is a collaboration powered by TED and Leaders’ Quest.
Since its launch in 2020, TED Countdown has mobilized the world’s boldest problem-solvers to address climate impacts being felt across communities everywhere — from rising energy costs to severe weather. The shift to a cleaner, healthier and more affordable future is already underway. Our mission is to accelerate that momentum by changing the narrative through compelling storytelling, identifying and scaling high-impact solutions, and building a collaborative community by bringing people together across sectors and regions.
TEDx Countdown supports locally-curated climate events, giving host communities the opportunity to showcase their own innovative solutions with the world. In 2025, TED selected TEDxHouston as one of the 19 TEDxCountdown events in 13 countries to participate in the TEDxCountdown anchor program, convening thought leaders from around the world to share diverse perspectives, build community and foster new collaborations that can lead to tangible progress.
2026 SCHEDULE
Morning Warmup
09:00
Check-In, Fuel Up, & Walk The Talk
Check-in and get ready for the day with a warm-up walk with Laura Conely, morning bites, espresso beverages from Greenway Coffee, and a HUMAN grounding moment with The Quiet Rebel, Tracie Jae!
Warmup Leaders
Ismaili Center
The Ismaili Center embodies the Ismaili community’s enduring commitment to fostering understanding among diverse peoples, communities, and faiths. Architecturally unique, each building incorporates spaces for social and cultural gatherings, intellectual engagement and reflection, as well as spiritual contemplation. They are also symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Ismaili community in the regions in which they are established, while extending a hand of friendship to enhance relationships among communities, government and civil society.
Greenway Coffee
Laura Conely
Laura Conely is the founder of Urban Paths, a Houston based walking wellness company that offers guided experiences that connect people with nature, public art, movement, and authentic connection. A certified teacher and nutrition coach, Laura uses the outdoors as her classroom, sharing research on the physical, mental, and social benefits of walking for both individual and community health. Her work invites people of all ages and abilities to slow down, move together, and deepen their connection to themselves, one another, and the path we share.
SESSION 1
10:00
Welcome!
Location & Land
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Kicking-off the talks with a welcome video from TED and Countdown introduction from TEDxHouston Curator Grace Rodriguez. Speakers Ana Bueno and Daniel Millikin will ground us in talks on "Where You Are Matters" and "Land is Living: Expanding the 1%."
Speakers
Tracie Jae
Tracie Jae, known as The Quiet Rebel, is a Houston-based strategist, speaker, and creator of A More HUMAN Approach™, a decision-making framework that helps leaders and communities move from autopilot to intentional action. Through conversations, workshops, and interactive experiences, she invites people to pause, reflect, and consider the human impact of the choices they make. Her work centers Honesty, Urgency, Meaningfulness, Accountability, and Nuance as essential parts of creating more thoughtful organizations, communities, and systems.
Grace Rodriguez
Grace Rodriguez is dedicated to helping do-gooders do greater. With a broad background that includes public and private sector experience, serial entrepreneurship, and leadership roles in community and economic development, Grace works to help people transform ideas into impact. Her experiences have led her to co-found Station Houston, a tech startup hub, and Impact Hub Houston, a locally rooted, globally connected impact catalyst and innovation accelerator.
Ana Bueno
Ana Bueno is a multi award–winning environmental journalist at N+Univision 45 reporting on topics ranging from air quality, environmental justice and wildlife conservation to watchdog Houston's oil and gas industry to elevate environmental awareness in Latino communities through impactful, accessible journalism.
Daniel Millikin
Daniel Millikin is the Executive Director of Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy, where he leads efforts to preserve, restore, and elevate one of Houston’s most unique urban landscapes. A ninth-generation Texan with deep roots in the region, he brings a lifelong connection to place alongside professional experience in horticulture, environmental education, and community engagement.
BREAK
10:40
Reflection
We'll take a break with time to refresh, connect with peers, build relationships, and enjoy a moment with The Quiet Rebel to re-center before the next session.
SESSION 2
11:00
Reimagining the Future
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We'll return to re-imagine what we can accomplish when we decide to act, with inspiration from Suman Khatiwada proposing "We Don't Have a Clean Energy Shortage. We Have an Imagination Problem;" Esteban Montero inviting us to take a new look at the resources right under our feet; and Tina Berger asking us to "Invest Like a Mother."
