Catalyzing ideas into impact
Activating ideas at scale
At TED2023, Richard Reeves shared a surprising insight: in some countries, boys are falling significantly behind girls in school. After watching the talk, Melinda Gates realized that building a better future for women and girls also means supporting boys and men. In 2025, she asked Reeves to lead a $20 million initiative — all sparked by one TED Talk.
Changing policies, transforming lives
Ideas don’t fizzle when the lights dim. These speakers turned the TED stage into launchpads for real-world reform.
Bradley Tusk’s Mobile Voting Project, shared at TED2025, is set to become one of America’s first large-scale smartphone voting pilots. The New York Times announced in November that, by April 2026, Anchorage’s 240,000 registered voters will have the option to cast ballots via phone during municipal races — a working blueprint for nationwide expansion.
Back in 2018, TEDx Speaker Inez Aires used the TED platform to launch a yoga and meditation program for incarcerated people. By 2025, her program had quadrupled in reach, now serving more than 16,000 people across 11 Portuguese prisons.
Mobilizing climate leadership
“This was the most impactful conference I've been to in 10 years.”
– Nairobi Summit attendee
TED’s 2025 Countdown Summit in Nairobi was one of highest rated conferences in TED history, with participants calling it “life-changing” and “career-defining.” Between 40 speakers, 27 intimate workshops and 15 in-field Quest Visits, breakthrough climate solutions took center stage, fundamentally shifting perspectives from overwhelmed to hopeful. The ripple effects are already emerging: catalyzing new collaborations, inspiring creators to use their influence to shift the public narrative on climate and amplifying the voices of emerging changemakers and climate leaders.
By the numbers
Achieved the lowest carbon footprint in TED history, met 2030 emissions goals five years early, reduced emissions from 2023 by 74%, and diverted 90% of event waste.
Cultivated climate leadership with 70 countries represented, including 60 emerging leaders for the Young Leaders’ Cohort.
Supercharged climate storytelling with +20 journalists who generated 72.9 million media impressions and 14 creators with +80 million in collective reach.
Inspiring young minds
This year, more than 175,000 students from 107 countries participated in TED-Ed’s Student Talks program. Plus, TEDxYouth and University events surged by nearly 50%, while TED-Ed and YouTube partnered to make TED’s signature public speaking skills accessible to young people around the world, with 1.75M views.
By the numbers
321M+
Views on TED-Ed animations
1.1M+
Registered educators
875
TED-Ed lessons translated and dubbed across 11 different languages
1.3M
Spanish subscribers (most-watched dubbed animations)
TED-Ed + Gifted Savings
TED partnered with Gifted Savings to distribute a $1,000 investment portfolio and financial literacy resources to every senior in Athens Clark County, Georgia — a first-of-its-kind pilot program.
Amplifying impact through collaboration
The Audacious Project turns world-changing ideas into funded reality, connecting a diverse community of visionary leaders with a collective of philanthropists ready to think bigger about tackling the world’s most urgent problems.
$6.6B
catalyzed to date
As of 2025...
Last Mile Health has brought quality healthcare to 43 million people and trained 28,000 community health workers.
One Acre Fund has financed and trained 5.5 million African farming families directly and through partnerships, while also planting over 250 million trees across 40 diverse species.
Educate Girls has brought 1.5 million girls back to school across India and kept 90% of these students enrolled.
Next Up:
Breaking down barriers
