Almost 1,000 people heard from powerful female speakers at the TEDWomen 2019 conference held at La Quinta Resort.

Notable women like Jane Fonda and Macy Gray are sharing bold ideas, tough truths and creative visions at the three day conference.

Environmental activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim made the trip all the way from Africa to share her community’s story concerning climate change.

“It’s becoming a global problem and the solution must also be global,” she said. “We have to act all together.”

Ibrahim is on the lineup of female speakers called the ‘planet protectors’. She’s globally known as an advocate for the inclusion of indigenous people in the global fight against climate change.

“We depend on what the community is giving us,” she said. “It’s completely different from what people depend on the supermarket.”

In her community, Lake Chad, a water source for 40 million people has lost 90 percent of its surface area in 40 years, creating conflicts along its shoreline, according to the TED website.

She came to the conference to make people across the world of all ages understand the problem.

College senior Evetta Soma said the talks she heard on Thursday of the conference made opened her eyes to environmental issues and getting involved.

“I should be contributing to this because this is somewhere that I want to live someday,” Soma said.

Among the diverse lineup of speakers was actress Jane Fonda who was recently arrested for her “Fire drill Friday’s” in Washington D.C.

Fonda honed in on the “strength in numbers” and her plan to bring the protests to Los Angeles.

“I think that is a good idea to share with everyone, to become doers,” Cornel Marcu, an attendee at TEDWomen, said.

Singer Macy Gray will close out the final session Thursday night. None of the Ted Talks from this conference have been released but they will be released over the next few weeks, according to TED coordinators.

On Wednesday, TED and Future Stewards with Christiana Figueres announced Countdown: a global collaboration to turn the tide on climate change.

The name Countdown refers to the necessary reduction to zero net greenhouse gas emissions called for by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.

A summit of 1,000 leaders and influencers representing a cross-section of nations, businesses, cities, and citizens – will be held in Bergen, Norway from October 6-9, 2020.

The following day – 10.10.2020 – will be celebrated as a major global gathering made up of thousands of connected local events in cities, neighborhoods, schools and workplaces around the globe—coordinated by the global TEDx community and other partners.

Countdown content will be promoted by YouTube, and many YouTube creators will be invited to take part both in Bergen and at local events being held around the globe.

PC: TED

La Quinta Resort Hosts Three-day TEDWomen Conference