TEDxEvanston 2012: Adventures in Learning April 18

coLab Evanston, based at 900 Chicago Avenue in the emerging Chicago and Main technology hub, is hosting TEDx Evanston. The event is scheduled for April 18, 2012 at the Nichols Concert Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago in downtown Evanston (1490 Chicago Ave.) from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

TEDxEvanston 2012 is billed as an exploration of learning in all its forms. The event will feature a musical act, two recorded talks, and five speakers. Scheduled presenters include Evanston residents Terry Howerton, Jane Dowd and Lisa Nigro in addition to Northwestern University based David Figlio, Reed Stevens, and Matt Easterday.

Terry Howerton is the founding chairman of the Illinois Technology Association and co-founder of the Loop-based TechNexus, a venture collaborative that has been home to more than 140 growing companies and an ecosystem used by 2,500 entrepreneurs, engineers and executives each month. Terry has been a founder, principal or active advisor in more than a dozen startups, his first launched at 15 years old. He cofounded and chairs the Chicago Tech Academy, an innovative charter high school that connects 600 at risk students a year with mentors and an education infused with technology aptitude and entrepreneurial vision.

Evanston resident Lisa Nigro, a recent winner of the Presidential Citizens Medal, founded The Inspiration Corporation to help people affected by homelessness and poverty to improve their lives and increase self-sufficiency through the provision of social services, employment training and placement, and housing. Jane Dowd is the director of Talent Management for Takeda Pharmaceuticals US. In 2004, she received the Chief Learning Officer magazine Bronze Award for Leading Business Change for her role in leading a large-scale training initiative to transition over 8,000 healthcare providers to a new electronic health record. Jane has been a resident of Evanston since 1987.

TED is a New York and Vancouver based nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading”. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. TED grants licenses to third parties to organize TEDx events in cities around the world. TEDx Evanston license is owned by coLab Evanston.