Trevor Ncube at TEDxEuston 2012 - "Embracing Life's Challenges"

From being told as a pupil by a teacher that he would never succeed Trevor Ncube has risen to become one of Africa's foremost entrepreneurs and most powerful newspaper publishers. He has been intimidated by political authorities, forced to flee into exile and yet like the phoenix, he has risen from his ashes to continue pursuing his goal of using the press to change and influence society. He told CNN once 'We want to represent the underdog. We want to be, to some extent, the voice of the voiceless,” By challenging the conventional wisdom of all those who stood in his way, he managed to pursue his vision, and continues to expand it. The TEDxEuston 2012 talk of this self-confessed idealist challenges us to look beyond the obstacles placed on our path as we pursue our dreams.

Watch his powerful talk HERE. 

Trevor Ncube is Chairman of Alpha Media Holdings (AMH ) based in Zimbabwe, a company he co-founded 14 years ago. AMH owns three newspaper titles in Zimbabwe namely NewsDay (daily), The Zimbabwe Independent (business weekly) and The Standard (Sunday). Ncube has a BA Honours (First Class) from the University of Zimbabwe. He started in journalism in 1989 when he was appointed assistant editor of the Financial Gazette in Zimbabwe. In 1991 he was promoted to Executive Editor and in 1994 received the Zimbabwe Editor of the Year award. Ncube is also controlling shareholder and Executive Deputy Chairman of the Mail & Guardian Media Group (South Africa). He completed the Said Business School, University of Oxford, Advanced Management and Leadership Programme in June/July 2009. Trevor was awarded a Print Media S.A. Fellowship in 2006. He was awarded the International Publishers Association Freedom Prize Award in 2007, and has also won the German Africa Award in 2008. In 2010 Trevor was bestowed the Nation Media Group Life Achievement Award for his work in media on the continent. He is co-chair of the African Media Initiative (AMI) a continent wide organization focusing on strengthening the sectors viability and enhancing its professionalism and is a Fellow of The Aspen Institute and Africa Leadership Initiative. Ncube is married with children, loves reading and travelling, is a keen golfer and is a devout Christian. Follow Trevor on Twitter @TrevorNcube

Frank Njenga at TEDxEuston 2012 - "The changing role of Grantparenthood"

As a leading psychiatrist, he has been championing the fight to de-stigmatize mental illness in his native Kenya, and to improve care for mental illness patients. Frank Njenga is a staunch anti-drugs campaigner, is patron of a student anti-drugs organization, and joined Facebook in 2011 to be more accessible to people. Yet the most significant event in his life was becoming a grandparent. In his TEDxEuston 2012 talk, he invites us to challenge conventional wisdom in the way we view trans-generational relationships.

Watch his powerful talk HERE

Frank Njenga is a Consultant Psychiatrist in private practice in Nairobi, Kenya, where he has practiced for thirty years. He was the founder President of the African Association of Psychiatrists and Allied Professions (AAPAP). Dr Njenga was appointed by the President of Kenya to chair the (NACADA) - National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority Board which is the body that advises the Kenya Government on Drug and Alcohol policies. In addition to his medical practice, he is Founder Chair of the Institute of Education in Democracy (IED), an Africa wide election monitoring body, as well as active campaigner for Democracy in Africa. He is an author of many scientific papers, books and book chapters, including children’s’ books.

There are a few tickets left for TEDxEustonSalon on April 6 2013. Grab one of the last ones here. 

Inviting you to TEDxEustonSalon - Saturday April 6 2013

A few months have passed since the cold Saturday where we huddled at the Mermaid Centre and challenged conventional wisdom on Africa. We thank you again for your continued support, as without you, there would be no TEDxEuston!

Many of you have fed back to us that one year is too long to wait for another TEDxEuston! So in response to this we are putting together a slightly smaller, more intimate TEDxEustonSalon to continue the exciting conversations, challenge our minds, feed our soul and shake our bodies to some great music at an intimate, central London venue on the evening of the 6th of April.

