Hamilton will host a TEDx event on Saturday, Feb. 24, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., in the Kennedy Center Barrett Lab Theatre. This year’s topic is Rethinking Today, Reinventing Tomorrow. A TEDx talk is a showcase for speakers presenting great, well-formed ideas in under 18 minutes.
Tickets are required, but they are free and can be picked up on Thursday, Feb. 22, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Diner.
TEDx talks are independently organized by Hamilton students. Each speaker will draw on personal experiences to show how he or she has been able to enact change. They will help attendees understand how positive impact can be made when individuals can step outside of their own comfort zone and challenge their natural inclinations.
The speakers and their topics will include:
Laura Engelhardt ’95– “Stop Preaching to the Choir and Become the Devil’s Advocate”
Engelhardt is the founder of Neutrality Now, a provider of mediation and arbitration services in the New York metropolitan area. She previously served as a Compliance Officer at Goldman Sachs for 11 years, and an attorney at Skadden Arps and Pillsbury Winthrop for five years.
She graduated from Stanford Law School in 2000, after earning a bachelor’s degree in theatre and German from Hamilton in 1995. Engelhardt’s career has centered on communication. She says the biggest change from being an attorney to being a mediator has been creating the right environment for people to solve their own problems, instead of telling them what to do.
Vasant Dhar – “When Should We Trust Machines?”
Dhar is a professor at the Stern School of Business and the Center for Data Science at New York University. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Big Data, and the founder of SCT Capital Management, a machine-learning-based hedge fund in New York City. Dhar’s central research question asks when we should trust AI machines that learn from data. His research has addressed this question in a number of areas including financial markets, social media, and healthcare.
Dhar has authored articles for publications such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired, and the Harvard Business Review. He has appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and National Public Radio. Dhar was recently named as one of the top 12 people to know in hedge funds and top 20 data scientists in Finance and Banking by efinancialcareers.com
Juvencio Maeztu P’20 – “Purpose in Business – the Era of Inclusive Leadership”
Maeztu is CFO and Deputy CEO of IKEA Group (INGKA Holding B.V. and its controlled entities). He joined IKEA in 2001 because of its vision, culture and values, which are the driving forces behind his passion for growth at IKEA. Maeztu led IKEA India as CEO for over six years before becoming CFO.
During his time in IKEA Maeztu has had extensive store experience, which he believes is the best platform to understand the core of the IKEA business. It also empowered Maeztu with great understanding of Life at Home for customers and how to make the IKEA culture a living reality. He has the experience in driving business growth in existing stores as well as spearheading expansion in new markets. Maeztu has had diversified experience in managing stores and business expansion responsibilities in Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
