TEDxUofTScarborough

Speakers

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

• Andrew Forde

  ALUM • PROFESSOR • KPMG PARTNER • TOP 40 UNDER 40 LEADER

  Dr. Andrew Forde is a Partner at KPMG Canada, in the national Data & AI Strategy practice, helping organizations navigate complex transformation at the intersection of technology, governance, and business performance. With a PhD in Engineering from the University of Toronto and a background as a NASA research scientist, Andrew brings a rare blend of technical depth and strategic foresight to his advisory work. Andrew also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto, where he teaches innovation, systems thinking, and the responsible deployment of emerging technologies. He was recognized as a Top 40 Under 40 emerging leader and is a frequent speaker on the future of digital transformation, the practical realities of AI adoption, and what it takes for institutions to thrive in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.

• Brian Harrington

  UTSC PROFESSOR & RESEARCHER

  Brian Harrington is a Teaching Stream Professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough. His research interests are computer science education, specifically as it relates to mental health and development of students, ethics of technology, and fostering social connection. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer at TalkLab, where he works to build conversational AI for use in training, education, and assessment. His goal is to build generative AI tools that are more trustworthy, less sycophantic, and more human focused.

• John Edward McGraw

  MULTICULTURAL WORKPLACE EXPERT • HUMAN CONNECTION SPEAKER

  John Edward McGraw is a Multicultural Workplace Expert, Inclusive Communication Specialist, and Human Connection Speaker who helps organizations navigate cultural complexity and integrate international talent effectively. As founder of Hiyaku Coaching, he draws on fifteen years of teaching English in Japan and Canada, combined with an ICF coaching credential, to strengthen organizational cultural fluency and retention. John works with leaders to identify and address cultural assumptions that create workplace disconnection, fostering inclusive environments where diverse teams achieve high performance. His expertise centers on transforming cultural differences into strategic organizational advantages.

• Luis Antonio Salvador

  UTSC ALUM

  Luis is a University of Toronto alum and an international student from the Philippines. He received multiple academic and leadership awards during his education and has lived and worked in both Toronto and Manila. These experiences have shaped his perspective on opportunity across different systems and exposed him to both the highs and lows of that journey. Along the way, he has had to balance ambition with responsibility, and opportunity with sacrifice, across different cultural and social contexts. As a result, he understands the personal trade-offs behind global mobility and the weight of life-defining choices, even at a young age.

• Shermin Kruse

  UTSC ALUMNI • PROFESSOR • AUTHOR

  Shermin Kruse, author of "Stoic Empathy", "The Calm Inside: A Stoic Guide to Staying Steady", and producer of more than 80 TEDx talks worldwide, is a writer, speaker, and professor of law at Northwestern University, where she teaches negotiation, leadership, and global transactions/ethics. Born in Iran, her early experiences with authoritarianism and life shaped between worlds forged her focus on moral agency and power. Her work bridges philosophy, psychology, and lived experience to examine how we choose, or fail to choose, who we become. Her lastest

• Stephanie Lurch

  PEDIATRIC PHISIOTHERAPIST • PROFESSOR • ANTI-OPRESSION SCHOLAR

  Stephanie Lurch is a pediatric physiotherapist, professor, and anti-oppression scholar working where healthcare, education, and equity collide. As one of the few Black physiotherapists in Canada who both teaches equity and maintains an active clinical practice, she speaks from inside systems that heal, harm, and decide who belongs. Over three decades, Stephanie has shaped how more than 3,000 graduate clinicians understand power, care, and responsibility. Her work is grounded in lived experience as a Black woman in medicine and professional work across three continents, including touring with Cirque du Soleil. Known for talks that challenge comfort and demand accountability, she uses story, movement, and truth-telling to expose how power moves through systems and into bodies. Stephanie is confirmed to deliver two TEDx talks in 2026 focused on power, justice, and rehumanizing healthcare.