TEDxOakPark is an entirely volunteer-run movement, and we invite you to join us! Whether your passion is design, communications, partnerships or events, we’re looking for people of diverse backgrounds who are interested in making an impact in our community.

THANK YOU to our 2020-21 volunteers! And WELCOME to our newest and returning volunteers for our 2021-22 Season! In these unprecedented times, we are especially grateful that you raised your hand to help the TEDxOakPark movement continue.

TEDxOAKPARK EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Janna Fiester: Lead Organizer | License Holder | Community Collaborations Co-Lead

Vice President of UX and Brand Innovation at Sandstorm Design, Janna is a design-thinker and user-advocate. Always striving to make client work better, she sees the possibility in everything and takes nuggets of good ideas and nurtures them into strategically driven and unique unexpected executions. Janna honed this skill while earning her MFA and teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Throughout her 20 years of experience, Janna’s work has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago and showcased in several design publications as well as winning industry awards. If Janna, a long-time resident of Oak Park, has any free time after work and family (a hubby, two kids), you can find her listening to the latest TED Talk or on the stage performing Flamenco.

Meridian Herman: Co-Organizer | Salon Lead | Marketing + Outreach Support | Volunteer Support

Meridian is thrilled to serve alongside Janna as Co-Organizer and a leader of the dynamic TEDxOakParkWomen committee! She brings a wealth of marketing and event coordination experience to the TEDx table, including a dozen years as an independent marketing consultant. When not embracing all things TED, she spends most of her days as the Social Media Manager for Anderson Humane. Outside of the workplace, she is social chair for NextGen Leaders in Philanthropy, a giving group of the OPRF Community Foundation and loves spending time with family and friends, even if it’s virtually these days. A lifelong active Oak Parker, Meridian is proud + grateful to help share ideas worth spreading throughout Oak Park and our surrounding communities.

Brenda Massaroni: Marketing + Communications Lead

Brenda is honored to serve a third year on the organizing committee of TEDxOakPark. As a long-time fan of TED Talks, she is excited to be part of an amazing team that is dedicated to bringing diverse and engaging ideas to Oak Park and its surrounding communities. Brenda brings two decades of experience in the marketing field, where she specialized in communications research and brand/advertising strategy. She has an extensive international background and has helped major brands adapt their marketing communications to global markets. Currently, Brenda works on a freelance basis and enjoys volunteering with local and national nonprofits to assist with their research, marketing and grant writing needs. Originally from Ohio, she has lived in Oak Park for 15 years with her husband and daughter. 

Margaret Combs: Finance Lead

Margaret has been a Montessori educator for almost 20 years, currently serving as the Director of Education at Spark Montessori in Chicago.  She has served as a classroom teacher, consultant, teacher trainer, and administrator.  She is also a visual artist, receiving her BFA from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and her MFA from the University of North Texas. Margaret even provided artwork as a part of the TEDxOakParkWomen experience in 2018! Margaret is an active member in many professional organizations such as the American Montessori Society, the International Montessori Foundation as well as the American Craft Society. Margaret is passionate about bringing the ideas of charity and giving to children, even presenting a TEDx talk on the subject in 2016.

Michelle Donat: Partnership Support

Michelle is fascinated by the interconnection of Body, Mind & Spirit. She enjoys the wide range of topics available through TED Talks, but was especially fascinated by Jill Bolte Taylor’s “Stroke of Insight.” The idea that Jill could observe herself having a stroke is amazing, but to recover enough to share her insights is truly incredible! She has been on the TEDxOakPark organizing committee since the movement began in 2015. Michelle is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Energy Worker who sees clients in her Oak Park office, Relaxation Plantation. She grew up in Ohio and is a graduate of The Ohio State University. She and her husband have resided in Oak Park for 30 years, raising two amazing young adult daughters who are both OPRFHS grads.

TEDxOAKPARK SPEAKER COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

Mariann Aalda: Speaker Community Ambassador

Mariann is a veteran television actress turned positive aging advocate. In addition to her TEDx Talk “Ageism Is a Bully…Stand Up to It!” she was recognized twice by AARP as an Age Disruptor and profiled in The Wall Street Journal on reinvention at midlife. Her solo show on aging with pizzazz and pluck—Gettin’ Old Is a Bitch…But I’m Gonna Wrestle That Bitch to the Ground!”—broke a 30-year box office record at the 2019 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC. As a proponent for greater diversity in film and television, she has written essays for The Los Angeles Times and Soap Opera Digest and appeared on Tony Brown’s Journal on PBS and ABC’s Nightline. She is a champion for inclusivity that not only embraces people of all colors and ethnicities but also all ages and abilities.

Susan L. Adler, LCSW: Speaker Community Ambassador

Susan, a psychotherapist in private practice, was named a Chicago Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers Chicago Chapter. An award winning author, she's an American Assoc. of Marriage and Family Therapy Clinical Fellow with over 30 years of experience. Susan specializes in Couples Therapy, Premarital Counseling, Separation and Divorce Recovery and Adult Individual Psychotherapy. Her subspecialty is working with LGBTQI individuals and couples. Susan is known for her compassionate, strength-based, results oriented approach. Her popular 2018 TEDx Oak Park Women’s Talk: Secrets of a Couples Counselor has been viewed over half a million times and was featured in 2020 on TED.com in the blog post “3 Ways to Help You to be Your Best Self in Your Relationship.”

Tania Haigh: TEDxOakParkWomen Founder