1. Demontae is a graduate student at the USC Rossier School
of Education pursuing a Master’s degree Postsecondary Ad-
ministration and Student Affairs. He is an emancipated foster
youth and brings awareness of the needs of this community
from Los Angeles County and beyond. He co-founded Break
The Boxes, an afterschool program for at-risk high school
students that works to help them find their voices within
the arts and education. Demontae loves to serve and lead.
He aspires to pursue his doctoral degree in education to
improve resources and services for underserved students.
DEMONTAE
THOMPSON
Aura Gilham is a first year law
student at USC Gould. She gradu-
ated from University of California,
Santa Barbara with a B.A. in
economics in two years. She has
written various articles about
economics and stock market
analysis that have been published
in an economics newspaper,
Global Economic Intersection. Her
future goals include practicing in
big law and doing pro bono work
with animal rights. She currently
works with Dogs Without Borders,
a local animal rescue, and spends
as much time as possible with her
two dogs.
KATIE
KREITZER
Katie is a junior studying NGOs and Social Change and Design
Communication at USC who uses her experiences to encourage
utilize empathetic design thinking in others’ actions and inter-
faces. She is the co-founder and subject of a brain retraining trial
program for individuals with Neurological Lyme Disease, is self-
training her Medical Alert and Psychiatric Service Dog, Willa, and
is passionate about healing through nutrition and mindfulness.
Leo Xia is a USC singer-songwriter who writes about self-love,
Asian-American identity and social issue intersectionality.
Since arriving at USC, he has won awards at many singing
and talent competitions, and guest performed for many
events including Tuesday Night Cafe and the Family Empow-
erment Festival. He writes to remind himself and his listeners
that everyone has a story that deserves to be told and heard.
His hopes to use his music to unify people by magnifying the
overlooked and marginalized’s experiences.
Alexa Trujillo, 22, is a dreamer
and a doer from Dallas, TX.
She’s on track for a career
in business marketing at
Deloitte after graduating with
Honors from the University of
Southern California’s Marshall
School of Business in May.
From representing the uni-
versity as a USC Song Girl, to
being an active member of a
Panhellenic sorority, to starting
the USC chapter of I AM THAT
GIRL, and mentoring 8th grad-
ers in Women and Youth Sup-
porting Each Other, she has
made her mark on the lives of
many by believing in herself
and empowering others to
also believe in who they are.
A proud kid from Woodlake, in the heart of Central California,
Xavier Hernandez is a senior majoring in Industrial and Systems
Engineering. He has worked in agriculture nearly his whole life,
with his family, as a ranch hand of a large citrus ranch. At USC, he
has served on executive boards for Engineers Without Borders,
Institute of Industrial Engineers, and the Society of Hispanic
Professional Engineers. He loves giving back so he is currently a
mentor for the Center of Engineering Diversity program. Xavier
enjoys music and poetry; he raps outside of the classroom.
LEO
XIA
XAVIER
HERNANDEZ
KURT CLEMENTS
Kurt Clements is a senior
from Canyon Lake, CA. He
grew up loving baseball
and eating In-N-Out burg-
ers, and things haven't
changed much since then.
He studies communica-
tion and dreams of writing
full-time for a professional
sports team. Until then,
he's happy exploring Los
Angeles and all of the
delicious cold brew coffee
it has to offer.
Chris is a video producer as well
as a YouTuber for his personal
channel, OneWingedChris. He
is passionate about making
content about animated shows,
games, race, gender, and LGBT
identity. He is a SoCal native and
attended UC Berkeley as a EECS
major. He was a proud member
of Asian American student the-
atre group Theatre Rice, which is
where a lot of his creativity and
confidence was nurtured.

2. Schedule of the Day
First Speaker:
Demontae Thompson
Second Speaker:
Aura Gilham
Third Speaker:
Katie Kreitzer
Fourth Speaker:
Xavier Hernandez
Intermission: Lunch
Performer:
Leo Xia
Fifth Speaker:
Alexa Trujillo
Sixth Speaker:
Kurt Clements
Keynote:
Chris Lam
Location:
Joyce J. Cammilleri Hall
(Brain & Creativity Institute)
10am-2pm
Hosted by the
University of Southern California
Academic Culture Assembly
What is TEDxTrousdale?
TEDxTrousdale is the premiere TED licensed event at
the University of Southern California.TEDxTrousdale
serves to quench the curiosities and expand the
interests of all USC students regardless of major,
age or background.This year, we aim to showcase
the passions, insights, and accomplishments of USC
students from all corners of campus who have one
thing in common: the courage to transcend bound-
aries and create a meaningful difference. Covering
an array of diverse topics, their stories will force you
to question existing paradigms and convictions,
inspire you to change, and stretch your imagination
beyond its ordinary limits.
Why “Trousdale”?
Trousdale is more than just a main street that
stretches from one end of USC’s campus to the other;
it is also a place and resource for students to learn,
share and grow.Trousdale is traditionally used as a
place for student organizations to congregate and
promote their causes. Its prime location in the heart
of campus makes it a frequent home to the Univer-
sity-wide involvement fair, multiple career fairs and
USG election campaigning, amongst others. It is
the street that all students, one way or another, find
themselves on, but most importantly, it is the street
that brings the USC community together.
Why “Make Your Mark”?
USC students are constantly striving to create impact
and make a difference in their communities.This
year at TEDxTrousdale 2016, we wanted to showcase
USC students who truly embody this quality and give
them the opportunity to share their take on what it
means to “make your mark” on the world.