Conversations with Influencers
and Disruptors
Live conversations every
Wednesday (mostly) at 4 pm Pacific
Learn More
This show would not be possible without the
support of the Santa Barbara community.
Thank you.
Upcoming Conversations
Jan Rutherford
Leadership is a Design Problem. What’s the most misunderstood aspect of leadership?
Category: The Pandemic ,
Jan Rutherford has been studying leadership since before he became a Green Beret. His exploration of this topic has led him to conversations with hundreds of leaders all over the world. We’ll tap into his expertise, especially to understand the unique challenges facing leaders during the COVID crisis.
Jan Rutherford is an executive coach and keynote speaker. A former Green Beret and founder of Self-Reliant Leadership® - he also leads Crucible® wilderness expeditions with execs & vets. As a Sr. Instructor with the Univ. of Colorado Denver Business School, he teaches leadership in the U.S. and Ireland. He’s also the co-host of The Leadership Podcast and author of “The Littlest Green Beret: On Self-Reliant Leadership.”
Missed a Conversation?
Jump to the Videos
People Are Talking
“It was an honor to contribute, once again, to the profoundly vital discussions the TEDxSantaBarbara team hosts, initiates and propagates with unparalleled integrity and consistency."Dr. Harry Grammer, Making Waves speaker
"Really nicely done to be using your platform to spotlight something like this. Very proud of you guys."Evan Asher, TEDxSantaBarbara performer
“Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your Conversations. Each of these presentations helps to make connections across disciplines, as a result, we’re all inspired to learn more.”Dr. Yonette Thomas, Making Waves speaker
“This series has been terrific! I have caught a few of them and the conversations have been insightful. Keep up the great work.”Julie Sorenson, Attendee
“Thanks so much for hosting such an important presentation by Dr. Wizdom Powell.”Cheri C. Wilson, Education and Training Manager, Johns Hopkins Medicine
This program is one of the best I have ever seen in my life. This was amazing and there are not enough words to say Thank You and your Team."Attendee, BJ King
This year, as we continue producing a series of weekly virtual talks, we focus on ideas that are influencing us, locally and globally. These short conversations are not news-focused. Instead, we are highlighting discussions of hope and optimism while showcasing actionable solutions.
The topics we explore are focused on the Pandemic and Social Justice. We look at them individually and, at times, see how one has influenced the other. We look through various lenses and hear from different voices as we explore these inquiries. One of our guests introduced us to the word Syndemics, which is the collision of different epidemics. This syndemic and the chaos, complexity, and intricate complications it has brought to all of our lives is what Making Waves is all about. All while finding the silver thread of hope from our guests.
We navigate through opinions to help us all understand these challenging times by focusing on positive disruption. We’ve heard that normal will never be normal again. This year we’re Making Waves.
Making Waves is Hosted by Mark Sylvester and Produced by Tracy Wyle
Making Waves Conversations
The Complete Set
Search Conversations
Filter by Topic
Sort Order
Bree Hendrick – How COVID has changed the recruiting challenge for businesses
Bree Hendrick helps organizations find the best talent from around the country and has been doing that for years. Now with COVID’s constraints, the challenges for the workplace have multiplied. We’ll talk about how growing...
Tim Goldstein – Diversity from a Neurodistinct Perspective
While diversity in the workplace is a common idea particularly in the tech industry, Tim will relate his personal autistic discrimination experience in the tech workplace including being fired multiple times for being different.
Matt Beane – Learning to Work with Intelligent Machines
As we look to a new normal of collaborating, we’ll talk with Matt Beane, an expert in understanding the workplace. We’ll go beyond how humans interact, especially under constraints of physical distancing, et al., and...
Bittersweet Gratitude – Concert and Conversations with Creators
To close out the year and to find an appropriate way to celebrate our 10th year of TEDx in Santa Barbara we’ve asked friends to join us for a concert followed by a series of...
O.P. Almaraz – Cleaning Up After COVID
O.P. asks, “Is your building asymptomatic?” As the first restoration company in the US that is certified by the Global BioRisk Advisory Council, he knows what a clean workplace should look like. He has advice...
Jan Campbell – Finding a Vaccine for Violence
Jan has been working diligently to get in front of the crisis of domestic violence here in Santa Barbara, and working at the state level to understand and learn from the best practices of others....
Reggie Smith III, Ph.D. – The Transformational Power of Distance Learning
Distance learning brings education and training to where students or trainees are connecting their world to worldwide learning communities. This presentation will cover how all of these technologies can transform the world and foster a...
Cooper Bates – Redefining the relationship between Performance, Art, and the Audience in a Sequestered Society.
Cooper Bates produced a one-man show and since sheltering-in-place has had to figure out how to be an actor in a virtual world. We’ll talk about the role of the audience in art and the...
Sandro Galea – A Wake-Up Call for Public Health
Dr. Galea thinks about health in a very different way than the discussion we’re used to surrounding healthcare. He is thinking much bigger. In fact, he’s concerned about our collective health and the factors that...
Andreas Forsland, Tim Jin – What Did the Nonverbal Person Say to the Verbal Person?
Cognixion’s goal is to unlock speech for hundreds of millions of people worldwide affected by communication disabilities. We’ll talk with Founder and CEO Andreas Forsland and Tim Jin, a Cognixion Brainiac Council Member, exploring the...
Dr. Keith Witt – Are we at the beginning of something extraordinary?
Dr. Keith has a unique point of view of our culture. He believes that our collective worldview is fraying at the edges, and the process of change we are all experiencing is existentially scary and...
