Welcome to the Season 6 Class of Être TED-Ed!
Photo courtesy of Erin Borzellino
Picture this:
Over 100 girls and young women.
Hailing from 7 countries and 23 U.S. states.
Proposing topics from AI to Gen Z.
Readying themselves to step to the TED-Ed mic and share big ideas with the world.
Now picture it all starting this week.
Along with the Être TED-Ed team (cue the clapping for Executive Producer Elizabeth O'Connell, Chief EA Brittany Land, storytelling and stage mentor Corey Ruzicano and keynote coach and actor Michelle Anne Johnson, MBA), I am thrilled to announce the start of the 2026 Être TED-Ed season!
And I couldn't be more impressed.
With every application we read and with every topic we considered, the list of we-absolutely-have-to-have-her speakers grew.
What have topics looked like in years past?
Check out the program from last year's show here and think specifically about 2025 talks titled: The Subtle Art of Being in the Right Place at the Right Time, Ode to My Afro: Big Hair and Big Dreams, The Culture of Pop-Ups and Why They're Popping Up Everywhere, Driving My Future: Learning from the Women in F-1...and more.
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What are some topic proposals we already love this year?
Pulling directly from accepted applications, get ready for: Why We Romanticize Natural Talent, How Empathy is the Future of AI, Mental Blocks on the Mat and When They Hold Gymnasts Back, The Next Generation of Space Ethics, Finding Joy in Being Extra...and so, so many more.
Who will mentor these talks?
Another feature that makes Être's TED-Ed series special is that we pair every speaker with an exceptional woman leading in the field of her proposed talk. What exactly does that look like? Think back to...
Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna advising an 11-year-old speaker's talk on gene editing,
Nobel LaureateClaudia Goldin answering a high school student's questions on how women uplift economies,
Sheryl Sandberg helping to shape a teen's TED-Ed talk on overcoming grief,
LoveShackFancy President Stacy Lilien chatting with an aspiring founder about fashion,
Haben Girma offering wisdom on amplifying deaf awareness in schools,
Mattel, Inc.'s Krista Berger sharing stats on Barbie's Girls Can Do Anything campaign,
Bubble founder Shai Eisenman explaining to a middle school speaker how startups start,
Voice in Sport™, VIS™ founder Stef Strack mentoring a varsity athlete's talk on mental health in sports,
Hello Sunshine CEO Maureen Polo encouraging a high school senior to raise her voice, and
Miriam Spritzer rallying Board members across the Golden Globe Foundation to engage in mentor moments for TED-Ed talks about media and entertainment.
Who will our TED-Ed mentors be this year? We'll keep you posted as they are invited and announced.
But I promise this year's TED-Ed mentor roster will astound and delight - exactly as our applicant cohort did. We cannot wait to see these 100+ global speakers step up to the TED-Ed mic - whether live at the end of October across 3 NYC shows or on our virtual show which will drop earlier in the month to celebrate Day of the Girl - they're going to raise the roof.
Can you picture it?
We'll help. Keep following Être's 2026 TED-ED journey here to watch stories unfold and new mentors be announced. Want to add your name to the TED-Ed mentor list?DM me here and let's add your voice.
It's our biggest and boldest TED-Ed season yet - and it starts right now.
Looking forward,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Three more things about Être TED-Ed you won't want to miss: a look back at our previous 5 seasons (full shows and individual talks), a glimpse at some of the mentors who have given inspo talks in past shows (think Gloria Steinem, former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, pro skydiver Melanie Curtis...), and a look ahead to mentors we have on deck for 2026 (catch them soon in our Stories here).
