Theme: Daring Greatly!

Daring Greatly! Named after Brené Brown's latest book!

Cinema Imperial
1430 Bleury Street
Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2J1
Canada

Busty and the Bass

Busty and the Bass is an irresistible electro-funk collective that draws on the talent of nine young musicians. Sharing a passion for good times and great music, the group formed during their first week at McGill University, playing around Montreal house parties and building up to some major venues. Now, with their newest EP, GLAM, their sound has taken on a more mature timbre, signaling some serious ambitions as they hit the road again.

Skawennati

Skawennati is an artist whose many achievements include a 2011 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, several Best New Media awards from imagineNative and being shortlisted for the inaugural National Media Arts Prize last year. Her art addresses history, the future, and change, and has been widely exhibited across North America. Born in Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Skawennati graduated with a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal, where she is based. She is Co-Director, with Jason E. Lewis, of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC), a research network of artists, academics and technologists investigating, creating and critiquing Indigenous virtual environments. Please visit www.skawennati.com to see more.

Tonal Ecstasy

Tonal Ecstasy A Cappella, affectionately nicknamed TX, is McGill University’s oldest A Cappella group. As one of the university’s finest vocal groups, they pride themselves on their versatility. This group of amazing, talented and hardworking people arrange and perform music from all different genres, ranging from jazz, hip hop, R&B, and pop.They perform at benefit events and fundraisers, private functions, celebrations, weddings, bookstores, on the streets… just about anywhere people will let them sing!

Angela Lee

Angela Lee is an educator & entrepreneur who inspires in both the classroom and the investment arena. As Assistant Dean at Columbia Business School, Angela is a highly rated professor of leadership and innovation. As Founder and CEO of 37 Angels, she evaluates early stage startups and teaches women how to invest in them. In all of her work, Angela is known for demystifying complex topics, curating opportunities, and empowering others. Angela is a sought-after expert on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Fox Business Network and is regularly featured in media outlets such as Forbes, Huffington Post, and Fast Company. Entrepreneur Magazine recognized Angela as one of Six Innovative Women to Watch in 2015, and Alley Watch named her as one of 100 NYC Tech Influencers You Need to Know.

Charity Bryant

Charity Bryant is a trained Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher by The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, UMASS Medical School. She has trained with Mindful Schools Org., is a certified yoga instructor, former school teacher and has had a personal daily mindfulness meditation and yoga practice since 2005. Charity has taught mindfulness seminars, workshops and courses at McGill University Distinguished Educator Seminar Series, McGill Counselling Department and is the Keynote Speaker for the McGill Faculty of Education graduating class of 2015. Her mindfulness education company, Rest in Breath, has served such corporations as Scotiabank, Capital One, Lantic Sugar, Imperial Tobacco and several Montreal schools to parents, teachers and students of all ages. Contact Charity at www.restinbreath.com.

Charlotte Day-Wilson

Charlotte Day Wilson is a 23-year-old Toronto-based musician with roots in Jazz, Soul, and Folk music. As a vocalist, her eclectic influences culminate in what NOW Magazine describes as “an uncommonly expressive voice”. Charlotte’s powerful stage presence and instrumental prowess as the front woman of The WAYO has made her a household name in the Toronto-Montreal-Halifax music scenes. She was recently hand-selected as one of twenty young Canadian artists/ producers to participate at the Red Bull Music Academy Montreal Bass Camp where she honed her skills as a producer and session vocalist. Charlotte’s passion and drive is quickly bringing her to the foreground of the Canadian music scene as a force to be reckoned with.

Diane Ridgway-Cross

Diane is a recognized expert on the topic of marketing to women and moms, speaking at conferences across North America and Europe. She is a member of the Network of Executive Women, the National Retail Federation and the Retail Council of Canada and is a distinguished scholar of the In-Store Market­ing Institute. She holds her bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Missouri and her MBA from Wake Forest University’s Babcock School of Management.

