Theme: The Butterfly Effect

In 1963, Edward Lorenz, a mathematician and meteorologist, pioneered the Chaos Theory. According to his ideas, the flapping of a butterfly's wings might cause minute changes in the atmosphere, which could alter, delay, accelerate, or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado. Thus, was born the term "Butterfly Effect", the theme for TEDxWesternU 2023. “The Butterfly Effect” is a philosophy that a small change can have a profound global effect. Simple but powerful, it illustrates the power of our own hands to bring about meaningful change in our communities. As part of our TEDxWesternU event, scheduled for January 27th, 2023, we will explore opportunities for impact and inspire our audience to reflect on the future they are creating. What is your butterfly effect?

1151 Richmond Street
London, Ontario, N6A 3K7
Canada

Aaryan Paul

Huron at Western University Student

Aaryan Lakhan Paul is a student at Huron at Western. He is in his third year studying Economics, Scholar’s Electives and a certificate in practical German. A bit about Aaryan: he loves talking to people, hearing their stories, hearing about their learnings and incorporating the same into his day-to-day life. He believes connecting with anyone and learning about their perspectives or views on life provides me with an opportunity to develop a unique perspective. Aaryan intends to use the platform of a Ted talk to share his views on the difficulties faced by international students and engage with the audience by sharing his story of coming to Canada.

Angelica Galluzzo

Mental Health Advocate & Western University Alumna

Angelica Galluzzo is a mental health advocate, largely motivated by her own struggles with mental illness. After battling depression and suicidal ideation for many years, she became passionate about making an impact, using her voice to create positive change, and normalizing the struggles that many of us go through. In 2021, she started her own podcast, called The Revolutionized Mind, with the goals of providing a safe space for people to share their stories, raising awareness about various mental illnesses, and learning how to embrace true authenticity. Angelica graduated with an Honors Specialization in Psychology at Western University and has also completed her safeTALK, ASIST, and Mental Health First Aid certifications. She currently works full-time for Jack.org, a national charity that focuses on improving youth mental health and dismantling barriers such as stigma, access to resources, and more.

Chloë Grande

Communications Specialist & Western University Alumna

Chloë Grande (MMJC’16) is a communications specialist turned eating disorder recovery writer, speaker and blogger. After an anorexia relapse at the start of the pandemic, she began blogging about her eating disorder recovery to help create a sense of community for other eating disorder survivors. The blog has since grown into a full-time business where she works alongside leading mental health organizations, and facilitates body image workshops at universities and colleges across Ontario. She’s experienced the butterfly effect in full force when it comes to disclosing and sharing her mental health journey: one blog sparked conversations that have touched people around the world and proved that we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about serious mental illnesses.

Demo Kaltabanis

Nursing & Premedical MD Student at Western University

Demo (Dee-mo) Kaltabanis is a fourth-year nursing and premedical student at Western University. Being a first-generation student living in poverty and having a strong ambition to become a family medicine physician, Demo continues to face many difficulties along his path toward medical school. The impact socioeconomic status plays on his life, and the resiliency he has developed to handle it is an experience he is incredibly passionate about and wants to share with the world. Through TedxWesternU, he hopes to motivate adolescents in similar situations and debunk the myth that poverty defines them as less capable individuals.

Georgette Zinaty

Executive Vice President, Practice Lead Center for DEI and Professor at Western University

Dr. Zinaty is a strong advocate for leadership and inclusion within organizations. She founded and spearheaded an annual Leader-2-Leader conference to foster discussion on topics impacting the workforce. Dr. Zinaty’s research is unique having conducted noteworthy studies that are quantitative and qualitative with significant datasets and novel findings in the area of women and leadership, diversity and inclusion. She has been recognized by the former Premier of Ontario and the current Federal Minister of Transportation for her volunteerism and contribution to the community.

Jason Fonger

Multiple-time Triathlon Champion

Multiple-time triathlon champion Jason Fonger is on a mission to show people the power of plants. After adopting a plant-based diet as an out-of-shape university student, Jason began feeling more energetic and took up triathlon. Over the years, fuelled entirely by plants, he has worked his way up the rankings to become one of Canada's top amateur triathletes. Jason is passionate about the potential plant-based eating has to transform individual lives for the better, and believes plant-based food is an essential part of the solution to many of the most pressing issues of our time such as the climate crisis, food insecurity, and antibiotic resistance. Choosing plant-based food more often is a small action capable of having a profound impact in our own lives, as well as on the world around us. In this way, plant-based eating is a perfect example of the theme for TEDxWesternU 2023: the butterfly effect.

Jennifer Slay

Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization at King’s at Western University

Jennifer Slay has been a registered Social Worker in the city of London for the last 23 years. In addition, she is a dynamic motivational speaker, certified life coach, therapist, author and trainer having earned an Honors bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Social Work and a master’s degree in Social Work. She was chosen as one of the recipients of the Queen Elizabeth the II Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012 for her community work and as one of Canada’s women of confidence in the national publication, Chatelaine magazine. Wayne Dyer said – "when you change the way you look at things the things you look at change". Jennifer talks about how when we change the way we look at adversity, we can have a major impact on people associated directly and indirectly with us thus causing a ripple effect for positive change.

John Spencer

Founder of EcoRestoration Solutions

John Spencer is a semi-retired businessperson who’s held corporate leadership roles in IT and Management Consulting culminating as an Executive Director with Oracle. Among his diverse accomplishments, he’s led major initiatives and implemented solutions for the Govt. of Canada, the States of Florida and Hawaii, Wells Fargo Bank, and a global Client Relationship Management (CRM) solution for Chrysler. John’s passion is sharing inspirational stories about game changing/climate changing solutions from the private sector focused on saving the planet. These same stories help fight climate anxiety. Climate anxiety (especially in youth), often results from the constant barrage of doom and gloom stories being told about the future of our planet. His research into the topic has led him to the conclusion that discovering and sharing uplifting stories about solutions that address climate change is something that we can all engage in to help reduce climate anxiety.

Lauren Sano

President of Western’s Stem Cell Club & Western University Student

After Lauren lost her father to leukemia in 2020, she found a new sense of purpose. She has used her life-altering experience as a way to educate others about the importance of joining the stem cell registry and the impact that a stem cell transplant could have on patients like her father. Lauren’s advocacy at Western has broadened awareness and commitment to HLA-typing in marginalized communities and ethnic minority backgrounds. While going through the grief of her father, she touches upon some lessons that she has learned along the way. Her devotion to carry on her father’s legacy is a commitment that she made to herself after his passing. Choosing to move forward when faced with adversity, challenge or loss is something that she will speak about; while highlighting the power that each one of us carries about bringing meaningful change within the community.

Marjorie Aunos

Psychologist & Author of Mom on Wheels: The Power of Purpose as a Parent with Paraplegia

Marjorie Aunos, Ph.D. is a single-mother-by-choice living with a Spinal Cord Injury. She is a renowned Psychologist and researcher in the field of Parenting with Disabilities, an Award-Winning Inspirational Speaker and Author of Mom on Wheels: The Power of Purpose as a Parent with Paraplegia. She lives in Montreal, Canada.