What is TEDx?

A TEDx event is an independently organised community initiative under licence from TED. It brings together local voices and global ideas, offering a platform for speakers with one bold insight to share and spark change. TEDx events operate under TED’s guidelines, non-commercial, independently curated, and committed to Ideas Worth Spreading.

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Our Story​

TEDx Doncaster was founded in 2019 to bring Doncaster’s stories, innovators and thinkers onto the TEDx global stage. Based in a region rich in industrial heritage, cultural transformation, and community ambition, we believed that the city’s unique perspective from its coal-mining roots to modern regeneration had something important to say.

Over the years, we have grown from our early events into a platform that champions youth, technology, the arts, regeneration, education, and wellbeing. Each event reflects a commitment to community-led innovation and the belief that ideas emerging from Doncaster can resonate far beyond the region.

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Our Legal and Social Purpose

TEDx Doncaster is registered as a Community Interest Company (CIC)  officially named “TEDx Doncaster CIC”, company number 12014671.  As a CIC, our purpose is not profit-driven. Any surplus we generate is reinvested into the local community, enabling us to nurture and elevate ideas, speakers and programmes that might otherwise go unheard. According to our licence with TED, “proceeds are reinvested locally to keep ideas moving from the region”. 

This structure underpins our ethos: we exist to serve Doncaster, to connect local talent to global platforms, and to ensure accessibility of ideas in our community.
 

Our Vision & Mission

Vision: To establish Doncaster as a regional hub of creativity, innovation and global ideas rooted in the city’s heritage but reaching for tomorrow.

Mission:​ To curate exceptional events that challenge, inspire and engage audiences.

To amplify voices from Doncaster that deliver meaningful insight, relevance and impact.

To bridge past, present and future honouring our industrial roots while embracing digital transformation, creativity and inclusion.

To ensure every TEDx Doncaster event offers a space where community, technology and culture intersect for positive change.
 

What We Do

We host flagship TEDx events  bringing high-calibre speakers, performers and thinkers to Doncaster, under the banner Ideas Worth Spreading.
 

We run themed programmes such as young people sessions, most recently delivered by Lewis Russell and Marcus Isman-Egal at Harrison College in Doncaster; AI salons; and women-focused talks, enabling diverse perspectives and targeted engagement.
 

We collaborate locally, working with schools, universities, businesses, civic organisations and community groups to extend reach and relevance.
 

We publish talks; each speaker’s content is filmed, edited and shared via the global TEDx network, giving ideas a worldwide audience.

 

Why Doncaster?

Doncaster is a city of transformation. From coal mines and industrial might to new digital economies, creative industries and community purpose  the city’s journey is emblematic of change. TEDx Doncaster draws upon this heritage, using it as a rich reference point for where we have come from and where we might go. Our 2026 theme, “Undermined – From Coal to Code to AI”, is a direct reflection of this ambition.

 

Global Reach, Local Heart

While rooted in Doncaster, our event is connected to the wider TEDx network, meaning ideas presented here can be viewed globally, shared internationally and resonate beyond local boundaries. We offer Doncaster a global stage, and we offer the world a unique voice from this part of England.

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Meet the Team

Marcus Isman-Egal – Lead Curator & Licensee

Wayne Sables – Co-Organiser and Head of Film Production 

Karen Dainty – Event Producer

Lewis Russell – Production & Stage Manager

Claudia Harrison-White – Lead Photography

Zoe Kendall – Head of Marketing and Comms

Carly Murphy - Website Development 

Jesse Ison – Filming and Production 

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Past Achievements

2025 – Human Flourishing: 10 speakers, three performers, 100 audience

2022 – TEDx Doncaster Women: Stories of empowerment

2019 – Launch Event: Doncaster’s debut on the global TEDx stage