Ormondians take over TEDx main stage

Taking one step through the gates of Ormond College feels a little like stepping through to a world of big ideas waiting to be discovered. Not just an academic community, but one that nurtures personal growth and freedom, Ormond has been the birthplace of revolutionary ideas.

As such, it seems only fitting that this year’s TEDx Melbourne event – themed Rebels, Revolutionaries & Us – showcased some of Ormond’s nest on the main stage.

Ormond alumna Lisa Leong, current Wade Institute student Laura Youngson and Wade Institute alumnus Mond Qu unleashed their boundary-pushing ideas to inspire and educate the audience.

“What makes an idea spread?”, asks John Yeo, curator of TEDx Melbourne. “It’s got to still be remarkable outside your eld of expertise – these are the people who are opening ways for our ideas to be universally applicable.”

Find out a little more about Lisa, Mond and Laura.

Lisa Leong (1990)

There’s not a lot that Lisa Leong hasn’t tried. She studied Science and Law as an Ormond resident for 4 years, worked as a tech lawyer for 10 years, then turned to the world of radio presenting and is now challenging the future in the age of robots and technology. There’s no one quite as revolutionary as Lisa.

At TEDx, Lisa shared some of the incredible work that she’s been doing in exploring the massive disruption and changes due to the advances of tech. Nothing if not thought provoking, Lisa is out to ask the burning questions, like what role are we going to play with the rise of robots? And if robots remove the element of logic from being human, what’s left? Thanks to her many years in the Ormond community, Lisa’s curiosity is seemingly boundless.

“At Ormond, I learned that connecting with people, listening and curiosity are so important. It’s all about being open to exposure to things beyond what you’re learning.”

Public speaking tip: “Fit your intensions for your audience – what do you want your audience to think and feel as a result of your talk? If you focus on the audience, it takes the pressure off you. It’s pretty empowering when that becomes your focus.”

Mond Qu (2016)

As a graduate of the Master of Entrepreneurship, Mond Qu is no stranger to innovative thinking.

He was formally trained as an architect and has stretched his wings far beyond the realm of traditional design to encompass a more holistic understanding of what it means to experience a space, rather than just design one.

For his TEDx talk, Mond brought the audience into his rebellious approach to merging the digital landscape with the physical as he strives to promote a way for people to interact with spaces in a more pragmatic way.

“My way of thinking about architecture goes far beyond simply bricks and mortar – it’s a completely different way of thinking about how an architect can practice in the information era where perceptions are changing every day.”

See his amazing portfolio.

Laura Youngson (2017)

For Laura Youngson, the future is all about an equal playing field – in more ways than one. Acting on her frustration in seeing women constantly overlooked in sports and the much-reduced opportunities available to them, Laura went about to take a grassroots provocation to a global movement.

For her talk, Laura enthralled audiences with her literal and gurative journey up the mountain, where she pulled together a team of like-minded women to play a world record breaking soccer match atop Kilimanjaro. It’s initiatives like these that Laura is using to build a global platform from which change will launch, and where women in sport will be seen less as an afterthought and more as an asset.

“For me, it’s all about how you can inspire yourself with an idea that you can make bigger than yourself. We’re building a global movement.”

Public speaking tip: “If you’ve been invited to give a talk or a pitch, remember that the audience want to listen to you, they haven’t been dragged along, and you have the opportunity to share your thoughts and leave them wanting a new idea or way of looking at the world. And that’s really powerful.”

Learn more about Laura’s mission.

Article written by Lucy Miller. Photos by Ryan Lowe.

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