A local, female-focused TEDx event scheduled for next month will feature women from the Oak Park and River Forest area speaking on issues relating to career, motherhood and personal life.
TED — which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design — conferences have been the birthplace of buzzworthy topics like Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In,” said Oak Park resident Tania Haigh. TEDx allows independent organizers to put together similar events in their communities.
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Organized by Haigh, TEDx Oak Park Women will take place from 5:30 to 10 p.m. May 28 at the Martin Recital Hall at Dominican University, 7900 W. Division St. in River Forest. Haigh said the event will feature Oak Park-area speakers as well as streamed content from the TEDWomen conference that’s happening from May 27 through 29 in Monterey, Calif.
Haigh, a local mom who runs marketing agency Magnolia Insights, Inc., has been a big fan of all things TED and decided to bring the spirit of the California event to her community.
“I’m personally and professionally really inspired by TED and thrilled to be involved with their global brand,” she said.
TED encourages variety and diversity in its speakers, Haigh said, “so the goal is to have a range in content.”
Speakers will include Blagica Bottigliero, vice president of digital media for Metaverse Mod Squad; Heidi Brown, founder/CMO/CFO of OptionsAway; Renee Coover, attorney with O’Hagan, LLC; Loren Mercola, clinical psychotherapist at lifematters, Inc.; Cheryl Muñoz, founder and executive director of the Sugar Beet Co-op; Lisa Thornton, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Chicago; and the event’s master of ceremonies, Lisa Parker, investigative reporter with NBC-5 Chicago.
Haigh said there’s much talent to be cultivated in the Oak Park and River Forest area, so many of the speakers live and work in the community.
Those who will speak submitted proposals, and topics will deal with women and technology, the workplace, children, the good food movement and personal growth, said the event’s creative leader, Janna Fiester.
Silvia Brito-Todd, the event’s finance operations leader, said it was important to the organizing team to have an all-female speaker lineup full of women who could empower others. The evening will kick off with networking, and talks will be around 18 minutes in length.
“TED talks usually are not long in nature,” Brito-Todd said.
Fiester said everyone she’s talked to is excited about the event, because TED has such a well-known reputation for good content.
“A lot of women, I think, can really get a lot out of this content,” she said.
Tickets go on sale April 15, and Brito-Todd said they’re hoping to spread word of the event around town and through social media. For more information, visit https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/14221 or check out Tedx Oak Park Women on Facebook.
A previous version of this story that appeared online and in print incorrectly stated the words that make up the acronym TED. It stands for technology, entertainment and design.
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.