TEDxCarsonCity announces 2019 lineup

In the tradition of TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, comes TEDxCarsonCity, a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

In 2009, TED launched the TEDx program with the goal of bringing the TED experience to local communities around the world. TED and TEDx communities recently celebrated 2000 events worldwide, and TEDxCarsonCity is proud to be part of a global community that is helping bring great ideas to towns and cities across the globe since the first TEDxCarsonCity event in 2016.

The diverse and accomplished line-up of speakers includes twelve local leaders, talented artists and community champions and three presenters from out of the area, all with ties to Northern Nevada.

"We have a fantastic lineup of speakers with a wide range of interesting and thought provoking topics. I am so excited about the diversity that these speakers bring to Carson City and TEDx," says Dr. Rebecca Bevans, a former TEDxCarsonCity speaker who is now part of the organizing team. "This is going to be an amazing event."

TEDxCarsonCity will take place at the Maizie Harris Jesse Theater on March 29, 2019 at 9am. Tickets are limited to the first 100 people and are $100 each. Breakfast and lunch are included.

Tickets are available online at breweryarts.org or at the BAC’s Expresso Yourself Cafe. For more info call the Brewery Arts Center office at 775-883-1976.

Below are the biographies of the speakers scheduled for the 2019 TEDxCarson City:

Jim Brady

Jim Brady's career spans 34 years with International Business Machines as Systems Engineer, Consulting Marking Representative, various executive positions managing technical strategies for the mainframe and storage divisions, member of the Board of Governors for the IBM Database Technology Institute, Members of the IBM Technology Review and System Technology Boards, IBM Fellow, IEEE Fellow, and President of the IBM Academy of Technology. Upon retirement from IBM, Brady co-founded MatriDigm as Chairman, CEO and President. There he invented algorithms to find, fix and test Y2K problems in COBOL programs. These algorithms proved 99.996 percent accurate, with a productivity of 2 million lines of code per person month. Brady has 42 patents issued, and 27 publications in various conferences, journals and technical bulletins. He has received extensive recognition during his IBM tenure, including 22 formal award Awards. He excels at designing complex systems.

Maria Bravo and Jon Rogers

Maria grew up in Michoacán, Mexico and moved to Carson City in 1995. As a single Mom to her daughter Arianna, Maria has had first-hand experience with the emotional and financial pressures that accompany living in poverty. In 2014, Maria chose to change the path of her life, and over the next 5 years she has achieved the self-sufficiency and stability that accompany a middle-class American lifestyle. She has decided to reach out to other people to share the lessons she learned on her journey in the hope that they too can change their lives.

Jon Rogers grew up in a small town in Connecticut and moved to Carson City in 1984. He has founded several successful manufacturing businesses over the course of a 40-year career. He is now focusing his efforts on enhancing the quality of life for all Carson City residents by volunteering for several local non-profit organizations. In 2005, Jon helped to start the Capital City Circles Initiative, which creates opportunities for working families in Carson City to move from poverty to a life of self-sufficiency. In the ensuing 14 years, Jon has learned important lessons about how best to support people who are changing the path of their lives and wishes to share those insights.

Heather Denham: Flexibility, Practice, and Finding Your Flow

Heather Denham was born in Carson City, Nevada. She grew up taking dance lessons and was one of the first students of Gina Kaskie Davis, owner and director of Western Nevada Performing Arts. In addition to dance performance, Heather showed a strong interest in both costuming and choreography from a young age, putting those skills together for the first time in 2nd grade in the Fremont School Talent Show. Heather continued to dance and perform, adding cheerleading to her resume before graduating from Carson High. She attended Western Nevada Community College, and the University of Nevada, Reno, eventually transferring to California State University Sacramento, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Family Consumer Science with an Emphasis on Fashion Design. She was awarded a Masters degree in Fashion Design from Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Heather worked as a technical designer in the San Francisco fashion industry for ten years and taught upper level design at Art Institute. Heather lives in Grants Pass, Oregon where she works as an Aerial Yoga, Yoga, and Pilates instructor specializing in dancers and seniors. She also creates custom costumes for a wide variety of clients; including local dance studios and a professional modern dance company in Ashland, Oregon. In 2010, Heather started hula hooping, and began shifting her emphasis back to the dance and performance world. Presently she practices yoga, Pilates, ballet, contemporary, pointe, acro yoga, aerial apparatus; and flow arts with hoop, rope dart and staff. She performs with an aerial group and is a fire dancer. She was part of a volunteer circus that benefits refugees in Thailand. Heather is excited to be back in her home town.

Jess and Brandon Dodge

Jess and Brandon Dodge expand the boundaries of their art form through the blending of genre and stylistic elements in their music.

Brandon Dodge is a freelance percussionist and educator in the Reno/Carson City area. From playing world percussion music with live visual art at The Potentialist, to performing as a member of the Reno Pops Orchestra, to playing jazz and musicals, to composing and premiering his own works, Brandon can be found performing almost any style. This versatility allows him to blend, morph, and create new sounds and styles in his own music.

