Theme: It's About Time

Ti-i-i-ime is on our side… Or is it? We all have 24 hours a day and yet most of us feel we never have enough. How do we spend our time? What are we doing with our time?
When decisions we make over time result in irreversible consequences, then time is no longer on our side. Is it about time…
we find creative solutions to global issues such as climate change, poverty, race, gender and economic inequities ?
we find solutions to build stronger societies ?
we lead for different outcomes ?
we live our life with meaning ?
we reclaim ownership over the health of over our mind, body and spirit ?

Salle Mercure
300 DeMaisonneuve Est
Montreal, Quebec, H2X 3X6
Canada

Tonal Ecstasy

Tonal Ecstasy A Cappella, affectionately nicknamed TX, is McGill University’s oldest A Cappella group. As one of the university’s finest vocal groups, they pride themselves on their versatility. This group of amazing, talented and hardworking people arrange and perform music from all different genres, ranging from jazz, hip hop, R&B, and pop. They perform at benefit events and fundraisers, private functions, celebrations, weddings, bookstores, on the streets… just about anywhere people will let them sing!

Audrey DuBois Harris

Classical Singer

Critically acclaimed, international classical artist Audrey DuBois Harris has graced the world’s stages in opera, classical, jazz, sacred, gospel and inspirational music. Celebrated for possessing an incomparable voice of rich splendor, extraordinary beauty, exquisite artistry and soulful intensity. The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin recently featured Ms. DuBois Harris in her gospel concert: Aretha Presents the Gospel Legends in Detroit, MI. She also dazzled The White House in a White House hosted Christmas event where she presented a full program of sacred classical and gospel selections as well as an assortment of classic Christmas carols. On several occasions, she has performed as the ‘President’s Soloist’; singing The National Anthem for President Barack Obama. A native of Miami, Florida. Ms. DuBois Harris is a graduate of The Juilliard School in NYC.

Caroline Codsi

The Path To Equality

Citizen of the world, she was born in Beirut, has lived on 3 continents and is perfectly fluent in 4 languages. Caroline strongly believes in the importance of giving back to the community and, since her arrival in Canada in 1990, has been sitting on several boards and committees. She has founded La Gouvernance au Féminin (AKA Women and Boards) in 2010. Sought after speaker, Caroline is a multiple award recipient from the Quebec Business Women Network, the Arab Women Trophy, Premières en Affaires to name just a few. She was also recipient of a Gender Equality Award by the United Nations Women National Committee. Caroline was ranked among the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, the Top 75 Canadian Immigrants and the Top 20 Diversity Leading Figures of Quebec.

Courtney Jackson

It's time to eat: Why healthy digestion matters as much, if not more, than a healthy diet.

Dr. Courtney Jackson is a naturopathic doctor who passionately promotes the healing power of whole foods to her patients and the public. She co-founded the Food as Medicine Institute at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, where she continues to teach community-based cooking and nutrition workshops. Prior to medical school, Dr. Jackson earned her Bachelor of Science in Resource Ecology Management from the University of Michigan. She maintains a private practice at Grain Integrative Health where she offers comprehensive, patient-centered evaluations focusing on hormone, digestive, and cardiovascular health. Most recently, she co-authored the book Food as Medicine Everyday- Reclaim Your Health with Whole Foods- which is a “highly accessible, thoroughly researched medical nutrition resource.''

Divi Chandna

The Cure Is Not In The Pill Bottle

Dr. Divi Chandna is an MD, teacher & health enthusiast to her core. Dr. Divi graduated from medical school at the University of Western Ontario and then pursued residency in family medicine at McMaster University. After moving to Vancouver, BC, she thought she had reached all of her dreams – medicine, marriage and a bright future. It was then that her own health nose-dived. She became ill with chronic health conditions that classic medicine could not treat. At the young age of 28, she was baffled. Her journey to healing began when she looked outside of medicine. The next 15 years were spent searching and understanding healing from a holistic perspective. Dr. Divi now understands that the body can heal within itself. Dr. Divi opened and runs the College of Mind Body Spirit Medicine. This On-Line College offers students a chance to learn how to heal themselves & teaches people how to guide others. Dr. Divi is constantly inspired by her family – her son, husband and puppy.

