Theme: What's Next?

The Japanese word Henkô or へんこう, refers to the transformation from one situation (or mode) to a following one, in which there’s no return to the original state.

More than any other time in history we are experiencing unprecedented change in all facets of our lives and culture - from the way we see aging, our food, education, gender and sexuality, communication, commerce, waste, energy, water, and the list goes on. These changes, as Henkô describes, are deeply fundamental to who we are becoming, and we can't go back to our previous reality.

This year, TEDx Collingwood brings ideas about transformation to the stage and asks the question, “What’s Next?”…

The theme has progressed from simply change and that we can not return from, to the unknowns of what is next, but the understating there is massive change coming, to changes we know are coming and what impact they will have. We are in a world of change at a rate unmatched in the past, and a level of unknown change never seen.

Gayety Theatre
161 Hurontario Street
Collingwood, Ontario, L9Y 2M1
Canada

Amy Tepperman

Co-Host, Speaker

After having the pleasure of sharing her “idea worth spreading” on the first ever TEDx Collingwood stage in 2017, Amy is honoured to now be co-hosting the event as a proud alumni! She is a former digital animator turned social entrepreneur in 2010. Working closely with so many schools led Amy to discover the profound developmental changes young people have gone through growing up in a digital world – along with the challenges teachers face in bridging the gaps between changing student needs, curriculum expectation and system mandates. This led her to becoming an advocate for integrating well-being into the education. She is now an industry thought leader and founder of “Moving EDGEucation” whose work is being used by teachers in classrooms across the country, and presented at many of the industry’s leading conferences including, The Ontario Association of Principals, Ontario Math Educators and Global Youth Leadership Summit. Find out more about Amy's work at www.movingedgeucation.com

Carter Lane

Performer

Carter Lane is 12 years old and a native of Collingwood. He began his musical career at the age of five after constantly asking Shane Cloutier if he was “big enough” to play. When the day finally came, and Shane took him on as a student, Carter took off. His first performance was in a band with his brother Jude and soon they were regularly seen around town street busking. Gaining notice by individuals such as Mayor Cooper, he played for the Mayor’s Golf Invitational, then Sound of the Streets, Future of Jazz, and most recently represented the Filipino community at Taste of Manila in Toronto. This past year he began writing his own music and will be putting out an EP this coming Fall. Carter draws upon his own life to write his lyrics, so they are optimistic, filled with hope, and a confidence in the future. His latest accomplishment has been being signed to the Mini Pop Kids, where he will be performing around Canada as part of a seven-member cast.

Chris Clarke

Speaker

Chris Clarke, CPA, R.F.P, TEP is author of True Family Wealth: Love, Money and an Inspired Life. Chris’s talk inspires audiences to view their wealth, family and future in a new way, and transform their relationship with all three … ultimately creating TRUE family wealth. As CEO of First Affiliated Holdings Inc., a Family Office wealth management firm in Collingwood, Mississauga and Halifax, Chris and her team work with clients to grow and preserve both their family wealth AND unity. For over 30 years, Chris has seen families empowered OR destroyed by attitudes about money. Chris recognizes that most families are experiencing an uncomfortable paradigm shift from an old economy based on materialistic consumption, to a new economy built on the values of sustainability. Statistics indicate kids won’t have the kind of life their parents had, but most of them don’t want it anyway!

Dr. Zayna Khayat

Speaker

Dr. Zayna Khayat is the Future Strategist at SE Health (formerly, Saint Elizabeth Health Care). She is Faculty of Singularity University’ Exponential Medicine stream. In 2017 she was seconded from MaRS Discovery District, an innovation hub in Toronto, Canada to the REshape Health Innovation Centre at Radboud university medical centre in Nijmegan, Netherlands. At MaRS, Zayna lead the Health System Innovation platform from 2014 to 2017. Dr. Khayat is also an adjunct faculty with the Rotman School of Management in the Health Sector Strategy stream. Zayna completed her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Toronto (2001), followed by a career in strategy consulting, including as a Principal in the healthcare practice of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). She lives in Toronto with her partner and 3 children.

Elizabeth 'Sunny' McGaw

Speaker

Last year, Sunny and her husband and their three children left their home in King City, Ontario, their secure careers, school, family and friends for the adventure and challenge of backpacking around the world – nine months, five continents, 19 countries, 69,000 kilometers. As an ardent traveler, Sunny believes that some of the most enriching and important learning occurs on the road. Sunny was educated in Canada and Switzerland, and worked in the Caribbean and Mexico as a windsurfing and archery instructor after University. She has lived in five countries, and visited 35+. Sunny enjoys using words and pictures to persuade and tell stories, and has designed marketing initiatives for Canadian food and entertainment businesses for much of her career, as well as guest lectures at the Schulich School of Business, at York University. Someday, Sunny hopes to be a great gardener.

Gillian Flies

Speaker

After growing up on a sheep farm in rural Vermont, Gillian Flies launched a career that took her to the far ends of the earth, working as a teacher, human rights investigator, democracy advocate and management consultant in more than a dozen countries. In 2003 she and her husband abandoned successful careers in Toronto, packed up their two young children, and moved to a run-down farm outside Creemore, Ontario. Since then, she has built The New Farm into a thriving business and a leading light in the good food movement, providing vegetables to some of the best restaurants in Canada and raising over a million dollars to make local, organic food accessible in low income communities. Gillian has saved as a director of a number of prominent food corporations, and is currently a broad member of the Canadian Organic Growers.