TEDxEustonSalon will be exclusively for the incredibly gifted people that have already attended TEDxEuston to engage and fuel our community.

While the space might be smaller and the length of the day shorter, one thing we will never compromise on is the quality of our speakers. We invite you to join us and two amazing young African women, who will blow our mind away with their captivating talks in between wine and dinner at the beautiful Eight Club in Bank. 

The speakers on the evening are:

Chibundu Onuzo - author of ‘the Spider King’s daughter’ 

Chibundu Onuzo started writing novels and short stories at the age of 10 and less than a decade later, she became the youngest woman ever to be signed by Faber and Faber. Her debut novel, ‘The Spider King’s Daughter’ is part of a two-book deal with the publishing house and charts the unlikely relationship that develops between a poor street hawker and a sheltered rich girl who meet on the streets of Lagos. Since its release in March 2012, the book has been long-listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize for debut novelists and shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize for writers under 30. The Times describes the book as ‘a dark, tense, gripping first novel, peeling back layers of Nigerian society’ and The Observer calls it ‘an energetic thriller debut.’ In other parts of the world, the South Africa Times writes of Chibundu, “...kill me dead. This girl has skills.” She has been profiled on CNN, in The Observer and most recently, she made an appearance on BBC 1’s The One Show. Chibundu finished an undergraduate degree in History from King’s College London in 2012 and she is currently doing a Masters in Public Policy at UCL.

Jessica Horn – Women’s rights activist and founder of Akiiki Consulting and author of poetry collection “Speaking in Tongues”

Jessica Horn is a feminist activist, writer and consultant passionate about the struggle for African women to live empowered, healthy lives in their bodies. She has worked with community groups, NGOs, donors, and the UN around advancing sexual rights, ending violence against women, supporting women living with HIV, researching religious fundamentalisms and ensuring women’s rights in conflict-affected contexts. Early in her career, Jessica was nominated as a Soros Reproductive Health and Rights Fellow, authoring a book chapter on African feminist perspectives on Female Genital Mutilation. She has since been part of creating ground-breaking initiatives, including UHAI- the first African-led fund focusing on sexual health and rights, and FRIDA- The Young Feminist Fund. In 2012 Jessica was named an African woman change maker by ARISE Magazine’s African and as one of Applause Africa’s 40 Africans Changemakers under 40. She is a founding member of the African Feminist Forum, a board member of women’s funds Urgent Action-Fund Africa and Mama Cash, and editor of OurAfrica, profiling African women’s voices on open Democracy. With roots in Uganda’s Mountains of the Moon and the shadows of New York’s Yankee stadium, Jessica grew up in Southern Africa and the South Pacific and has since visited 46 countries including 17 in the African region. .

Tickets are available exclusively for you here for a token amount:-http://tedxeustonsalon2013.eventbrite.com

There are only 120 tickets and they will go quickly so get yours now to avoid disappointment. 

We look forward to welcoming you to TEDxEustonSalon 2013!

Yours Faithfully,

The TEDxEuston Team

Alcinda Honwana at TEDxEuston 2012 - "Africa in the hands of its youth"

She believes that the future of Africa lies in the hands of its youth. Alcinda Honwana has written extensively on how the future is hijacked when the elite manipulate the generation she refers to as the 'waithood generation' into fighting senseless wars. She has written on child soldiers. In her TEDxEuston 2012 talk, she challenges the conventional wisdom of having our youth remain in the state of 'waithood', a situation she defines in one of her books as 'a never ending time waiting for life to begin when they will have a job, can get married and have a family.'  The youth must begin to fight for their own socioeconomic and political right. It is up to them to fight for social change and up to us to encourage them. The future must begin now.

Watch her fascinating talk HERE!

