TEDxPrague 2016

Iva is a writer and translator and she admits that she suffers from mental claustrophobia (she can't stand the feeling of being restricted in thought). Iva has not only a dozen books to her name, but also experience as a taxi driver on various continents around the world. She currently lives in Great Britain where in addition to writing she also devotes herself to helping compatriots in need. She will be happy to share her vision and often unbelievable tales from the road with all visitors to TEDx Prague.

Iva hes her own blog, describing unusual insights into her life in Britain in a very engaging way.

Professor Kohák is one of the most respected Czech philosophers who has spent a large part of his life across the pond as a political refugee. Erazim Kohák was a member of the exiled leadership of the Czech Social Democratic Party, of which he is a proud member. He currently collaborates with the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and will present you with a message which relates not only to the current situation here in the Czech Republic, but also across Europe..

TEDxPrague leader and curator Matěj Novák confessed: „I'm really looking forward to Erazim's talk, because he is a patriot in the best sense of that word, he knows Czech mentality pretty well and he can speak in plain language and be very accessible to anyone. The question of what it means to be Czech shall not seem irrelevant to anyone who cares about the place where he or she lives.“

De Bruijn is a Dutch businessman, economist and visionary whose biggest hobby is converting a plate of spaghetti into a plate of asparagus. He enjoys making ordinary things into the extraordinary, something which is appreciated by the local government, who hired him for the project European Truck Platooning Challenge. The project aims to make the theme of future logistics more attractive and to make the Netherlands a new age centre of mobility in which humanity will benefit from fully automated vehicles. Dirk means to bring his message to attendees of TEDx Prague and to dazzle them with his liveliness and passion for his cause, which are apparently dangerously contagious.

During his studies of sociology, Martin was researching behavior of hooligans but he also took the great opportunity to take part in the building of Wild Geese Foundation. After seven years, he switched to the Emergency Safty Line to learn more about crisis management. Then he moved to campaign management and donators relatonship for Diaconia ECCB. At the moment, he is a campaign director for Amnesty International CR and his task is not only to „impress“ but to „get people on board“.

Martin strictly complies to the rule that you have to enjoy your work. In the Spring od 2016, he made a bet to run a half-marathon in order to raise money for Zaatari refugee camp. He succeeded and he claims he’d like to take his son to the camp one day, to enjoy the experience that you can happily play football with anyone, anywhere.

Jana got married to her husband just when they both finished high-school. She desired to have many children, he longed for adventure. With their visions united and combined, they’re still together, enjoying an adventurous life with their many children and grandchildren. The family has provided support for 12 children: five born into it, seven in foster care. Some of them has already started their own families.

Jana has not lost her ideal throughout her life, while standing firmly on the ground. She’s got experience in raising Roma children as well as children with disabilities, but instead of speaking of handicaps, she mentions the joy that comes with each improbable progress. She is in contact with some of the biological parents of her children and she speak about them with great respect. „Not everyone has the privilege to enjoy safety, acceptance and love from their first days – yet everyone needs and deserves it. I want to give this to all my children,“ Jana says.

You can’t google or bing anything about Alena that she would not want to share with you. That means, you can’t find almost anything. Despite In spite of that, she is a very influential person: Alena is the co-founder of Satoshi Labs, the unique technology company whose TREZOR, a physical virtual currency waller got famous all around the World. But she’s not only a technological revolutionary, her experience spans business development and leadership in the biggest financial institutions.

Alena is a real polyglot – she speaks seven languages, but on top of that, she managed something that only few of us can do: successfully explained the principles of her work (including bitcoin) to her mother. Isn’t that enviable?

Guy Standing is a Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies - SOAS, University of London. He was previously Professor of Economic Security at the University of Bath and Professor of Labour Economics at Monash University, Melbourne. Before that, he was Director of the ILO’s Socio-Economic Security Programme and Director of the ILO’s Labour Market Policies Branch.

Professor Standing is a founder and honorary co-president of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), an NGO promoting basic income as a right, with members in over 50 countries.

His most recent books are The Corruption of Capitalism: Why Rentiers Thrive and Work Does Not Pay (2016), Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India (2015), with S. Davala, R. Jhabvala and S.K. Mehta; A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens (2014); and The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class (2011; third edition 2016). The Precariat has been translated into 16 languages.

Dana is a professional mediator, assisting and facilitating conflict resolution around the world in different languages, from families to big corporations. She participated in the preparation of the long expected Mediation Bill nr. 202/2012 and is an active ambassador and trainer of alternative dispute resolution. She is the author of a book on mediation and her optimism even in situations that most of us would find hopeless is truly contagious.

„I used to avoid conflict as much as I could,“ admits Samuel, who recommended Dana for TEDx stage, „but thanks to teachers like Dana who don’t underestimate the complexity of interpersonal relationships while maintaining hope, I’m getting the courage to face them and even try to contribute to their resolution."

When Petr was a small child, he was diagnosed a severe sight impairment and the doctors predicted he might go blind. His parents nevertheless didn’t give up and he now sees well – to such extent, that he became a professional photographer. He has a degree in hydrobiology and partners with his Alma Mater as well as with the Czech Switzerland National Park, Prague ZOO and Nikon.

Petr loves his work and he does everything with great passion. He can tell amazing stories about his adventures big and small, ranging from taking a picture of a rare parasite shaded behind a nervous elephant’s ear, to bringing op a videocamera in a snow storm on the mountainside of K2. You can have a look at some of his work at petr.juracka.eu.

Kamila Vodochodská is a fashion designer, stylist and coach with huge experience. She’s realized hundreds of models and stylings, for which she states to have used more than 9 kilograms of pins. For Kamila, fashion is much more than blindly following the newest trends happening out there in the big World. She tries to help her client simply find a personal way of dressing which would serve and help them to feel good.

A myth that Kamila likes to bust is a general assumption that personal garderobe has to be large and expensive. It might be exactly the opposite and Kamila’s advices have already saved her clients tens of thousands of dollars.

Professor Jaroslav Flegr studied cell biology and animal physiology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Charles University in Prague. In this position he currently teaches evolutionary biology, evolutionary and ecological parasitology, and practical scientific methodology. Besides studying evolution, he researches the effects of the Toxoplasma parasite and blood groups on human health and behavior.

He is the author of more than 130 publications, including the widely used textbook Mechanisms of evolution, as well as the popular science books Frozen evolution, or it is otherwise, Mr. Darwin (winner of the Magnesia Litera Prize for Educational Literature) and Watch out for Toxo! The Secret guide to practical science. In the year 2014 he received the international Ig Nobel prize in the category of public health, an award given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.”

Jeník Tyl has always been around theatre. He gained rich experience in a famous children’s ansamble od Czech Radio and thanks to it saw many places in Europe and overseas. He further went to study production and graduated at DAMU. Today, he works for VOSTO5 and DAMÚZA.

Six years ago, a weird battle went on in Jeník’s head and the following morning, he was no longer who he used to be. He has spent some time in psychiatric hospitals and has been diagnosed a bi-polar disorder. Jeník has later joined a project of educating the public and de-stigmatising psychical illnesses.

„I’m not afraid of talkng about unpleasant things. Sharing relieves and gives courage – to me and maybe also to the others.“

Tigran Hovakimyan comes from Armenia and speaks four languages fluently. He has tried many jobs including driving lessons, teaching in kindergarden, bartending, he was a coupiere, embassy administrator, box coach and construction worker. Finally, he became an amateur actor in children's theatre. That gave him enough experience in how and when audience reacts. He also owes to the theater the ability to shift to stand-up comedy. He likes it better in the end, because he is self-sufficient on the stage.