Emma Hason

The Rush

Imminently sixteen, Emma Hason has been telling stories since before she could hold a pen. She was the recipient of her school’s Trillium Scholarship in 2015, and she’s participated in and won prizes for numerous writing competitions. When she’s not battling it out on the hockey rink or racing sailboats on the lake, she’s writing poetry, creating new stories, and attempting to reconcile the theory and practice of teenagedom into a comprehensive survival guide. Emma hopes to achieve, through her writing and poetry, the kind of voice that inspires people to find the beauty in everything and make the world a better place. She lives with her two preteen sisters and helicopter parents who, despite driving her crazy all the time, she still loves very much.

Gaëlle Vuillaume

Regards sur Soi

Gaëlle is a portrait photographer, specialised in women’s portraiture and fine art dance. She wants to show every woman, no matter how old, how curvy, how tall she think she is, how beautiful she truly is.

Johanne Lavoie

Giving Birth to a Life that Matters

Johanne Lavoie is a Partner at McKinsey & Company. After a decade of advising global organizations going through large-scale performance improvements, Johanne became fascinated by the human dimension in disruptive change. Combining more than 20 years of pragmatic business experience with expertise in developmental psychology, mindfulness, and organizational and leadership theories, Johanne now focuses her work on helping leaders thrive in an ever more complex world. Keeping an eye on execution and impact, Johanne balances creativity and practical applications to help clients navigate their toughest leadership challenges. She is as comfortable coaching executives or their teams as she is delivering leadership trainings or keynote speeches.

Juss Kaur

Oneness

Dr. Juss Kaur has been an international education consultant since 2008, having successfully mentored over 400 teachers in Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, and Nigeria. Juss taught in Montreal for 25 years before she returned to the University of Oxford to get her doctorate in Giftedness. She is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at McGill University. Passionate about teaching and inspiring youth to fully cultivate their potential,Juss volunteers as a motivational speaker and as a Sikh liaison at the interfaith offices at both Concordia and McGill Universities. During her time at Oxford, Juss rekindled her love for the arts and started painting again. Having had several exhibitions all over Canada she is now an accomplished artist. Her paintings consist of thousands of handwritten minuscule mantra which bring to life the concept of Oneness - her belief of being one with the universe.

Laurie Betito

The Pleasure Principle, The Secret to a Better Sex Life

Noted broadcaster, author, therapist and speaker, Dr. Laurie Betito has been serving listeners with relationship and life advice for over two decades. She is the host of a nightly radio show called Passion, covering all topics related to love, sex and relationships, the President of the Sexual Health Network of Quebec and also the author of The Sex Bible for People Over 50. A clinical psychologist with a specialty in sexuality in private practice, her work is rooted in helping people live life with passion, while infusing love and positivity in all relationships. For more information about Dr. Betito visit www.drlaurie.com or listen to her weeknights from 10-11pm on CJAD800.

Liliana DeLeo

Laughter Yoga

Liliana De Leo is founder and president of Living Laughter™ and Fitness Firm. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Leisure Sciences and has worked in the field of health and wellness since 1998. She is a certified Laughter Yoga Teacher and Can Fit Pro Personal Trainer. Liliana has a strong background in the fitness field having worked as Fitness Program Director for the YMCA. She became a Laughter Yoga Leader in 2006 and due to a growing demand for her services, she opened the Living Laughter™ Centre in 2008. Liliana was trained by the founder of Laughter Yoga, Dr. Madan Kataria, and became a Laughter Yoga Teacher in 2011. She since provides the Laughter Yoga Leader Trainings to people from all walks of life. Her corporate laughter yoga workshops inspire many to include the “Living Laughter™” philosophy in their personal and professional lives.

Marion Seelbach

Yogi

Marion Seelbach is a teacher who believes that practicing yoga can make the world a warmer place. It’s a way of connecting mind, body and the space that surrounds you. “Slow down,” she tells her students. “Learn how to be still. Develop a better breath.” It starts from there and then goes everywhere: from awareness to creativity, from physical mobility to inner peace. These are lessons that have taken her around the planet, introducing thousands of students to her unique and firecracker spirit. Her journey began in Europe. She was born and raised in Munich, learning English and French as well as German. At 18 she moved to Australia, then Asia, and finally to Paris, beginning studies that culminated with a master’s degree in international business. Her final thesis – focused on Cirque du Soleil – led to an offer for her to join the company; she eagerly ran away to the circus, working in management and marketing at Cirque’s head office in Montreal, and at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

