Speaker Spotlight: Dallas Elleman

Dallas Elleman, TU Student

"I want to inspire the audience to ask the question “Why am I here?” and to use this question as a compass for finding meaning and living happier, more fulfilling and adventurous lives."

Dallas Elleman is an Engineering Physics/EE Robotics student at The University of Tulsa with minors in Innovation/Entrepreneurship and Cybersecurity. He is a recent transfer from Tulsa Community College whose academic career includes an internship at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, selection as a finalist in the National Science Foundation’s Community College Innovation Challenge, and a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship.

Before this, Dallas spent several unprofitable and ultimately unsuccessful years aspiring towards rock stardom while employed in the not-very-lucrative manual labor and construction sector, almost a decade as a Field Network Technician (cable guy) for Cox Communications in Tulsa and, in general, a great deal of time engaged in a long series of apparently (at the time) unrelated puzzles and challenges that eventually resulted in a strong compulsion to more productively join humanity’s timeless struggle for answers, progress and meaning through the pursuit of higher education.

Dallas's Talk: “Why am I here?” and how it relates to finding meaning and living happier, more fulfilling lives.

Speaker Spotlight: Katie Hoffman

Katie Hoffman, Writer, speaker, and Founder of Fairytale Reform

"By blending research, spiritual insight and my personal experience “in the field” I help people create healthy, fulfilling relationships— starting with the one they have with themselves."

website: www.fairytalereform.com

instagram: @iamkatiehoffman

Katie Hoffman is a writer, speaker and life-coach, on a mission to help others create lives and relationships they are proud of. In October 2016, she founded Fairytale Reform, a website dedicated to helping young women reframe what they have always been told about happily ever after. By blending research, personal experience and spirituality, Fairytale Reform provides tools, inspiration and community to help followers live their fairytales– whether they’re single, taken or somewhere in between.

Katie is dedicated to serving women along all walks of life and works closely with local and global non-profits to help women become physically, emotionally and economically independent. In May 2017, she will graduate from the University of Tulsa with a B.A. in Communication and a minor in Psychology.

Katie's Talk: How to create healthy, fulfilling relationships in a modern society.

Speaker Spotlight: Zachary Fullingim

Zachary Fullingim, Community Servant to the Youth

"My vision for Oklahoma is to inspire a culture of unity and generational growth in low income areas by raising up youth leaders to be principled, self-aware, empathetic, courageous, accountable, motivated and passionately involved in serving within their families, communities, schools and teams."

Born February 28, 1992, Zachary was raised with his younger brother by his powerful single mother, who fell in love and married his fourth grade football coach. On February 23, 2003 that coach, the only father he had ever known, adopted the boys as his own. He graduated Lincoln Christian School in 2010 and attended Oklahoma State University from 2010-2013 where he played football and studied behavioral psychology.

He is a husband to his wife Caitlin, father to his daughter Caiah, project supervisor for his family’s commercial roofing company, Hi-Tech Systems Inc., volunteer football and basketball coach for Sand Springs 3rd grade, and facilitator for Tulsa Public Schools’ Student Athlete Advisory Committee. He sits on the board of directors for the non-profit Game Time Foundation, hosts football camps as a camp director and coordinator for Pinnacle Football Academy, and hosts youth and adult leadership development courses as a certified John Maxwell speaker and coach.

Zachary's Talk: Invest in Children: Impact a Nation

Speaker Spotlight: Lauren Miller

Lauren Miller, Social Advocate

"Communities are not content to sit quietly after violent police and citizen interactions. Therefore it is critically important we recognize the real reasons why Charlotte fell apart while under the same circumstances, Tulsa took heart and only then can we make a difference in times of tension between law enforcement and communities."

Lauren is a social advocate dedicated to seeing peaceful and effective communication throughout the community. She has spent hundreds of hours researching how community and police interactions can be improved and is the author of Project: Cohesion, a proposal on how to improve community relationships with law enforcement. She is also the coordinator of The 12th, an event in which Oral Roberts University students visited the Tulsa Sheriff Department and gave a presentation encouraging better communication between law enforcement and the community.

Lauren is passionate about encouraging and equipping the younger generation to make a difference in their communities and world.

Lauren's Talk: The Public vs. Police: How Both Can Win

Speaker Spotlight: Grayson Lynch

Grayson Lynch, Gunsmith

"I want to inform people of the facts and misconceptions surrounding firearms."

Grayson is a 22 year old business student at the University of Tulsa. He has had a lifelong love for guns. His passion for guns led him to Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma where he earned an associates degree in the Applied Science of Gunsmithing. This translates to a formal education on gunsmithing theory, technology and practices. The coursework covers numerous areas of study, and is the highest degree of formal gunsmith training. He also has other certifications from various companies that qualifies him to repair/modify their firearms. This education has given him a firm grasp of gun operation, creation, and repair.

