TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading”. What began as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, has grown to support world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for up to 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available for free at TED.com. Previous TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan NilekaniPhilippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California with a simultaneous broadcast in Palm Springs. TEDGlobal 2011 was held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the option for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.

TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals who wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action. TEDx, which offers individuals or groups an opportunity to host local, self-organized events around the world and the TEDFellows program, which help world-changing innovators from around the globe become part of the TED community, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.