A 15-year-old Sage Hill School student who testified before California lawmakers on smartphone addiction is now organizing a free TEDx event at Newport Beach's newest public venue.

Rishaan Marwaha, a Newport Beach resident and rising sophomore at the Newport Coast prep school, will host TEDx San Joaquin Hills on Saturday, August 22, at Witte Hall. The event begins at 1 p.m. Admission is free, with tickets available at ted.com/tedx/events/67960.

"Young people have powerful ideas that deserve to be heard," Marwaha said in a statement published by Stu News Newport on Wednesday, July 23. "TEDx San Joaquin Hills is about creating a space where students can learn from world-class speakers, share their own perspectives and leave inspired to make an impact."

The youth-focused event will feature talks on leadership, education, psychology, entrepreneurship, technology and social impact. Keynote speaker Kristen Monroe, Chancellor's Professor of Political Science at UC Irvine and founder of the UCI Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, will headline the program. Monroe's trilogy on moral choice during World War II won American Political Science Association best book awards, with two volumes nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, according to the American Academy in Berlin.

Eight additional speakers will present, including Marwaha himself. Full speaker profiles are available on the event's TED page.

Marwaha is no stranger to public platforms. In May, he testified before the California Assembly Education Committee in support of AB 1644, a bill to ban smartphones in schools through eighth grade, according to the Orange County Register. He also serves on the statewide board of the California Association of Student Councils under the Department of Education.

The venue itself is brand new. Witte Hall, a $23.5 million, 299-seat auditorium on the Civic Center campus next to the Central Library on Avocado Avenue, opened with a ribbon-cutting led by Mayor Lauren Kleiman on Wednesday, July 9. The hall features an 11-by-19-foot video screen, professional audio, three livestream cameras and the adjacent Stahr Courtyard. It represents the city's largest public-private partnership, with the city and the Library Foundation of Newport Beach each raising $11.7 million, according to the OC Register.

The TEDx event is open to students, educators, parents, business leaders and the broader Orange County community. Free registration is available at ted.com/tedx/events/67960.