TEDxMidAtlantic returns to Washington DC on November 1, 2025.

CHANGE IS HERE. Our theme, FAST FORWARD acknowledges the disorientation we all feel as a result of rapid technological and cultural acceleration, while also embracing optimism for a better future — leapfrogging past current challenges. FAST FORWARD is a call to both explore the bewildering present — and to do something about it. Together, we can build a better future, and just possibly, sooner than we think.

TEDxMidAtlantic 2025 Speakers

More speakers to be announced in the coming weeks!

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Michael McFaul

Professor of Political Science, Director of Freeman Spogli Institute & Hoover Senior Fellow all at Stanford University. U.S. Ambassador to Russia, 2012-2014.

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Tonantzin Carmona

Fellow at Brookings Metro who focuses on wealth and inequality, financial and emerging technologies, and state and local policy implementation.

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Tamara Cofman Wittes

President of the National Democratic Institute and previously led the Russia sanctions effort for the US State Department.

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Deb Roy

Leads research at MIT in designing human-AI systems that foster dialogue, listening, and deliberation in ways that build civic muscle.

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Rosie Rios

Chair for America250, the US Semiquincentennial Commission to plan & orchestrate our nation’s 250th anniversary.

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Kwame Alexander

Emmy Award-winning producer, and bestselling author of 44 books including Why Fathers Cry at Night, How Sweet The Sound, The Door of No Return.

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Joe Trippi

Joe Trippi is a Democratic political strategist who worked on the presidential campaigns of Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, Dick Gephardt, Jerry Brown, and John Edwards.

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Meghan Puglia

Neuroscientist who uses brain imaging and data science to understand how babies grow, learn, and thrive.

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Dimitrios Nikolopolous

Professor of Engineering at Virginia Tech and high performance computing researcher.

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Rolf Mueller

Develops robots that can mimic the superior sensing abilities and mobility of bats that are able to hunt in dense natural environments.

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Crys Matthews

An award-winning, prolific lyricist and composer, Matthews blends Country, Americana, Folk, Blues, and Bluegrass into a bold, complex performance steeped in traditional melodies punctuated by honest, original lyrics.