In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Citadel Theatre
9828 101A Ave
Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 3C6
Canada

Aryan Azmi

Aryan Azmi is an immigrant who came to Canada from Iran in 2013 at the age of 17 with little to no prior knowledge about the educational system, career processes and mores of Canada. Today he is finishing his Masters of Public Health degree from the University of Alberta and is currently interning with the Federal Government as well as the Institute of Health Economics. He is also the recipient of the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship, NOAHE Health Economics Graduate Award, as well as the Public Health Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship. On the personal side, Aryan is an avid fan of Calisthenics and is trying to learn French. His current personal goal is to be able to do 15 unassisted, back-to-back pull ups while counting them in French.

Ashley Rinkel

Ashley Rinkel completed her Middle Years Bachelor of Education Degree through the University of Alberta collaborative program with Red Deer Polytechnic. Ashley was awarded the Louise McKinney Post-Secondary Scholarship, for top achieving grades within her faculty and as well as the President's Honor Roll. Throughout her own personal experiences with suicide, Ashley has advocated for the importance of mental health and suicide prevention awareness in hopes to create a positive impact and a safe-space for hard conversations.

Ghalia Aamer

Ghalia Aamer is a Pakistani-Canadian, social entrepreneur, and community leader. Her experiences as the daughter of immigrants have shaped her values of hard work and determination. After overcoming shyness through debate, Ghalia founded TalkMaze, a company that empowers people globally through public speaking and debate training. TalkMaze was named the national champion of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards in 2021. Ghalia is also passionate about advocacy for youth entrepreneurship and represents Canada as Policy Lead and Delegate at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit. She regularly volunteers with organizations like Junior Achievement and the Edmonton Innovation Growth Council to advocate for youth and entrepreneurs. In her free time, Ghalia enjoys traveling, baking, and learning languages.

Jaime Goudreau Riopel

Jaime Goudreau-Riopel completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta through Red Deer Polytechnic, in Middle Years Education. Jaime is a 2-time recipient of the Mental Health Initiatives Award due to the various acts of leadership within this field from volunteering over 40 hours for the counseling center at her school to obtaining a Trauma-Informed Educator's Certificate. Jaime is extremely passionate about fostering a healthy body and mind which is why you will catch her outside rollerblading by the pond or on the ski hill in her spare time.

Jessica Vandenberghe

Jessica Vandenberghe, P.Eng., M.Sc. is born from the Dene Tha First Nation and raised in an inclusive German family in northern Alberta. She has had an exceptional career based on her two engineering degrees from the University of Alberta and has worked in the oil sands, mining, regulatory, infrastructure and consulting industries. She is the Assistant Dean, Engineering Community and Culture at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta. She also consults from her own firm Guiding Star Consulting where she walks in a good way with Indigenous Peoples and Communities and contributes to Truth and Reconciliation through awareness training and Calls to Action implementation planning. Jessica is a mother of two and is passionate about ensuring inclusive organizations and equitable frameworks. She sits on many boards and Councils that contribute to STEM outreach, support underrepresented demographics in engineering, build mentorship and capacity building, and contribute to meaningful national change that will lead to healing, ethical behaviour, and strong and vibrant communities within Canada.

Kate Gray

Kate Gray is currently completing her third year of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at the University of Alberta. Kate is a passionate advocate for eliminating the stigma surrounding ADHD, as well as a strong proponent of mental health care for students. If you can’t find her working and studying in her favorite haunt – the John W. Scott Library – you’re likely to find her participating in campus sports, enjoying a coffee and a book, or at work teaching swimming lessons and lifesaving courses.

Mariana Feijoo

Mariana is an international student from Mexico. She is currently in her third year of the Nutrition and Food Science, Dietetics Specialization program. As an international student, she faced a lot of challenges at the beginning, but reaching out to the community for support changed her whole experience. People have made her feel at home even though she has been away from her family and country of origin. She is beyond excited to participate as a speaker in TEDxUAlberta to share a little bit more about her story and what perseverance has looked like to her. A few facts about her are that if you don’t see her working or studying, you’ll probably see her with her friends or walking her dog. In her free time, she also enjoy cooking and watching tennis.

Michael Smith

Michael Smith is a third year PharmD student at the University of Alberta. He is very excited to get out there and give this TEDx Talk after 2 years of COVID.

Rovena Caster

Rovena is a current BSc. Neuroscience honours undergraduate student at the University of Alberta where she is pursuing her passion in learning about the complex and fascinating human brain. She is sharing her experience and insights about our society as a neurodivergent student. Graduating as Valedictorian in 2020 with awards such as the Governor General’s Academic Medal, Math, Science & Technology award issued by EPSB and being one of the top 3 students throughout high school, her capability to perform was never questioned. This was until she started to struggle immensely in her first year of University and was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The next year she was diagnosed with severe combined ADHD. As she was dealing with life as a neurodivergent student and the treatments for her diagnosis, she co-founded a racial justice non-profit organization called Step Up YEG. She also became a mental health advocate at CASA Youth Council, where she gave mental health presentations in schools, was part of planning a mental health fair and is now promotions lead for community education. ADHD is Rovena’s superpower and helps her create an impact in this world. In all her opportunities, including this opportunity to give a TEDx talk, she prioritizes raising awareness and promoting inclusivity for the neurodiverse community.

Saman Arfaie

Saman is a second-year Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery Candidate at McGill University, scientist, classical pianist in training, past TEDx McGill Speaker/performer, and UC Berkeley honours graduate. He completed his B.Sc. in Neurobiology, Honours B.A. in Persian Literature, and double minors in chemistry and music, at the University of California, Berkeley before conducting brain tumor research at UCSF. Saman has co-authored/presented a dozen peer-reviewed papers/posters & won 30+ national & international awards. He is currently in the process of co-authoring two books with university presses: one on COVID-19 and the other on the Neurobiology of Creativity. He serves as the co-founder of the Canadian Medical Student Interest Group in Neurosurgery (CaMSIGN) and co-president of the McGill Osler Society. His areas of research include Alzheimer’s Disease neuroimaging, inflammatory responses in Parkinson Disease, neurosurgical expertise in artificial intelligence, and the relationship between madness and genius.

Saniya Warwaruk

After years of dissatisfaction from her soulless corporate career, Saniya threw caution to the wind, left her job and made the decision to pursue her passions in a second degree. Expecting this to be the happiest period of her life, she instead developed crippling, year long insomnia and found herself in the grips of a dark depression, panic attacks, anxiety and intense fatigue. After months of desperately searching for relief, she learned that the answer to her problems was to reevaluate her diagnosis. Her story of how she found the way out is one of courage, strength and a lot of caffeine. Saniya is entering her second year of her Dietetics Specialization and outside of school you can find her meditating and dabbling in culinary techniques.

Shereen Hamza

Dr. Shereen Hamza is an Integrative Physiologist with an interest in understanding the communication between body systems in health and disease. She completed her PhD in Physiology with Dr. Susan Jacobs Kaufman at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. She then went on to complete postdoctoral training with Dr. John Hall in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Centre in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. Dr. Hamza’s work in the field of in vivo Integrative Physiology spans several areas of investigation including portal hypertension, obesity hypertension, diabetes and combined heart and kidney failure. One of her methodological specialties is direct nerve recording in vivo and she has developed novel approaches for the assessment of nerve activity in experimental models. Dr. Hamza is also extensively involved in undergraduate, graduate and medical education at the University of Alberta and is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2019 Remote Teaching Award of which she was one of only 10 recipients campus-wide in recognition of her efforts to optimize online education delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic.