Theme: Square One

Square One is the start of endeavours - the origin of fundamental thought. It brings us to the beginning and challenges us to consider new perspectives. We chose this as our theme this year, as we believe that it is not a result of failure, but rather a launchpad for ideas worth spreading. As we start again from a blank canvas, we hope that you will paint your story alongside us. Join us on January 29th, 2017 at The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts as we begin from Square One.

Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts
390 King St. W
Kingston, Ontario, K7L 2X4
Canada

Adrian Caldarola

Adrian is a fourth-year Economics student at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and has been writing spoken word poetry for over 6 years. Through his writing, he challenges people to think more critically about the day-to-day choices they make and the implications behind them. He’s also the founder of Adrian Ross – an environmentally sustainable, locally produced clothing line which aims to change consumer behaviour within fashion.

Ali Velshi

Ali Velshi is an anchor & correspondent with MSNBC. Most recently, he hosted “Ali Velshi On Target” on Al Jazeera America, covering the Presidential campaign, ISI, the refugee crisis, the Iran deal, Russia/NATO tensions, and Greece’s debt crisis, among other global affairs and economic issues. Before that, Velshi was CNN’s Chief Business Correspondent, and authored two finance books. Velshi has been nominated for three Emmy Awards and he holds a B.A and an honorary Doctorate from Canada’s Queen’s University. Velshi is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the Boards of the X-Prize Foundation, Seeds of Peace, and the Chicago History Museum. He volunteers weekly with New York’s homeless outreach program.

Amanda Maracle

Amanda is currently completing her Ph.D. in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Sciences in the Department of Psychology at Queen’s University. Her research investigates the behavioral and neurological changes associated with the development of compulsive substance intake within addiction. In addition to her research, she teaches several undergraduate courses for the department of Psychology, and collaborates on a number of research projects at Kingston General Hospital. She also volunteers her time as an executive committee member for the Kingston Regional Heritage Fair, and is involved with the newly developed PhD-Community Initiative currently being piloted by the School of Graduate Studies at Queen's.

Andrew Belyea

Andrew Belyea is a 4th year Life Sciences student at Queen’s University with a minor in Classics, who hopes to attend medical school in the near future. He has been writing and performing spoken word poetry since first exposed to the art form while on a service trip in China in 2010. When not writing spoken word poetry, Andrew enjoys artisanal bread baking, ornithology, and camping.

Dave Sanderson

Since the Miracle on the Hudson, considered to be the most successful ditching in aviation history, Dave Sanderson has built a career as a motivational speaker, mentor and author. In his presentations, he shares and teaches “The 12 Resources to create your own Personal Flight Plan,” precepts that enabled him to become a top producer in some of the largest sales organizations in the world and ultimately enabled him to survive the plane crash. In addition to being a top sales producer, he was Director of Security for Internationally renowned speaker, Tony Robbins. Sanderson has appeared at countless fundraisers that have raised over $8.56 million for the American Red Cross. He continues to donate his speaker services to the organization as an expression of gratitude for the care he received from the first person he saw after he was rescued and transferred to land in New Jersey: a Red Cross volunteer with a blanket.

Greg Bryk

Greg Bryk is former Queen's University student and Vanier Cup winning Golden Gael football player. He is a classically trained and award winning actor who has appeared in over 65 films and television shows. He has moved between creating memorable characters in feature films like Men With Brooms, History Of Violence, Poor Boys Game, Shoot Em Up and Immortals, as well as starring in television series like Bitten, Wynonna Earp, Book Of Negroes, Fargo, Regenesis, Rookie Blue, XIII and Saving Hope. He can currently be seen in the epic Netflix/Discovery series Frontier and the upcoming Mary Kills People on Lifetime and Global. Greg lives in Toronto with his wife, HGTV's Danielle Nicholas Bryk, and their three children.

Lonnie Aarssen

Lonnie Aarssen is professor of biology at Queen’s University. His research in ecology and evolution has been published in over 170 peer-reviewed articles. He is associate editor for the journal Oikos, and for Journal of Plant Ecology, and is founder and editor of Ideas in Ecology and Evolution. His book, What Are We? Exploring the Evolutionary Roots of Our Future was published in 2015.

Marie-Jo Cleghorn

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Marie-Jo moved to Kingston, Ontario when she was 6. She graduated from Queen’s University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. She attained her Masters of Health Science degree while living in New Zealand. Marie-Jo has worked across the spectrum of nursing from Community to Acute Care, from bedside to education based positions. While she has enjoyed almost every opportunity she has experienced, she considers Palliative Care her ‘home’. She believes it is a privilege to care for the dying, but more importantly, she has become a better person because of it.

Naseem Saloojee

Naseem is VP Revenue at Top Hat, the leading teaching platform for university professors. As head of the sales team, Naseem leads the development and execution of the company’s go-to-market strategy. Over the past 3 years, Top Hat has scaled its revenues more than 500% and the company has been recognized amongst Canada's 20 fastest growing companies by Deloitte Fast50 and Profit500. An advisor at Ryerson's Digital Media Zone startup accelerator and a member of the University Council of Queen’s University, Naseem is passionate about education and the potential to bring innovative and disruptive business models to the education system.

Stéfanie von Hlatky

Stéfanie von Hlatky is an assistant professor of political studies at Queen’s University and the Director of the Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy (CIDP). She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Université de Montréal in 2010, where she was also Executive Director for the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies. She’s held positions at Georgetown University’s Center for Peace and Security Studies, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Dartmouth College’s Dickey Center for International Understanding, the Centre for Security Studies at ETH Zurich, and was a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at the University of Southern California’s Centre for Public Diplomacy. As well, Stéfanie is the founder of Women in International Security-Canada and current Chair of the Board.

Zayna Rose

Zayna is an Image Consultant & Strategist at Zayna Rose Inc., her Toronto based practice. Her work involves image and lifestyle management, communications consulting, personal branding, styling, and public image development. Her clientele includes those in finance, technology, communications, education, athletics, and entertainment. In addition to extensive image industry certifications, Zayna holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Psychology from Queen’s University. She has held positions on the international board of the Association for Image Consultants International and currently serves as President of the Canadian chapter. Zayna often appears in the media as an image expert and is asked to comment on international and domestic public image related stories. She has appeared on CTV, BNN, OWN, CBC, in Toronto Life, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, and more.