The Invisible Engine: The Forces We Forget
Cleveland's first independent community TEDx in over a decade. Student and adult speakers. One stage. Ideas that reach 44 million people.
Applications are on a rolling deadline through May 25
Cleveland hasn't had an independent community TEDx in over a decade.
The last one was June 2015. More than ten years passed with no public ideas platform of this kind in one of the Midwest's most idea-rich cities. Two high school juniors noticed, and decided to stop waiting.
Years since Cleveland's last public TEDx
The last independent community TEDx in Cleveland was June 2015
Seats available
Intimate by design, per TED licensing
Student speakers selected
From across the greater Cleveland area
GPA or experience requirements
Ideas are judged on their own merits, nothing else
The platform behind every talk
TEDx YouTube subscribers
Every talk from our stage reaches a global audience
Total TEDx views worldwide
Across 241,000+ published talks
TEDx events since 2009
In over 160 countries around the world
Maximum talk length
Every idea, distilled to its essence
Signal Cleveland
May 7, 2026
Greater Cleveland students invited to apply to give Ted Talks
Two local students are bringing Ted Talks to Greater Cleveland for the first time in more than a decade, and this time high schoolers will be giving the talks.
Read articleAxios Cleveland
April 30, 2026
TEDx event is coming to Hunting Valley in August
It's the first fully licensed independent community TEDx in Cleveland in over a decade, and it's being organized by two high schoolers.
Read articleCleveland.com
April 2026
Students revive Cleveland-area TEDx, open speaker applications to local teens
Two University School juniors are organizing TEDxHuntingValley — the first independent, community-led TEDx in Cleveland since 2015.
Read articleCleveland Jewish News
April 2026
Applications deadline for TEDxHuntingValley: May 11
Two University School juniors are organizing TEDxHuntingValley, the first independent, community-led TED event in Cleveland since 2015.
Read articleWFMJ
April 2026
Mahoning Valley students sought for TED event in Cleveland area
Two University School juniors are organizing TEDxHuntingValley — the first independent, community-led TEDx in Cleveland since 2015.
Read articleThe Invisible Engine:
The Forces We Forget
The most powerful forces in our lives are the ones we never consciously acknowledge. The algorithm quietly narrowing what you think is possible. Gut bacteria influencing your mood in ways your brain does not control. Compound interest running silently behind every financial decision.
Something powerful is running in the background of everything. The talk's job is to make it visible.
“A high schooler's idea is held to the exact same standard as anyone else's.” Charlie Martin, co-organizer
Example talks this theme could generate
The gut-brain axis
How the microbiome shapes mood, cognition, and identity in ways medicine is only beginning to map.
Algorithmic redlining
How recommendation systems replicate and amplify historical housing discrimination in ways their designers never intended.
The compound effect of small advantages
Why a 1% edge, repeated daily, produces outcomes that look like talent, and why it matters who starts with it.
Institutional memory
How organizations forget what they know, and the hidden mechanisms that determine what gets remembered and what gets erased.
The theme is broad by design. It works across biology, economics, psychology, technology, and social systems. The connecting thread is always the same: what's the invisible force, and why does it matter that most people never see it?
Rolling deadline closes in
Rolling reviews · Apply any time before close
Four things. One email. Apply right here.
Any high school student in the greater Cleveland area can apply. No GPA, no prior speaking experience, no portal, no fee. Send everything to tedxhuntingvalley@gmail.com any time before May 25 at 11:59 PM. Reviews are rolling, so earlier submissions get reviewed earlier.
What to send
Talk title
A clear, specific title for your proposed talk.
200-word core idea summary
What is the idea? What does the audience need to understand, believe, or feel differently by the end?
400-600 word talk excerpt
A section of your proposed talk, written the way you would actually say it on stage.
One recommendation letter
From a non-related adult who can speak to your ability and the quality of your idea. Not a parent or guardian.
Theme: “The Invisible Engine: The Forces We Forget.” The bar has not moved. The window did.
Ten voices.
One stage.
Five adult speakers. Five student speakers. No age qualifier, no asterisk. Speakers are announced as selections are finalized.
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
The road to August 22
March 31, 2026
Student applications open
May 25, 2026
Rolling application deadline (11:59 PM)
May 2026
Round 2 interviews at University School
Early June 2026
Five speakers selected and announced
June – July 2026
Speaker coaching and talk development
August 22, 2026
TEDxHuntingValley at Gund Auditorium
After August 22
All talks uploaded to TEDx YouTube
@tedxhuntingvalley
tedxhuntingvalley
Apr 11
tedxhuntingvalley Cleveland doesn't have an independent community TEDx anymore. We noticed. So we built one. TEDxHuntingValley is happening August 22.
142 likes
tedxhuntingvalley
Apr 15
tedxhuntingvalley The theme for TEDxHuntingValley: The Invisible Engine: The Forces We Forget. Student applications are open on a rolling basis through May 25.
98 likes
tedxhuntingvalley
Apr 17
tedxhuntingvalley Any Cleveland-area high school student can apply. No GPA requirement. No experience requirement. The idea is what gets judged.
211 likes
Live social feed coming soon. Follow @tedxhuntingvalley for real-time updates.
Student Speaker Contest
Any Cleveland-area high schooler can apply.
No GPA requirement. No prior speaking experience. No extracurricular list to submit. Your application is evaluated entirely on the strength and clarity of your idea.
Rolling deadline through May 25, 2026 at 11:59 PM. Applications to tedxhuntingvalley@gmail.com.