Youth Advisory Board TEDx Cherry Creek Youth

BY Youth FOR Youth

The TEDx Cherry Creek Youth Advisory Board is made up of young people from across Colorado who are passionate about giving youth voices a space on the TEDx stage.
The Youth Advisory Board is involved in every facet of producing this TEDx event and work with the TEDx Cherry Creek team to learn valuable skills along the way.

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The TEDx Cherry Creek Youth Advisory Board is made possible by a generous grant from the community outreach program of:

Meet the Board

Maya Ayres

Douglas County HS

My name is Maya Ayres, and I am 15 years old. I am currently a sophomore at Douglas County High School. I am also a past speaker of TEDxCherryCreekWomen. I enjoy tennis, biking, skiing, and rock climbing as well as singing and traveling. I believe every person should have an equal opportunity to elevate ideas and express themselves through the power of speech. As a member of the TEDx Youth Advisory Board, I have the privilege to raise youth voices and perspectives.

Aside from TEDx, I was interviewed by Rocky Mountain PBS on Colorado Voices. Currently, I am an ongoing volunteer at Douglas County Libraries. I have continued to advocate for our environment throughout the community by preparing to lead educational and inspirational classes this winter at Heritage Eagle Bend retirement community. Starting the conversation about plastic pollution and our future environmental risks through many platforms I feel are the best ways to gain community awareness as well as create immediate and long-lasting change.

Anna Brekken

Rocky Mountain Lutheran HS

Anna is a teen business owner and speaker with a passion for creative writing. She believes everyone has an important story to share, and creative writing is the tool to uncover your voice and stand out. After moving to a new state and going to a school that discouraged creativity, she was inspired by her Grandma – who showed her how to make handmade greeting cards – and with only 3 designs opened her shop AnnaMade Design Co. on Etsy. Through her business, Anna has created over 150 cards, developed her writing skills, and met some amazing young entrepreneurs. After connecting with these teen business owners, she realized most of them were experts at making their products, but struggled with the business side of things. So Anna started Soaring Together, a community with resources to help other teens reach their business goals. She hosted Soaring Together 2022, an online event, in March, with over 200 teen attendees and 15 speakers. When she’s not working on her business, Anna enjoys hiking, swimming, and discovering new pens and stationery for cardmaking inspiration. Contact Anna at hello@annamadeblog.com.

Legacy HS

Meera Bipin is currently a sophomore at Legacy High School. As a high school student, she enjoys participating in many clubs and activities including Sophomore Class Leadership, Model United Nations, Future Business Leaders of America, and running on Legacy’s Track Team. Outside of school she also participates in many activities including being a Girl Scout Senior, President of the Northglenn Youth Commission, and learning Indian Classical Music and Indian Classical Dance, Bharatanatyam.

At the first TedxYouth@CherryCreek event, Meera performed a Bharatanatyam Dance and she loved being able to showcase her culture to the audience. She is looking forward to her time on the TedxYouthAdvisory Board and can’t wait to bring many more opportunities like this to other youth! In her free time, she enjoys art, reading, and spending time outdoors with family and friends.

Chris Cervantes Dunn

Wheat Ridge HS

Chris Cervantes Dunn is a Junior at Wheat Ridge High School. They will be speaking at the TEDxYouth@CherryCreek event in 2023. They have two ongoing internships: one with BookBar which is a bookstore located on Tennyson Street, and the other with the non-profit organization, Denver Writes. Chris has a passion for literature, especially when it comes to reading varying genres, and when it comes to personal writings.

They also have strong opinions when it comes to how we can make the world better, on both small and larger scales. In their talk, they are planning on speaking on the importance of adequate education when it comes to health, and how schools specifically need to implement comprehensible and manditory health education.

During their time in high school, Chris has participated in Wheat Ridge’s Speech and Debate team, which has increased their ability to speak in public, and sufficiently express their ideas. Within this, they have also been able to grow as a leader, especially when it comes to being a section leader within Wheat Ridge’s orchestral programs. Through their many extracurricular activities both inside and outside their school, Chris has been able to gain real-world experience when it comes to jobs, internships, and the ability to balance school and work life. They are headstrong, and always willing to share their opinions.

Ava Conley

Legacy HS

Ava Conley is a sophmore at Legacy High School in Broomfield Colorado. She spoke at the TEDxYouth@CherryCreek 2022 event. Her talk explored the foundations of human motivation and how it can be leveraged in schools. After an amazing experience giving her talk, she is thrilled to be continuing her journey with TEDxCherryCreek and empowering more youth voices.

Ava is a part of Legacy 2000, a STEM program at her school. Her current areas of interest center around neuroscience and psychology. She enjoys volunteering and is serving her fourth year on the Youth Advisory Board at A Precious Child, a local non-profit organization that works to provide all children with the resources they need to reach their full potential. Ava is a member of her school’s Future Bussiness Leaders of America chapter where she placed fifth at the state conference. Ava also runs on her school’s cross country and track teams.