Grayson's Talk: Taking Aim at Gun Misconceptions

Speaker Spotlight: Thomas Littlejohn

Thomas Littlejohn, Game Creation Advocate

"The purpose of giving my talk is to introduce individuals outside the field of Computer Science to the roles they can play in the development of new and original video games, bringing in outside perspectives and concepts to fuel creativity."

Github: tommygun101

LinkedIn: Thomas Littlejohn

Thomas Littlejohn is currently a senior triple major at TU pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Computer Simulation & Gaming. Having a background with the technical side of what it takes to build a game, his focus is on what pushes games to the next level, whether it is groundbreaking AI, unique gameplay experiences, or some other unheard of element which sets a specific game apart. He has spent time abroad in Japan studying games which have captured foreign markets and the reasons for their success.

Thomas's Talk: Game Design: Where Uniqueness Drives Progress

Speaker Spotlight: Luis Garcia

Luis Eduardo Garcia Garcia, Performance Artist

"To inspire people to dance everywhere."

Facebook: luisperformaceart

YouTube: Luis Eduardo Garcia Garcia

For booking, email luis.e.garcia429@gmail.com

Luis is a math/science tutor, mechanical engineering student, member of the 2016-17 Living Arts performance committee, and dancer for Portico Dance Theater. Luis presented his debut choreographic composition “Call of Nature” in the Exchange Choreography Festival 2016 at Studio K of Tulsa Ballet. He also was commissioned by Portico and Tulsa Symphony to Dance “Revue de Cuisine” music by Bohuslav Martinu at Philbrook Museum. Luis is an Equity Member Program Actor with Tulsa Project Theater. Has studied, and performed, West African Dance and rhythms from Deena Burks for over two years. He trained in ballet at Tulsa Ballet.

Luis's Talk: Dance Everywhere

Speaker Spotlight: Deborah Bradshaw

Deborah Bradshaw, Advocate, Educator, Author

"Have no fear, you are worth it!"

Deborah Bradshaw is a professional speaker, author and educator. Her formal training is in Education, Psychology, Business Management and Marketing, Body Language and Acting Techniques. Deborah has developed and facilitated classes coaching professionals in the use of acting techniques and body language in order to help them feel more comfortable speaking in public and to assist them in developing more effective communication.

Deborah lived in Southeast Asia as a child and young adult. Her experiences there have given her insight into cross-cultural communication. She uses these experiences and positive body language techniques to teach people how to understand the cues they are receiving. Through these methods, participants also learn to practice the science of body language to influence their own brain chemistry in order to create a more positive attitude and accomplish personal goals.

Deborah has presented to local and national audiences on topics ranging from Improving Education, Disability Related Issues, Better Communication as well as other motivational topics. She may be reached by email at deborahlovebradshaw@gmail.com.

Deborah's Talk: The Eradication of Down Syndrome

Speaker Spotlight: Ellen Emeric

Ellen Emeric, TU Student

"I am excited to speak at TEDx because I want to give everyone the opportunity to see through the eyes of a City Planner for just a few moments -- the spaces where we live can be seen as blank canvases for both practicality and creativity."

LinkedIn: Ellen Emeric

Ellen Emeric is a senior at The University of Tulsa studying Sociology and Economics, and her interests in demography and the built environment have led her to pursue a career as a city planner. She currently works at Tulsa City Hall in the Planning and Development Department, and has conducted research for the city as well at Texas A&M University, where she was accepted as a summer research fellow in the departments of Urban Planning and Sociology.

On campus, Ellen passionately serves the Newman Center as a Peer Minister and Graphic Designer.

Ellen's Talk: Is Public Transportation the Answer?

Speaker Spotlight: Luke Crouch

Luke Crouch, Security & Privacy Engineer

"Since I started working on security & privacy for Mozilla Firefox, I've learned that online tracking is pervasive and sometimes very technical, but it's not magic - all internet users can and should understand it."

twitter: @groovecoder

Luke Crouch has 15 years of experience as a web software engineer. He currently develops web software at Mozilla, focusing on security and privacy prototypes and experiments for Firefox. In that role, he has built tracking protection services and features, measured online tracking, and shared what they have learned with collaborators at Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Princeton Web Transparency & Accountability Project.

Luke's Talk: How Online Trackers Track You, and What You Can Do About It

Speaker Spotlight: Autumn Slaughter

Autumn Slaughter, Clinical psychology doctoral student

"I have never been able to understand myself or my depression without the help of poetry: the poetry of others which helps to explain what I am experiencing, and my own poetry, which helps me marry what I know with what I experience."

Autumn Slaughter is a doctoral student in the University of Tulsa’s clinical psychology program. Her psychology background also includes a masters in counseling psychology from Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City. In addition to psychology, Autumn also studied English in her undergraduate program at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, IL.

She has been a featured poet at poetry readings in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and her work has appeared in regional magazines and on websites. Autumn has also published five books, including a memoir that explores trauma and depression (published under her maiden name) and two books of poetry.

Autumn's Talk: Stuck Between Here and There