While helplessly watching her house go up in flames in the brisk winter air — no fire department in sight - the burning embers sparked an idea in Alla’s mind; a curvy road leading her to design cities that protect, empower, and provide people the freedom to live better lives. In this deeply personal and visionary talk, Alla shares how she now helps build cities from the ground up — from Freedom Cities and Charter Cities to the cities we all call home — and how each of us can reimagine the places we live to design belonging, safety, agency, and meaning into our daily life. The talk was presented and filmed at TEDxChicago 2025 on September 26, 2025, at the Harris Theater in Chicago.

Alla Adam has been future-proofing humans across the globe since 2003. An experienced founder, negotiator, mentor, and investor, she has guided leaders and teams at Tesla, Amazon, Google, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Nestlé, and others, helping generate over $12B in venture capital and grants for startups worldwide. She is a mentor at Techstars, Founder Institute, and StartOut, a member of the HeartMath Institute and the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School, and a non-resident fellow at Charter Cities Institute. She serves on advisory councils for Forbes Coaches Council and Harvard Business Review. Her frameworks—including The Adam Method (TAM), Negotiations as a Service (NaaS), and The Adam Curve (TAC)—have become transformational tools for executives, investors, and entrepreneurs alike. Alla holds executive education certifications from Harvard Law, Yale, Kellogg, and Berkeley Law, as well as Master's and Bachelor's from Kyiv National Economic University.