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TED Democracy LIVE: Event Program

Here are the speakers taking the stage during a free livestream of TED Democracy Philadelphia: Founding Futures ...

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Thank you for joining us for TED Democracy LIVE, a free livestream event of TED Democracy Philadelphia: Founding Futures — a daylong event taking place at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

As we prepare to mark America’s 250th anniversary in the city where it started, it’s time to explore a bold question: What does the future of democracy look like?

The program is presented in three sessions focused on the past, present and future of modern democracy.

Please see below for descriptions of each session and a list of the speakers taking the TED stage throughout the day.

Join in the Conversation

As you follow along with today’s TED Talks, share your thoughts and livestream photos on social media! Use the hashtag #TEDDemocracy and be sure to tag @visitphilly and @TED in your posts.

Session One: Foundations

To understand where democracy is headed, we’ll begin with lessons from the past — both distant and recent — and hear how today’s thinkers are using them to imagine a more hopeful future. What emerges is surprising, clarifying and urgent.

This session challenges how we think about citizenship, power, repair and what it truly means to govern ourselves. It also reminds us that Philadelphia is more than a backdrop for this conversation — it’s where the American chapter of democracy’s story was first written.

Speakers:

  • Thomas Devaney, Storyteller
  • Michael Dimock, President, Pew Research Center
  • Aria Florant, Reparations Architect
  • Jen Golbeck, AI Ethicist
  • Anuj Gupta, Opportunity Builder
  • Scott Reich, Civic Storyteller

Session Two: Friction

Some of the voices in this session are building new systems. Others are sounding an alarm. Some are doing both.

Each speaker responds to this moment from a different vantage point, bringing distinct tools, lived experience and hard-won perspective. Together, they offer a portrait of democracy as it exists right now: complicated, contested and far more alive than the headlines often suggest.

Speakers:

  • Terry Bouricius, Author and Recovering Politician
  • Xochitl Gonzalez, Writer and Inequality Expert
  • Shamichael Hallman, Library Champion
  • Jeff Maurer, Entrepreneur and Systems Innovator
  • Paul Mrstik, Digital Linguist
  • Katie Paris, Political Rule Breaker
  • Danielle Roberts, Anti-Career Coach

Session Three: Forging Ahead

Two hundred and fifty years after the Declaration of Independence was signed just blocks from where we’re gathered, the work of defining democracy continues.

This final session looks ahead: Who gets to shape what comes next, whose voices are missing from the conversation and what becomes possible when we widen the circle and imagine beyond the systems we’ve inherited?

Speakers:

  • Jon Alexander, Citizen Futurist
  • Louis King II, Economic Mobilizer
  • Sally Kohn, Writer and Communications Strategist
  • Janelle M. Persaud, Postcolonial Thinker
  • Jasmine Sessoms, Civic Power Strategist
  • Laura Smythe, Media Literacy Advocate
  • Children from the Young People’s Continental Congress
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