomaCounty. Speaker submissions are now closed.

Please note that due to TED policies and regulations, personal growth coaches will not be considered.

Jay Alexander

Jay Alexander is a master magician and mentalist with over 30 years of experience entertaining audiences from Fortune 500 companies to intimate private gatherings. His performances are not just shows; they are finely tuned experiences that captivate and involve guests with a unique blend of comedy, magic, and mind reading.

Jay is also the star of Mind Tricks Live! at the San Francisco Magic Theater at the Marrakech, the highest-rated show in San Francisco. His unparalleled ability to engage and amaze audiences has made him a sought-after entertainer for exclusive events and corporate gatherings worldwide. jayalexander.com

Juanita Capri Brown

Juanita Capri Brown’s life’s work is the transformation of individuals, relationships, and groups towards greater interconnectedness, equity, and liberation. 

Through her societal equity consulting practice, Juanita designs experiences that help people in the public, non-profit, government and education sectors undertake breakthrough dialogues, operationalize equitable systems and cultivate restorative relationships. 

Juanita is an artist, dancer, choreographer, and writer. She wrote, produced and performed a multimedia one-person show in 2019 in Oakland, California. She also facilitated and co-produced the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.  After the film’s debut at Sundance Film Festival, she co-founded the Tracing Center on Histories and Legacies of Slavery and served on its board of directors.

Juanita received an undergraduate degree from Stanford and earned her masters of Public Policy at University of California at Berkeley, where she taught at the graduate level. www.jcbrown-associates.com

Nathan Cottam Mannakin Theater and Dance

Nathan Cottam

Nathan Cottam is a dancer and choreographer devoted to welcoming more people into the appreciation and performance of dance and theater arts. Nathan founded Mannakin Theater and Dance in Belgrade in 2013. In 2016, San Francisco became its permanent home. With his company, Nathan has created many new dances, produced three tours of Serbia, and conducted outreach with Syrian and Afghani refugees in Bulgaria and young children in California. Mannakin Theater & Dance operates the iMPACt Center for Art & Dance in San Francisco and the en Avant School in East Palo Alto.

The mission of Mannakin Theater & Dance is to expand the world of the performing arts by inviting new individuals and demographics to rich experiences in theater seats, inside the learning studio and underneath the stage lights. Their works gather a racially and ethnically diverse audience by engaging creators and artists from a wide range of communities, including Latino, Chinese, Indian and African American. mannakindance.org

Kimberly Deterline

Kimberly Deterline has spent 30 years working on communications and advocacy for criminal justice reform and equity. She founded a national narrative change firm called We Interrupt This Message, which helped reform juvenile and criminal justice policy across the country, free innocent young men jailed due to racial prejudice and remove an officer with a history of brutality from the San Francisco Police Department. Her clients have included CNN’s Van Jones and non-profit organizations across the country. For the last 8 years, she’s directed training and communications strategy for the Alliance for Safety and Justice, which advocates for community-based strategies that reduce crime and violence.

Maria Fernandez Guajardo

Maria Fernandez Guajardo has guided companies of all sizes, from startups to giants like Meta and Google, in bringing cutting-edge products to market at a global scale. Her recent book, Sail to Scale: Steer Your Startup Clear of Mistakes from Launch to Exit (2024), offers vital insights for entrepreneurs.

Presently, Maria serves as a Senior Director of Product Management at Google, leading the global product team at Gmail and enhancing user productivity with AI innovations. Maria has been recognized as one of the top 40 leaders in the Bay Area by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and as a top Latino influencer in tech by CNET. Maria holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. 

dr jennifer garrsion

Jennifer Garrison, PhD

Jennifer Garrison, PhD, is a passionate and vocal advocate for women’s health and is pioneering a global movement to advance science focused on understanding the fundamental drivers of female aging as Co-Founder and Executive Director of ProductiveHealth.org (formerly GCRLE). She is also a faculty member at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, where she leads the Center for Healthy Aging in Women and holds secondary appointments in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF and the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at USC. Her research lab at the Buck Institute studies mind-body communication, particularly how age-related changes in the chemical conversation between ovaries and brain may lead to accelerated aging in females. Her goal is to discover how and why ovaries age before other tissues and use that knowledge to extend healthspan in women.

Ross Halleck

Ross Halleck’s wine journey began in 1980 when he founded a branding agency, with offices in Silicon Valley and Sonoma County, focusing on his twin passions – high technology and wine.

