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2015 TEDxMcAllen Program

Program designed by Black Koi 360 for the 2015 TEDxMcAllen event hosted at the McAllen Convention Center.

Program designed by Black Koi 360 for the 2015 TEDxMcAllen event hosted at the McAllen Convention Center.

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McAllen<br />

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, <strong>2015</strong><br />

www.tedxmcallen.us


WELCOME TO <strong>TEDxMcAllen</strong><br />

First off, I want to thank you for believing in this event, our process, and our team to produce<br />

it. Without your desire to do something different and be a part of this, we would not be here.<br />

It has been quote a task to get this first event off the ground, but here we are. As you read this,<br />

speakers are scurrying around with a knot in their belly, sound crews are checking microphones,<br />

and everyone is getting ready to see what this event will be.<br />

What started as an idea to produce a TEDx event in McAllen a few years ago, has now turned<br />

into our own production. From finding the speakers and their incredible stories, to watching the<br />

ticket applications come in, it has been an eye-opening and fascinating journey.<br />

The speaker lineup that we have selected, we believe, brings together a variety of individuals<br />

with their own specific take on how to Break Borders. From independent musicians to founders<br />

of schools and organizations, from published authors to magicians, and everyone in between,<br />

we think we have done well canvassing our area.<br />

One of the biggest parts of this event directly involves you. We need you. We need you to open<br />

your minds, listen to these ideas, and let them help shape you. Engage with the speakers, get to<br />

know your other <strong>TEDxMcAllen</strong> attendees, and figure out ways to help shape our community for<br />

the future. Without your involvement and interaction these are just ideas on a stage. With your<br />

involvement this could create something more powerful than you can imagine.<br />

I encourage you to listen to each and every idea and challenge yourself to find a way to help<br />

spread the idea being shared. Ask yourself, “How can I help?” When you find an answer, put it<br />

into action. Be the change that you want to see in McAllen.<br />

Thank you for being here and we look forward to how this event will impact our community<br />

for years to come.<br />

Jasmine Rico (Public Relations), Alyssa Garcia (Marketing Coordinator), Virginia Gause (Book &<br />

Vendor Coordinator), Ileana Garcia-Spitz (Guest Services), Lucas Martinez-Salas (Event Production),<br />

Drew Lentz (Licensee, Curator). Not photographed: Monica Raygada (Speaker Coordinator)<br />

TABLE OF CONTENTS<br />

Agenda<br />

Our Speakers<br />

Our Partners<br />

...................................................... 4<br />

...................................................... 5<br />

...................................................... 13<br />

DREW LENTZ<br />

Curator, Licensee, and Storyteller<br />

<strong>TEDxMcAllen</strong><br />

drew@tedxmcallen.us<br />

#tedxmcallen<br />

2 3


<strong>2015</strong> SCHEDULE<br />

MORNING SESSIONS<br />

Doors open at 8:00 AM<br />

WHERE WE ARE<br />

BREAK<br />

Sam Garcia<br />

Sergio Chapa<br />

Nydia Tapia-Gonzalez<br />

WHO WE ARE<br />

Amalia Ortiz<br />

Milton Gonzalez<br />

David Bowles<br />

Norm Sanders<br />

Mayra Garcia<br />

LUNCH (12:00PM)<br />

AFTERNOON SESSIONS<br />

WHAT WE’RE DOING<br />

Arturo Castañeda<br />

Razor Dave<br />

Tom Torkelson<br />

Francisco Guajardo<br />

BREAK<br />

Exclusive performance<br />

by Max Costello<br />

WHERE WE’RE GOING<br />

Fabian Moreno<br />

Dalinda Alcantar<br />

Deborah Tomai<br />

Alberto Altamirano<br />

MIXER (5:00PM)<br />

OUR SPEAKERS<br />

4 5


SAM GARCIA<br />

Sam Garcia is an architect by profession who has spent over a decade as a<br />

writer, community leader, and big-picture-idea-guy for South Texas. Sam is<br />

the founder and Principal of McAllen-based Sam Garcia Architect. The firm is<br />

a studio/think-tank that seeks to urbanize McAllen into a city of high-density,<br />

mixed use, pedestrian dominated hotspots, thereby attracting high caliber<br />

jobs, culture, and opportunities to deep South Texas.<br />

Locally, Sam has helped lead several organizations, serving as the past President<br />

of Futuro McAllen, Co-chair of Leadership McAllen Class XXXIII, and as the Texas Young Architect<br />

Regional Director for the American Institute of Architects. Currently he is on several boards including<br />

the Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas RGV. Sam has been fortunate to work on projects with<br />

amazing and talented people from all over the world – from the rural highlands of Guatemala, to the<br />

bustling metropolises of Boston, San Francisco, and Madrid.<br />

SERGIO CHAPA<br />

Journalism is something that runs in Sergio Chapa’s blood.His father was<br />

a television photographer and reporter in the Rio Grande Valley. Sergio<br />

followed in his father’s footsteps working in newspapers and television in the<br />