Speakers
Suman Khatiwada
Dr. Suman Khatiwada is on a mission to decarbonize the industries that feed and fuel the world. As co-founder and CTO of Syzygy Plasmonics, he develops photocatalysts and fully electrified chemical reactors that replace fossil-fuel-driven processes in chemical, fuel, and fertilizer manufacturing. Under his technical leadership, Syzygy has raised over $130 million in venture capital and secured four government grants. Across his career, he has built an invention portfolio spanning 21 patent families and 65 patents granted worldwide.
Esteban Montero
Esteban Montero grew up in Chile, a country whose geography is a sustained argument for the power and beauty of the natural world. Trained in engineering, finance and systems in Chile, MIT, and Tokyo's Keio University, he has since devoted his work to a single question: how complex systems — technical, social, ecological — integrate, or fail to integrate. That led to work he explored with co-authors in A Categorical Defense of Our Future and in a chapter for Andy Adamatzky's Post-Apocalyptic Computing. As founder of the Holon Foundation, he applies that thinking to a piece of civic infrastructure most cities never look at twice: the front yard.
Tina Berger
Tina Berger is the founder of Invest Like a Mother, a movement inviting investors to explore an unconventional framework and values-based approach to investing. She spent more than twenty years as an innovation and digital transformation advisor to corporate leaders in the energy sector. Through this work, she developed a deep understanding of how capital flows, how decisions are made, and how large systems evolve. Tina is the author of Coming Around and Invest Like a Mother (expected June, 2026). Her work reframes investing as a relationship, not a transaction. She emphasizes that when we invest, we are participating in real-world outcomes for people, communities, and the environmental systems we depend on.
LUNCH
12:00 - 1:00
Explore & Engage
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We'll break for lunch with time to connect and continue conversations with speakers and peers, and to explore the Ismaili Center grounds and gallery.
ENGAGE
12:40
HUMAN Activation
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Join Tracie Jae, The Quiet Rebel, on the North Eivan Terrace for a moment to connect with yourself and take a more HUMAN approach to climate action.
SESSION 3
1:00
Our Next Steps ...
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So, what do we do, now? Speakers Jessica Wilt, Ryn Delpapa, and Dianne Kimiko Murata will share their ideas on how we can start creating positive change in our communities if we "Invest Like a Mother," "Adapt Like an Artist," and do just one thing differently than we have before, we could "Change the World, One Chair at a Time." Then Grace will close out the talks with a future-focused activity, and all are invited to end the day with a guided tour of the Ismaili Center!
Speakers
Jessica Wilt
Jessica Wilt is the visionary executive director behind Central City Co-Op, Houston’s oldest organic and sustainable cooperative. An unwavering advocate for regional food sourcing, Jessica and her business partner rescued the 1998-founded grassroots buying club from financial struggle in 2016, transforming it into a thriving economic engine. Under her strategic leadership, the Co-Op 10x’d its business, moved into its first permanent storefront in The Heights, and evolved into a critical small business incubator that now partners with 100 local producers to offer 7,500 products year-round.
Ryn Delpapa
Ryn Delpapa believes in impact. A neuroarts tech founder, speaker, podcaster, and artist on a mission, they honor life's biodiversity, from plants to people. Ryn is a recent 2025 4.0 Tiny Fellow and CXC Changemakers for the Planet Fellow, bridging education, creativity, and environmental impact within their venture, AR+E COMETS, a global health studio. A 2024 City of Houston City Initiative grant awardee, their Art for Climate Resilience arts-in-health program shaped community health in Houston’s Third and Fifth Ward.
Dianne Kimiko Murata
Dianne Murata is the Founder and Principal of Kimiko Designs and the accidental environmentalist behind Kimiko Green, a movement reshaping how the commercial furniture industry thinks about circularity. With 25+ years leading complex projects across corporate, healthcare, and higher education, she’s known as the “furniture fire chief” for her ability to solve problems others avoid. Today, she works with facility owners and real estate leaders to turn furniture into a strategic asset, proving that smart, durable planning is as good for the planet as it is for the bottom line.
ENGAGE
2:00
YOUR TIME TO SHINE!
One Takeaway. One Action.
Many THANKS to our TEDxHouston Sponsors!
