Theme: Mind the Gap

TEDxAshburyCollege is a student-led, independently-organized TEDx event—a local gathering where live and inspiring TED-like talks are shared with our community. This year, speakers will be sharing their stories related to the theme "Mind the Gap". Whether be it a gap in experience, between social equality, in education or in knowledge, speakers will be discussing gaps across different fields and topics. We encourage thinkers from all ages to interpret and discuss our theme with members of our community.

Ashbury College Theatre
362 Mariposa Avenue, Rockcliffe
Ottawa, Ontario, K1M 0T3
Canada

Bastian Marschner

Student at Ashbury College

Bastian is 16 years of age and from Germany, where his parents and two siblings still live. He currently attends Ashbury boarding, as it is the school his mother graduated from. In his free time, he enjoys a variety of sports including skiing, basketball, cross country and kickboxing as well as writing music. He also loves meeting new people and getting in touch with different cultures, which is another key reason why he came to Canada.

Emanuel Mora

Neurophysiologist and Professor at Cornell University

Voted Best Professor and Best Researcher of Havana University, Professor Mora is a distinguished academic recognized by students and colleagues for his ingenuity, charisma, and passion. He has published 63 scientific articles in prestigious journals such as Nature Communications, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, and Journal of Experimental Biology. He has supervised 67 BSc, MSc, and PhD theses in neuroscience, bioacoustics, electronics, and computing sciences. He has taught thousands of undergraduate and postgraduate students in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, and Sierra Leone. Prof. Mora feels compelled to inspire young people of different minorities and enhance their self-esteem, a task for which he is exceptionally competent and experienced.

Howard Collins

Chief Executive of Sydney Trains

Howard Collins is an experienced Transport executive who has spent more than 40 years working in the British and Australian transport industries. Currently the Chief Operations Officer (COO) for Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW), Howard is responsible for overseeing operations for all public transport, roads, and maritime services within the Greater Sydney region. During his long and distinguished career Howard has been involved in operations management, disaster recovery, operational planning, employee relations, business transformation, management, and project portfolio management including commissioning and opening new railways. In addition to his role as COO for TfNSW Howard is on the Boards of the Australasian Railway Association (ARA), TrackSAFE Foundation, Transport Heritage New South Wales and Sydney Metro.

Jack Parkes

Student at Ashbury College

Jack is a grade 12 student at Ashbury. He has a twin sister at the school as well and has spent many years trying to discover himself and what makes him unique from his twin. He will share his story with us at this event.

Julia Montgomery

Co-Founder and CEO of Capsula

Julia Montgomery is intersecting nostalgia with ethical technology to create a home for personal and shared memories — always safe and authentic. She is currently beta testing her app while being an undergraduate student at Harvard University.

Kevin Frost

Deaf and Blind World Champion in Speed Skating

Kevin Frost Three time World Champion Canadian blind speed skater. He had his service guide dog Nemo for 9 years and Lewis for 6 years. Kevin has Usher Syndrome Type 2 which means he has 3.5 percent vision left and 9% hearing left. During the last 24 years, he has won 16 gold medals and set 9 World records in Blind speed skating. He is a three-time World Champion in Blind Long track and Short Track speed skating, he is also ranked 8th in the World against able-bodied Master speed skaters. So far, winning 80 medals against able-bodied skaters.

Phoebe Seely

Founder of Giving Gertie

Phoebe Seely is a second year Bachelor of Science Student at Dalhousie University. She has always been active in her community and has taken on various leadership roles at school and throughout the Ottawa area. Phoebe has always been passionate about giving back to her community and was the recipient of the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award of Canada in 2020 for her humanitarian service and determination. In 2019, Phoebe and her mother co-founded a local Ottawa not-for-profit organization called Giving Gertie, which is focused on facilitating not-so-random acts of kindness and raising awareness for the homeless community of Ottawa. All the money raised through selling Giving Gertie bags goes directly back to local Ottawa charities. As of this past summer, Giving Gertie has raised over $16,000 for local Ottawa charities and has helped raise awareness regarding the gap between our housed and non-housed people within the Ottawa area.

Ren Xu

Student at Ashbury College

Ren is a Grade 9 student at Ashbury College. She Immigrated from China to Canada when she was very young and has faced many challenges growing up as an Asian-Immigrant. Today, she will deliver a speech on the discrimination and lives Asians and Immigrants have to face on a regular basis.

Simone Gulati

Student at Ashbury College

Simone is a grade 8 student at Ashbury College. She has a keen interest in public speaking and debate, as well as in subjects including math, science, music, and some sports like swimming and skiing.

Tina Montreuil

Child psychologist and leader in speaking against mental health stigma

Dr. Tina C. Montreuil is the director of Childhood Anxiety and Regulation of Emotions Laboratory C.A.R.E. Research Group, a Regular Investigator of the Research Unit of Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment (GRIP), and a Full member of the McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families (CRCF). Montreuil's current research focuses on investigating the role of emotion regulation, attitudes, and beliefs on the intergenerational transmission mechanisms of emotion regulation. Montreuil’s work first began working on school-based mental health by focusing on the promotion of emotion regulation in students and teachers. Montreuil’s current work focuses on developing resilience and well-being in expectant parents through an intervention, Parents & Babies, which she has developed with a team of Canadian researchers.

Xudong Cao

University Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Professor Cao received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto in 2001. His Ph.D. research was focused on tissue engineering strategies for nerve regeneration after spinal cord injuries. He further pursued his postdoctoral training first at Harvard University and then at Brown University researching genetically modified artificial living skin equivalents for burn patients. Professor Cao joined the department of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Ottawa in 2005. He is currently a full professor and the Chair of the department. His current research interests are biomaterials, tissue engineering and micro fabrications.