MANSFIELD — Mansfield hosted its inaugural TEDx conference Saturday at the Renaissance Theater. Speakers included experts in filmmaking, urban farming, mathematics education, psychology, meditation and community development.

TED is a non profit that began in 1984 with the first Technology, Entertainment and Design conference. Its annual events bring together speakers from a variety of disciplines to share ideas worth spreading. TEDx programs are independently organized, but licensed through TED.

While the TEDx movement is international, the event talent was all local. All six speakers hail from northeast or north central Ohio; three live right here in Mansfield.

“TEDx is such a wonderful program and that’s because it empowers communities to put their best and brightest ideas forward and share them on an international stage,” said Tracy Graziani, the event organizer. “We don’t have to go to D.C. or New York or L.A. to find the solutions to the challenges that we face here.

“I think we have really smart, interesting, innovative people right here.”

A self-proclaimed nerd, Graziani is a long-time fan of TED. Her passion propelled her to apply for a TEDx license.

“For the last seven years, I kept thinking, ‘Mansfield is ready for this, someone should bring TEDx to Mansfield,’” she told the audience. “And then one day I realized that I was someone and so I applied.”

The theater transformed into a TED stage as speakers riffed on the event theme, metamorphosis.

“It’s a rust belt town, we’ve gone through hard times, but it’s like a Phoenix rising out of the ashes,” reflected TEDx speaker Phil Mazzocco. “You walk downtown, there’s renewal, rebirth … I don’t think they could have chosen a better theme.”

A psychology professor at The Ohio State University Mansfield, Mazzocco lectured on the pitfalls of racial colorblindness. 

Mazzocco posited that even though some advocates of racial colorblindness may be well-intentioned, denying the existence of race will only exacerbate existing problems.

“Hiding our heads in the sand and pretending (racism doesn’t exist) is not going to move us forward in a positive direction,” he said. “Instead, a multicultural approach will allow us to confront race with eyes wide open, to have the difficult conversations we need to have to move forward.”

Mazzocco wasn’t the only professor at the conference. Terri Teal Bucci, who teaches mathematics education at OSU Mansfield, challenged attendees to see math as a means of creativity, innovation and empowerment.

“We need to change how we think about mathematics,” she said before giving her talk. “I’m hoping that I can encourage people to understand ideas rather than just repeat them.”

While Mazzocco and Bucci focused on changing social mindsets, other speakers explained how they’d utilized their stories of personal transformation as a vehicle for helping others.

Urban farming advocate Sophia Buggs urged listeners to find practical ways to engage with nature as a step towards wellbeing. 

Meditation teacher and executive coach Kristoffer “KC” Carter shared three strategies for making change fun and bridging the gap between what is and what could be.

Mansfield native Collier Landry began his time on the TEDx stage by recounting the tragic events that thrust him into the national spotlight as a preteen — his mother’s murder at the hands of his father in Mansfield. 

By leaning on his home community and expressing himself through art, Landry learned how to develop resilience, shift his mindset and make peace with the unanswered questions in his own life.

“Sometimes the answer you seek isn’t the answer you need,” he said.

Downtown Mansfield, Inc.’s Aurelio Villa Luna Diaz gave a powerful talk on how he redefined himself and hopes to give others the resources to do the same.

After 20 years of working in community development, Diaz is advocating for a group he says few others will stand up for: child sex offenders. 

“Children who are sex offenders are often proclaimed as monsters, perverts,” he said. “For a long time, I didn’t care about them. I didn’t want to. But I’m glad I do now.”

Diaz, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, stated that youth offenders have often experienced their own trauma. Some have mental or developmental disabilities. 

“It’s through their hurt, not their acts, that you discover broken hearts and shattered spirits.”

In addition to the talks, the event included entertainment from the Mid Ohio Jazz Orchestra, local folk band Pale Criminal, the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, Mid Ohio Opera, poet Christine Howey, two short films, an aerial gymnast and dancers from the Richland Academy of the Arts. 

If you missed the event, you can still experience the talks online. Video coverage will be available on the TEDx Talks channel on YouTube.