Gerard Adams, Millennial Mentor to Speak at TEDxNJIT

New York, New York, September 15, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​​​​​Gerard Adams, the founder and CEO of social-impact venture, FOWNders, and cofounder of Elite Daily will speak at TEDxNJIT on September 28th, 2016 from 6-9pm at the Jim Wise Theater on the New Jersey Institute of Technology campus. The independently organized event, licensed by TED, is themed “Innovation and Collaboration” and will feature leaders from business, academia and the arts. Speakers will explore new modes of collaboration, celebrating art in the urban environment, social entrepreneurship, new media music and self-awareness.

Gerard Adams has built, backed or invested in over one dozen businesses across multiple industries including the sale of Elite Daily to the Daily Mail for $50 million in 2015. He overcame adversity at an early age to become a millionaire by age 24. In 2016, Adams founded and serves as CEO at FOWNders, the social-impact accelerator for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs serving underprivileged communities. 

TED has grown to support people with world-changing ideas through multiple initiatives. At TED, the world's leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. Past TED speakers include Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Featured TEDx speaker Gerard Adams was recently named to Magic Johnson’s coveted 32 Under 32 list of entrepreneurs making a difference. In a profile of Adams in Magic Johnson’s Playbook, Adams had Tony Robbins to thank and quoted Robbins for saying “success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.” 

Regarding his TEDxNJIT talk, Adams said, “I look forward to engaging the entire TEDxNJIT audience and sharing my own life experiences growing up in the greater Newark area and finding an unconventional path to finding success and making an impact with Elite Daily and FOWNders. It is my central aim to support and give back to my community and speaking at TEDx-NJIT is a great way for everyone to join me on my journey.” Adams’ start-up accelerator, FOWNders, serves underprivileged communities and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. 

Judith Sheft, Associate Vice President Technology and Enterprise Development at NJIT and the event’s co-organizer said: “We are pleased to have Millennial Mentor Gerard Adams speak at TEDxNJIT providing an example of an entrepreneur in our community that has overcome challenges and adversity.”

The event costs $30 per ticket for the public, as well as for NJIT faculty, staff and alumni.  Student tickets cost $15. Food and drinks will be available and are included in the fee.​

ABOUT GERARD ADAMS

Gerard Adams, widely known as the “Millennial Mentor”, is a leading thought leader, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and philanthropist. Adams is the co-founder of Elite Daily, the top news platform for Generation Y and the CEO and founder of FOWNders, a social-impact start-up accelerator serving underprivileged communities nationally. He is the winner of Magic Johnson’s 32 Under 32 Award and was ranked two years in a row by Business Insider among the top-100 most-influential people in Silicon Alley. He has been featured in Success Magazine, Huffington Post, Inc. Magazine, Men’s Health and Forbes. A social entrepreneur, he overcame early adversity to become a self-made millionaire by the age of 24. Adams has built, backed or invested in twelve businesses across multiple industries that have all delivered over seven-figures including the sale of Elite Daily to Daily Mail for $50 million. While he continues his role as an investor and influencer, his mission in life is to mentor and inspire young entrepreneurs to develop what it takes to be successful and to turn dreams into reality. 

Adams leverages his expertise in millennial branding across industries from digital media to technology to fashion. He is also a go-to investor for New York City and New Jersey real estate developments. Passionate about giving back to his community, Gerard helped develop affordable housing for communities in Newark, NJ.

ABOUT TEDx, WHERE x = INDEPENDENTLY ORGANIZED

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

ABOUT TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today's leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED's annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia and made available free on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a "wish," or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

ABOUT NJIT 

One of the nation’s leading public technological universities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a top-tier research university that prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT’s multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. With an enrollment of 11,000 graduate and undergraduate students, NJIT offers small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as solar research, nanotechnology, resilient design, tissue engineering and cyber-security, in addition to others. NJIT ranks fifth among U.S. polytechnic universities in research expenditures, topping $110 million, and is among the top 1 percent of public colleges and universities in return on educational investment according to Payscale.com.

Source: FOWNders, Inc.