ATLANTA, GA, August 18, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- TEDxAtlanta today announced the lineup for its inaugural TEDxAtlanta Youth conference, bringing together young innovators, entrepreneurs and advocates whose ideas span artificial intelligence, accessibility, entrepreneurship, language, sustainability and the role young people can play in shaping the world around them.

TEDxAtlanta Youth will take place on the afternoon of Oct. 3 at Atlanta International School in Sandy Springs, following the TEDxAtlanta main conference.

Part of TEDxAtlanta 2026's Bold. Brave. Unbreakable. season, the Youth conference features speakers ages 16 to 23 and an intergenerational On the Spot conversation. The program unfolds in two parts: Seen and Unleashed.

"Young people hear constantly that they are the future. We were much more interested in what they have to say about the present," said Jacqui Chew, TEDxAtlanta licensee and organizer. "These speakers are asking questions that affect all of us: Whose ideas get taken seriously? What gets lost when technology doesn't understand culture? And what becomes possible when young people have the opportunity to build rather than wait?"

Seen
The first part explores what changes when young people's experiences, ideas and perspectives are taken seriously.

Temple Lester | STEM advocate
After being sidelined at science camp because she was the only girl, Temple Lester learned early what it means to speak up. Now she asks what ideas we miss when young people are continually told to wait their turn.

Nidhi Madam | Language and culture explorer
A K-drama binge led Nidhi Madam to Korean and eventually back to Telugu, her family's language. Along the way, she discovered that artificial intelligence can translate words without necessarily understanding the culture carried inside them.

On the Spot: Zoe Oli and Evana Oli
Entrepreneur Zoe Oli and her mother, Evana Oli, turn the tables on the traditional parent-child conversation. Their On the Spot exchange explores what happens when a child's idea becomes a real enterprise and a parent must decide when to step in, when to step aside, and when to step forward together.

Unleashed
The second part turns from voice to action, with young innovators questioning existing systems and building alternatives.

Kanushi Dua | Circular systems designer
A forgotten bin of nearly new children's clothes led Kanushi Dua to question why garments are treated as disposable simply because children outgrow them. Her answer points toward an unexpected role for artificial intelligence.

Ian Sun | Community-centered technologist
As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in everyday life, Ian Sun is asking a different question about its future: Who gets a say in how it is built? His talk considers what communities stand to gain or lose depending on the answer.

Akos Vida | Accessibility innovator
Building an accessible gaming controller taught Akos Vida that designing for someone isn't necessarily the same as designing with them. His experience challenges a common assumption about who really belongs in the design process.

Ethan Benater | Possibility engineer
Ethan Benater looked at a problem affecting his generation and decided that accepting it wasn't his only option. His experience building a vaping-cessation solution raises a larger question about what young people can create when they stop treating entrenched problems as inevitable.

Together, Seen and Unleashed move from recognition to agency, asking audiences to consider young people not simply as inheritors of the future, but as participants in creating it now.

Event Details
TEDxAtlanta Youth - Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026
Location - Atlanta International School – Sandy Springs Campus
Back-to-School Ticket Prices for TEDxAtlanta, TEDxAtlanta Youth, as well as Complete Passes that include both conferences are available now.

TEDxAtlanta is Georgia's largest TED affiliate and a year-round platform for ideas, conversation, and community. Through conferences, salons, workshops, and special events, TEDxAtlanta brings together people who believe bold ideas can inspire action, strengthen communities, and create a better future. These community-led gatherings are planned by a team of volunteers led by Atlanta entrepreneur and TEDxAtlanta licensee Jacqui Chew. The first TEDxAtlanta conference was organized in 2009 and since then, more than two dozen speakers have been featured on TED. TEDxAtlanta is an initiative of nonprofit Ideas into Action. For more information, visit www.TEDxAtlanta.com.

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