Speaker Spotlight
Dev Aujla
Dev is the Founder and Executive Director of DreamNow, a charitable organization that produces ideas that do good for the world. DreamNow is best known for both launching Continuum, a social enterprise that provides follow up for conferences and programs around the world, and for its research on how a young professionals can make money and change the world. In addition to his work with DreamNow, Dev is an active speaker and advisor. He has worked with organizations including the United Nations, The International Labor Organization, the Red Cross, the Spirit Bear Coalition, and others. Dev’s work has been featured in Time Magazine, The Globe and Mail, and CBC Newsworld. Dev currently lives and works in both Toronto and New York.
Dr. Lloyd Axworthy
The Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, P.C., O.C., O.M.
Lloyd Axworthy, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Winnipeg, graduated in 1961 with a BA from United College (now The University of Winnipeg), and received an MA and PhD from Princeton in 1963 and 1972 respectively.
At The University of Winnipeg, Dr. Axworthy is working to renew the campus and its downtown community with the view to making post-secondary education more accessible to inner-city, Aboriginal and New Canadian students. He is also expanding the University’s outreach in the areas of Aboriginal education, environmental studies, and human rights.
Dr. Axworthy’s political career spanned 27 years, during six of which he served in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly and twenty-one in the Federal Parliament. He held several Cabinet positions, notably Minister of Employment and Immigration, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, Minister of Transport, Minister of Human Resources Development, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996-2000. Upon leaving public office, Dr. Axworthy served as Director and CEO of the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Colombia prior to his appointment at The University of Winnipeg.
Steve Leafloor Buddha
Stephen Leafloor, founder of BluePrintForLife, has an MSW degree and over 25 years experience as a social worker in the areas of probation, wilderness programs, street work with youth at risk, residential group homes, child protection and community outreach. Stephen has also been an active participant in the Hiphop culture since 1981 and completed his master’s thesis on this culture and its importance for educators and social workers.
Stephen has been a guest lecturer at many universities and is often a keynote speaker at conferences. He has also trained Cirque Du Soleil’s cast members and the facilitators of the Cirque Du Monde (Cirque Du Soleil’s social outreach program).
Ilona Dougherty
An activist and artist from an early age, Ilona’s diverse experiences range from being a Canadian delegate to the United Nations at 17 years old to producing major concerts across Canada. Along the way, she gained extensive and hands-on experience in band and artist management, workshop facilitation, and organizational strategic planning.
In January 2004 Ilona co-founded Apathy is Boring, (www.apathyisboring.com) a national non-partisan organization that uses art and technology to re-engage youth in the democratic process.
She has won numerous awards including Vince Sirois Prize, Yukon Women’s Award, and she was featured in the book "Notes from Canada's Young Activists".
Ilona continues to speak around the country about innovative ways to reach 18 – 35 year old Canadians.
Ilona Dougherty was raised by socially engaged parents in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and Whitehorse, Yukon and currently lives in Montreal, Quebec.
Liz Evans
Liz Evans is the Executive Director and Founder of the PHS Community Services Society, an organization aimed at providing housing, advocacy and supports to people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside community. Liz graduated from Ottawa University with a BScN. The Society operates supported hotels, supported housing, and a range of programs and services including a low-income community bank, a dental clinic, a community café and Laundromat, a drug-users Life-skills Centre, a needle exchange and North America’s first supervised injection site (Insite) in addition to Detox and drug treatment stabilization programs.
Liz Evans has also been honored by the RNABC as the Health Advocate of the year, named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40, received the Denise LeBlanc Memorial Award by the BC Non Profit Housing Association and was a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award for Community Service.
She has two small children and lives in the Downtown Eastside.
Mariatu Kamara
Mariatu Kamara grew up in Sierra Leone surrounded by family and friends. At the age of 12, she was kidnapped by rebel soldiers who brutally cut off both her hands. Her book, entitled The Bite of the Mango and co-written by award-winning journalist Susan McClelland, is the story of her resilience in the face of tragedy. Now 23, Kamara lives in Toronto where she attends college. She has been a UNICEF Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict and has spoken widely about her journey from war victim to peace activist.
Craig Kielburger
Craig Kielburger is the founder and chair of Free The Children, an international development organization that has built in excess of 500 schools in marginalized regions worldwide, providing daily education to more than 50,000 children. Since founding the organization in 1995 at the age of 12, Craig has led Free The Children to become the world’s leading youth-driven charity.
He is the author of Free The Children and the co-author of national bestsellers Take Action!: A Guide to Active Citizenship, Take More Action and, most recently, the New York Times bestseller Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World.
