The TEDxCongaree Vista event, organized by fourth-year biology student Shyam Ganesh Babu and fourth-year computer engineering student Darssan Eswaramoorthi, took place in the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center on March 14.
The event's theme was ChangeMakers and it honored those driving change through ideas and a commitment to community, according to the TED website. Some of the topics that were discussed at the event were foster care, advocacy, and healing through sports.
The event featured 16 speakers, including Mayor of Cayce Elise Partin, executive director of Project OneWay Tyson Brown and more. It was also sponsored by LFTED Marketing Management, USC's Career Center, Venture X, Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea, and more, according to the website.
Creation of the event
According to Ganesh Babu, Columbia hasn't had a TEDx event since 2016. He said the organizing team thought it had the right connections and resources to make it possible this time around.
He also said the team applied for the TED license in June 2025 and heard back the following month, stating TED wanted to hold a university event.
After receiving 260 applications from six countries and 41 states Ganesh Babu and others curated the speakers. They held 45 interviews, using a panel of different professions, and narrowed it down to the 16 speakers.
Once they had the 16 speakers selected, Ganesh Babu said they worked with each speaker on their presentations to try and make the most of this moment.
"Throughout the fall and leading up to this point, there were a bunch of training sessions and workshops for these speakers to really dial down their speeches and make it perfect," Ganesh Babu said.
Women in politics
In her speech, Partin touched on women being in office and some of the issues that her community has faced.
She said she became the mayor because land across the river was going to be annexed, and it woke up a lot of residents.
"Our residents have a pretty strong identity in what our city is and where it is, and that just kind of ... shook everybody up," Partin said. "That's what kind of motivated me to pay attention and to eventually stand up for mayor."
Partin also mentioned other issues, such as storm drainage, making sure the city is business-friendly and the staff is supported.
She said she advises women who want to be in elected office or step up for the community to know their motivation, connect with those who share the same issues they do and work with them so that they’d have a group of people helping move things forward.
Community engagement
Ivan Segura, the director of community engagement at the Commission for Community Advancement and Engagement, moved from Mexico to South Carolina 24 years ago.
He said he’s been participating in community activism for Latinos in South Carolina ever since he arrived.
“Advocacy just happened to me. When I moved to South Carolina, I found a community that was working hard, ... but they were often overlooked,” Segura said. “So I just felt like, ‘Hey, somebody has to say something, somebody has to do something, somebody has to speak on behalf of their communities.'”
According to him, about four or five years ago, he got the position at the commission, where he advocates for underrepresented and minority communities.
He said people don’t have to be on the street speaking and that they can also write a speech for someone else, post on social media or take pictures to advocate.
Segura also said people should start doing what they love to do and that it doesn’t have to be a job or even be all the time.
Ganesh Babu said he wanted people to be inspired to make some change in their lives, whether it’s running for office or starting their own nonprofit, among other things.
He also said the team would love to see more support from students, the city and people in general, whether it’s through engineering, stage design and more.
“I think people just don’t see the value yet,” Ganesh Babu said. “But hopefully, we’ve kind of proven the point that there is some value to this.”