Bicycle Safety Visionary and Revolights Inc. Co-Founder Kent Frankovich to Speak at TEDxCity2.0

We're excited to welcome Kent Frankovich to Sacramento and to the TEDxSacramento stage for TEDxCity2.0. Kent is a bicycle safety revolutionary and co-founder of Revolights, Inc. "Improving safety is critical to increasing bicycle ridership. But the current industry standard style of safety lighting is a bit misguided. We need a smarter approach," says Kent.

Bicycle Safety Required

Kent Frankovich, Co-founder of Revolights, Inc.

 As an avid cyclist, Kent Frankovich wants more people to take to two wheels, but understands that lack of visibility is a safety concern for many would-be riders. His desire to increase nighttime bicycle rider safety and visibility, coupled with his electromechanical engineering background, inspired him to co-found Revolights, Inc.

Originally invented as a way to improve on the industry standard for a headlight, the visibility benefits of the patented Revolights bike lighting system quickly catapulted it to national attention through CNN, Mashable, the BBC, WIRED, the New York Times and numerous other media outlets.

“Improving safety is critical to increasing bicycle ridership. But the current industry standard style of safety lighting is a bit misguided. We need a smarter approach.”

— Kent Frankovich

While at NASA-JPL, Frankovich provided electromechanical design support to Mars rover Curiosity’s mission. He also worked to improve GI Tract Diagnostics as a researcher at the Stanford BioRobotics Laboratory. Kent now hopes to use his unique perspective to shed new light on the issue of bicycle safety, ensuring a better future for urbanites in the City2.0.

Kent enjoys traveling and practicing Spanish and Mandarin. He currently lives in San Francisco, and celebrated his 30th birthday with a 400 mile ride down the California coast.

About TEDxCity2.0

TEDxSacramento presents TEDxCity2.0, an independently organized TED event for urban innovators, organizers, stewards and builders - with live speakers, streamed speakers from TEDCity2.0 in New York City, live performances, and the ability to coalesce around specific calls to action for our city. We invite you to join us.

Numerous cities around the globe, including Sacramento, have been selected to be a part of TED's City 2.0 Day, a global event during which cities from around the world will be sharing ideas around the theme of the future of our cities. On September 20, we will be bringing in great thinkers and doers who are making great things happen in cities around the globe to share their ideas and stories. Such topics as Art, Education, Food, Housing, Play, Public Spaces, Urban Design, Health, Safety, Technology and Transportation will be discussed as well as a series of calls to action for our city by local change-makers who are trying to make a difference.

Expect to be challenged. Expect to be inspired. Expect to change the world.

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Nextdoor's Sarah Leary To Speak About "The Original Social Network"

TEDxSacramento is pleased to announce that Sarah Leary, Co-Founder and Vice President of Marketing at Nextdoor, will speak at TEDxCity2.0. Sarah will speak on the topic, "The Neighborhood: The Original Social Network."

Sarah began her career at Microsoft as product manager on the teams that launched the first three versions of Microsoft Office. In 1997, Leary left Microsoft to attend Harvard Business School, graduating with a BA and an MBA. She went on to work as an associate at Greylock Partners, later serving as Vice President of Product and Marketing at Epinions which subsequently relaunched as Shopping.com and was eventually acquired by eBay.

“There’s a longing to reconnect with the people who live around us to build stronger and safer neighborhoods - after all, the neighborhood was the original social network.”

— Sarah Leary

The Neighborhood: The Original Social Network

 As a seasoned product and marketing professional, Sarah observed firsthand the way technology connects people far and wide, creating networks of individuals across the globe, while leaving us with a sense of disconnect toward those who live right outside our front doors. Concerned about this decline in community, Sarah -- then an Entrepreneur in Residence at Benchmark -- felt a longing to reconnect people who live near one another with the explicit purpose of building stronger and safer neighborhoods. Her passion for community led her to co-found the company that became Nextdoor, the free and private social network for neighborhoods.

As a child, Sarah spent summers in a tight-knit Cape Cod community where kids could stop at any house in the neighborhood for lunch and ride their bicycles in the street until midnight. Sarah has always carried with her that sense of community she experienced during those childhood summers. She aims to make possible that same idyllic safety and community in neighborhoods around the globe. Sarah adds, "There's a longing to reconnect with the people who live around us to build stronger and safer neighborhoods - after all, the neighborhood was the original social network."

About TEDxCity2.0

Numerous cities around the globe, including Sacramento (click to attend), have been selected to be a part of TED's City 2.0 Day, a global event during which cities from around the world will be sharing ideas around the theme of the future of our cities. On September 20, we will be bringing in great thinkers and doers who are making great things happen in cities around the globe to share their ideas and stories. Such topics as Art, Education, Food, Housing, Play, Public Spaces, Urban Design, Health, Safety, Technology and Transportation will be discussed as well as a series of calls to action for our city by local change-makers who are trying to make a difference.

TEDxSacramento presents TEDxCity2.0, an independently organized TED event for urban innovators, organizers, stewards and builders - with live speakers, streamed speakers from TEDCity2.0 in New York City, live performances, and the ability to coalesce around specific calls to action for our city.

Expect to be challenged. Expect to be inspired.

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