Jess is pursuing a masters in music performance at the University of Oregon where she holds the saxophone graduate assistantship. As a classical saxophonist, Jess has performed as a soloist in the US, Canada, and Russia. Her art focuses on performing new and avant-garde works for classical saxophone as well as combining elements of classical and hip hop music to create unique sounds.

Together, this brother/sister duo builds soundscapes around existing classical works, produces music through live looping, and presents new takes on each other’s art.

Lozia Louisa Lopez

With her strong foundation in competitive gymnastics and her affinity for flight, Lozia Louisa Lopez's passion for circus arts was kismet. Over the last 15 years, she has dedicated her life to developing the skills necessary to dazzle an audience. She has extensive training in aerial silks, aerial hoop, aerial straps, contortion, and pole sport with the Reno circus group Le Cirque Vagabond. Louisa is a champion pole dancer, professional aerial and flexibility instructor, and choreographer based in Northern Nevada. She has appeared in numerous events in Northern Nevada and Las Vegas, as well as many of Le Cirque Vagabond's original productions and the Asylum Sideshow Revue. Louisa is currently the head aerial silks instructor at Yaple's Ballroom in Carson City where she offers both group and private lessons for children and adults alike.

Clint Malarchuk

Malarchuk, who was born in Grand Prairie, Alberta, played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League. He went on to play professionally in the NHL for the Quebec Nordiques, the Washington Capitals, and the Buffalo Sabres, and in the IHL for the San Diego Gulls and the Las Vegas Thunder. After leaving the NHL as a player, he served as head coach of the IHL Las Vegas Thunder and the Idaho Steelheads. He was then a goaltending coach for the NHL Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Atlanta Thrashers and Calgary Flames. Malarchuk is most notably known for an on ice accident while tending goal for the Buffalo Sabres. Clint’s jugular vein was severed by a skate and he almost died right on the ice. Living with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression Malarchuk survived a suicide attempt which finally led too treatment and recovery. Clint’s book “The Crazy Game” How I Survived The Crease And Beyond was the beginning of his Mental Health Advocacy and charity work. Clint now speaks around North America on Mental Health, PTSD, Depression, Suicide and his struggles with Mental Illness and how it affects you. Clints memoir, The Crazy Game: How I Survived in the Crease and Beyond, was published in 2014. Canada Title A Matter Of Inches :How I survived in the Crease and Beyond US Title.

Kitty McKay: “Your Individual Power to Heal”

In ancient Japan it was said that the samurai's sword was his soul. As a Speaker, Author and Transformation Navigator, Kitty McKay’s “truth” has been similarly forged during her trial-by-fire life. Her story of tragedy and triumph inspires her calling: helping people plug into core purpose, meaningful connection, hope With over thirty five years working in a spectrum of industries—apparel manufacture, restaurant franchising and healthcare—Kitty draws much of her inspired leadership from her fluency in the Japanese language and culture, earned during eight years living and working there. Joining a regional health system in 2009, she serves as Director of the Care Experience and Foundation Development.

Ian Moore

Ian Moore is a touring and recording artist with 14 releases to date. He has spent much of the last 30 years traveling the world through his music and those travels have fundamentally changed and formed him. The son of a Buddhist scholar father and a Social Worker mother, the stage has given him a unique perspective on the human condition. The lifelong pursuit of music, with it’s inevitable twists and turns, has similarly allowed, and sometimes forced, him to look deeply into the duality of art and life, trying to find balance and harmony between the two. Ian is the President and co-founder of SMASH(Seattle Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare) and a Grammy Governor. When not touring and recording, he seeks out nature and quiet. He is an avid outdoorsman and beekeeper, a lover of ethnic foods and cooking, and a relentless pursuer of knowledge and spirit. He lives on Vashon island, WA. with his wife and two teenage sons.

Suzanne Pipho

Born and raised in Northern California. Suzanne earned a B.S. in Business Administration from C.S.U. Chico in 1997. She moved to Northern Nevada, where she has now lived for 7 years as the mother of two wonderful teen-age boys. Suzanne has worked as an educator, in one way or another, for several years in her own community. She has taught at ITT Technical Institute, as a kindergarten teacher’s aide, as a substitute teacher, and as a home-school teacher for her son's first grade. Over the years, she has learned that teaching people of all ages involves engaging and connecting with them. The student must be an active participant in the learning process. As parents, it is our responsibility to teach kids the critical life-and-death lessons that will keep them, and others around them, safe.

Brenda Sandquist

Brenda is a nurturing warrior who has a passion to see women move from surviving to thriving. She has been empowering women into finding their God-given purpose and potential for nearly 30 years. She founded Xquisite, a nonprofit for women. She is also the spokesperson for the End Trafficking and Prostitution Coalition. Brenda believes that no matter what life has presented, a woman’s value remains strong. Xquisite brings hope, courage and a voice for every woman. Together, we are bettering and growing a movement of strong passionate women who have empowered their voices to shatter secrets and expose their truth that will bring freedom for every woman, encouraging them to become diamond strong.

