TEDxUofC

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Kurt Goodjohn

  A Calgary native, Kurt graduated from Union College in NY with a BSc in Computer and Electrical Engineering. Following various positions in microelectronics, sustainable technologies and business management, Kurt and his brother Kris channeled their collective passion for green building and smart home design into a firm commitment to modular residential construction, founding Karoleena Homes in 2005. Kurt’s multiple roles as CEO include everything from business development and stakeholder collaboration to product development and company growth.

• Zachary Wadsworth

  Zachary Wadsworth (b. 1983) is a young composer of contemporary art music. His works have been featured on NPR's "Performance Today," published by Novello, E.C. Schirmer, PRB Productions, and Alliance Music Publications, and performed by the Washington National Opera Chorus, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra, Long Leaf Opera, and the Yale Schola Cantorum. His music has received several awards, including a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, three ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards, and first prizes in the King James Bible Composition Awards, the ASCAP / Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Competition, the first Long Leaf Opera One Act Opera Competition, the Chamber Music Rochester Young Composer Competition, the Boston Choral Ensemble Commission Competition, and the Pacific Chorale Young Composer Competition. Zachary is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (BM, 2005), Yale University (MM, 2007), and Cornell University (DMA, 2011).

• Brian Keating

  Through the sheer force of an engaging personality and an infectious passion for the natural world, Keating has turned thousands of people around the world into conservationists. Keating channels his efforts, and those of the people he inspires, into significant environmental and conservation initiatives, particularly in North America and Africa. His efforts have resulted in more than $2 million in funding for various conservation initiatives. Brian has also been named an honorary chief for a village near the Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary in Ghana.

• Angel Guerra & Angela Dione

  Market Collective began as a simple idea by founders Angel Guerra and Angela Dione, to showcase local artists and musicians. Since its inception in 2008, the event has evolved into a cultural hub for the city. Taking place in the long, vacant Ant Hill Building in Kensington every month or two, the unique event is more than just about purchasing unique hand crafted goods; it's a community movement that engages all types of people in developing grassroots culture. Angel Guerra is currently finishing up her last year at the University of Calgary in the Masters of Teaching program and works casually at the Mustard Seed homeless shelter. Angela Dione studied at the University of Calgary and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication and Culture, with minors in Indigenous Studies (Canadian focus) and Psychology. Her main interests include urban creative processes and establishing collaborations between artists and community-focused initiatives. In 2011, Angela was awarded with the Top 40 Under 40 in Avenue Magazine for her contributions to the City of Calgary.

• Jeff Senger

  Jeff Senger and his wife, Heather, abandoned city living 8 years ago, moving to a farm about an hour's drive northwest of Edmonton. Since then they have worked on producing as much of their own family's food as possible, hobby-farming their 160-acre piece of paradise with love, sweat and tears. Together with their four children, they have grown beef, lamb, goat, duck, chicken, turkey, geese, eggs, pork, milk, cheese, butter and garden, fruit & vegetables -- and have been astounded by the abundance that can be gained from a little hard work. In 2010, Jeff helped to co-found the Sangudo Opportunity Development Cooperative, a grass-roots community owned micro-lending organization, whose first project was to finance the purchase of Sangudo Custom Meat Packers. Jeff was also directly involved with the creation of "SPARK - Your Power, Our Future", a member-owned cooperative involved with the equitable retail billing of residential electricity in Alberta. Jeff's passion for community resilience, prosperity, and genuine wealth grows with each new project, and he is extremely optimistic about the future of rural development through the leveraging of knowledge, networks, and technologies that already exist.

• Glori Meldrum

  Glori Meldrum knows first-hand the agony and fear faced by victims of child sexual abuse. The pain she experienced has led her to understand her purpose - to spend her time and energy helping those who have had similar experiences, and to prevent sexual abuse by educating the public. Through her Edmonton-based non-profit agency, Little Warriors, participants are taught how to recognize signs of child abuse, how to prevent it, and what resources are available to victims. Since it was founded in 2007, the program has trained over 4000 adults across Canada. Beyond Little Warriors, Glori has devoted herself to taking frequent humanitarian trips to the poorest parts of Africa to give selflessly and sponsor several children. Her dream is to build The Little Warriors Be Brave Ranch, a spiritual oasis where a neglected survivor can be given the tools they need to heal their body, heart, spirit and mind.

• Robert Thirsk

  In 1996, Bob flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia with six international crewmates as part of the Life and Microgravity Spacelab Mission. This 17-day mission was devoted to the study of life and materials sciences. He also served as backup astronaut for the 1984 Space Shuttle Mission STS-41G and for the Soyuz TMA-6 crew exchange mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2005. In 2009 Bob became the first Canadian astronaut to fly a long duration expedition aboard the International Space Station (ISS). He and two crewmates launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 27 May aboar a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. When their Soyuz vehicle docked with the nearly-complete Station two days later, the ISS became home for the first time to a permanent crew of six. Bob is a strong promoter of a Canadian economy based upon exploration and innovation. He encourages young Canadians to build their dreams upon a solid educational foundation and advanced skills.

• Sequoyah Trueblood

  Sequoyah Trueblood (enrolled with the Coctaw Nation of Oklahoma) has contributed selflessly for many years in Canada, and the United States, and around the world as a role model for healthy leadership, bringing peace and joy to the hearts of many. As a ceremonial pipe carrier and with an "off the grid" style in his work, he offers something most have never experienced; the genuine guidance of a supportive, profoundly inspired and diversely experienced Elder. His consistent ability to touch wounded hearts and sooth troubled minds with compassion and wisdom has endeared Sequoyah to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike. He has a varied background in leadership capacities within Indigenous peoples contexts as well as Western institutions including the US Army, World Bank, Institute of Noetic Sciences, Harvard University Program for Extraordinary Experience Research, and Corrections Canada. Currently he spends most of his summers living from the Kankurwa Medicine Lodge at Cross River Wilderness Centre.

• Mogens Smed

  With a family history in carpentry, Mogens Smed started in the Contract Interiors business in the mid-1970's by launching his own modular furniture company in Calgary. Smed Manufacturing became SMED International in the mid-1990's as a publicly traded company. He grew SMED International into a $300 million company by introducing Modular Interior Construction to commercial office spaces across North America. The Movable Wall Division of SMED became the largest in the industry, eclipsing all others put together. Mogens oversaw the implementation of a low-profile floor, efficient lighting and modular furniture and refreshment centers into the product offering. In January 2000 Haworth, Inc. purchased SMED International and asked Mogens to stay on as CEO. After a two-year transition period, he left to join Evans Consoles - a technology workstation company based in Calgary, as their CEO. Since the inception of DIRTT, Mogens has been a leader in raising capital and working with every level of the company to ensure the motto of DIRTT - Doing It Right This Time - is maintained.

• Susan Smith

  Dr. Susan Smith is the founder and director of Atzin, a non-profit civil organization based in Tlamacazapa, Mexico. Atzin concentrates its work in Tlamacazapa because of its sheer complexity, and a growing recognition that this village is a microcosm of our world situation. Violence, economic poverty and oppression largely define the village social reality. Fear, resentment and hate dominate people's inner emotional world - a poverty of spirit. Serious contamination and disintegration of the environment make up their physical world. These are our global challenges as well. More than any technical intervention, Susan recognizes that true development work requires resolve - a sustained determination. The task is to create many opportunities and to build within, nurturing the inner conditions for happiness so that difficult circumstances and experiences can be passed through and learned from, and not be carried as fear, hate, jealousy, greed, and resentment. This is the essence of a spirit of enterprise.