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2020 Edition: Break the Rules

This event proceeded under the theme Break the Rules, because we believe that sometimes it is necessary to not follow established rules in order to achieve something great and make a change in the world. 

These are just some of the questions we aimed our speaker’s to challenge and bring up on stage at this year’s editions of TEDxCatólicaLisbonSBE: 

  • What does it mean to break the rules? 

  • How do you break the rules effectively to initiate change? 

  • What makes an idea to a rule breaking? 

  • How do you inspire people to not accept the status quo and to do things differently? 

 

Our speaker’s strive to inspire the audience on stage with rule breaking ideas and encourage them to do things differently.  
 

Dive into the world of rule breakers and be inspired! 

Speakers of the 2020 Edition

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Clémentine Desseaux is a model, activist, and the founder of The All Womxn Project, which established a platform for womxn to support body positivity, representation, empowerment, and self-acceptance. Harper’s Bazaar has recognized her as a “face-to-watch” and Vogue as “top ten plus size models to follow.” She has starred in campaigns for Levi’s, H&M, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Express, Nike, and Anthropology. This globetrotting activist, entrepreneur, and model continues to combine her French roots, brave heart, and unique style to build her empire. 

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Nic Von Rupp is a professional Big Wave Surfer who is challenging the limits of surfing. Growing up in Sintra as a son of a German father and a Portuguese mother he learned to surf at an early age. In his career as a junior, he won national and international titles. With an excellent reputation worldwide, Nic was considered “European Surfer of the Year” in 2013; he finished his first participation in “WQS” in 60th place, after winning the “Pawa Tube Fest” in Mexico in 2014; he was honored with a silver medal at ISA World Surfing Games and his victory in the Moche Rip Curl Pro Trials allowed him to compete in the World Championship Tour. In 2020 he finished the big wave season as 9th best surfer and is to be considered as one of the best 10 Big Wave Surfers of the world. Besides surfing, he created his own brand XY and is publishing YouTube videos under the title “von Froth”. Recently von Rupp started focusing more and more for what he is known for, for what he is respected for, and for what he is here for chasing the world’s biggest and heaviest waves in documentaries from Nazaré to Ireland and beyond. 

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Sinead Kane is a keynote speaker, double Ph.D. doctorate, double Guinness World Record holder, freelance researcher, visually impaired athlete, and qualified lawyer. Sinead doesn’t let her disability hold her back and is living life to the full. Within the space of three months, Sinead Kane was awarded two Ph.D. doctorates, in October and December of 2017. In February 2018 she broke the Guinness World Record for furthest distance for a female on a treadmill in 12 hours. Sinead is also the holder of a Guinness World Record for being the first blind person to complete a marathon on each of the seven continents, a feat which she completed in less than 7 days in January 2017. She is also the first Irish female to do the world marathon challenge. This is all remarkable given that Sinead only did her first marathon ever in October 2014 and only took up running in April 2012. The above achievements are admirable but are even more so when one considers that Sinead only has 5% vision and is registered as legally blind. Sinead has overcome a lot of adversity throughout her life and now wants to help others. Sinead proves how those who persist in spite of a disability can develop determination, motivation, and creativity. 

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Arman Vestad is a former ex-criminal who became known as “The Gunman from Molde“ in the Orderud case, due to his delivery of weapons in a triple-homicide. After spending several years in prison and attempting suicide, he became a debt counselor and national project manager for personal finance for the public government, turning his life upside down. Nowadays, Arman is taking advantage of his experience to help others. Mainly, he is teaching employers and leaders the benefits of hiring ex-criminals.

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Jean Philippe Rosier is an expert on creativity and creative processes, a former TEDx speaker, an educator, a partner of Perestroika and Sputnik,, the largest school of creative activities in Latin America, now also present in Europe. His goal is to transform education to a more creative way of learning. He was born in Brazil but grew up in France and now lives in Portugal. Right now, he is expecting his first child and for this, he went back to his hometown in Brazil. As a passion next to work, he is an influencer at Hyper Island and a passionate wave surfer. 

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Frederico Fezas Vital is a Portuguese Social Entrepreneur and since 2017 he is CEO of Junior Achievement Portugal, the biggest organization in the world for Education in Entrepreneurship. He graduated in Law and Management and started a career within Law and Banking. But then in 2002 he began looking for more purpose in life and founded the NGO “Terra dos Sonhos”. Since then he dedicates his life to Social Entrepreneurship either working for NGOs or as a keynote speaker and lecturer at conferences and Católica Lisbon. 

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Eunice Emilia Nicolau Russoca is a 23 years old Mozambican girl who graduated in law. She is the youngest in a family of 7 children and lost her mother when she was 6 years old and her father when she was 16 years old. In 2016 she joined AIESEC, an international organization that strives for peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential, where she worked as a volunteer on projects related to children and women protection. In 2018, she became president of AIESEC in Beira and created a movement called „rebuild Beira“ to help the victims of cyclone IDAI. In 2020, she joined the Girl Move Academy in order to further explore her surrounding world and to figure out how she can use her skills to fight for human rights and to create a positive impact in the world and especially in her country. 

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Julius van de Laar is a German political strategist and communication expert with years of experience in campaigning. In 2008 and 2012, Julius was part of Barack Obama’s winning campaign teams and worked in nearly a dozen states. Since then, Julius consulted several political parties across Europe and Germany by providing advice on campaign strategy, messaging, and digital media. In addition, Julius is one of the most respected experts in US politics in Germany and acts frequently as a TV and radio analyst. The “Capital” magazine selected him as a “Top 40 up-and-coming talents” in German politics. 

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Ana Catarina Gomes is a Portuguese biochemist and a manager who is currently in her 3rd career cycle. She started her career in the fields of molecular biology where she was attaining her Ph.D. in. She continued her career as an applied scientist in the field of vine and wine. After approximately 20 years in science, she became a manager 4 years ago. She was the first CEO of the R&D department of the CNC institute. (Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra). And as of today, she is the CEO of CBR Genomics, a startup that is providing genomics medicine for everyone. 

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Gustavo Guadagnini is a business administrator graduated from PUC-SP and serves as Managing Director of the organization The Good Food Institute in Brazil. Its objective is to create a healthier, safer, fairer, and more sustainable food production chain by supporting industries that aim to create alternatives to the use of ingredients with an animal origin, whether in vegetable-based technologies or in cultured tissues. He is one of the most active advocates in the sector, which is why he has lectured at several large companies, universities, innovation centers, and projects like TEDx. He has also had the opportunity to collaborate with the media with interviews or comments for Fantástico, GloboNews, Estadão, Exame, UOL, Terra, among others. In 2020, he was listed by GQ magazine as one of the Brazilians on the list of “25 names that can save the world. 

Thank you so much for your support!

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