With the annual TEDxJacksonville conference on the horizon, a team of local volunteers is working tirelessly to make this year’s event possible.
The independently organized conference, licensed by TED, has been a fixture in Jacksonville since 2012. What began as TEDxRiversideAvondale has grown into a marquee event drawing hundreds of attendees each year.
“It’s so rare that people take the time to give themselves permission to be curious and to sit down, not look at their phones, and process somebody trying to give the talk of their lives on stage,” said TEDx Co-Organizer and Executive Producer Jeanmarie Grimsley.
Grimsley lives in Avondale and joined TEDx in 2012, during its inaugural year. She now heads the team of about 20 local volunteers who put on the annual event.
“[We] believe it’s really important that Jacksonville is an engaged, curious and inspired city,” said Grimsley.
San Marco resident Ron Hubbard is the co-organizer, license holder and creative director. He is responsible for reviewing more than 200 speaker applications and selecting 10 to 12 topics that ultimately make the stage.
“We look for ideas we think will resonate with our audience based on things happening in our city and around the world,” said Hubbard.
Keagan Anfuso lives in Fairfax and serves as a video producer and marketing director. She says it’s easy to overlook the immense amount of preparation it takes to pull off a
TEDx event, from the complex speaker selection process to securing funding.
“Attendees only see the end result – a single day of talks, performances and experiences,” said Anfuso. “But that final moment represents an entire year of planning, designing, testing, failing, fixing and trying again.”
A Theme That Reflects the Times
The theme for this year’s event is “On the Edge,” which originated during a retreat for TEDx volunteers.
“We all kind of acknowledged that we felt like things were really changing fast, and we were kind of on edge about what that change represented,” said Grimsley. “We wanted to lean into some pretty sizable things that are happening and try to bring a little courage and little curiosity to that exploration.”
The 2026 program will explore the future of work in an era of rapid technological change, examine ethical questions around extending rights to artificial intelligence and the natural world, and confront the hidden costs of global supply chains, including issues of modern slavery and consumer responsibility. The 2026 lineup features several Jacksonville locals sharing their stories and vision, among them Susanna Barton and Dr. Jeffrey Levenson.
Barton, a mindful aging strategist and published author, will speak about reframing aging as a design challenge. Her talk will offer practical strategies for families approaching later life with dignity and intention.
“I look forward to sharing my thoughts on reframing aging as a design challenge and hope it will resonate with the community as much as the other speakers’ talks have inspired me,” said Barton, who called it an honor to be selected to speak.
Levenson, whose practice is located in Riverside, will share insights from his nonprofit Gift of Sight, which has restored vision to thousands. His work – including a viral collaboration with YouTuber MrBeast – spotlights what’s possible when a community refuses to accept preventable blindness.
Additional speakers include Josh Gellers, PhD, Ron Griswell and CJ Goulding, Andrew Hilger, Svetlana Makarova, Bonnie Nixon, PhD, Isaiah Oliver, Christa Sylla, Travis Williams and Dr. Jade Wu.
Maintaining Audience Engagement
Central to the mission of TEDx is deepening audience members’ engagement with one another and the theme. To facilitate this, past conferences have featured interactive activities and experiences, such as smoothie bikes powered by pedaling and campsite installations complete with s’mores and solar eclipse viewings.
“Jacksonville is a very spread-out city and sometimes communities can be siloed,” said Hubbard. “I like to think that TEDx provides an opportunity to bring these various communities and creative ideas together under one roof where we can spark new connections, inspiring ideas, engaging discussions, and be a catalyst for positive change.”
Shrinking attention spans are also shaping the event. The time limit for TEDx talks used to be no longer than 18 minutes, but it has been reduced to 12 minutes after studies showed that 12 minutes is about the maximum capacity nowadays.
“Uninterrupted presentation – of thought, of ideas, of potential solutions – is rare now,” said Anfuso. “Long-form, layered, nuanced communication is becoming endangered. TEDx is an active pushback against that trend. It asks people to sit still, listen fully and engage deeply with a concept instead of reducing it to a 15-second sound bite.”
TEDxJacksonville will be held Jan. 17 at the University of North Florida’s Lazzara Theater. Tickets are available at tedxjacksonville.com. They cost $125 for general admission and $59 for students and include the full-day conference with lunch, plus the post-show AfterGlow party with food.
