Press Kit
TEDxHuntingValley, August 22, 2026. Cleveland's first independent community TEDx in over a decade, organized by two high school juniors.
Cleveland's first independent community TEDx in over a decade.
TEDxHuntingValley is a fully licensed, independently organized TEDx event organized by Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson, juniors at University School, with the guidance of licensed organizer Dr. Tyler Yoder.
The event follows the full standard TEDx format: live speakers, talks 18 minutes or under, no panels, no PowerPoints. Student and adult speakers share the same stage with identical introductions. No age qualifier.
All talks are filmed and published to the TEDx YouTube channel, 44 million subscribers, more than 8 billion total views. A local idea, if it's good enough, reaches a global audience for free, forever.
Event at a glance
Date
August 22, 2026
Venue
Gund Auditorium, University School Hunting Valley, Ohio
Audience
100 attendees (TED licensing cap)
Theme
"The Invisible Engine: The Forces We Forget"
Format
Live speakers, talks ≤18 min, no panels, no PowerPoints
After event
All talks uploaded to TEDx YouTube channel
Contact
tedxhuntingvalley@gmail.com
The numbers
44M
TEDx YouTube subscribers
8B+
Total TEDx talk views
10+
Years since Cleveland's last independent community TEDx
100
Seats (TED licensing cap)
12
Voices on one stage, six adult and six student
18 min
Maximum talk length
Coverage so far
Coverage so farSignal 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 articleTHISISCLE
Spring 2026
Featured in the THISISCLE weekly Cleveland roundup
TEDxHuntingValley was featured in THISISCLE's weekly roundup of what's happening around Cleveland, which pointed its audience to the new local TEDx.
Read articleFive ways to cover this story
Students on the Same Stage
Six student speakers earned their spots on a globally distributed platform through an open competition, judged on ideas rather than credentials. They share the stage with six accomplished adults, introduced exactly the same way. What are teenagers in Cleveland thinking about in 2026?
The Cleveland Gap
Cleveland's last independent community TEDx was June 2015. More than a decade passed with no public ideas platform of this kind. Two high school juniors noticed, applied for a license, and are building one from scratch.
The Equal Stage Model
At TEDxHuntingValley, a student speaker is not introduced as a student. They are introduced as a TEDxHuntingValley speaker, identical to every adult on the same stage. No age qualifier. No asterisk. An idea is an idea.
The Organizers
Two high school students who filed a TED license application, negotiated a venue partnership, built a media outreach program, and ran a city-wide speaker competition, all as a side project outside school.
The Coaching Arc
Six selected student speakers enter a multi-month coaching program over the summer to develop their talks. What does it look like to prepare a high schooler for a globally distributed stage?
Organizer quotes
“This is not a school showcase. A high school junior's idea is held to the exact same standard as anyone else's. Students and adults share the same stage with the same introduction. That is what makes it worth doing.”
“We kept asking why Cleveland didn't have this anymore. We couldn't find a good answer. So we decided to stop waiting for someone else to fix it and just build it ourselves. If the idea is good enough, it doesn't matter how old you are.”
What we can provide
Interviews with organizers Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson, available by phone, email, or in person
Interviews with announced speakers as each is confirmed
Behind-the-scenes access through rehearsals and the summer coaching process
Press credentials for the August 22 event, contact us to request
Speaker bios and talk summaries as the lineup is finalized
High-resolution event photos after August 22
Get in touch
Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson are available for interviews by phone, email, or in person. We respond to every press inquiry. A 10-minute call is available to walk any journalist through the full story ahead of August 22.
tedxhuntingvalley@gmail.com · @tedxhuntingvalley
August 22, 2026 · Gund Auditorium
Be in the room when the lights go up.
Twelve voices, one stage, and an intentionally intimate room. Join the list and you will be the first to know the moment seats are released.
Seating at Gund Auditorium is intentionally limited. Questions to tedxhuntingvalley@gmail.com.