Fifth Speaker Announced!

We’re getting close to the end of our competition and starting to gear up for TEDxYSE on November 13th.  We’ve had so many wonderful applicants, the decisions are getting tough to make! We were, however, really impressed with Rocco Falconer – our fifth winner -

To successfully escape the poverty trap, Rocco says, efforts must focus on giving people the capacity to change their own lives and the inspiration to do it. “When we talk about poverty, we need to also talk about the poverty of aspiration,” he says. Rocco’s firm belief is that we need to invest in people, and help them realize anything is possible.

Rocco Falconer, 22, is the founder of Planting Promises, a community based organization in Sierra Leone that develops the prospects of the world’s poorest country by giving local people the opportunity to create sustainable business and pursue their education. Planting Promises’ innovative model not only creates meaningful jobs with high social value, but also creates a financially stable model for education. His travels in eastern and southern Africa made him think about how to deliver lasting, sustainable change for the poorest people in the world.

Learn more about Rocco’s work

Registration is open – see Rocco present in Washington, DC!