A rocket scientist, an ultra-endurance athlete, a comedian, a therapist, and jugglers... What more could you ask for in a conference? These speakers and more have been announced for the TEDx Manhattan Beach  event, taking place on Saturday, November 5 at Mira Costa High School.

The celebrated TEDx Manhattan Beach conference, one of the most popular TEDx events in the country, brings together a thought-provoking series of speakers and exhibits that sells out nearly every year.  

This year's theme is "Jump Start," featuring 12 leaders in the fields of engineering, mental health, entrepreneurship, environmental science, education, branding, and comedy.

TEDx Manhattan Beach tickets, ranging in price from $49 to $165, are now on sale here. 

This year's TEDx Manhattan Beach speakers include:

Josh Brost, an aerospace engineer at Relativity Space, a vertically integrated technology platform that fuses 3D printing, artificial intelligence and autonomous robotics to design, print and fly entirely 3D-printed rockets with 100x fewer parts in less than 60 days.

Rob DeCou, an entrepreneur and ultra-endurance athlete who uses his passion and unique abilities to raise awareness and funding for important issues. In 2020, he became the seventh person to complete the world’s toughest ultra-triathlon, the Uberman, raising over $55,000 to fight human trafficking.

Deborah Finklestein, a holistic, general, and addiction psychiatrist and mental "wealth" advocate whose passion lies in de-stigmatizing mental health challenges, demystifying the maze of treatment options and teaching self-advocacy.

Tashanda Giles-Jones, an award-winning environmental educator who works with urban youth in Los Angeles to provide engaging learning activities through garden-based education and teaching about environmental issues and sustainable solutions.

Debi Gutierrez, a popular comedian who takes her audiences on high-energy, heart-warming roller coaster rides through the perils and delights of life, relationships and marriage, telling tales of home-schooling a teen, cleaning her own house, running daily errands, and more.

Rich Keller, a "distiller" who developed the philosophy of identifying a one-word core value to craft identities. He utilized this philosophy for 25 years for brands such as Nabisco, Kraft Foods, Cadbury, and Godiva; and is now on a mission to help people craft their personal one-word brand identities.

Raci Levine, a junior at Mira Costa High School who runs the Features section for La Vista, the school’s newspaper. She is also the president of Mira Costa’s American Jewish Cultural Club, where she is committed to raising awareness and encouraging diversity throughout the campus.

Dante Simonetti, a Core Faculty member and Vice Chair for Undergraduate Education at UCLA Samueli’s Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, and the associate director for technology translation at UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management. His research interests include reaction chemistry and engineering with a specific focus on reducing the carbon footprint of industrial processes and energy generation while also remediating legacy emissions. 

Lyn Stoler, a public health and climate researcher committed to nurturing and sustaining hope as we face the effects of climate change. She is currently traveling around the globe researching city-based climate solutions that improve public health at the local level as part of her new project, Parachute.

Bernard Zünkeler, who worked for 12 years as a business attorney before turning his passion for artistic thinking and action into a profession. He co-founded the research institute artlab21 located at ESMoA in downtown El Segundo, as well as the artist collective Freeters.

The Passing Zone, a juggling duo of John Wee and Owen Morse that delivers a high-octane presentation that is full of big laughs, wild stunts, and mind-blowing skills. They are passionate about showcasing their three cornerstones of success: innovation, collaboration and execution.

Positive Impact Movements, a high-flying acrobatic troupe looks to relate to those who have gone through serious injuries and show them that it is possible to heal and to rebuild and reclaim health and vitality through persistence, positivity and the loving nature of play.

TEDx Manhattan Beach also offers an expo that features local innovators and student and nonprofit groups with big ideas. 

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading." Started as a four-day conference in California in 1984, TED has grown to support those ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world's leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. 

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events like TEDxManhattanBeach are self-organized.