Glacial Erratic

Speaker

Glacial Erratic (aka Dave Loopstra), is a writer, businessman, outdoor sports enthusiast and banjo- and guitar-player who finds that he spends a lot of time on his riding lawn mower now that he is a husband and father with a house and a yard. Glacial’s comedic songs interpret life as a domesticated male, and cover such topics as having to dial 1-800-Samsung, trying to figure out updating the iPad’s operating system to iOS 10, getting the riding lawn mower stuck in the ditch, and accidentally eating a full cannabis gummy bear when the instructions were to only consume an 1/8th — and others. Glacial lives in Thornbury with his wife, two kids and large yard of long grass. He can often be found at local open mic nights.

Jamie Miller

Speaker

Ever since he learned about the Fibonacci sequence in a “math and poetry” class in University, Jamie Miller has been obsessed with finding design secrets in the natural world. Jamie is a biomimicry expert and the founder of Biomimicry Frontiers – a consultancy that applies biomimicry to the built environment. He was trained by Janine Benyus (the woman who coined the term, biomimicry) in 2007 as a biomimicry educator and speaker. From 2012, he taught OCAD University’s biomimicry programs, during which he completed a PhD in engineering that focused on systems-level biomimicry in urban development. Along with his consulting, Jamie has also founded the Biomimicry Commons, which is an innovation incubator space for entrepreneurs and disruptor studio for businesses. In all he does, Jamie’s mission is to apply biomimicry and to facilitate the next generation of sustainable design leaders who will transform our designs towards greater harmony with nature.

Jason Reynar

Speaker

Rapidly improving our quality of life through local government innovation is Jason’s passion. As a lawyer, he navigates through the haze of regulation to find practical—and sometimes disruptive—ways to deliver services, such as a public transit system powered by a ride-sharing app. As the Chief Administrative Officer of the Town of Innisfil (Ontario, Canada), Jason leads a team of dedicated public servants that strive to create an organization and community that is authentic, collaborative and creative. When he’s not re-imagining how government works, Jason (and his family) enjoy all that Lake Simcoe has to offer. Jason educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Criminal Justice and Public Policy from the University of Guelph; a Bachelor of Laws and Masters in Law (Municipal Specialization) from Osgoode Hall Law School; and, a Master in Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business.

Najeeb Khan

Speaker

Najeeb Khan is the author of the instant best-selling book called Fluid: How Culture, Hidden Opportunities, and Flatter Structures Lead to Profitable Innovation. Najeeb is the Innovation Strategist at BigCreate, and the CEO of Relax Brands Inc. He has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, OMNI News, and spoken at various institutions such as Schulich School of Business, University of Toronto, Centennial College and others. He was also recognized by American Express and Ashoka as one of the 45 “Emerging Innovators,” across Canada, the United States & Mexico. During his free time, he competes in triathlons and goes surfing.

Pamela Barnum

Speaker

Pamela Barnum, M.P.A., J.D. enjoyed an accomplished career as a police officer with the Ontario Provincial Police. Her expertise included major case management, complicated wire-tap investigations, and undercover operations. For eight years she worked undercover in the Drug Enforcement Section. It was during her time as an undercover officer that she developed trust hacks. Pamela became an expert in trust working in unpredictable, high-risk situations. While working as a full-time undercover drug officer, Pamela attended Western University law school. After graduation, she worked at the Barrie Crown Attorney’s office and later took a position with the Federal Crown where she specialized in prosecuting drug dealers. Pamela is a frequent speaker on strategies that can be used to build and sustain trust in any situation. She has spoken to thousands in the United States, Australia, and Canada.

Tony Cobb

Speaker

Tony grew up on Fogo Island off the North East coast of Newfoundland, the son of a fisherman. He and his wife, Janice Thomson, call Fogo Island and Rob Roy, Ontario home. After careers in high tech, wholesale, retail and consulting, he and his sister, Zita, formed the Shorefast Foundation as a vehicle to give back to their community that gave them such a great start. Tony co-founded Fogo Island Fish with his wife Janice in 2015 to re-invent the business of fish to serve community. It is a social enterprise focused on creating world-class fish products and making direct connections between fishers and some of the top chefs in Canada. It pays fishers more than double market rates and processes the fish on the island creating local jobs. Their efforts are featured in the National Film Board of Canada documentary film, Hand.Line.Cod, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Tyler Boyle

Co-Host, Speaker

Tyler is an ambitious-professional, multidisciplinary artist, dynamic edu-tainer, and evolving entrepreneur. Tyler is a public elementary teacher and an ‘EDGEucator’ and resource consultant for Moving EDGEucation, a progressive education company focused on movement based education for the whole child – the body, brain, and being. Aside from teaching, Tyler owns and operates a successful arts and entertainment business where he specializes in high-energy facilitated dance parties to enliven and kick off events and festivals across Ontario. He works regularly with the Special Olympics, the Canadian Cancer Society and Blue Mountain Village. In 2017, Tyler was invited to speak at the first TEDx Collingwood where he presented an interactive talk entitled, ‘Mindful Metacognition’. This year he returns to the stage as co-host. Tyler’s current projects include completing a book that is an extension of his TEDx performance, as well as continuing to grow his YouTube: Dreamwalkers Meditations.