2026 Speakers
Tickets have Sold Out! True Possible - May 8, 2026
Our organizing team at TEDxLaSierraU has been hard at work behind the scenes to make our upcoming event our best yet! Tickets are now sold out for our Friday, May 8 event.
Thank you to our incredible local community who have been part of our journey and continuing thematic story since 2014!
Amanda Beer Executive Director at Wolf Connection
Amanda is the Executive Director of Wolf Connection and began her journey with the organization as a volunteer in 2015. Prior to becoming a student of the wolves and land, Amanda earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a licensed psychologist and has been facilitating healing and empowerment experiences for over 20 years. She is the former Director of Programs at Wolf Connection, and has collaborated with the wolves and a team of incredible humans to develop and implement curriculum including programs for youth empowerment and women veterans. She is honored to share the teachings of the wolves, and to witness the liberation that occurs when humans connect with their unique truths as strands of a collective song, recognizing that we too have the power to howl…and heal…as one.
Mia Ginaé Watkins Filmmaker, Writer, Project Manager
Mia Ginaé Watkins is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and public speaker. She has worked in the video game industry for nearly a decade, focusing on creative operations and project management. She is currently at Riot Games and was recognized as one of She Plays Games’ Top 100 Women in Gaming in 2022. Before Riot, she worked at PlayStation for six years, growing from a video editor to a communications project manager.
She has moderated and produced panels for Africacomicade, Game Developers Conference, New Zealand Game Developers Conference, DevCom (Gamescom Dev), San Diego Comic-Con, DreamCon, Music and Gaming Fest, and Music and Gaming West. Previously, she served as the Community Development Director for the Black in Gaming Foundation, where she produced panels, mixers, and game jams both nationally and internationally. She is the founder and creative producer of her event consulting business, The Mighty Hostess. She is currently working on an epic fantasy novel. Creativity, empathy, and storytelling are the core of everything she does and what she plans to do next.
Lloyd Trueblood Marine Invertebrate Physiologist
Lloyd Trueblood, Ph.D. is a Professor of Biology at La Sierra University in Riverside, California, where he leads research and teaching in marine invertebrate physiology. With a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Rhode Island, Dr. Trueblood studies how ocean organisms survive and thrive under changing and extreme environmental conditions - particularly focusing on oxygen and carbon dioxide stress in cephalopods like octopus and pelagic tunicates called salps.
Dr. Trueblood’s work sheds light on how key marine species respond to global change, including ocean warming and acidification. His research has earned support from the National Science Foundation and has taken him and his students on multiple oceanographic expeditions, exploring the biological processes that influence the ocean’s role in the global carbon cycle.
In addition to his scientific contributions, he is a dedicated educator who integrates undergraduate students directly into hands-on research experiences - preparing the next generation of scientists to confront pressing environmental challenges.
Marcus Norris Composer
Dr. Marcus Norris’s first foray into making music came in the form of producing rap beats on pirated software, installed on a Windows 98 computer that he Macgyvered together from spare parts while lying on the floor of his childhood bedroom. Though he came to composing concert music later, he transferred that same imagination and ingenuity to writing music of all kinds. This cross-genre mastery resulted in Beyoncé asking Marcus to orchestrate several songs for her and 50-piece orchestra as part of her surprise 2023 Dubai return to live performance. Miss Tina Knowles-Lawson also chose Marcus as Music Director for the 2022 Wearable Art Gala, with Marcus and South Side Symphony performing as the on-stage orchestra accompanying Chloe & Halle Bailey, Andra Day, and more.
Marcus founded South Side Symphony in 2020, which he describes as “like if Quincy Jones grew up on 90s R&B and Rap.” The ensemble recorded their first live album in 2023 through a weekend of three sold-out shows in North Hollywood. As a composer for visual media, he recently won a BMI Film & TV Award for his score for AppleTV’s Lady in the Lake series starring Natalie Portman and directed by Alma Har’el. The Boston Herald praised his “impressively orchestral score” for the 2022 feature film “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.” starring Regina Hall & Sterling K. Brown.
He has made a number of achievements in concert music, including earning a commission from the Atlanta Opera as prize for winning their inaugural 96-hour Opera Project, making his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut in 2022 with his piece “MERCY” as part of the LA Phil’s National Composers Intensive, orchestrating the world premiere of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of “The Factotum” by Will Liverman and DJ King Rico, collaborating on Adrian Dunn’s “Emancipation”, and being awarded the prestigious Cota-Robles fellowship to earn his PhD in Music Composition at UCLA. His violin concerto “GLORY” opened to three sold-out performances when premiered by the Jackson Symphony Orchestra in 2019, and then was subsequently performed in Guangzhou, China later that year. His Dance Suite “I Tried So Hard for You” premiered in Havana in 2018, closely following the Russian String Orchestra premiere of “My Idols Are Dead” in Moscow.
Bob Marshall Typewriter Muse
Bob Marshall is Riverside’s Typewriter Muse - a master typewriter mechanic, Riverside native, and guardian of a vanishing craft.
Born and raised in Riverside, Marshall has spent his life working with machines and developing an uncommon ability to understand how things function at their most fundamental level. He founded Typewriter Muse in 2020, building it into one of the few remaining professional typewriter repair shops in the country.