Scott Mann – It’s time to bridge trust and restore social capital.
Scott believes if we’re going to hand this country off to our children better than we found it, we will have to overcome the distrust and disengagement in this country by bridging beyond our groups....
John Greathouse – Looking Around The Corner
John Greathouse has been studying entrepreneurship since graduating with an MBA from Wharton. He suggests that new challenges will arrive from today’s solutions and are unanticipated, creating entrepreneurs’ opportunities.
Kerri Murray – Rethinking the Role of Shelter
All of our lives are being affected by Coronavirus in some way, but those living in refugee camps or in makeshift settlements are particularly vulnerable. Shelter is a critical need for people who are simply...
Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP – No one knows your child better than you do.
As one of our leading pediatricians, Dr. Gordon suggests there are too many unknowns about COVID to guide long-term decision-making. Recent news from the American Pediatric Society suggests that children and teenagers are not immune,...
Donna Weng Friedman – Pandemic Empowerment: Finding Resilience in Music and Stories
In collaboration with WQXR, Donna Weng Friedman created Heritage and Harmony, a virtual concert that is both a recognition of the tremendous contributions to the musical canon by classical musicians of Asian descent and a...
Kyra Gaunt, Ph.D – Agree to be offended, then stay connected.
In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois asked the question, “How does it feel to be a problem?” Day-to-day many of us witness and tolerate marginalization. In this critical juncture in our history, Dr. Gaunt shares lessons...
Lisa Biggs – Empowerment through Education
Lisa Biggs’ day job has her helping educators around the globe understand how maps tell stories about culture, history, and current events. Her passion project is taking storytelling skills and using them to help children.
Shannon Kenny – Humanizing Technology: Feminine Native Traditions and Startup Ideologies
Prontopia is putting the people back in the equation because human services are tragically hard to come by in the digital age. We cannot dismiss the complexities and interdependencies of people, and the earth, as...
Mariel Hemingway – Lives at Stake: Suicide and Mental Health During COVID
More people have suffered at the hands of depression and attempts of suicide in the state of California alone than even coronavirus.
Lisa Jones – COVID-19 and Race: Double Emergencies for Women of Color
Women of color face unique health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This disproportionate impact on women of color should not be dealt with by women and their families alone.
Than Baardson – Accelerating the Fight Against Human Trafficking and its Root Causes
Human trafficking occurs when a person is forced into service against their will—usually forced work or prostitution. Often one person controls another by exploiting a vulnerability. Than’s organization, UNSEEN, is working through collaboration across a...
Simone Akila Ruskamp, Krystle Farmer Sieghart – Healing Justice
Formed in response to the destabilizing impacts of racism and anti-blackness, we aspire to build resilient communities for the African diaspora and other marginalized people along the Central Coast.
Dr. Sangwon Suh, Ph.D. – COVID-19 and the Value of Actionable Information
A sustainability scientist draws a parallel between environmental problems and the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the importance of rapid testing, tracing, and isolation.
Matthew Bershadker – Pets, Poverty and the Pandemic
As the head of the ASPCA, Matt has a deep understanding of the effect of poverty on our nation’s animals. Couple that insight with the Pandemic and you’ll look forward to hearing about what he...
Dr. Harry Grammer – Breaking Down Privilege
Harry was on the 2018 TEDxSantaBarbara stage and returns to talk about the confluence of COVID and Social Justice. We’ll discuss understanding the transformation that needs to happen as we come to grips with the...
Dr. Wizdom Powell, Ph.D., MPH – It’s time for radical healing
Dr. Powell will discuss how the combined impact of COVID-19 and racism is brewing a lethal force of mental health syndemics — or the social patterning of co-occurring disease conditions. COVID-19 has all the ingredients...
Michael Lewis – The Future of Retail
Michael has a long history of innovation in the retail industry. His current project is using technology to monitor what’s going on within a physical store to understand how merchants can make shopping safe and...
Geoff Green – Philanthropy as a Radical Act
The role of philanthropy during the COVID Crisis. Geoff makes conversations about philanthropy fascinating because he is fascinated by it. While now may seem the wrong time to ask for donations, Geoff makes a case...
Dr. Yonette Thomas – Is racism a public health crisis?
Health encompasses mental, social, economic, and educational success and stability – all of which are eroded by structural racism. If US institutions want to combat racism like the public health issue it is, they need...
Seth Streeter – Leaping forward into deferred dreams
Leaping forward into deferred dreams How to design and ignite your 3.0 life Seth Streeter was on the TEDxSantaBarbara stage in 2016, talking about a new way to think about how we manage our money...
Garrett TeSlaa – Rethinking Public Safety
Rethinking Public Safety Peace isn’t the absence of crime, it’s the absence of pain. Garrett addressed many issues related to public safety in this 30-minute conversation. We began with misconceptions the general public has about...
Sigrid Wright – The pandemic did not fix our climate problem
Rethinking how we come back online. Sigrid has a challenging role as the CEO of the Community Environmental Council. She’s thinking about emissions issues, protecting our food system, including how our ecosystem will recover after...
James Joyce III – COFFEE WITH A BLACK GUY
James says we’ve been having conversations about race in Santa Barbara for four years, starting with his Coffee with a Black Guy series. James joins us to talk about the community reaction to the senseless...
Noah benShea – TEN TRUTHS TO GET YOU THROUGH TOUGH TIMES
Noah benShea is one of North America’s most respected and beloved poet philosophers. He is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated, Best Selling author of 25 books. He is a scholar and theologian who has spoken to numerous...
