“I am a TED-Ed Speaker” - Global Girls Take the TED-Ed Mic This Week and Their Ideas Couldn’t Be More Epic

In Être’s third season as a licensed TED-Ed Club, I am watching a stellar class of girls take the mic. Their ideas couldn’t be bigger, and I could not be more proud. Throughout the year I get a lot of questions about the TED-Ed program, and as we get to filming week and our attention centers on the stories being shared, inquiries rise to a fever pitch.

While we wait to upload our talks to TED-Ed, here are a few answers to frequently-asked questions and a teaser as to the mentors advising our students this year. All of it will blow your mind.

Where are Être’s TED-Ed speakers from this year?

Four countries - a record for us! Hailing from Canada, the U.S., India and South Korea, this year’s girls bring a glorious diversity of backgrounds, languages, customs, and dialects to the stage, and it makes this season all the richer.

How old are the girls?

The TED Education program welcomes students ages six to eighteen, and this year we almost run the spectrum! Our youngest speaker this season is ten (wait until you meet Aiva, pictured above, from Canada) and our oldest are eighteen with eyes set on college.

What are they talking about?

Everything. From the most intimate and personal stories (“I am a 16-year-old student with ADHD who writes, directs and produces films that focus on mental health…”) to global, relatable issues (“What’s lame if a girl likes girls, or a boy likes boys? Or if someone feels comfortable in clothes of a different gender? What if someone’s gender identity doesn’t match who they were born as? Is it all that disastrous?”), this season’s topics are as varied as they are vital.

Think…

A talk on environmental conservation with input from four women at the Jane Goodall Institute.

A talk on food insecurity bolstered by interviews with executives at Bioheuris and The Spoon Foundation.

A talk on feminism in India enhanced by quotes from global leaders at UN Women.

A talk on young entrepreneurship informed by meeting the founder of Me & The Bees Lemonade, Mikaila Ulmer, who won Shark Tank at nine years old.

And there’s more.

New York Times bestselling authors answered questions about what writing meant to them with rising authors, surgeons and med students had conversations about childhood cancer and careers in medicine, art therapists in Korea weighed in about the effect on Alzheimer’s patients and supermodels connected with first-time fashion week participants.

The mentor moments were stunning, and the girls’ talks reflect their impact.

Hold up. Stop. How are they subject matter experts on those topics at these ages?

This is the best part.

Because Être is a mentorship platform, our network of highly accomplished women stands at the ready during our TED-Ed season. Matching girls with epic mentors aligned with their topics, ÊTRE TED-Ed helps girls dive deeper and ask more pointed questions – hearing firsthand from women who know.

I can’t wait to share them with you, but for now – as girls clear their throats, test the lighting, shake off their nerves and stare straight into the camera – know that women came out of the woodwork to help them reach this moment. Whether by email, over zoom or via DM, women on multiple continents said yes when girls said may I ask you a question?

“I am a TED-Ed speaker,” might be my favorite phrase of the season, as I heard it said or saw it written while girls sought out experts for their talks. You can feel their pride in the words.

Boundless is my gratitude to all the mentors who have shared their wisdom over the last three seasons.

Mentors matter. And anyone who has ever stepped to the mic to share an idea would agree.

Looking forward,

Illana

ÊXTRAS: Three more aspects of Être TED-Ed you won’t want to miss: Catch our inaugural set of talks here; last year’s first set of international talks here; and stay up to date with TED-Ed’s outstanding blog here.