Now 25, Craig has been awarded many national and international awards, including the Roosevelt Freedom Medal, the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child (also known as the Children’s Nobel Prize), the Order of Canada and four honorary doctorates from universities across North America. His work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, 60 Minutes and The Today Show and in People, Time and The Economist.
Craig is also the co-founder and director of Me to We Social Enterprises, which provides consumers socially responsible lifestyle products, from international volunteer travel programs, to books, music, leadership training workshops, speakers’ bureau and organic clothing.
Gary Martin
Gary Martin has over 35 years experience in youth gang initiatives, community safety, and human rights in both Canada and the United States. He is the first recipient of both the YMCA Humanitarian Peace Medial Award and the Volunteer Service Award from the Black Achievement (Griot) Award in Alberta. Gary had a long career in the US and Canadian militaries as a specialist in criminology, war strategy, and law enforcement. On a global and national level, he has written strategies for peacekeeping missions and was a Special Consultant in terrorist debriefing, handcuffing, restraint, and sharp-edged weapons at the 1988 Olympics. In his spare time, Gary was the member of a Juno-nominated blues group. Locally, Gary has developed self-defense programs for police spouses and anti-rape programs for YMCA and Calgary’s Sexual Assault Centre. Gary is engaged with Calgary community members, City of Calgary Police, and youth to facilitate the shift towards community empowerment and action for safe and thriving communities. Gary combines his experience, energy, music, and martial arts in his work. He is an enthnomusicologist, historian of African American music, and recipient of the Clarence “Big” Millar Award. Gary is the only African American to study “Choi-style Kung Fu” under Sifu Harry Wong, Grading Master Okinawan Isshin-ryu for Canada.
Ocean Robbins
Ocean Robbins is founder and director of YES! — “Helping Visionary Young Leaders Build a Better World”, which he founded in 1990, at age 16. Ocean has spoken in person to more than 200,000 people and facilitated many dozens of gatherings for young leaders from 60+ nations. Ocean is author of Choices for Our Future: A Generation Rising for Life on Earth, and has served as a board member for Friends of the Earth, Creating Our Future, the Turning Tide Coalition, EarthSave International, and OmniCenter. In 2002, he was selected by Utne Reader as one of 30 "Young Visionaries" under age 30, and by Audubon and Time as among the heroes of the new millennium. He is a 2008 recipient of the Freedom’s Flame Award, and of the national Jefferson Award for Outstanding Community Service by an Individual 35 Years Or Younger. He and his beloved wife Michele are the parents of River and Bodhi Robbins, identical twin boys born in 2001.
Don Iveson
Don was elected City Councillor for Ward 5 in the fall of 2007 at the age of 28. He is a staunch advocate for building a more livable city through improved urban design, reducing automobile dependence through better transit, walking, cycling, and fostering vibrant culture and heritage programs.
Just after the election he was asked by Mayor Mandel to take a leading role in Environment and Sustainability initiatives in the City of Edmonton. These include leading the organization of the ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability World Congress to be held in Edmonton in June of 2009. Don is currently working on resource depletion, climate change, water management and energy issues, specifically as they relate to land development, construction and transportation. He is also working to find ways to reduce the ecological footprint of the City's operations.Additionally, Don co-sponsors a number of youth and Next Gen initiatives with Councillor Krushell, and is a partner in Councillor Thiele's Transit initiative. Don also serves on the Edmonton Public Library Board and the River Valley Alliance.
He lives in Belgravia with his wife, Sarah Chan, a music teacher and his son Dexter who was born May 25th, 2009.
Josh Thome
Josh Thome is the co-founder of 4REAL. 4REAL informs, inspires and engages people passionate about art, culture and change. Aspects include 4REAL Productions (4REAL TV series); a global online community (4REAL.com), and educational materials (4REAL School).
Among other roles, Josh served as a director and producer for 4REAL. 4REAL takes celebrity guests on adventures around the world to connect with young leaders who, under extreme circumstances, are effecting real change on some of the most pressing issues of our time. Celebrity guests include Cameron Diaz, Mos Def, Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Casey Affleck, K'NAAN, M.I.A., and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
In 2008, Josh was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer for his work with 4REAL. Josh is also the recipient of a Sierra Club President award for his work in environmental advocacy.
Over the past 20 years, Josh’s work to activate people on environmental and social causes has reached millions through live events, TV, radio, film and the Internet. As a public speaker, Josh has offered 4REAL and 4REAL School presentations to thousands of young people across North America.
