The Joy of Connecting: Rita Golden Gelman at TEDxConcordiaUPortland

Rita is the author of over 70 children's books and two adult books. Her memoir, Tales of a Female Nomad, Living at Large in the World, was published in 2001 and is still wildly popular. Nearly 27 years ago, Gelman sold all her possessions and became a citizen of the world. To this day she has not returned to a settled life. Through her experiences as a "modern day nomad", she discovered a new passion: introducing the concept of a "gap year" to teens in the U.S.

Working with the American Gap Association, Rita encourages and assists recent high school graduates to defer college or the job world for a year while they immerse themselves in other cultures and discover the common humanity of mankind.

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.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)