”Unseen Currents: Stories that shape us”
Beneath every visible success, connection, and transformation lie powerful forces — unseen currents — quietly shaping who we are and where we are headed.
At the 2026 TEDxESMT Berlin, under the theme “Unseen Currents: Stories that shape us”, we’re shining a light on the subtle shifts and quiet forces that move us forward. Our speakers come with stories of moments when the tide changed—not loud or obvious at first, but powerful nonetheless.
Gather with innovators, leaders, athletes and changemakers for a day of thought-provoking talks, meaningful conversations, and creative inspiration. Discover the ideas that could reshape your thinking and impact your future.
What to expect?
Speakers

Dr. Andreas Schmidt
Serial Biotech Entrepreneur and Venture Capitalist
Dyane Neiman
Theater Director, Choreographer & Founder of THE BEARDyane Neiman is a speaker coach, storytelling trainer, and community builder. American-born, NYC-bred, and Berlin-based, she began her career without words as a choreographer, performer, and director, earning three consecutive Theaterzwang Awards for outstanding achievement in theater. In 2015, Dyane founded THE BEAR, Berlin’s open stage for true, personal storytelling. She has since curated over 1,000 stories and celebrated the show’s 100th live event in 2025. In 2024, she co-founded Female Speaking Berlin and co-launched the True Stories Berlin podcast, expanding access to unheard voices by empowering women to speak up and bringing Berlin’s English-language stories to a global audience.

Kaitlyn Anne McGregor
Swiss Speed Skating Champion & International Athlete
Lars-Hendrik Röller
Founder & Chair of the Berlin Global Dialogue | Former BlackRock Advisory ChairLars-Hendrik Röller is the Founder and Chair of the Berlin Global Dialogue, an international platform convening political leaders, policymakers, and business executives to address global economic and geopolitical challenges. He also serves as Chair of the Green Guarantee Group and is a Professor of Economics at ESMT Berlin. Previously, he was Chair of BlackRock’s Transition Investing Advisory Council, advising on the alignment of global capital markets with climate policy and long-term sustainability goals. Working across academia, policy, and global finance, his work focuses on how political leadership, economic strategy, and investment frameworks can be aligned to strengthen global governance and accelerate the green transition.

Matthias Treutwein
Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builder & Managing Director of enpactMatthias is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of enpact. Heis enpact’s foremost expert for mentoring, capacity building and sustainable organizational development. With deep insights into intercultural communication, he possesses a high level of cultural awareness which he developed during several study and work sojourns in the MENA region. He has a strong passion for fostering networks while strongly believing in horizontal and life-long learning. He has worked for organizations such as Transparency International, The Owners Forum, InWent, the Goethe-Institut, and the Robert Bosch Foundation. He is an enthusiastic consultant, business angel, workshop facilitator, and keynote speaker.

Michelle Arrazcaeta
Brand Strategist Focused on Courage, Purpose & EQMichelle Arrazcaeta is a brand strategist and creative leadership coach who helps people and organizations lead with more humanity, courage, and purpose. With experience working across global brands like Nike, Crocs, HP, and Danone, she supports leaders in getting beyond surface-level solutions to uncover what’s truly authentic and differentiating. Based in Amsterdam, Michelle is the founder of Super Good Society, a creative community and coaching platform helping designers, marketers, and agency leaders stay human and resilient while navigating change.

Michela Andreolli
CEO @ Arke | Forbes 30 U 30Made in Italy” is synonymous with luxury and quality, but many of the workshops lack the software tools that help major manufacturers stay on top of production. Michela Andreolli launched Arke, a Milan-based startup building software tools, to help Italy’s small factory owners master their own supply chains and back office. Andreolli got the idea in 2024 after training as an industrial engineer and working at enterprise resource planning giant SAP, Google Cloud, and Swedish health startup Kry. After raising $1.8 million from Dig Ventures, Exor, and Notion last year, Andreolli is now running pilots with luxury goods producers and textiles factories in northern Italy.

Ralf Kleber
Investor/ Ex Country CEO AmazonDefining figure in German e-commerce and was the face of Amazon in Germany for over two decades. He joined Amazon as a Finance Controller in 1999, when the company was still in its infancy in Germany. By 2002, he had taken over the management of Amazon.de and led the company through an impressive growth phase: Under his leadership, Germany became Amazon’s most important international market, generating €24.7 billion in revenue in 2020. Kleber stands for “leading on equal terms” and a corporate culture that combines innovation, customer focus, and long-term thinking. He built Amazon in Germany from a small team in Hallbergmoos into one of the largest employers with over 30,000 employees.



