TEDxAustinWomen and United Nations Partner to Launch Summit for Issues Facing Girls and Women

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Women and girls are the pink thread that hold the quilt of humanity together.

Austin, TX (PRWEB) November 25, 2013

TEDxAustinWomen joins partner United Nations Foundation to officially launch the only Austin event focused on championing the issues of girls and women both locally and globally. Inspired by TED’s commitment to ideas worth spreading, the inaugural TEDxAustinWomen will gather 350 of the most influential men and women from all over the world. Under the theme of “Brave Starts Here,” speakers will share their stories to foster revolutionizing dialogue and commit to action that implements real change.

The independently organized event, licensed by TED, takes place at Austin Music Hall on December 5th. Early buzz and a high demand for tickets have already sold out the event, but global audiences will be able to view presentations and special performances during a free livestream (http://www.tedxaustinwomen.com/) and engage in real time via numerous social media platforms. TEDWomen 2013 will continue TED's multi-year conversation about women's work and lives, present and future, and will be live streamed to the global TEDx community.

TEDxAustinWomen marks the first time that the UN Foundation has come on board as an official partner for any TEDx event. “The UN Foundation connects people, ideas and resources to help solve global problems through innovative campaigns and initiatives. We share the same vision of wanting to make a great impact through groundbreaking ideas and we are honored that the UN Foundation chose to support our event,” said Austinite Alexis Jones, Co-Organizer and Host of TEDxAustinWomen and Founder of the non-profit I AM THAT GIRL.

“Women and girls are the pink thread that holds the quilt of humanity together, and this has been a priority at the UN Foundation since day one. The speakers, attendees and team behind TEDxAustinWomen are passionate, vocal and proactive champions on behalf of the issues facing women and girls. We are proud to support this event and help foster this important dialogue,” added Elizabeth Gore, Resident Entrepreneur of the UN Foundation. “As a member of the entrepreneur community and as a native Texan I am excited to join this event

Event topics will focus on issues affecting girls and women, presented by participants who each have a special connection to Texas, but TEDxAustinWomen is a global event addressing global matters. “We’re excited to shine a light on an incredible group of individuals who have come together with the same goal in mind – to empower the girls and women in their lives, but women’s issues don't just affect females. They affect fathers and sons at home, colleagues in the workplace, friends next door and those across the world,” said Sara Bordo a former Hollywood Entertainment Executive who returned home to Austin to executive produce TEDxAustinWomen.

Echoing TED tradition, details of the speakers, performers and topics will not be revealed until much closer to the event. Taking the “ideas worth spreading” one step further, speakers are also being asked to not only share their thoughts, but to commit to a call to action that will make an immediate impact. During the event, attendees and viewers of the livestream can take similar pledges and engage with the local audience via their social media platforms by including the handle @TEDxAustinWomen and hashtag #BraveStartsHere.

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PRESS CONTACT
Ngoc Nguyen                        
Public Relations
TEDxAustinWomen                        
ngoc(at)tedxaustinwomen(dot)com                

About TEDxAustinWomen
TEDxAustinWomen is a local event inspired by TED’s commitment to “ideas worth spreading.” Our thoughtfully curated speakers and attendees all share a common thread: they are passionate about Texas and they are passionate about empowering the girls and women in their lives. Our goal is to create an extraordinary event, to foster game-changing dialogue, and to inspire action that implements real change.

TEDxAustinWomen is led by a powerful Dream Team of local Austinites, which includes Alexis Jones (Organizer and Host), Founder and Author of I AM THAT GIRL; Nancy Giordano (Co-Organizer), TEDxAustin Licensee and CEO of Play Big Inc; Sara Bordo (Executive Producer), Entertainment Executive and Co-Founder of NowLive; Elizabeth Gore (Advisor and Sponsor), Resident Entrepreneur of the United Nations Foundation and Founder of Girl Up. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.tedxaustinwomen.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About TEDx
In the spirit of "ideas worth spreading," TED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxAustinWomen where x = independently organized TED event. At TEDxAustinWomen, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California almost 30 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes on a diverse mix of topics. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The TED2014 Conference will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the TEDActive simulcast in neighboring Whistler. TEDGlobal 2014 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; and TEDBooks, short e-books on powerful ideas. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, and on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.
For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration.

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