It began with a shared meal.
In September 2019, Atlantic Fellows from the Health Equity and Social Equity programs gathered for a cross-program dinner in Washington, D.C. Among conversations about systems change, leadership and seemingly impossible global challenges, two Fellows — Jordi Luke and Juanita Wheeler — found themselves talking not only about their work but about how people move through the world and what it takes to truly shift hearts, minds and systems.
That night planted a seed. Over the years that followed, Juanita watched Jordi do something rare. Using maximalist fashion (an exuberant form of self-expression) as an entry point, Jordi created pathways into deeper conversations about identity, resilience, joy and survival. What could have been dismissed as an aesthetic choice was, in reality, profoundly strategic: a way to disarm assumptions, create curiosity and open conversations that many people might otherwise avoid.
But what stood out most was not the visibility itself. It was what Jordi did with it.
Jordi understood something many changemakers eventually discover: visibility alone is not enough. Real systemic change requires persuading people with the power to say yes — yes to funding, yes to protection, yes to policy reform and yes to institutional change.
At Atlantic Institute and Atlantic Fellows convenings around the world, Jordi consistently approached advocacy through a lens of solidarity and bridge-building. Before gatherings, they would connect with local transgender leaders (e.g., in Mexico, Cuba, Egypt, Peru, UAE and Brazil) to ask what support was urgently needed, mobilize donations and help create opportunities for Fellows to connect directly with grassroots organizations that were undertaking extraordinarily difficult and under-resourced work.
Those conversations mattered. For some Fellows, it was their first meaningful interaction with transgender people outside Western media narratives since most of these leaders were Indigenous to the location of the Atlantic Fellows convening. For others, it was an opportunity to better understand how advocacy, safety, visibility and survival look radically different depending on geography, politics, culture and resources.
These were not abstract policy conversations. They were lived realities. Jordi understood something many changemakers eventually discover: visibility alone is not enough. Real systemic change requires persuading people with the power to say yes — yes to funding, yes to protection, yes to policy reform and yes to institutional change.
That understanding is part of what ultimately led Juanita to invite Jordi to speak at TEDxBrisbane 2026.
TEDxBrisbane is known internationally for its rigorous curation and speaker development process. TEDxBrisbane Talks have generated more than 33 million views online to date, giving carefully crafted ideas the potential to travel globally long after the event itself is over.
At any given time, Juanita is observing a long list of potential ideas and speakers — often for years before an invitation is extended.
The standard is not simply whether an idea is important. The idea must be globally relevant, genuinely novel, capable of withstanding rigorous fact-checking and strong enough to meet TED’s international content standards. It must move beyond opinion and beyond preaching to the choir — not that preaching to the choir is unimportant. As Juanita often says, “That’s how you get them to sing.” But broader systems change depends on persuading audiences with the power to remove barriers and create momentum — audiences whose first instinct is often to say no.
Just as importantly, the process requires deep collaboration. Juanita’s work — whether with TEDxBrisbane speakers or leaders and organizations around the world — centers on strategically shaping ideas into persuasive tools capable of influencing decision-makers, creating momentum and accelerating meaningful change. After years of observation, research and conversation, Juanita could see Jordi was ready for that process.
Even the most important ideas can struggle to create change if they are unable to persuade the audiences capable of unlocking action.
At first, however, when the invitation finally came, Jordi said no. Public speaking was not simply uncomfortable. For someone who had spent much of their life assessing environments for safety, stepping into a global spotlight felt vulnerable in ways difficult to articulate.
But Juanita could also see something else: Jordi was ready. Ready not just to tell a story, but to champion an idea capable of shifting conversations far beyond the theater itself.
She encouraged Jordi to trust the process — promising that together, they were going to create a talk capable of changing the world.
And then the real work began.
Over the next four and a half months, the two worked together to carefully shape the talk — via Zoom calls and emails, refining not only the script itself but also the strategic architecture beneath it: how to move an audience emotionally without sacrificing intellectual rigor; how to translate lived experience into a globally relevant call to action; and how to craft a talk capable of opening doors long after the applause ended.
The process was intensive. Weekly development sessions evolved into script rewrites, persuasion strategy discussions, memorization drills, rehearsal processes and rigorous refinement.
The process required deep mutual trust. Juanita had invited Jordi to the TEDxBrisbane stage because of the strength of their leadership, advocacy, expertise and ideas. In turn, Jordi embraced the collaborative process fully, understanding that shaping a world-class TEDx Talk required both of them to leave ego at the door and bring equal respect for each other’s expertise.
Jordi brought world-class experience in health policy, social services and community organizing. Juanita brought decades of expertise in persuasion strategy, audience psychology and shaping ideas designed to move decision-makers to action. That collaboration became the foundation for everything that followed on stage.
The audience itself had been carefully curated through an application process — a room filled with thinkers, doers, advocates and changemakers selected for their capacity to contribute to and amplify ideas far beyond the theater .
As Jordi delivered the talk, Juanita watched from the wings as the audience moved through waves of emotion in real time. People laughed. They cried. They gasped. And, at moments, the theater became so still you could hear a pin drop.
And when Jordi finally stepped off the TEDxBrisbane stage, they initially failed to notice the audience rising to its feet in a standing ovation. Juanita stopped them, turned them around, and let them see it. They saw a leader delivering an idea with clarity, authenticity, precision and purpose.
In the days and weeks immediately following the event, the response to the talk rippled outward. And now, the next chapter begins: allowing Jordi’s message to travel globally and continue opening conversations far beyond the theater where it was first delivered.
In many ways, the collaboration between Jordi and Juanita reflects something much larger about the Atlantic Fellows community itself. The network is filled with extraordinary people doing extraordinary work. But even the most important ideas can struggle to create change if they are unable to persuade the audiences capable of unlocking action.
What happens when globally important changemaking work is intentionally paired with strategic persuasion expertise?
Sometimes, the answer is a standing ovation.
Sometimes, it’s changing the world.
About the Authors
Jordi Luke is an Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity Global and a public health strategist whose work focuses on access, belonging and care beyond rigid social categories. Jordi is the CEO and Co-Founder of Haus of Transcendent, an organization working to prevent housing insecurity among LGBTQI+ immigrants and transgender people, while operating as a community-based public health resource. Jordi challenges narrow gender frameworks and asks how communities can make room for everyone to flourish.
Juanita Wheeler is an Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity, persuasion strategist, leadership advisor and Founder of Full & Frank. She helps leaders, teams and organizations communicate strategically, build influence and champion ideas that matter. As CEO and Licensee of TEDxBrisbane, she has spent more than a decade helping speakers transform complex ideas into compelling calls to action. Through coaching, consulting and speechwriting, she supports people to secure funding, advance reform, build partnerships and create meaningful impact.
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