His experience also includes presenting at a United Nations event on youth, the environment and education. In the 1990s, he was contracted by the Clinton Administration to appropriate environmental youth grants.
Recently he was featured in the book The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations for his unique ability to spark movements by inspiring people to action.
Sol Guy
Sol is an artist manager, music, TV and film producer. Most recently he has been the host and co-creator of the exciting new TV series 4REAL (www.4REAL.com) and he is the personal manager for Somali Hip Hop Artist K'naan (www.knaanmusic.com).
Both an artist and social entrepreneur, Sol helped create 4REAL and manages K'naan in order to utilize the power of media to educate, inspire and empower youth across the globe to take charge, get involved and make change. We are all artists and we all have a responsibility to do our best to make the world a better place,” Sol says. “Through my success and experience in the music industry I began to realize the power I possessed in creating media so I decided that I wanted to create a new hybrid that connects the worlds of entertainment and activism.”
In addition to producing and hosting 4REAL, Sol presents to youth at schools, universities and events as a motivational speaker. Sol started his career as an MC and eventually became the manager of the groundbreaking Canadian hip hop group, Rascalz. He then went on to work for Arista Records in New York City as director of International Artist Development. Sol has worked closely with some of the highest profile artists of our time such as Lauryn Hill, P Diddy, India Arie, k-os, Rascalz, The Roots, Outkast, Kardinal Offishall, Dead Prez, B.I.G. and The Wu-Tang Clan.
In 2008, Sol was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer for his work with 4REAL. He was also named by Playback Magazine as among "The Next 25: Canada's Rising Stars and Dealmakers. For more information about Sol and 4REAL, visit http://www.4REAL.com.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam
Nazanin Afshin-Jam is an international human rights activist.
In highschool, Nazanin started a Global Issues club and receiving the school’s top honour. She also became a pilot and Warrant Officer First Class in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
With degrees in International Relations and Political Science at UBC, Sciences Po, and the ISC, Nazanin became a Red Cross Global Youth Educator. She gained a platform for her causes when she won the Miss Canada title and 1st runner up at Miss World. Nazanin charted hits as a singer/songwriter with her album “Someday”, meanwhile, she successfully ran an international campaign to save the life of a teenage girl sentenced to death for killing a man in self defence.
Since then Nazanin founded www.StopChildExecutions.com to put a permanent end to executions of juveniles. In 2008 she was appointed to the board of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
Nazanin continues to be a "voice for the voiceless" through media appearances and speeches in parliaments and conferences worldwide.
Lewis Cardinal
Lewis has spent most of his professional life in public service. As a communicator and educator, he has dedicated his work to creating and maintaining connections and relationships that cross cultural divides. His work has mirrored his personal vision of a socially-just and responsive society.
His long track record of public service includes his involvement with Racism Free Edmonton, Aboriginal Commission on Human Rights and Justice, John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, Edmonton Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee, Bissell Centre Board of Governors, and the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network. He recently received Canada’s highest Aboriginal recognition award the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Public Service, as well as receiving Distinguished Alumni Award for Grant McEwan College and received the Alberta Centennial Medal for his work in Human Rights and Diversity.
Mike Sheehan
Mike Sheehan is a youth engagement specialist, performance artist and subversive peace educator. Mike has represented Earth Charter International at the The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, and co-developed an international online digital media arts and community leadership training called e-GLO (Earth Charter Global Learning Opportunity). Mike has visited over 40,000 youth in non formal educational settings in 2008. Mike owns an operates BeatBoard Education And Training. BeatBoard is a youth leadership, new media and contemporary arts education organization based in Victoria, BC Canada. BeatBoard is committed to affecting positive change in communities through delivering leading-edge experiential education programs that value diversity, inclusion and solutions for healthy living.
Alyssa Dawamana Macy
Alyssa Dawamana Macy is of the Wasco, Navajo, and Hopi descent and a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon. She has a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies from Arizona State University and is finalizing a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota. She currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she wears multiple hats: Co-Director of NVision, Consultant, and occasional government employee.
Fambai Ngirande
Fambai Ngirande is a Zimbabwean human rights defender and activist currently employed as the Lobby and Advocacy Director of Zimbabwe’s largest Civil Society organisation, the National Association of Non Governmental Organisations. Born and bred in Zimbabwe’s poor urban areas, Fambai represents a new generation of Zimbabweans that are actively seeking positive change after years of repression and misrule in their country. At present Fambai is heavily involved in ongoing efforts to secure democracy, human rights and rule of law in Zimbabwe through amongst other things the writing of a new constitution and the mobilisation of popular participation in civic processes.