Partner Article

Q&A Dr Nichole Munro – CEO of Atomix Educational Trust, Keynote speaker at TEDxTeesside Welcome Dinner

As CEO of Atomix Educational Trust and sponsor of TEDxTeesside, what drew you to support this event? How does the TEDx mission align with your work in education?

TEDx has always been about ideas that move people...ideas that challenge how we think about what’s possible. That’s exactly what we’re doing at Atomix: challenging traditional boundaries in education.

We believe employability doesn’t start at 16 or 18 years old. It starts the moment a child begins to imagine what they could be around seven years old. Supporting TEDxTeesside is a natural fit, because it’s a platform for possibility. It gives our region a space to share bold ideas about learning, innovation and the future of work.

You’re delivering the keynote at TEDxTeesside's welcome dinner. Without giving too much away, what can attendees expect from your talk, and how will it set the tone for TEDxTeesside?

I’ll be speaking about the power of employability and what happens when we start building those skills early, across all ages and backgrounds.

It’s not a talk about jobs, it’s a talk about confidence, connection, and curiosity... and how education can unlock all three. I want to open the evening with a sense of energy and optimism for what’s possible when schools and industry truly work together.

What’s one idea or message you’re hoping to plant in people’s minds during your keynote that they’ll carry into the main TEDx event?

That every child, every learner, has potential worth investing in and that employability isn’t a privilege, it’s a right.

If we can give young people meaningful exposure to industry early on, we don’t just prepare them for work. We prepare them for life. I want people to leave thinking: “We can start this now.”

Having lived all over the world, and now creating a home in Tees Valley, what does it mean to you to be supporting an event that puts Tees Valley voices on a global platform?

It means everything. Tees Valley has a depth of creativity and resilience that deserves to be seen and heard globally.

After living in so many places, I’ve come to realise that innovation doesn’t just live in big cities. It’s right here, in the classrooms, businesses and communities of this region. Supporting TEDxTeesside is my way of saying: the world should be listening to Tees Valley.

TEDx is all about “ideas change everything.” What’s the most important idea you think the education sector needs to hear right now?

That education and employability aren’t two separate conversations...they’re one.

We have to stop thinking of “school” as preparation and “work” as the destination. They should be part of the same journey. When children as young as seven can see how what they’re learning connects to real-world skills, everything changes - engagement, confidence, ambition.

The idea I’d share is simple: learning should always feel like it matters.

After your keynote, what are you most looking forward to experiencing as an audience member at TEDxTeesside 2025?

I can’t wait to hear the range of ideas being shared... from technology to creativity to social change. There’s something powerful about a room full of people who all believe in better. Mostly, I’m looking forward to the conversations that happen in between the talks, where inspiration meets action. That’s where real change begins.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by TEDxTeesside .