Gohar Galyan, Program Lead

Gohar Galyan loves long form journalism; the intersection of media and technology; locally produced food and the changes underway in our food system; international development, particularly how culture intersects with development theories. During the day, she works in business development, leveraging technology to help readers discover great journalism. In her spare time, she hangs out in farmer’s markets and experiments in the kitchen.

Tam Thao Pham, Licensee & Founder

Tam Thao Pham is the licensee of the TEDxConstitutionDrive event. She’s been to TEDAspen, TEDActive, TEDGlobal and TED Long Beach and continues to think that TED is great. Tam Thao is interested in uncertainty, time, trust, knowledge-sharing, economics, empathy, education, technology, story-telling, and uncommon cuts of meat cooked in interesting ways. During normal waking hours, she does strategy and manages a portfolio of technology. In her spare time, she advises the San Francisco Education Fund and James Lick Middle School. Blog | LinkedIn

Tam Thanh Pham, Organizer & Founder

Tam Thanh Pham credits North Cypriot hospitality and the Turkish beer Efes for the initial inspiration behind TEDxConstitutionDrive. She is a huge fan of the TED mission of spreading ideas to change the world and feels privileged to participate in that mission at the local community level through TEDx. Her day job with Lewis and Roca LLP currently involves protecting the innocent and the innovative by building patent shields against the forays of predators and patent trolls. In her spare time, she volunteers at the San Francisco Food Bank, experiments with vegetarian/veganism, and home-schools her seven-year old rescued bichon. Tam Thanh is interested in technology, social media, gaming, community, privacy, popular culture, linguistics, biographies, sustainability, nutrition, science history and photography, fiber arts, and narrative arts.

Elizabeth Han, Organizer

Liz Han is passionate about the pursuit of great ideas, especially those at the intersection of science and business. Since she stumbled across a TED Talk online more than two years ago, she has become a TED enthusiast and is excited about generating new ideas in the local community through TEDx. Liz is currently an MBA candidate at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and an Associate at Hyde Park Angels and Hyde Park Venture Partners where she sources and evaluates early-stage investments in the Midwest. Prior to Booth, she was a management consultant, helping clients on growth strategy, M&A, and operational improvements. Outside of school, Liz enjoys exploring the city of Chicago, the connectivity and fusion of ideas between different sectors, and anything related to food.

Birgit Coleman, Organizer

Birgit Coleman is a strategic thinker and Connections Explorer in her current role at swissnex San Francisco. The daily overarching question is “Who can we connect the Swiss startups, corporations, academia, etc. with to further innovation, collaborations and to discover the opportunities.” Her expertise includes recipes for growth through internal innovation and external strategic partnerships with the goal to build a disruptive innovation pipeline for the clients of swissnex San Francisco such as world’s foremost nutrition, health and wellness company Nestle, flavor & fragrance house Firmenich among others. Prior to swissnex San Francisco, Birgit worked for the energy drink company Redbull North America, and IBM in Vienna, Austria – her home country. She holds a Masters Degree in Business from the University of Vienna.

Jenna Chen, Organizer

Jenna Chen is a full-time technology consultant and part-time learning enthusiast. Ever since watching the first TED talk send to her by a colleague, Jenna has been hooked. She continues to be passionate about technology and all the ways it impacts our lives. Jenna has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a masters in business administration from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She loves traveling, reading, and understanding the world through different perspectives.

Annette Blum, Organizer

Annette Blum derives her greatest satisfaction from bringing people together to learn, to build, to laugh and to eat. The mission of TEDxConstitutionDrive speaks to her with its connection to all of those things and she’s eager to promote the program’s ability to push people beyond what they think they already know. A Solutions Marketing Manager at Cisco Systems by day, Annette makes time to participate in community events, explore new art and media around the Bay Area, bike, hike, practice yoga and cook tasty meals for as many people as possible.

Theresa Pham, Designer

Theresa Pham is a designer and technologist who enjoys creating user-centric designs and meaningful digital experiences. She currently works as a Senior Business Analyst at Digitaria Interactive in San Diego California and runs her own small design studio, Hello Phamie Design & Co., where she strives to make awesome happen on a daily basis. Theresa has a bachelor’s degree in Information and Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine and a professional certificate in Digital Art from the University of California, San Diego. Besides being design obsessed, Theresa is a lover of typography, coffee, flea markets, interior design, hip-hop dancing, and vintage typewriters.