Theme: Ricochet

Thoughts and opinions will be bouncing off the walls, as York University hosts its fifth annual TEDxYorkU event at the Keele campus on March 28 in the Tribute Communities Recital Hall.

The theme of this year’s event is "Ricochet."

Like an idea, the likelihood of a ricochet is dependent on many factors. When in motion it absorbs and interacts with its environment, ricocheting off elements and rarely traveling in a straight line.

Fecan Theatre
Fine Arts Road
Toronto, Ontario, M3J1P3
Canada

Eagle Woman Singerz

Eagle Woman Singerzs is a collection of 2 spirited people and allies whom sing and drum and hold space for 2 spirited people to reclaim their rights and roles carried by indigenous people.

Spoken Symphonies

Spoken Symphonies is a musical-spoken word trio consisting of Yoshi Aoyama, Nathan de Rushe, and Aaron Diaz. Yoshi is a singer-songwriter that incorporates sounds from the entire spectrum of music to share with his voice and guitar. Nathan is spoken word poet who utilizes his commanding voice to bless stages with his wisdom. Aaron is multi-talented musician/producer who blends his piano skills with his love of hip hop to add flair to the sound of Spoken Symphonies. Together, they strive to create a fusion of the arts to resonate with audiences everywhere!

Tracey Norman & the York Dance Ensemble

The York Dance Ensemble (Holly Small, Artistic Director) is the resident company of the Dance Department at York University. Now in its 27th season, the YDE has premiered dozens of works by leading Canadian and international artists. It has toured throughout Canada and launched the careers of scores of Canadian dance artists. The YDE is delighted to present "Tipping Point” choreographed by the celebrated Toronto choreographer Tracey Norman with an original score by York Music major Gregory Reid.

Brendan Schulz

Brendan Schulz has a 20 year career in corporate and higher education settings focused on Organization Development, Change Management, Strategy, Human Resources, Facilitation, Training and Student Affairs. His industry experience includes Banking, Retail and High Tech with roles in International Relations, International Services and Workplace Diversity. His experience in Higher Education has been focused in Student Affairs including international student services and transition programs for first-year students. Currently he works as the Executive Director, Strategy and Planning in the Division of Students at York University and teaches Managing Across Cultures in the Schulich School of Business. He has traveled to 49 countries on five continents, 22 of which were for business purposes and has lived in Canada, Germany, Ireland and Turkey.

Danae Peart

A daughter of the Jamaican soil, Danae channels the foundation of her upbringing, embodying a life where goals are realized and dreams accomplished. Sixteen years ago, Danae embarked upon a new adventure in Toronto, Canada, equipped with years of work experience in Jamaica’s financial sector and an articulated dream of working in media. Toronto’s York University became her launching pad. While pursuing two undergraduate degrees in Communications and Linguistics and Urban Studies, Danae joined CHRY Radio (105.5 F.M.) and struck the perfect balance between her academic pursuits and professional dreams. Volunteer, host and programmer are some of the roles Danae held at CHRY before accepting the controls as Chief Executive Officer. Danae also holds a Masters Degree from the University of Waterloo (focus on Local Economic Development LED).

Juan Garrido

Juan Garrido a 4th year Sociology & Drama Studies student at the Glendon Campus of York University. He is an active student leader in residence life, peer mentorship, student government and leadership development. He is passionate about inclusivity, safe spaces and accessibility and works towards these goals in every organization he is a part. An active advocate for the LGBTQ and Multiple Sclerosis communities, Juan dedicates a large part of his time helping strengthen his communities and those around him. In his free time, Juan enjoys cooking, catching up on his favourite Netflix shows and exploring Toronto.

Markus Giesler

Markus Giesler uses a sociological approach to understand the dynamics and design of (tech-based) consumer experiences. In 2014, Poets & Quants named him one of 40 best business school professors under the age of 40 in the world. He blogs at shapingmarkets.org.

Melanie Baljko

Professor Melanie Baljko is an interdisciplinary educator and research scientist who is developing novel technologies in Assistive Technology and Speech Rehabilitation. Melanie is an Affiliate Scientist at UHN-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the Lassonde School of Engineering, and a member of the Science and Technology Studies Graduate Program at York University. A graduate of the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto, Melanie has been a member of the York community since 2002, where she continues to encourage her students to integrate their study of computer science with socially-relevant issues.

Rebecca Pillai Riddell

Dr. Pillai Riddell is an associate professor of psychology at York University, a clinician-researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto. She has been directing the Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt Laboratory (OUCH Lab) since 2004. Dr. Pillai Riddell was a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator and is currently one of York University's inaugural York Research Chairs. She has also received early career awards from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Canadian Pain Society, the Canadian Psychological Association and American Psychological Association. She is passionate about understanding caregivers and young children in painful medical contexts and spreading awareness about the importance of infant mental health.

Talisha Ramsaroop

22 Year old graduate student, racialized women and immigrant. Talisha migrated to Canada with her mother at the age of 2 and has since live in or around the Jane Finch community. As a racialized female from a highly stigmatize community Talisha learned that stereotypes and stigma can be detrimental to ones perception of themselves, and can cause various barriers in education and success. Since then, Talisha has used her passion based on personal experience and post secondary education to empower other youth from my community by deconstructing the stigma and developing skills in critical thinking and community based research. Talisha has been awarded the Sir Lincoln Alexander community award for eliminating racism as well as the 100th North York citation and Urban hero award. She has also been featured in Canadian Living's Top 40 Change Makers. Talisha's dream is to live in a world no one is restricted based on their, were race, religion, culture or and postal code.

Tim Cork

Tim’s career spans 25 years in the hi-tech, commercial real estate and communications industries both nationally and internationally. He has over 83,000 hours in leadership roles. Tim is currently the President of Straight A’s Inc., an International provider of Leadership development, Coaching and Sales Training. He is a sought after speaker and has been published in numerous magazines and papers. Known as “The Networking Guru” by The Globe and Mail and Breakfast Television and “The Career Guru” by the Toronto Star and Huffington Post, he educates, entertains and shares his wisdom with thousands every year. Tim lives in Toronto with his wife and has two children. He uses his name as an acronym for his purpose in life which is to Touch, Inspire and Move people to act on their passions and goals.