Rio Grande Valley, Dallas and currently in San Antonio.<br />

His award-winning work on both sides of the border brought international<br />

attention to the drug war in Mexico. Chapa started his career with various media<br />

outlets such as The Valley Morning Star, The Brownsville Herald and KGBT-TV Channel 4 .<br />

Today he is a reporter for the San Antonio Business Journal. Sergio has won a Texas AP Broadcasting<br />

Award for his pieces entitled “Mass Graves Near San Fernando” and “Valley Criminals on Death Row”.<br />

MILTON<br />

GONZALEZ<br />

Milton Gonzalez is a<br />

licensed leadership<br />

coach and motivational<br />

teacher and a part of the<br />

John Maxwell Team. He<br />

possesses a strong background in clinical<br />

psychology and education and helps<br />

corporate leaders become more effective<br />

in leading their organizations. He is also the<br />

Headmaster at Covenant Christian Academy,<br />

a local private Christian school.<br />

Milton is an ordained pastor and performs<br />

pastoral counseling. He is committed to<br />

developing leaders of excellence and integrity<br />

by providing the finest resources a n d<br />

training for personal and professional growth.<br />

AMALIA<br />

ORTIZ<br />

Currently pursuing an<br />

MFA in creative writing,<br />

Amalia Ortiz has appeared<br />

on three seasons of Russell<br />

Simmons Presents Def<br />

Poetry on HBO. She was awarded<br />

the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation Grant<br />

from Sandra Cisneros and a writing residency at<br />

the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Amalia<br />

Ortiz is a self-proclaimed actor/writer/activist.<br />

She has written and performed in several plays<br />

including Carmen de la Calle and Otra Esa on<br />

the Public Transit. Her works are rhythmic and<br />

edgy challenging social political issues and often<br />

empowering females and la raza. This October,<br />

Ortiz releases her first book, Rant. Chant. Chisme.<br />

NYDIA TAPIA-GONZALEZ<br />

Nydia Tapia-Gonzalez is a freelance writer, blogger and tourism professional.<br />

She has been working in tourism for over twenty-four years and as the director<br />

for South Texas Tourism since 2012. She writes about life in the Rio Grande<br />

Valley on her blog La Vida Valle and contributes to several publications<br />

including Beyond Arts Magazine, The Valley Catholic and The Valley Business<br />

Report.<br />

In 2014, Nydia took her passion for architecture and mid-century modern design to<br />

a new level when she founded RGVMOD.com. Through RGVMOD.com she works to provide resources<br />

to those looking to preserve our mid-century modern homes, building, hotels and schools.<br />