By day, Marshall works as a Lead Maintenance Mechanic for the County of Riverside. By night and on weekends, he services antique manual typewriters for clients nationwide. While many of his clients require nondisclosure agreements, his reputation is quietly visible through public appearances of his machines, including features at the Getty Prize Gala and in an Academy Awards video showcasing a mechanically flawless 1933 Royal Portable. Actor and typewriter enthusiast Tom Hanks is among his clients.
Before turning his focus to typewriters, Marshall raced motorcycles. That chapter of his life inspired American Road Runner, a book, audiobook, and podcast documenting his experiences riding and racing custom choppers across America. While he enjoyed the speed and risk of racing, Marshall often jokes that there is no chance of falling off a typewriter at seventy-five miles per hour.
Today, Marshall’s passion project is the resurrection of antique typewriters helping to ensure that a rare mechanical marvel survives. His work balances precision, patience, and cultural stewardship, proving that even in a digital age, craftsmanship and the written word still matter.
Amber Jones Sports Strategist
Amber Jones is a veteran sports strategist with 30 years of experience advancing the athletic landscape from the sidelines to the replay booth. Currently an NCAA Replay Technician at the University of San Diego, she operates replay technology for Division I programs. Her career is rooted in educational leadership, having served as an Athletic Director and Physical Education teacher where she launched competitive sports programs and immersive student events.
A lifelong advocate for women’s football, Amber has coached at the youth, varsity, and semi-professional levels. She was a semi-pro player and a co-founder of the Mile High Blaze in the Women’s Football Alliance. Her recent professional development includes Global Sport Marketing at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and dual certifications in NIL Personal Branding and Compliance.
Amber holds a B.A. in Kinesiology from the University of Northern Colorado and an M.S. in Sport Management from California Lutheran University. Recognized as the 2016 GLSEN Educator of the Year, she is now focused on the historic debut of flag football at the LA28 Olympics, working to secure professional pathways for female athletes worldwide.
Mo Shirmohammadi Founder, Code Can Bridge
Mo Shirmohammadi is a Presidential Scholar studying Computer Science at the University of Southern California and the founder of Code Can Bridge, a nonprofit teaching coding to students with learning disabilities. What started as a personal mission to help students who had been told they "weren't cut out for coding" has grown into a movement challenging how we think about tech education and human potential.
Through Code Can Bridge, Mo discovered that students who struggled with traditional text based programming often excelled when taught through visual and block based methods. Some didn't just catch up to their peers but outperformed them, particularly in pattern recognition and creative problem solving. This insight reshaped his understanding of talent, teaching, and the hidden filters embedded in how we educate.
Mo's work has been featured in Forbes, and he has built technology serving tens of thousands of users, including an AI assistant used by over 30,000 community college students. He has won first place at national hackathons and continues to bridge the gap between emerging technology and underserved communities.
As a Los Angeles native, Mo believes the tech industry doesn't have a talent shortage but an imagination shortage in how it teaches. His talk explores what happens when we look beneath the surface of students the system overlooks.
Stephanie Cheng Sports Management Leader
Stephanie Cheng is the VP/Head of International and Special Projects at the Los Angeles Rams. In her role, she oversees the club's presence across seven GMP (Global Markets Program) countries: Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, China, Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. In her role, she leads all Rams international initiatives, including social media, influencer marketing, database marketing, merchandise, event activations, partnerships, and media rights. She also has served as the team liaison for construction projects, such as the LA Stadium & Entertainment District sales center in Playa Vista, the team’s interim facility and offices in Woodland Hills, and most recently the Rams Village development, which will include football, entertainment, commercial, and residential facilities.
Prior to joining the Rams in 2016, Stephanie was Senior Vice President of Marketing Services at Premier Partnerships, where she specialized in sponsorships and naming rights valuations. During her time there, she evaluated sports, stadium and arena sponsorship assets across the US and developed partnership solutions for clients. Projects during her eight years at Premier were highlighted by work with the Atlanta Falcons and Mercedes Benz Stadium, the Portland Trailblazers and Moda Center, Kabam Field at California Memorial Stadium, and Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre.
Prior to her time at Premier, Stephanie spent time working and living abroad. She lived in Doha, Qatar working for the Asian Games Organizing Committee. She was a Freeman Fellow based in Hong Kong, and studied at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.
Thriving in new environments and developing visionary projects, she embraces challenges where no two days are the same. She is a highly effective leader with strong business development, project management and a dash of DIY-creative skills.
A native of Southern California, she earned a Bachelor of Science in International Business from the USC Marshall School of Business.
Sophia Garcia Data-Driven Storyteller
Sophia Garcia is a community strategist and GIS pioneer dedicated to mapping a more equitable world. Her career spans local government, social justice nonprofits, and the tech sector, including her recent role as the national lead for Equity and GIS at the world’s largest mapping company.
A specialist in "data-driven storytelling," Sophia was instrumental in implementing California’s Fair Maps Act and co-created the first-ever Equity track at the world’s largest GIS conference. She currently serves on the board of the Bakersfield City Community Land Trust and volunteers with Latino Outdoors. A firm believer that community voices belong in every dataset, Sophia is just as comfortable navigating complex policy as she is guiding rafts down the Kern River.