Theme: Life as we don't know it

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).

Havergal College
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Mark Kingwell

Mark Kingwell is a Philosophy professor at the University of Toronto. He has published twelve books, including "A Civil Tongue: Justice, Diologue, and the Politics of Pluralism, which was awarded the Spitz Prize for political theory in 1997.

Priscilla Uppal

An avant-garde, involved poet, Priscilla Uppal was dubbed “Canada’s coolest poet” by Time Out London (U.K.) Her most recent expedition was to London, England for the 2012 Olympic Games where she was the Canadian Athletes Now poet-in-residence. Ms. Uppal is also a professor of Humanities and English at York University and is the author of eight books of poetry that have been translated into numerous languages including French, Greek, Korean, and Latvian.

John Stackhouse

The editor-in-chief of Canada’s largest newspaper The Globe and Mail, John Stackhouse is an expert on the distribution and creation of news. Mr. Stackhouse also brings with him a rich knowledge of business and the economy from working as the editor of the Report on Business section of The Globe and Mail and from graduating from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce.

Ron Denham

Ron Denham is the Chair of the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group; a committed humanitarian devoted to achieving the 2015 Milennium Development Goal of 50% reduction in the number of people with insufficient access to safe water and sanitation; and involved in water and sanitation projects in Ghana, India, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

Shaf Keshavjee

Dr. Keshavjee is the chief of Thoracic surgery at Toronto General Hospital while also maintaining the position of Surgeon-in-Chief of the University Health Network, a coalition of teaching hospitals in Toronto. Mr. Keshavjee obtained an MD from U of T and is intricately involved in research relating to lung cancer, transplantation and repair.

Robin Mednick

With an impressive history as the executive director of the Good Life Radio show, an editor and creator of the book Heroes in our Midst, and a graduate of Oxford University, Currently, Robin Mednick devotes most of her time as a volunteer for her own foundation, Pencils for Kids. Pencils for Kids is a Canadian charity working to improve education primarily in Niger.

Marina Nemat

Marina Nemat was born in Tehran, Iran. After the Islamic Revolution, she was arrested, and spent two years in the political prison Evin. She was tortured and came very close to execution. She moved to Canada in 1991, and has lived here ever since.

David Akinin

A graduate of the University of Chicago, Mr. Akinin is a devoted humanitarian, academic, and technologist currently working for Google Inc. At the age of 13, Mr. Akinin founded a web design and internet consulting firm, primarily focused on outsourcing projects to India and the Phillipines through web lancers followed by the creation of a nonprofit called Shoes4Africa among other community projects.