Under the theme “Next Is Now,” Saturday's 16th Annual TEDx Manhattan Beach brought big ideas to life with innovation, performance, and powerful voices. 

TEDx Manhattan Beach unites innovators, entrepreneurs, artists and community members for a day that blends thought-provoking talks with demonstrations, interactive experiences, healthy refreshments, and live entertainment.

Saturday's event, which brought together technology, creativity and human ingenuity collide served as a reminder that the people shaping the future can come from anywhere, including here in the South Bay.

Steve Isakowitz, a Manhattan Beach resident and former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, "launched" the event with a talk about the burgeoning field of satellite technology. "You are watching humanity build the next economic frontier. Our future truly is looking up," he said. 

A traditional TEDx Manhattan Beach highlight involves student speakers. This year, student Hugh Saetia spoke about losing his mother at a young age, and how it led to him creating the Eternal Canvas Foundation, a nonprofit that provides grieving families with hand-painted portraits of loved ones at no cost. Through the foundation, he has helped build a network of volunteer artists extending that work beyond the South Bay.

Student Mia Lerner spoke about her personal battle with anorexia, and how it led her to create Project Unlaced, an education and advocacy group that provides young women with the tools and language to better understand body image, fueling, and eating disorders.

Another student, robotics enthusiast Ethan Hong, described how he created Project FoodAngel, an initiative developing autonomous robots to support food distribution for people experiencing homelessness. Through Project FoodAngel, he focused on a human-centered approach to innovation, using engineering not simply to build something impressive, but to address a real community need. "Engineering is here to help people, and we should never forget that," he said.

The event's appeal extended beyond speakers to include performances and live interactive experiences at the expo. This year's lineup included augmented-reality experience designer Christian Enriquez, "foot archer" (yes, she performs archery with her feet) Orissa Kelly, and the acrobatic performance duo Laura Lebron and Joseph Gray of Duo Metta. "Courage is not about being fearless; it's about reminding ourselves why we want to do this," said Lebron after a particularly gravity-defying routine.

At the expo, participants had a chance to experience "lowrider" culture with interdisciplinary artist Jacqueline Valenzuela through hands-on lowrider art and a pumped-up ride.

Christen Sproule, a senior litigation counsel who has spent her career pursuing complex criminal and regulatory cases, closed out the conference by talking about her successful battle with pancreatic cancer and how it taught her the value of time in the present. She left the audience with a challenge: "What is it that you plan to do with your wild and precious life?"

A reel featuring highlights from this year's TEDx Manhattan Beach can be found on Manhattan Beach News' Instagram. 

Next year's TEDx Manhattan Beach event will be held on November 6, 2027.