Conejo Valley Unified School District is helping to organize the first TEDxConejo Conference, a one-day gathering of “thinkers and doers.”

The TEDxConejo conference is a locally organized event patterned after TED—which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design—a nonprofit organization that started 26 years ago with a four-day conference in California. The annual TED Conference invites innovators from around the world to speak for 18 minutes and then broadcasts the talks free at TED.com.

TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert and Sir Richard Branson.

TEDxConejo will be in the Scherr Forum at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza on March 27 and is open to high school and college students, educators, parents and other community members.

CVUSD Superintendent Mario Contini said the district is pleased to be co-sponsoring the event.

“TEDxConejo propels one of the most important educational missions we have in America, to develop in our youth the ability to tackle challenging issues through powerful thinking,” Contini said. “This is not only a current need but a future trend.”

The event’s co-chairs are Kate Anders, Jane Carlson, Laurie Looker and Don Levy.

Anders, Carlson and Looker are the school-to-career coordinators at Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake high schools. Levy is a Thousand Oaks resident, parent and longtime participant at the TED Conference.

“TEDxConejo is designed as a platform for ideas, where local individuals will share the day with world-class speakers and thought leaders,” Levy said.

The daylong program is organized around the theme “What’s The Big Idea” and is divided into three sessions: “Thinking,” “Doing” and “Seeing.”

Among the presenters are Wired magazine executive editor Thomas Goetz, Amgen scientist Scott Patterson and neuro researcher Mark Robert Waldman. They will speak for three to 18 minutes and then the audience and speakers will talk and exchange ideas.

In addition to the internationally recognized presenters, the school district has chosen several students to speak or perform.

Topics to be covered include the neuroscience of beliefs, innovations and discoveries in medicine and healthcare, the principles of meaningful enterprise, new ideas in education, effective communication, psychology, human perception and music.

A limited number of tickets are still available. To register, visit www.tedxconejo.com. Tickets are available at either the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza box office or through Ticketmaster.

The cost is $40 general admission and $10 for students and educators.