In 1992, Ross planted a Pinot Noir vineyard on the Sonoma Coast. His first vintage was judged the #1 Pinot Noir in North America. Halleck Vineyard wines have been judged #1 Pinot in the US four times, earning over 100 Gold, Double Gold, and Best of Class medals in national and international competitions.

The pursuit of consciousness has been a persistent calling in Ross’s life, leading to study of the Torah, the Bible, Sufi mysticism, yoga, and meditation. Several years ago, Ross became interested in plant medicine and wine as an entheogen. In partnership with local Shaman, Jens Jarvie, Ross holds workshops to explore how wine, music, and ritual can potentiate the sacred inner journey.  halleckvineyard.com

Carla Johnson

As a world-leading Innovation Architect and the CEO of RE:Think Labs, Carla Johnson has been breaking the status quo all her life. In 20 years of working with leaders, she’s learned that the safest bet is often the riskiest move. Through years of research and authoring numerous best-selling books, she’s developed frameworks and processes that teach people how to redefine what innovation means in their company, and then equips teams to make innovation everybody’s business. This ultimately leads to inspired thinking and audacious outcomes.

 Carla’s focus on “applied curiosity” transforms organizations. She believes curiosity fuels creativity and that it is particularly critical in the world of AI. While technology and generative AI have exploded, pushing the boundaries of what we believe is possible; the ability to think creatively is the one core human truth that will remain relevant in this brave new world. carlajohnson.co

Miles Levin

Miles Levin

Miles Levin is an award-winning writer, director, and disability advocate sitting on the board of two epilepsy foundations. His original short and now full-length feature film, Under the Lights, drawn from his own diagnosis and experience, has sparked a worldwide movement surrounding epilepsy portrayal on screen. 1 in 26 people have epilepsy. Under the Lights seeks to break cruel stigmas and build understanding for those dealing with the condition. After a lifetime of living with epilepsy, Miles is very proud to have turned it into something socially beneficial and to be able to use storytelling as a means to create empathy for our shared humanity.

Miles is also passionate about supporting young people as they come of age in an uncertain world. He believes that helping them explore the differences between purpose, fulfillment, and happiness will allow them to navigate the future successfully. underthelightsfilm.com    

Sally Srok

Sally Srok is an accomplished author, wine industry professional, executive coach and transformative leader known for her impactful memoirs, The New Jew: An Unexpected Conversion and Bonus Round: A Gay Ex-Husband, a Divorce, and a Life Reimagined. Her writing delves into the profound power of change and personal reinvention, with the goal of helping others find themselves in the pages of her stories.

With a diverse background, Sally has applied her insights to enhance leadership across a variety of sectors, including wineries, law firms, non-profits, and higher education. She is a sought-after public speaker and workshop facilitator, dedicated to teaching the dynamics of transformation. Additionally, she serves as an adjunct professor in California Community and State Colleges, where she inspires students with her expertise and passion for growth. Through her work, Sally continues to empower individuals and organizations to embrace change and unlock their potential. sallysrok.com

Daniel Weinzveg

Daniel Weinzveg is an Organizational Development expert who transforms groups into connected teams through playful, impactful retreats, workshops and trainings. For over a decade, Daniel has helped companies and non-profits improve communications, collaboration and performance.

Daniel’s unique approach is rooted in the belief that each of us has a rich cultural heritage, which includes how we gather with food, music and movement, that has the power to deepen and reinforce community. He shares how we can promote belonging, combat isolation and foster authentic connection by acknowledging one another’s cultures and stories and through inviting non-normative forms of expression.

Daniel is also the author of Generating Group Genius, a practical guide for those who want to hack the human habit of groupthink and harness the power of collective action.

Outside work Daniel enjoys yoga, playing guitar, exploring nature, meditating, and free diving.

dweinzveg.com

Jamie Woolf & Dr. Christopher Bell

Jamie Woolf is a renowned innovation cultivator, facilitator, and CEO of Creativity Partners. She was the first Director of Culture at Pixar Animation Studios, where she was recruited to be a force for “constructive disruption.” She consults with leaders in the healthcare, tech, government, higher education, and entertainment industries.                               

With 30+ years of experience practicing organizational psychology, Jamie works with leaders to cultivate healthy, innovative cultures.       

               

Dr. Christopher Bell is a nationally recognized, award-winning speaker and scholar who helps audiences discover the power of storytelling in building healthy relationships, workplace cultures, and organizations.

He is President at Creativity Partners and Executive in Residence in the College of Media, Communication, and Information at the University of Colorado.

Chris is a 1.3+ million views TEDx speaker and a David Letterman Award winning media scholar who uses storytelling and play to unlock creative innovation for organizations.

creativity-partners.com