Oliver Deines

Northfield HS

Oliver Deines is a 17-year-old senior at Northfield High School. He cares deeply about his community and tries to find innovative ways to aid pressing issues throughout Denver and Colorado as a whole. He co-founded Financial Kids Colorado(FKC), a nonprofit initiative focused mainly on lobbying for financial literacy standards across public schools in Colorado. Oliver also works to amplify youth voices and perspectives, so he tries to be involved with many platforms to use his voice as well as other young people to drive positive change. He also is very passionate about volunteering, where he gives talks at local elementary and middle schools on financial literacy topics. He is a strong believer that because the youth will be the future, they need to have a say in the future.

In Oliver’s free time, he loves to read, play the piano, and keep up with current events. He also enjoys podcasting and is a member of a local financial literacy podcast. At his school, he enjoys competing in DECA, playing soccer, and participating in his book club. In the future, Oliver hopes to explore the intersection of finance, public policy, and government to create positive outlooks on communities. He loves meeting new people, learning new things, and staying involved with the world’s most pressing issues.

Heritage HS

Téaghan Ferguson is a 16 year student at heritage high school in Littleton, Colorado.

She loves to play piano, cello, and soccer. She’s a member of…Technology Student Association aka TSA and just made Nationals! In her limited spare time she can be found lost in a novel or even writing her own.

She’s a huge advocate for youth suicide education and prevention in her school and at a legislative level and she’s been a part of multiple organizations that deal with this important issue we all face.

She has a passion for science and medicine and is currently pursuing a path towards Forensic Pathology and hopes to attend Med School.

Alexandra Hammond

Heritage HS

Alexandra is a sophomore at Heritage High School, and she was a speaker at the 2023 TEDx Cherry Creek Youth event. Her talk centered around modernizing our approach to social media, and applying a Gen Z perspective to solve the problems we face from it. Her experience as a speaker allowed her to discover a passion for community building and uplifting others, and she is excited to expand and enrich the TEDx Cherry Creek community!

Alexandra is a member of her school’s debate team, student government, and Eagle Outreach club. A planner by nature, she has helped plan her school’s homecoming, winter spirit, and MAD (Make A Difference) Week through her involvement. She loves helping her community, whether it be through charities during MAD Week or volunteering on her own time. Alexandra gets in touch with her creative side in her school’s theater program and botany club, and loves to explore new activities. An avid traveler, Alexandra has been to 26 countries and plans to have a career in international business.

Mia Swenson-Mueller

Heritage HS

Mia Swenson-Mueller is a senior at Heritage High School. She is involved in the Fine Arts Department and holds the title of Costume Department Head.She has won a state award for Tech Challenge at the Colorado Thespian Conference December of 2022. However outside of theater Mia can be found having fun with friends and family or volunteering in the ICU at Littleton Adventist Hospital. As she hopes to become an Anesthesiologist.

Mia is deeply passionate about helping others share their story! As she believes that Nobody’s story should go untold. Through her Leadership positions, Mia has learned that everybody’s perspective is valuable and “adds to the conversation”. Which is why she tries to create a safe and creative space, where others can feel confident enough to tell their story. Without this Mia believes that as a society we would suffer as nobody would want to share their story due to lack of confidence. After hearing about the Youth Advisory Board, Mia was happy to find an opportunity for her to share her passion and lead Youth into sharing their stories.

Abram Twede

Cheyenne Mountain HS

Abram is inspired by the talented youth in Colorado that are making an impact on the lives of others and feels privileged to be part of the TEDx Cherry Creek Youth Advisory Board. He is currently a high school junior at Cheyenne Mountain High School and has served as the freshman and sophomore president. He is also co-founder and co-president of the Model United Nations club in which he fosters an environment for his peers to engage in diplomatic simulations and discussions about global issues. Abram’s fascination with technology, coding, and innovation has led him to take on leadership positions in the non-profit organization All-In-AI and the Computer Science Club. He is also the founder of the Bridging the Digital Divide Campaign and through this initiative, he collects used technology hardware and distributes it to third-world schools in the Dominican Republic, bridging the gap and providing access to technology for underserved students. Abram also plays for his school’s varsity tennis and basketball teams and in his spare time he likes to mountain bike, summit mountains, scuba dive, and snowboard.

Wheat Ridge HS

Ella Winthers is a 16 year old junior at Wheat Ridge High School. She spoke at the TEDxYouth@CherryCreek event in 2022. During which, she talked about the pressures that are placed upon her generation (gen z) to have to constantly save the world. She spoke about how these pressures are affecting the mental health of her generation and what can be done to help mitigate that, especially when considering the incoming climate crisis.

Ella has a passion for sustainability and hopes to go into a stem field in the future. She is a team lead for her school’s STEM team where they build hydrogen powered cars for the Shell Eco Marathon. Through the process of building cars, Ella has gained skills in problem solving along with leadership. Ella is also a driven and motivated student who takes primarily AP and honors classes. She is always striving for success and the opportunity to continue her learning both inside and outside of school. Having done both speech and debate and marching band, Ella has a skill for performing in front of crowds. She loves to be able to share her ideas with those around her, along with giving the chance to speak to others. Ella has a fiery personality and will take on any challenge head first

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