Pitch Night 2021


The Speakers

Eight speakers pitched talks at the TEDxAUCollege Pitch Night of 2021. The speakers, their personal bios, and the titles of their pitches are displayed here. The winners, voted by our live audience and judges panel, were Saba Askary with her pitch titled ‘How the ancient world could be more relevant now than ever before’, and Ireen van Dolderen, whose pitch was titled ‘Co-creating a Peatland Paradigm Shift’. Saba and Ireen then had the opportunity to give a TED Talk at our 2021 Main Event – Winds of Change. You can find out more about the 2021 Main Event in our Archive.

How the ancient world could be more relevant now than ever before

Saba was born in Tehran and raised in Dubai. She graduated from the University of Glasgow with a Masters in History of Art & Art World Practice. She engages in post-colonial thought, culture and criticism. She is currently settled in Amsterdam where she develops, manages and edits critical publications, online platforms and events.

Collective Ownership of Data to Democratise the Future

Born and raised in Valencia, Ana later lived in New Orleans during a one-year exchange program, where her interest in arts and music was sparked by the city’s vibrant culture. She organised Amsterdam’s Local Conference of Youth, exploring solutions to the ecological crisis. She is currently enrolled at Amsterdam University College, graduating in 2022.

Rethinking Development

Born in Lima, Peru, Sebastián graduated from Recoleta School’s IB programme. He became part of Peruvian Universities and participated in Harvard MUN Latin America, where he won first place. Through his creative endeavours, he attempts to shed light into his country’s most pressing issues. He is now a part of the Amsterdam University College class of 2023.

What the hair are we doing?!

As an artist, Krisztina has always been fascinated by the material world. Working with everyday physical materials, she focuses on the stories and emotions they carry within. Her work is inspired by seemingly mundane or useless objects. For Krisztina, ordinary, overlooked physical material can have dramatic social, environmental and political meaning.

Co-creating a Peatland Paradigm Shift

Ireen grew up in Amersfoort, later moving to Amsterdam to study biomedical sciences at Amsterdam University College. She is a self-proclaimed committed climate justice activist and is involved with various action groups in the Netherlands. One year ago, she joined RE-PEAT, a youth collective pushing for a peatland paradigm shift, and hopes to continue to work with them going forward.

The connection between sexual energy and eating disorders

Linny is a 23 year old graduate of the Academy of Dance Education. During her studies she dealt with multiple eating disorders, depression, and high sensitivity. Through her need for connection and dance, she learned how disorders are more than just symptoms. She coaches people through intuitive movement and creates dance about topics connected to sex/the body.