After 15 years without a TED event in the city, TEDxNOLA will bring together 28 speakers and performers on October 30 to share ideas with the potential to shape conversations, inspire action, and create lasting impact. University students attend free, and tickets close Wednesday, October 28, at midnight.
NEW ORLEANS — TEDxNOLA (tedxnola.com) today announced its inaugural event, “What the World Needs Now,” taking place Friday, October 30, 2026, at the Communications/Music Complex at Loyola University New Orleans. In partnership with Loyola, the event marks a significant return of the TEDx experience to New Orleans after approximately 15 years, bringing together 28 speakers and performers whose work spans behavioral science, public health, law, education, technology, cuisine, and music.
At a time when the world faces profound social, cultural, scientific, and technological challenges, TEDxNOLA seeks to create space for something increasingly essential – the exchange of ideas across differences. The event will invite attendees to consider new perspectives, question assumptions, and explore how the insights of individuals working across diverse fields can help shape a better future.
TEDxNOLA brings that spirit back to New Orleans, a city whose identity has long been shaped by creativity, cultural exchange, resilience, and the power of people to imagine new possibilities together. In partnership with public radio stations WWNO (New Orleans) and WRKF (Baton Rouge), streams of the presentations and future conversations may also be featured on the TED Radio Hour.
Tickets are on sale now, and the event is expected to sell out. Sales close at midnight on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. In a commitment to accessibility and the next generation of thinkers and leaders, university students will attend free with prior registration.
“In these complex times, if we stop talking to each other and meeting together, we stand to lose so much,” said Julianne Wurm, founder and lead organizer of TEDxNOLA. “We are seeking to create a space and a community where we can gather to continue composed dialogues about our shared future. The most important ideas are not always the loudest ones. Also, what seems like an event is actually the inception of a new community creating the opportunity to explore new ways of doing and being with others.”
A New Partnership Rooted in Ideas, Creativity, and Community
The partnership with Loyola University New Orleans provides a fitting home for TEDxNOLA’s return. Founded in 1904, Loyola is a Jesuit university grounded in academic excellence, intellectual inquiry, service, ethical leadership, and the development of the whole person.
Its interdisciplinary academic environment and longstanding commitment to the liberal arts, communication, and creative expression align naturally with TEDxNOLA’s mission. The university’s Communications/Music Complex offers a particularly meaningful setting for an event exploring how ideas are communicated, how stories move people, and how creativity can help us understand the world in new ways.
The partnership also reflects a shared belief that access to ideas matters. By offering free admission to students, TEDxNOLA is opening the event to emerging leaders who will help shape the region’s future and who stand to benefit from encountering new disciplines, challenging questions, and people whose work is making a difference in their communities and beyond.
For New Orleans, the collaboration represents more than a venue announcement. It is an opportunity to build a renewed gathering place for intellectual curiosity, creative exchange, and constructive public dialogue.
28 Voices. A World of Ideas. One Shared Future.
The theme, “What the World Needs Now,” emerged from a sense of urgency and possibility. The organizers believe that addressing the challenges of our time requires more than expertise within individual fields. It requires the ability to connect ideas, listen carefully, and recognize opportunities for change where others may see only obstacles.
The inaugural TEDxNOLA event features the following 27 speakers and performers:
Alan Chamo, Dan Ariely, Dylan Hackett, Waukeshia D. Jackson, Esq., Matt Stone, APR, Sarah Davanzo, Kristin Diable, Joshua Starkman, Audrey LeCrone, Jim McCormick, Alanah Odoms, Ruma Bhagat, MD, MPH, Jason Johnson, Siyeon Joo, Danielle Lee, Dr. Calvin Mackie, Swan Michelle, Andy Sarjahani, Alison Midstokke, Chris Pineda, PhD, Helen Gillet, Noam Platt, Professor Anita Raj, Adetola Sanni-Thomas, Chef Toby Archibald, Julie Gable, and Alyssa Dausman, Ph.D.
Together, these speakers and performers represent a broad spectrum of knowledge, experience, and creative expression. Their contributions reflect the event’s central premise: meaningful progress often begins when we encounter an idea that changes how we see a problem, another person, or our own role in the world.
The full program and event information are available at https://tedxnola.com.
The Beginning of a Renewed TEDx Community in New Orleans
The October 30 gathering is intended as the beginning of a continuing conversation, not a one-time event.
Approximately three months after the inaugural gathering, TEDxNOLA plans to host smaller salon events featuring a more select group of speakers. These intimate gatherings will offer opportunities to explore particular ideas in greater depth, encourage closer dialogue among participants, and sustain the relationships and intellectual momentum created by the main event.
The salon format will allow TEDxNOLA to develop a more continuous presence in the city, creating additional opportunities for community members to engage with compelling ideas throughout 2027.
The long-term vision is to establish TEDxNOLA as a community where curiosity is encouraged, differences can be explored respectfully, and ideas are valued for their potential to inform, challenge, and inspire. In a time when public conversation can become polarized or superficial, the organizers believe that creating opportunities for thoughtful, face-to-face dialogue is itself an important contribution.
New Orleans has never lacked creativity, originality, or people willing to imagine what comes next. TEDxNOLA aims to bring those qualities together in a shared space where local perspectives can connect with broader questions and where conversations begun onstage can lead to new possibilities offstage.
About TEDxNOLA
TEDxNOLA is an independently organized TEDx event in New Orleans, created in the spirit of TED’s mission of ideas worth spreading. Its inaugural event, “What the World Needs Now,” brings together local and national voices to explore what the world needs most in increasingly challenging times. TEDxNOLA seeks to build a community where ideas can be exchanged, debated, and even disagreed upon in a civil and productive way. Following its October 2026 launch, the organization plans to continue the conversation through smaller salon gatherings throughout 2027.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.
Join Us
TEDxNOLA: “What the World Needs Now”
- Date: Friday, October 30, 2026
- Venue: Loyola University New Orleans, Communications/Music Complex
- Program: 28 speakers and performers
- Student admission: Free
- Ticket deadline: Midnight, Wednesday, October 28, 2026
- Tickets: https://luma.com/ruyqb703
- Full program: https://tedxnola.com
Tickets are available now. Given the anticipated demand, attendees are encouraged to secure their places before sales close on October 28.