Kat Simmons

Kat Simmons is a 27 year veteran of the international comedy club circuit. You may have seen her at The Improvs, Catch A Rising Star, the Comedy Channel, Fox’s Comedy Tonight, or on Candid Camera. She has toured with The 3 Blonde Moms and won the eWomen Network's international talent contest in Dallas in 2009. Kat has a unique talent for combining physical comedy with real life situations that everyone can relate to. She has been favorably compared to the masters of the craft, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett and Red Skelton. She is one of a few physical comediennes working today. You may recognize yourself in some of her material as she honestly shares with the audience as though they were all long time friends. She delights in bringing to the stage the very things most people keep a secret. She speaks the truth, making it easier for the rest of us to be honest with ourselves. Kat has a versatility and approachability that makes her perfect for large corporate functions, casinos, comedy clubs and private parties. She has a knack of incorporating the group at hand into her show and finding that common thread. She makes them part of her performance. She has performed for a wide variety of groups from tow truck drivers and fence contractors to doctors and engineers. She is a favorite at womens' events because she tells it like it is. Her humor is clean and elevates and enlightens her audiences. She has appeared with Tim Allen, Kevin Nealon, Kenny Rogers, and most recently, legendary motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar. She is in high demand to headline corporate events. She is not only a comedienne, but an inspirational humorist making her great choice for your keynote speaker as well. She loves to share her own spark to ignite yours. Kat moved back from L.A. to the beautiful Carson Valley (just below Lake Tahoe), to do what she loves in the area she loves. She came back to have her children and while not in the hub of LA, it provided her with new opportunities. She quickly began doing corporate events and she produced her own comedy show for 15 years at the Carson Valley Inn Casino, in Minden, Nevada. She also teaches comedy workshops and it is her greatest joy to help others find their empowerment through humor.

Dr. Vincent R. Solis

Dr. Vincent R. Solis is a life-long educator and currently serves as President at Western Nevada College. He has a broad background in higher education that spans more twenty-five years. During his tenures in various roles, Dr. Solis has had the privilege of providing leadership for many essential campus operations such as instruction and academic affairs, student services, enrollment, community outreach services, athletics, dual enrollment initiatives, auxiliary business services, special projects, construction, and student success/engagement/graduation programs. Dr. Solis began his post-secondary education at Chemeketa Community College and later transitioned to Texas A&M-Kingsville where he received his Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Sociology, his Master of Science in Psychology, and his Doctorate in Bilingual Education. Dr. Solis has frequently served as a presenter and speaker for various organizations. Some of these include the Department of Education on the Impact of Executive Leadership on Student Success. He also served as the keynote speaker for South Texas Hispanic Male Leadership Summit, guest speaker for the 2016 regional Rotary Conference, and keynote speaker on Student Services for Latino Millennial Students with the National Community College Hispanic Council. He has also served as a keynote speaker and podcast presenter for Workforce Solutions of South Texas. He was recently invited to be the keynote speaker for the Mountain Plain Adult Education Association conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chad Sorg

“Artists were the original self promoters,” says Chad Sorg from the cool desert shade cast by towering buses he helped plant at the International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada. With Sorg’s help the roadside destination already has a sizable root system of international media publicity which is growing daily. Huffington Post calls the International Car Forest of the Last Church one of 11 therapeutic art destinations to see and Stella McCartney recently filmed a fashion video there and there’s a documentary being filmed. Sorg portrait paints in the Midwest when he’s not living periodically as the Fishbowler in display windows across the country. He was a founder of NadaDada Motel which has proudly called to attention the work of 300 artists and performers and the New York Times published the story in 2009. He’s currently writing a book about his adventures and lessons learned. When he’s not TEDx talking he’s window cleaning. @Art of Sorg on Facebook and www.Fishbowler.me.

Sharon Yazowski

As Executive Director of the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, Sharon Yazowski provides visionary leadership in fulfilling the Foundation’s mission to strengthen the social fabric of America by empowering communities to transform underused outdoor spaces into welcoming destinations through the power of free, live music. She is the chief spokesperson for the organization, traveling across the country to share the impact of Levitt programs and creative placemaking. Her passionate commitment to the arts as a vehicle for positive change in communities has guided the strategic growth of Levitt programs nationwide, including the development of innovative public/private partnerships. Prior to her current position, Sharon was the founding Executive Director of Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles at MacArthur Park. Her work there and the venue’s impact in the community earned her the recognition of “Los Angeles Park Hero” by the City of Los Angeles. Sharon is often an invited speaker at regional and national conferences, including the National Main Street Conference; Grantmakers in the Arts; National Brownfields Training Conference; National Consortium for Creative Placemaking; Association for Performing Arts Presenters; National Recreation and Parks Association Conference; National Outdoor Recreation Conference; Art of Placemaking Conference; Growing Sustainable Communities Conference; Music Cities Convention; EcoDistricts Summit; Walk/Bike/Places; and National Association of Development Organizations, amongst others. Sharon’s career began working with arts nonprofits in metropolitan Chicago. She earned a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University with a concentration in arts and business management.