SPEAKERS
Mohamed Assani
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Martha Carter, Becky Wenham & Hayen Fong
In 2004, after more than 20 years of residing in New York and Montréal, Artistic Director Martha Carter, returned to her hometown of Vancouver to continue as a director-choreographer-creator-teacher of interdisciplinary performance works, primarily with her company MMProductions. Transcending her roots of classical music and ballet, Martha’s works push the boundaries of style fusion, articulating her vision of dance as a reflection of contemporary life. Martha has been teaching dance since she was a teenager, and has taught at several universities and private studios. While in Montréal, she co-founded the artist-run centre Studio 303, and for several years she toured with Compagnie Marie Chouinard as part-time Touring Artistic Director. Martha began her dance training at the Kay Armstrong Ballet School in Vancouver, and then received her BA in Music from Stanford University and her MFA in Dance from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.
MMProduction’s work extends to local, national and international public outreach not only through its creativity, but also by teaching technique classes, hosting workshops, mentoring and collaborating with other artists. Since 2009, in response to MMP’s production ‘TWiSTED’, the company initiated a community service called the’Twisted Outreach Project for Backcare and Scoliosis’, hosting classes and events and building community to support patients and their families through creative approaches to back care, particularly scoliosis. Marta Marta shares their vibrant ‘hopbopshop’ office and studio space in East Vancouver with battery opera, another interdisciplinary performance company.
Genevieve Ennis Hume
Genevieve Ennis Hume is a Principal of Hume Atelier, a custom jewellery studio co-founded with her husband, goldsmith and gemmologist, Kevin Hume. Together they have worked extensively in mining policy, with a focus on eliminating conflict minerals and supporting artisanal miners.
Since 2006, they have consulted on the development and launch of Fairtrade Fairmined gold, which is also used in their jewellery. Through Hume Atelier, Gen has collaborated with the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development to create a direct trade model for diamonds. She has represented artisanal miners at the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the UN.
Gen also teaches intercultural communications at UBC and Kaospilot, and ethical sourcing in design at the Pratt Institute and the Rhode Island School of Design.
Claudia Li
Claudia is a Co-Founder of hua foundation, an organization dedicated to creating solutions and movements for the Hua (ethnic Chinese) community that strengthen their strengthen connections with culture, heritage and environmental sustainability. Hua foundation is home to the food security initiative, The Choi Project, and the Hua Ren Environmental Network. Hua foundation also houses the program Shark Truth, a project Claudia started in 2009 that worked with wedding couples to remove shark fin from their wedding menu. A recently appointed Global Ashoka Fellow, Claudia’s work is inspired by the values of courage, empathy, and dignity her grandmother and family instilled in her from a young age. Her vision for social change is one where youth in her community rise to their potential as leaders for a healthier, more just, and sustainable society. Claudia has spoken at institutions such as New York University on youth leadership and cross-cultural communications. On the weekends, you can find her climbing the rocks of Squamish, playing music, or sparking up the backyard BBQ.
Lance Barrett Lennard
Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard is the Director of the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Research Program and an adjunct professor in the Zoology Department at the University of British Columbia. He has a broad range of research experience in the field studies of marine mammals with a particular focus on killer whales. He has been an active collaborator in the ongoing studies of the behavioural and population biology of killer whales in British Columbia and Alaska since 1984, and has also studied the species in Norway, Europe and the sub-Antarctic. As a molecular geneticist, he uses DNA analysis to resolve population identity, dispersal patterns, and mating systems. Some of his findings served as the basis for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada’s listing of southern resident killer whales as an endangered population. Lance is also the co-chair of the Killer Whale Recovery Team convened by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Lance’s most recent work involves the use of remote-controlled, drones known as ‘hexacopters’ to see killer whales from a new perspective. This summer, Lance and his colleagues used a hexacopter to test a novel method of measuring killer whale health. Using high quality overhead photographs taken by the hexacopter, the team could readily distinguish killer whales that were robust and in good condition from those that were thin and in poor condition. They could also identify pregnant females and determine the sex of calves. The killer whales appeared to be completely unaware of the hexacopter, allowing the team to closely observe the whale’s social and feeding behaviour. The project was motivated by a research need to evaluate the impact of fluctuations in prey availability on endangered killer whales so that appropriate policies can be put in place to protect their food supply. It surpassed Lance’s expectations in every way and paves the way for other applications of drones in conservation-oriented wildlife research.
Paul Dragan
Mr. Paul Dragan is a Vancouver business man who has been involved in the cycling industry for more than 30 years. He is the founder and “Big Wheel” of Reckless Bike Stores, a multi location retailer in Vancouver. In business from the age of 12 (selling worms to fisherman!) Paul parled his love of bikes into business after spending his early years in Europe as an amateur bicycle racer.
Paul was the Chair of VeloCity 2011 in Vancouver and has sat on many boards including
BTAC, Retail BC, The Downtown Vancouver Association and the City of Vancouver Bicycle Advisory Committee.
Paul regularly commutes by bicycle to his stores and meetings and is an ardent supporter of getting “more people on bikes more often.”
Kwiaahwah Jones
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Kwiaahwah is of Haida and Nishgaa descent. Her love of Haida expression and the beauty of Haida Gwaii,
led her to a career in arts and culture. In 2007 she was hired by the Haida Gwaii Museum and trained as a
museum curator. She cared for the collections, and made them accessible to the public, by developing public
and educational programs. The focus of her study at the Haida Gwaii Museum was Haida weaving and
canoe-making. She curated the exhibition, From a Few Weavers: The Davidson Collection, which
highlighted the rise of weaving knowledge within the Haida Nation.
In 2010 Kwiaahwah and Heather Ramsey co-published Gina Waadluxaan Tluu: The Everything Canoe,
through the Haida Gwaii Museum Press. The book presents traditional knowledge surrounding the creation
and use of Haida Canoes. That same year, Kwiaahwah moved from Haida Gwaii to Vancouver to expand
her artistic career.
In 2013 Kwiaahwah was awarded an Art Administration Mentorship Grant by the First Peoples Cultural
Council, which enabled her to be mentored by the Bill Reid Gallery CEO, Mike Robinson. Within this
mentorship, she co-curating with Gwaai Edenshaw, the exhibition, Rez Erect:Native Erotica.
In Vancouver, she creates artworks by private commission and works with the Bill Reid
Gallery of Northwest Coast Art.
She is the Director of Content, and her gallery responsibilities include programming, coordinating, and curating exhibitions.
Jason Lindstrom
Jason Lindstrom
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Jason Lindstrom is an entrepreneur with three successful start-ups under his belt. After struggling with a ‘normal’ career Jason quickly realized he wasn’t cut out for regular employment. He decided it would be best to forge his own entrepreneurial path with one of his good university friends Bart Wisniowski.
Jason successfully acquired Bucketlist.org in 2012. Bucket List represents everything Jason is passionate about; it’s about enabling people to live their dreams, have fun and occasionally doing something sensational. It’s also about finding inspiration in others.
Bucket List currently has over 180k members; everyone from Olympians, to your “average joe” doing amazing things like skydiving or beating cancer.
Bucketlist.org is one of the world’s largest databases of life goals (currently over 2.5 million ideas). The site receives over one million visits each year.
Our longer term goal is to have 100M people on the path to achieving their life goals.
In his spare time, Jason loves being in the outdoors back country skiing, snowmobiling and hiking with his wonderful wife. Jason is also involved and very interested in the non-profit sector helping to fund the development of a school in Guatemala.