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Hosting & Emceeing
KRISZTINA “Z” HOLLY has emceed numerous events, often with over 1,000 attendees, including curating and hosting the first-ever TEDx event (TEDxUSC) for four years. Whether guiding a panel discussion or leading an awards ceremony, Z’s professional touch is her ability to make surprising connections, harness the audience's curiosity, and ask tough questions respectfully. With her charismatic presence and extensive experience, Z excels at hosting and emceeing events of all sizes.
Build Beyond Yourself: A Better Path to Growth, Innovation, & Impact
Innovation is a fundamentally social act, and KRISZTINA “Z” HOLLY provides her behind-the-scenes stories of growth and innovation. Through surprising stories—including the origins of the shipping container, skateboard culture, TEDx, and the most active seed investor in the world—you’ll learn:
If you are seeking influence and impact in a time of rapid change, join Z for this thought-provoking and entertaining session, and get ready to question your assumptions about scale.
The Future of Creativity: How to Innovate in a Time of Rapid Change
In this inspiring presentation, KRISZTINA “Z” HOLLY explores how it’s not just great ideas that will drive significant impact across industries and society, but how we innovate that matters most. Z shares entertaining examples—not only business and tech, but also robots and rockets, artists in the desert, and 7,000 physicists looking for the secrets of the universe—to illustrate how to harness others’ imagination. You’ll learn:
Drawing from her extensive experience with startups and technology, Z provides actionable insights on fostering a culture of creativity to turn visionary concepts into reality.
Designing Eureka: Harness Your Inner Entrepreneur
In this interactive engagement, KRISZTINA “Z” HOLLY busts myths about entrepreneurship and innovation, including fun puzzles and games to help illustrate her takeaway lessons. You’ll learn:
Aimed at making teams more innovative, this session is a good warm-up for a conference where leaders are looking for the audience to be more open-minded and ready to participate.
Krisztina “Z” Holly speaks to the future of innovation, creativity, scale, and impact
In her engaging talks, KRISZTINA “Z” HOLLY brings a contrarian perspective as she highlights the latest technological advancements transforming business and innovation. Reflecting on her work building pioneering centers at MIT and USC plus her experiences scouting undiscovered innovators and helping them change the world, Z points out the opportunities ahead for institutions to harness imagination to build a new future. Z’s insights into new technologies and entrepreneurial mindsets provide valuable guidance for businesses looking to innovate and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Watch Krisztina “Z” Holly on The Digital Factory Podcast >>
Watch Krisztina “Z” Holly on TEDxLASalon >>
Krisztina Holly—known to colleagues as “Z”—is an MIT-trained engineer and tech entrepreneur who has been at the frontiers of innovation throughout her career. Today, she invests in early-stage complex science and technology startups as a venture partner at Good Growth Capital and is a sought-after advisor and speaker to organizations around the world. She has been recognized by Rolling Stone, Forbes, WIRED, and Entrepreneur magazines for her ability to scout and cultivate talent and catalyze global initiatives.
Z is best known as the curator and host of the first ever TEDx in 2009 and the first vice provost for innovation at the University of Southern California. She spent over a decade building pioneering innovation centers at MIT and USC, and the White House subsequently invited her to help spread her novel model across the United States. Earlier in her career, she was a researcher at the MIT Media Lab and manufacturing engineer on the Space Shuttle Main Engine, and she spent a decade in tech playing key roles at startups such as Stylus innovation (acquired by Artisoft) and Direct Hit Technologies (acquired by Ask Jeeves). She has served as a contributor to Forbes and an advisor and board member to numerous organizations globally, including the Obama administration and World Economic Forum. She has coached hundreds of private sector leaders, faculty innovators, governmental policymakers, extreme athletes, and founders who have raised more than $1B in capital.
Z earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT. She is an avid private pilot and backcountry skier, working and adventuring from her home base in Los Angeles.
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