2026 TED Fellows

For TED Fellows, hope isn’t abstract — it’s built through action. Across research labs and rural farms, courtrooms and classrooms, more than 500 Fellows in 100+ countries are reimagining the systems that shape our lives — climate and health, justice and education, art and technology. Together, they are repairing and redesigning the world into one that is more just, imaginative and alive with possibility.

For more than 17 years, the TED Fellows program has served as a launchpad for builders and visionaries. Through hands-on communication training, access to a global network of peers and mentors, and amplification across TED’s platforms, Fellows gain the tools and visibility to transform their work into real-world impact.

We are thrilled to announce the 2026 class of TED Fellows, whose work spans four continents and nine countries. Among them: a philosopher challenging our growing reliance on AI prediction, a vaccine inventor preparing the world for future pandemics, a technologist preserving and verifying media that documents human rights abuses, and Japan’s youngest-ever mayor reshaping democracy.

Meet the new Fellows below, and join us in welcoming them to the TED community:

Carissa Véliz
Philosopher, AI ethicist | Mexico + Spain + UK
Carissa Véliz is a professor at Oxford University researching humanity’s overreliance on prediction — from AI algorithms to political polling. In her latest book, Prophecy, she argues that predictions undermine democracy, eroding privacy and replacing human judgment.

Fabiola Reyna
Activist, guitarist, composer | Mexico + US
Fabi Reyna is a cultural activist and composer working with music as a tool for communication, investigation and sociopolitical resilience. As the founder of She Shreds Media and the creative behind the band Reyna Tropical, they offer spaces where underrepresented and diasporic people can unify and thrive.

Researcher Felix Hol holds a mosquito cage, used to collect malaria-carrying mosquitoes from people’s homes near Kalongo, Northern Uganda. Working with local teams of “mosquito hunters,” he studies how the insects adapt their behavior — like shifting when they bite — to circumvent prevention tools such as bed nets.

Felix Hol
Mosquito biotechnologist | Netherlands
Felix Hol is an assistant professor at Radboud University Medical Center, investigating mosquito behavior — from what they taste on our skin to why they now bite earlier in the day. By turning these insights into simple, open-source tools, he helps communities prevent harmful diseases.

Greg Tietjen
Biomedical innovator | US
As cofounder and CEO of Revalia Bio, Greg Tietjen revives donated, transplantable human organs and tissues, transforming them into powerful tools for biomedical research. By integrating medicine, engineering and data science, his team uses these living organs as a foundation to accelerate new drug development while lowering costs.

Hadi Al Khatib
Digital evidence technologist | Syria
As founder and managing director of Mnemonic, Hadi Al Khatib develops systems that collect and preserve citizen-generated digital media documenting human rights abuses. By verifying this open-source material as credible evidence, his work enables communities in Syria, Sudan, Ukraine and beyond to pursue justice and protect democracy.

Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire
Immunologist, vaccine inventor | US
A key inventor of COVID-19 vaccine technology, Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire leads a research lab at Harvard University. She develops vaccines and therapeutics for emerging viruses and educates the public on vaccine science to ensure humanity is ready for the next pandemic.

Ryosuke Takashima
Japan’s youngest-ever mayor | Japan
At the age of 26, Ryosuke Takashima became the youngest person to win a mayoral seat in Japan, sparking a new wave of young leaders in government. He invites citizens to participate in reforming their communities, spearheading education and climate policy as well as strengthening technological infrastructure.

Manufacturing innovator Schendy Kernizan demonstrates his team’s mold-free, gel-suspension printing process by producing a sample of a Madame de Wailly sculpture.

Schendy Kernizan
Manufacturing innovator | Haiti + US
Cofounder and CEO of Rapid Liquid Print, Schendy Kernizan invented a mold-free, gel-suspension manufacturing process with his team at MIT, making products more affordable, accessible and sustainable. From medicine to transportation to space exploration, his innovation is transforming industries.

Trinity Tran
Economic justice advocate | US
As a leader in California’s public banking movement, Trinity Tran helps cities redirect funds from big banks into affordable housing, small businesses and critical infrastructure. By passing first-in-the-nation legislation in the United States, she is empowering communities to reclaim control of their own economies.

Dancer and choreographer Tushrik Fredericks performs his original work “til infiniti,” inspired by his South African heritage and rigorous contemporary choreography training. (New York, May 2025)

Tushrik Fredericks
Dancer, choreographer | South Africa
Tushrik Fredericks is an award-winning choreographer and dancer who uses social dance and movement to express human emotions and experiences. Inspired by his South African heritage and contemporary dance training, he creates visceral and rigorous original choreographic works.

To learn more about these TED Fellows and follow their journey, check out @tedfellow on Instagram or join our newsletter.