Alisha Rogers
Alisha Rogers runs “Risky Kids”, where they help children build confidence, resilience and emotional intelligence through movement, mindsets and metacognition. Before finding her purpose in this work, Alisha spent more than a decade in financial planning, banking, lending and insurance, an unconventional career path that ultimately shaped her understanding of perfectionism, resilience and personal growth. Through Risky Kids, she has developed and delivered mindset-based programs that have supported thousands of children and families to build lifelong skills, not just physical ones.
Alisha wants to speak at TEDxAlbury because this community has played a significant role in her own journey of rewriting the stories she once believed about herself. Her hope is to share an idea that extends far beyond parenting: That resilience isn’t something we’re born with, it’s something we build by learning to notice, question and rewrite what our brains automatically create. She says if one person walks away feeling more curious about their own thinking, or more hopeful about what’s possible for themselves or someone they love, then the conversation has been worthwhile.
Barb Palmer
Barb Palmer is a Clinical Psychosexual Therapist, Clinical Sexuality Educator, Accredited Social Worker and Behaviour Support Practitioner with more than 30 years’ experience across the education, disability, health and community sectors. Through her private practice, Sens8 Support Services, she works with individuals, couples and families to build healthy relationships, strengthen communication and improve sexual health literacy.
Known for her practical and down-to-earth approach, Barb helps people have conversations that are often avoided or misunderstood. She has a particular interest in disability, relationships, sexuality and human behaviour, making evidence-based information accessible and relevant to everyday life.
Barb wants to speak at TEDxAlbury because she believes Australia’s biggest challenge is not a lack of information about sex and relationships, but a lack of confidence in talking about them. She hopes to encourage a different way of thinking about sexual health literacy by showing that everyone learns somewhere, and that parents, families and communities all have a role in passing on the knowledge and skills needed for healthy, respectful relationships.
Bhakti Maya Mainaly Dhamala
Bhakti Maya Mainaly Dhamala is a community leader, women’s health Facilitator, and advocate whose work is shaped by her lived experience as a former refugee. With more than 12 years of experience in community development, health promotion, and multicultural engagement, she works to empower refugee, migrant, and local communities across regional Australia. Passionate about inclusion, equity, and social justice, Bhakti champions the voices of women and culturally diverse communities. Her work demonstrates how resilience, connection, and belonging can transform lives and strengthen communities.
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Dr Bishan Rajapakse
Dr Bishan Rajapakse is an emergency physician, clinician-researcher and Associate Professor with more than 25 years’ experience in healthcare. His career spans surgical training, emergency medicine, medical education and translational research, with a longstanding focus on clinician wellbeing, workplace culture and the sustainability of the healthcare workforce.
Alongside his medical career, he has maintained a personal meditation practice since the age of 15 including completing two 10-day Vipassana retreats. This long-standing engagement with contemplative practice informs his interest in the role of presence, awareness and compassion in healthcare.
He completed a PhD in Knowledge Translation at the Australian National University and has published widely in emergency care, toxicology, medical education, clinician wellbeing and workforce sustainability.
His TEDx talk draws on decades at the frontline of healthcare to explore a central question in the age of accelerating technology: how do we ensure that as healthcare becomes more advanced, it also becomes more human and more wise?
Carmen Connell
Carmen Connell is the owner of Dash Cakes, a specialty cake and coffee business with two locations across Albury and Wodonga. What started as a leap from 15 years of corporate life has become one of the region’s most recognised hospitality brands — built on the belief that a great product is only half the job.
Carmen is a passionate advocate for local business and the women who run them. She is on the Albury CBD Committee, has keynoted at International Women’s Day and local high schools and is a regular voice in the regional business community. Dash Cakes has been recognised with a Hospitality and Tourism Business Award and a Highly Commended in Small Business, achievements she is quick to credit to her team.
Carmen wants to speak at TEDxAlbury because this is her community, this is where the story happened and she believes the people in this region deserve to hear an idea that could change how every business in it treats the humans who walk through the door.
Joe Williams
Joe Williams is a proud Wiradjuri/Wolgalu, First Nations Aboriginal man from Australia who excelled in both rugby league and professional boxing, becoming a two-time WBF World Junior Welterweight champion and WBC Asia Continental titleholder.
Despite his sporting success, Joe struggled with suicidal ideation and bipolar disorder for much of his life, leading to a suicide attempt in 2012. After this turning point, Joe dedicated himself to helping others facing mental health challenges by delivering workshops on resilience, emotional wellbeing, and healing trauma in various community settings.
Joe has received multiple honors for his advocacy, including Wagga Wagga Citizen of the Year (2015), a finalist spot in the National Indigenous Human Rights Awards, the Suicide Prevention Australia LiFE Award (2018), and the Australian Mental Health Prize (2019).
He is a published author of the autobiography ‘Defying The Enemy Within,’ which shares his story and practical mental health tools, and has contributed to other books and appeared in the documentary ‘Suicide: The Ripple Effect.’
Katie Kendall
Katie Kendall is a 21-year-old social work student, storyteller and advocate whose work is shaped by a belief that people are often misunderstood long before they are truly heard.
She is the founder of Silent Sounds of Survivors and the lead coordinator of the Beyond Beds campaign, a youth-led movement advocating for age-appropriate acute mental health care for young people across the Hume and Riverina regions.
In 2026, Katie was recognised as Wodonga Young Citizen of the Year, awarded the Lisa Malone Scholarship and named a Top 5 Finalist in the 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards NSW/ACT Connecting Communities Award.
At TEDxAlbury, Katie hopes to explore how assumptions shape the stories we write about others, and how curiosity can change the way we relate to people, communities and systems.
Sarah Lebner
Sarah Lebner is an architect and founder of Cooee Architecture, a regionally based practice with a deep focus on energy-efficient, climate-responsive design. With over a decade of experience working alongside building scientists and builders, Sarah has developed a rare combination of architectural vision and real-world building physics knowledge.
In 2020 she was the sole recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects National Emerging Architect Prize. In 2023 she was one of five recipients of the prestigious AIA Dulux Study Tour.
Sarah returned home to the Upper Murray in 2022 to found Cooee Architecture. Despite being just four years old, the practice has already received national recognition, including at the Sustainability Awards for The Silos Accommodation project.
She is bringing this topic to TEDxAlbury because while Australia debates the perfect solution, millions of homes are already failing their occupants in a climate that isn’t waiting. She loses sleep over the number of Australians who’ve upgraded their coffee machine but not their ceiling insulation.