6 7


NORM<br />

SANDS<br />

MAYRA<br />

GARCIA<br />

DAIVD<br />

BOWLES<br />

A product of an<br />

ethnically diverse family<br />

with Latino roots, David<br />

Bowles has lived most of<br />

his life in the Río Grande<br />

Valley of South Texas. Bowels<br />

is the director for the Bilingual program with<br />

Donna ISD. He also teaches at The University<br />

of Texas Pan American. He is the author of<br />

several books, including The Smoking Mirror,<br />

Border Lore, Shattering and Bricolage, The<br />

Seed, and Mexican Bestiary. He has considerable<br />

experience translating prose, poetry and scripts<br />

from Spanish to English (and vice versa) as well<br />

as from Classical Nahuatl.<br />

In 2014, the Texas Institute of Letters selected My<br />

Flower, Song, Dance: Aztec and Mayan Poetry as<br />

recipient of the Soeurette Dieh Fraser Award for<br />

Best Translation.<br />

ROSSY EVELIN<br />

LIMA<br />

Rossy Evelin Lima<br />

describes herself as<br />

an immigrant writer.<br />

She is an award winning<br />

author. She has been<br />

published in numerous literary articles, journals,<br />

magazines and anthologies in Canada, United<br />

States, Mexico, Spain, Venezuela and Argentina.<br />

She received the Gabriela Mistral Award in 2010<br />

by the National Hispanic Honor Society as well<br />

as an Honorary Mention by the International<br />

Latino Book Awards 2014 for best Spanish<br />

Poetry Book. Her poetry book Ecos de Barro<br />

was published by Otras Voces Publishing<br />

(2013).<br />

Norm Sands is a<br />

music educator, writer,<br />

blogger and an overall<br />

resources for music<br />

educators. He has over 20<br />

educational music publications<br />

on the market and continue to write advice<br />

articles for music publications. Currently a<br />

contributing writer for Southwestern Musician.<br />

He is a music expert from creation to marketing<br />

including composing, arranging, recording,<br />

producing, and note-setting for print. He<br />

is currently an elementary Music teacher<br />

for La Joya ISD. This last school year Norm<br />

received the prized HEB Award for Excellence<br />

in Education and the Lifetime Achievement<br />

Award for Elementary Education.<br />

Mayra Garcia began her<br />

mariachi studies at the<br />

age of 12 in the La Joya<br />

ISD where she teaches<br />

now. In 2012 she formed<br />

Mariachi “Mariposas”, an allfemale<br />

mariachi consisting of the best female<br />

mariachi musicians from the Rio Grande Valley.<br />

In 2014, Mariachi Mariposas won the Houston<br />

Livestock Show and Rodeo Mariachi Invitational<br />

“Best in Texas”. Mayra is currently the director<br />

for the award- winning Mariachi “Los Lobos”<br />

from Palmview High School in the La Joya<br />

Independent School District.<br />

8 9


ARTURO<br />

CASTAÑEDA<br />

RAZOR<br />

DAVE<br />

DEBORAH<br />

TOMAI<br />

FRANCISCO<br />

GUAJARDO<br />

Arturo Castaneda left<br />

Mercedes, Texas for<br />

New York City. People<br />

took notice of his fashion<br />

sense which landed him a<br />

job as a stylist for Ralph Lauren. Since then,<br />

Arturo went on to become co-founder of Cielo<br />

Brands a personal styling and interior concept<br />

design company which styles Larry Fitzgerald,<br />

Demaryius Thomas.<br />

TOM<br />

TORKELSON<br />

Seventeen years ago<br />

Tom Torkelson and<br />

JoAnn Gama began<br />

what would become IDEA<br />

Public Schools as an after<br />

school program at Donna ISD. In 2017 IDEA<br />

Public Schools is planning to expand to over<br />

60 schools including elementary, middle and<br />

high schools. IDEA has school all over the<br />

Rio Grande Valley, Austin and San Antonio. It<br />

boast the fact that every high school senior<br />

they have graduated has been accepted into<br />

a college or university. Tom and IDEA Public<br />

Schools have been featured in US News and<br />

World Report Best High Schools and The<br />

Washington Post.<br />

RazorDave is a rock<br />

guitarist and founding<br />

member of the band<br />

Black Tora. He has shared the<br />

bill with renowned acts such as Motley Crue,<br />

ZZ Top and Twisted Sister, and is a seven-time<br />

veteran at one of the largest rock festivals in<br />

the United States, Rocklahoma.<br />

In addition to touring North America with<br />

Black Tora, RazorDave has toured overseas<br />

with Latin Grammy artist, Elida Reyna.<br />

Black Tora’s debut album has seen distribution<br />

in Japan through international label Spiritual<br />

Beast and continues to receive rave reviews<br />

through music publications and social media<br />

around the world<br />

FABIAN<br />

MORENO<br />

By combining his love<br />

for astonishment with<br />

elements such as classic<br />

literature, film, modern<br />

day culture, and an innate<br />

sense of humor Fabian<br />

entertains audiences of the highest caliber<br />

with his own personal style of magic. He has<br />

performed for celebrities, CEO’s, universities,<br />

politicians, America’s finest physicians and<br />

attorneys and is the only magician to have ever<br />

performed for a seated grand jury during their<br />

official courtroom proceedings in the state of<br />

Texas.<br />

After the birth of her<br />

son Ben in 2011, Deborah<br />

was desperate to find<br />

some kind of community<br />

for children with Down<br />

syndrome and their parents. Her<br />

efforts lead to meeting with seven families that<br />

would go on to co-find the Rio Grande Valley<br />

Down Syndrome Association. They first met<br />

in March of 2012 and organized themselves as<br />

a preschool playgroup. Today the RGVDSA is<br />

thriving with over 200 families. Its community<br />

includes newborns to adults. Its mission is to<br />

build relationships, advocacy, and support for<br />

individuals with Down syndrome and their<br />

families.<br />

Francisco Guajardo is<br />

a founder of the Llano<br />

Grande Center. Started<br />

in the early ‘90s as an<br />

initiative to stretch student’s<br />

expectations on their own<br />

college success. The Center has evolved<br />

into an educational laboratory outside of the<br />

classroom. The Center has trained students,<br />

educators, and community development<br />

agents locally, nationally, and internationally on<br />

how to find, tell and use their story to achieve<br />

community change. Today Francisco continues<br />

his work with the Llano Grande Center and is a<br />

professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande<br />

Valley.<br />

10 11


DALINDA ALCANTAR<br />

CEO of recently acquired eJumcomm a mobile application that brings families<br />

together in a learning space. Dalinda a former educator is specializing in<br />

impacting communities through technology. While eJumcomm is working<br />

on empowering student leaders and families within the education system,<br />

her latest startup Border Kids Code acts as an enrichment program to<br />

empower student for the high tech world of tomorrow teaching them to code<br />

with afterschool and summer programs.<br />

ALBERTO ALTAMIRANO<br />

Deeply committed to improving the lives of people in his community,<br />

Alberto started out as a culture and arts organizer. Despite his young age,<br />

Alberto’s interest in public policy and community involvement has led him<br />

to work at the Texas House of Representatives, Office of the U.S. Trade<br />

Representative and the U.S. Department of State. Driven by his passion in<br />

technology, policy and public involvement, in <strong>2015</strong> he co-founded Cityflag a<br />

mobile application that will allow you to report infrastructure issues such as<br />

outages, potholes and graffiti while earning rewards and building a more inclusive<br />

local government. Currently, Alberto serves as a Public Involvement Specialist for the Alamo Area<br />

Metropolitan Planning Organization.<br />

12 13<br />

OUR PARTNERS


ERC<br />

14 15


McAllen<br />

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, <strong>2015</strong><br />

www.tedxmcallen.us

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