TEDxCUNY 2025: FAST TRACK
Friday, May 02, 2025
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Gerald W. Lynch Theater
524 W 59th St, New York, NY 10019
"In a world that changes so quickly, the greatest risk is standing still."
~ Unknown
In an era where time is our most valuable currency, every second counts. Our world moves at a rapid pace, propelling our ideas into action, and bringing new innovations to light. Between urgent issues and competing daily demands, society needs to embrace acceleration. The road ahead is both thrilling and uncertain, but for those willing to seize the momentum, the possibilities are limitless. Speed can be a superpower, but we need to learn how to mobilize this engine of progress. The evolution of technology, business, science, and humanities is on the FAST TRACK, creating swift positive shifts to shape the future. But one question remains: will you be a driver of change?
FAST TRACK Speakers
Javier Arau is an American composer, saxophonist, conductor, theorist, author, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and executive director of New York Jazz Academy®, a popular New York City music school, leads the Javier Arau Jazz Orchestra, and is the author of several works on music theory and improvisation. A 2024 and 2025 quarterfinalist for Grammy® Educator of the Year, Arau has been touted as “pioneering” (DownBeat magazine, May 2022 cover story) and a “jam warrior” (JazzWise magazine, January 2023) and has been featured in The New York Times and as a two-time cover artist for Saxophone Journal magazine. His compositions have received awards from ASCAP, BMI, DownBeat Magazine, and IAJE, and are published by UNC Jazz Press and Dorn Publications. Arau is an artist-endorser of Virtuoso Saxophones and currently resides in New York City with his wife and two daughters.
Clifford Robin Temprosa Li is the Founder of Dare to Change Consulting, Inc., specializing in building social, economic, and political power for AAPI communities. Born in the Philippines with Filipino and Chinese heritage, he has worked at the New York State Legislature and the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, leading a campaign of 100+ organizations to secure $60M for Asian nonprofits. He has helped secure over $1M in federal funding for NaFFAA New York and launched the first Filipino-centered statewide policy agenda. His firm has engaged Millennial and Gen Z Asian American voters, secured $25K for the Filipino American Legal Defense Fund, and helped AAPI nonprofits win over $30M in public contracts. Clifford serves on multiple boards, is a brother of Delta Epsilon Psi National South Asian Fraternity, Inc, and a dubbed Knight of Rizal. Recognized as a 2023 New York Power Player Rising and 2024 AAPI Power Player, he has also received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.
Hillery Stone’s personal essays and poems have appeared in The New York Times, the Academy of American Poets website, Guernica, Electric Lit, Prairie Schooner and Beloit Poetry Journal, where she was an Adrienne Rich Award winner for poetry. Stone’s New York Times “Modern Love” essay, “The Dentist Who Treated My Divorce,” was selected as a recommendation by Longreads and Memoir Monday and excerpted in Frank Bruni’s popular New York Times “For the Love of Sentences” newsletter. Stone taught creative and expository writing at New York University for ten years and currently teaches essay writing at Baruch College. She has also spoken on the art of narrative nonfiction at Boston University’s Power of Narrative conference for the past two years. Recently, she completed a memoir about navigating motherhood and art in a family seemingly cursed with madness and dysfunction.
Professor Marie Della Thomas has over 30 years of experience in Advertising Publishing, working with Fortune 500 and 100 corporations. In 2009, she launched Marie Della Thomas and Associates, assisting NYC publishing houses, with Disney Publishing Worldwide as her first client. She later returned to Disney as a Consultant, optimizing advertising billing for four major publications. Her career began at Times Mirror Magazines, where she worked for a decade. After receiving awards for her business leadership and community service, Marie now finds fulfillment in teaching at Baruch College, where she earned a BA and MA in Corporate Communications. She is currently pursuing an EdD in Education at National University. As a full-time Lecturer and Communication Specialist, she teaches Business and Professional Speech Communication, inspiring students with her corporate experiences. Marie's ultimate goal is to equip students with the necessary skills and tools to ensure they have a bright future in business.
Allyson Poyker is currently a Finance Major freshman at Baruch College and the Print Editor of the Baruch Undergraduate Law Journal. She is passionate about speaking her mind and bringing awareness to overlooked and undercovered topics and ideas. She enjoys using writing as a creative outlet to express my personal opinions and beliefs and delve into the topics she finds great interest in. She aspires to channel her interests in finance and law to be able to attend law school and work as an attorney in the corporate legal field. She cares about current political issues, and as Print Editor of the Baruch Undergraduate Law Journal, she wrote an overview of the history of Rent Stabilization in New York City, its impacts on New York City residents, and challenges that have attempted to abrogate Rent Stabilization Law.
Serene Khader is a moral and political philosopher and feminist theorist. She is an internationally recognized expert on the values that underlie feminist activism, especially the activism of women of color and women in the global South. She is the author of three books, Faux Feminism: Why We Fall for White Feminism and How We Can Stop (Beacon 2024), Decolonizing Universalism: A Transnational Feminist Ethic (Oxford 2019), and Adaptive Preferences and Women’s Empowerment (Oxford 2011), as well as a number of academic articles. Her public-facing work has also been published in venues such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The New Republic.
Norman Siegel is a civil rights and civil liberties lawyer, graduating from Brooklyn College and NYU School of Law. Beginning his career in advocacy, he worked with the American Civil Liberties Union on cases challenging the exclusion of African Americans and women from jury pools and later led the Youth Citizenship Fund to register young voters. From 1973-76, he was the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Field Director and later directed MFY Legal Services. In 1985, he became NYCLU’s Executive Director, and for 15 years, he led efforts like creating the Civilian Complaint Review Board. Since 2002, he has been in private practice and co-founded Siegel Teitelbaum & Evans in 2012. In his legal career, he has represented 9/11 families in obtaining emergency tapes and was part of the defense team that acquitted Nick Hillary in 2016. Norman has served on the Jackie Robinson Foundation's Board since 1978 as well.
Joel Teron is a passionate public health professional and student dedicated to enhancing community health. With over three years in recovery, his journey fuels his commitment to public health advocacy and harm reduction. Balancing full-time work and studies, Joel is the harm reduction project manager at the Alliance for Positive Change and serves as President of the Health and Wellness Club at BMCC. He is pursuing an associate degree in public health and is expected to graduate in Spring 2025. His dedication extends to education and peer mentoring, having supported students as a supplemental instructor in BMCC’s Learning Resource Center. With aspirations to obtain a PhD in public health, Joel’s academic interests focus on health disparities affecting marginalized communities. An avid runner, he enjoys running through NYC’s streets and, in 2024, completed two half-marathons and his first full marathon at the TCS NYC Marathon.
Heather Schultz Gittens, M.P.A., is an award-winning Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies at CUNY Baruch College. With 16 years of experience in journalism, content marketing, nonprofit communication, and higher education, she is dedicated to creating a supportive space for students to refine their writing and oral communication skills. She teaches Speech Communication, Business Communication, and Public Relations Writing, helping students find their voices and overcome speech anxiety. As a former journalist, Heather has covered topics ranging from criminal justice to digital marketing, with work published in The New York Times, NBCNews.com, New York Daily News, and more. A proud Asian American educator, she earned both her B.A. in Journalism and M.P.A. from Baruch College. She has also received Baruch’s Presidential Excellence Award in Distinguished Teaching (as an Adjunct).