April 18, 2013

Hobsons, TedxTeen, and Chelsea Clinton

Apr. 18, 2013 at 08:00 AM | By Shannon McKinstrie | Comment Count

Earlier this month, Hobsons sponsored TEDxTeen conference in New York City. TEDxTeen is an independently organized TED event. If you’re not familiar with TED, it is a non-profit whose sole mission is simply to share ideas worth spreading. And the world changers at this event did not disappoint.

A few of us had the privilege to represent Hobsons at this event, which was hosted by none other than Chelsea Clinton! The conference was not only a great opportunity for Hobsons reach out and share our mission with attendees, but also support a great organization and teens from all over the world that are doing amazing things. A few notable examples included:

A 14-year-old who started an organization saving our ocean’s reefs;
A Pakistani girl who posed as a boy in order to compete in a sport that she loved;
A boy in Sierra Leone who built a radio station for his community out of scraps he found in a landfill;
And, a blind 16 year old that says he lives in a world of no limits and taught himself how to play the piano just from sound.

All of these ideas came from asking a simple question, “Why?”

These teenagers wanted to know why things are the way they are, saw no limits, and are impacting and changing the world in which we live.

We had a wonderful experience sharing our story with attendees as well, but the most exciting thing of all is everyone around us seemed to share the same goal: helping to create the world-changers of tomorrow.

The students we met truly care about our future, and we were honored to play a small part in making it an informative and entertaining day for those involved. Education summits like TEDxTeen are a great reminder of why we’re so passionate about serving the students and institutions we work with every day.