TEDxUChicago 2012 Team:
Pedro Sánchez de Lozada
is a half-Chilean half-Bolivian student at the University of Chicago and a Co-Director of TEDxUChicago. From a very young age, Pedro's uses his passion for innovation to encourage his peers to integrate technology into their daily lives and teach them about the latest and the greatest. Pedro also enjoys challenging the people around him to confront tradition and depart from their comfort zone in order to discover new ideas and develop their persona. Consequently, he has always been a devoted follower of "Ideas Worth Sharing." Among his passions are entrepreneurship, extreme sports, dance, and his collection of ceramic turtles.
Tiffany Sommadossi
is a fourth year majoring in International Studies and minoring in Human Rights at the University of Chicago, and a Co-Director of TEDxUChicago. Her internships with a political campaign, a patent law firm, and a pro bono asylum project reflect her interest in international law and policy-making. She is passionate about discovering remarkable people and learning what impacts they’re making on the world. As someone who lives her life hopping from one adventure to the next, it’s not unusual to find her doing things like wandering Haiti speaking to local artists, unable to not travel somewhere at least once a month, teaching English in Jordan, or, in the near future running an ultramarathon.
Alberto L. R. Da Costa e Silva
is a third year student in the College majoring in Economics. An international student from Brazil, he discovered TED during his first year at the University of Chicago and jumped at the opportunity of participating in the organization of a TEDx event on campus as the Co-Director of the Sponsors Department. As a student at the University, he has been involved in entrepreneurship competitions and student organizations, and participates in the Chicago Careers in Business Program.In his free time Alberto enjoys reading, drinking coffee, improving his poor guitar and piano skills, and training for triathlons.
Paul Baez
is a 4th year Economics Major, from the Dominican Republic. He forms part of the Chicago Careers in Business Program, and he has done internships in the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Ministry of Finance of the Dominican Republic, and the Illinois Facilities Fund. He was Head of Facilities and Logistics for last year's TEDxUChicago, and continues this position for this year. On his spare time, Paul likes extreme sports like Motocross and Mixed Martial Arts.
Pieter Ouwerkerk
is a fourth year student at the University of Chicago and technology chair of TEDxUChicago. Pieter is a foodie, loving everything from street food to molecular gastronomy, and hopes to open a restaurant one day. In the meantime, Pieter lives and breathes technology and will work for Microsoft upon graduation.
Colin Bohan
is a fourth year in the College double majoring in Sociology and Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies. In addition to working on marketing for TEDxUChicago, Colin directs a fashion organization on campus named MODA and serves on the board of HouseAid, a fair housing non-profit. Colin is currently working on an academic journal related to United States foreign relations called +us, with the first issue focusing on Chinese-American relations. Colin also enjoys playing volleyball, and he is currently training for a marathon.
David Akinin
, originally from Venezuela, is a fourth year at the University of Chicago studying Economics and a member of the Chicago Careers in Business Program. Passionate about social entrepreneurship, David has been involved in diverse projects from sending shoes to the impoverished in Western Africa to creating a little league in inner-city Chicago. Having the global community as top of mind, David’s passion for the spread of unique ideas that help us envision tomorrow’s world attracted him to the TEDx initiative.David is involved on campus in RISE, Chabad, Quest Scholars, Student Government, among other organizations. Throughout the past three summers, he’s worked for Google and Credit Suisse. David is Co-Heading the TEDx Speakers Dept.
Francisco A. Martin Albi
, originally from Chile, is a third year at the University of Chicago majoring in economics. He is interested and passionate about social entrepreneurship, finance, and government. Following his convictions, he has worked for the Chilean Ministry of Finance, while also founding a startup that focuses in wind-power. Francisco is currently the Head of Finance of TEDxUchicago, and is also member of the Executive Board of Entrepreneurship@UChicago.
Maria Sol Bernardez Sarria
Sol is a third year international studen from Venezuela, majoring in Biological Sciences. She found out about TED in the fall of 2008 through her Theory of Knowledge teacher. Ever since then Sol has followed TED very closely. She worked as a volunteer in the 2011 TEDxUChicago conference and quickly applied to become part of the organizing team for the 2012 conference. In her free time, Sol enjoys doing community service, keeping up with Venezuelan politics, dancing, drawing and traveling. Her favorite place is the south of Venezuela, where she has been lucky enough to see the Angel Falls, Quebrada Jaspe, and the Autana.
Jessie Padgett
is a 4th year economics major, whose family is from Italy. She was a research assistant to Steven Levitt, and has also had internships in consulting and marketing. Her experiences have revealed her desire to pursue work that is data-driven, creative, and meaningful. She is currently the Head of Operations for TEDxUChicago. In her free time, Jessie loves to play volleyball, watch documentaries and films, spend time with friends and family, and travel. She is fluent in Italian and is currently learning Portuguese to eventually go to Brazil. If there is one thing that could make her happy, it would be finding that perfect café.
Luiz Filipe Serravite
is a third year at the College. He is studying Economics and Political Sciences and is the Co-chair of Sponsors at TEDxUChicago. He first learned about TED watching a video of “Sixth-Sense” a device invented by an MIT's Post-Doctorate student. The interest in TED conferences grew bigger and he is delighted to be organizing TEDxUChicago!Luiz is an international student from Brazil and is a scholar from Fundacao Estudar since 2008. He has always enjoyed been involved in campus campus activities, ranging from the investment Club, The Blue Chips, to the Model United Nations team, passing through Kairos and the Brazilian Students Association, of which he is the vice-president. He is organizing another conference for next year as well on the future of the BRIC countries. During the past summers he has worked for Bain & Company in Sao Paulo, ABInBev and the American Chamber of Commerce in Belo Horizonte, his hometown.
In addition to being a car and motorsports aficionado, Luiz tries to follow the maxim “work hard, play hard” and thus enjoys spending time with friends, going out, house music and traveling, He also loves debating politics, economics and global affairs.
Tasneem Amina
is a second year Biology major who prides herself on being one of the only Non-Hispanic board members of TedxUChicago (despite the fact that it often hinders her from understanding several conversations during meetings). She currently works in a neuroscience lab dedicated to olfactory sense perfection and is involved in several on and off campus activities that range from serving as a student coordinator for a law panel to tutoring middle-school children at a local community center. Despite her passions, Tasneem’s ultimate goal in life is to successfully complete law school without her disapproving mother’s knowledge.
Serra Saridereli
is a fourth year in the College majoring in Sociology. She is from the glamorous and quirky city of Istanbul and is passionate about learning new languages, traveling, and writing. Serra has interned with the TimeOut Istanbul and Travel+Leaisure magazines, and Turkish Daily News. She is currently the Head of the Student Speaker Contest.
Danny Henn
is a second year majoring in Economics and Political Science at the University of Chicago, and part of the TEDxUChicago tech team. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and web design, and is involved with International Leadership Council and Model UN at the University of Chicago. In his free time, Danny likes to eat at interesting restaurants and listen to and play classical music.