Alcinda Honwana is currently a visiting professor in anthropology and international development at the Open University (OU) in the UK. Before joining the Open University, Honwana worked for the Social Science Research Council in New York where she directed the Children and Armed Conflict Program and the Africa Program. She also worked for the United Nations as research coordinator in the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Honwana was the coordinator of the International Research Network on Children and Armed Conflict from 2001 to 2005. Born in Mozambique, Alcinda Honwana has written extensively on the links between political conflict and culture and the impacts of violent conflict on young people, conducting research in Mozambique, DRC, Angola, Colombia and Sri Lanka. In 2007 she was awarded the prestigious Prince Claus Chair for Development and Equity in Holland by the Institute of Social Studies and University of Utrecht.

Jacqueline Novogratz at TEDxEuston - "Power in our interconnectedness"

Jacqueline Novogratz recently twitted: '2012 has reinforced for me in countless ways that we are each other's destiny'.  Her belief in how destiny works has been her motivation for remaining in the business of creating hope and impacting millions of lives. This belief in our interconnectedness with each other, partnered with compassion, compelled her to leave a comfortable job with "Chase" behind to dedicate her life to helping the vulnerable bridge the economic gap. Under her leadership, Acumen Fund has invested more than $75 million in 70 companies in South Asia and Africa, focused on delivering affordable healthcare, water, housing and energy to the poor.  Her TEDxEuston talk challenges conventional wisdom by inviting us to rethink the way we view the world and its poor.

Watch her powerful and passionate talk HERE.

Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of poverty. Acumen Fund aims to create a world beyond poverty by investing in social enterprises, emerging leaders, and breakthrough ideas. Under Jacqueline’s leadership, Acumen Fund has invested more than $72 million in 65 companies in South Asia and Africa, all focused on delivering affordable healthcare, water, housing and energy to the poor. These companies have created and supported more than 55,000 jobs, leveraged an additional $200 million, and brought basic services to tens of millions. In December 2011, Acumen Fund and Jacqueline were on the cover of Forbes magazine as part of their feature on social innovation. Prior to Acumen Fund, Jacqueline founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership programs at the Rockefeller Foundation. Jacqueline currently sits on the advisory board of the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative, the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees, and the board of IDEO.org, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council for Social Innovation. She was also appointed by Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton to the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board. Her best-selling memoir The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World chronicles her quest to understand poverty and challenges readers to grant dignity to the poor and to rethink their engagement with the world. She has an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Economics/International Relations from the University of Virginia. She has received honorary doctorates from the University of Notre Dame and Wofford College, and the Freedom From Want Award from the Roosevelt Institute in 2011. Follow Jacqueline on Twitter @jnovogratz

Komla Dumor at TEDxEuston 2013 - Telling the African Story

Known in some circles as 'The Boss Player’, Komla Dumor began his career as a traffic reporter in Ghana. Now he is a BBC World News, BBC World Service presenter and now anchors his own programme on the BBC called "Focus on Africa".  His hero is Kwame Nkrumah 'because of his courage; he lived and died for the Ghana and Africa that he believed in.' He can be said to be pursuing, in his own way, the same dream of an Africa that is completely free. His TEDxEuston 2012 talk challenges the conventional wisdom of having others speak for us. It challenges Africans to tell African stories, the way only Africans can.

Komla did something no one else has ever done on the TEDxEuston stage - you have to see it (or sing along) to believe! Watch his incredible talk HERE, and share widely!

Komla Dumor is one of the most recognised faces voices at the British Broadcasting Corporation. After a successful career in journalism in this native Ghana where he was named journalist of the year in 2003 for his investigations into public sector corruption, this former medical student joined the BBC in 2006 as the anchor of Network Africa. He is currently one of BBC's leading presenters with a range of responsibilities across all of the BBC's platforms - television radio and online. Komla presents the European morning programme on World News for the BBC's British and global audiences but his strongest contribution to the BBC has been his passionate and unparalleled coverage of Africa. Between 2009 and 2012 Komla was the anchor of the groundbreaking Africa Business Report on BBC World News. This program (a first for the BBC) took Komla to close to 20 African countries covering hundreds of thousands of miles interviewing the continents top entrepreneurs, politicians and policy makers. In addition to the European mornings Komla is the face and main anchor for the first BBC's programme dedicated daily African news and current affairs show; Focus on Africa