Marya Zarif

Crush war with joy

Born in Aleppo, Marya was raised in Syria. As a concept artist and writer, Marya imagines and creates ludic narrative experiences and specializes in numeric games for children. In 2013 she co-created La Maison de la Syrie, to pay homage to the syrian culture she loves and cherishes and wishes to see thrive. For her, La Maison de la Syrie is the kind of space that needs to be nurtured, even in times of great crises, so that Syrians can make sense of everything that is going on with their country. She believes in a multiple, warm, inclusive, colourful and soft Syrian culture: a vision that keeps inspiring her through her work as the creative director of this organism. In 2015, she has founded « Je veux jouer » (let me play !) a foundation with the ambition to transform the life of refugee syrian children through the conception and the construction of play spaces in refugee camps.

Milla Craig

The Missing Link:”How Responsible Investing can move us towards a sustainable world”

As an expert in the field of sustainability and responsible investing, Milla is the owner of her own independent consulting firm, Millani Perspectives.Prior to establishing her consulting practice, Milla worked for more than 15 years as an institutional equity sales representative, holding key roles with Scotiabank, RBC Dominion Securities, and BZW Dundee. She has also held the role of Leader – Sustainability, Quebec Region at Deloitte.Milla is the Co-Founder, Past President, and current VP of the Finance and Sustainability Initiative (FSI) and has recently been honored for her leadership in Canada’s Sustainability and Clean Capitalism sector, by being named to Canada’s Clean 16 in the Consulting category.Milla is also a member of the International Women’s Forum’s (IWF)and chairs it Montreal chapter’s Water Initiative. Milla is a member of Women Investing for Impact’s (WIFI),as well as a past member of the Advancement & Advisory Council of McGill University’s Social Economy Initiative

Nina Hermes

Stopping Sexual Assault: Exposing the Monster in the Alleyway

Nina Hermes is currently in her final year of study towards a BSW at McGill University. She has extensive experience supporting and advocating for survivors of sexual assault on campus through work with the Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Student’s Society (SACOMSS) and by sharing her own personal experiences with trauma. She has worked considerably with incoming students both through programming and volunteering during orientation week and as a don in residences. She has also completed multiple clinical internships as a social work student in the fields of mental health and addictions. Nina currently works as a don in McGill residences and hopes to continue her advocacy and support work in Montreal after she graduates.

Simone Cavanaugh

Transforming Suffering

Simone Cavanaugh is the founder and Director of Pivot International, a non-profit organization that provides adapted equipment and sustainable access to medical services for children with special needs in developing countries, starting with Nicaragua. Diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis at the age of six, Simone was in a wheelchair for seven years and has since spent her life working with and advocating for children with special needs around the world. She has been the Arthritis Society’s Childhood Arthritis Spokesperson for over ten years and worked with organizations such as Viomax, MAB-Mackay School and Handicap International. She has also worked for the Government of Ontario and recently completed a human rights internship with the Center for Disability Law and Policy at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

Tara Akhavan

Speaker 2016

Tara Akhavan is a technology entrepreneur. She is the founder and CTO of Irystec a Series-A Montreal based startup in the display industry. Prior to founding Irystec, she has been awarded for scaling an Operations and Maintenance Center (OMC) product in the Telecommunications industry all the way from analyze and design to deployment in a 3GPP mobile network with 20 Million subscribers. Tara holds a Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering, a Master degree is Artificial Intelligence and is finishing her Ph.D. in Image Processing and Computer Vision from Vienna University of Technology. Tara is an active member and the Marketing Chair of the Society of Information Displays.

Wanda Bedard

Innovation in girls education in the developing world

An MBA graduate of Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) Montréal and a graduate of McGill University,B. Commerce, Wanda Bedard is founder and owner since 1991 of a manufacturing business in the custom sheet metal sector. Following a number of years as a volunteer with UNICEF Canada, Wanda Bedard established 60 million girls, a public foundation, in 2006. The organization is completely volunteer run and raises funds for education projects for girls in the developing world. 60 million girls has since invested $2.4 million supporting 20 projects in 14 countries, with administrative costs of less than 1%, directly benefitting over 20,000 children. Wanda is a member of the International Advisory Board of McGill’s Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID). Wanda is also a member of the Advisory Board of Institut Mallet which supports the study and promotion of philanthropy in Québec and Canada.