Ghina Joujou

Ghina Joujou was born and raised in Lebanon during the civil war. She holds a Bachelor in Pure Mathematics and a Diploma for Teaching High School Mathematics from the American University of Beirut. She was the head of the Math department and taught for 18 years at the International College of Beirut, a school with nearly 3600 students. Her passion for teaching and making a difference won her the Albert Abella Distinguished Teaching Award in 2004. Looking for a politically safe environment to raise her two teens, Ghina decided to move to Dubai in 2008 where she taught the International Baccalaureate and the IGCSE, for 3 years. In 2011 she decided to move with her family and settle down in Montreal where she heads the high school Math department at The Study. During her career, Ghina served on accreditation and strategic planning committees. She also offered several workshops related to technology and math education.

Janie Duquette

Janie Duquette was a lawyer at Fasken Martineau when Donald K Donald offered her the opportunity to become President of his group of labels and production companies. For 15 years, she worked as an entrepreneur, show producer and record executive as well as manager of renowned artists such as Corneille, La Chicane, Boom Desjardins, Dany Bedar, Jonas and Nolwenn Leroy. In April 2006, she purchased from Donald the company she was running and continues to do so to this day. In 2014, she began promoting female leadership. In January 2014, she created Alma Ma Terre, whose mission is to develop feminine leadership, through training, conferences and events, and also, to promote women who have extraordinary stories, projects, ideas and vision. In April 2014, she published “The 7 Secrets to female leadership: Leading with your head and with your heart” a guide for women who wish to exercise a leadership that promotes personal balance and uses qualities such as intuition, empathy, generosity …

Jennifer Lonergan

Jennifer Lonergan is the Founder and Executive Director of Artistri Sud, a Canadian charity supporting the empowerment of women in developing countries. She has worked with over 50 artisans and artisan groups in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. As a buyer for fair trade and ethical wholesale and retail markets in North America—in particular, for her own boutique, Artistri—and in partnership with international development organizations in the US and Canada, she has helped support artisans’ efforts to generate revenue by capitalizing on their strengths to meet the needs of fast-paced marketplace. Jennifer has a PhD in women’s history and fifteen years’ experience in education and curriculum development, both critical tools in her efforts to build capacity among artisans to meet market needs while supporting cultural heritage preservation.

Lynn Rheault

Lynn is an Osteopathic Practitioner happily working in Vancouver, British Columbia. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Osteopathy from Wales University in the UK and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychosociology from the University of Quebec in Montreal. Lynn has been an Osteopath for 10 years and continues to bring balance and centered states to her patients daily. Lynn has a great zest for life and is constantly searching for new learning opportunities and celebrating the beauty that lies within each of us.

Marie-Pier Perreault

Marie-Pier Perreault is only 25 but has already 16 years of career. She officially started her career in October 2002 with the launch of her first album Parlez-moi. Throughout her career, many great artists contributed to her work such as Lynda Lemay, Sylvain Cossette and Marc Dupré. She also did the opening act for some shows of Bruno Pelletier, Lara Fabian and Marc Dupré. You may as well seen Marie-Pier on the Web because of her Glee Project audition. She was second on 10 000 auditions. So, she came close to being one of the Glee characters. This is only some of the many things she has done in her career.

Marwa Azab

Marwa Azab has been interested in human behavior and why we do what we do since she was a child. Her interest compelled her to complete two advanced degrees in Psychology and a PhD in Neuroscience. She has been teaching in the Psychology, Biology and Human Development departments, presenting to various audiences ranging from first graders to seniors and is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post. Her approach to understanding any human behavior—or misbehavior—is unique because it is Gestalt. This interdisciplinary background allows her to intersect fields and come up with innovative ways to understand “why we do what we do”. She is a firm believer that it is at these intersection foci that creativity and novelty find fertile grounds. She practices this holistic approach in individual and group life-coaching.

Megan Ann Ward

Megan has been writing poetry and prose since her grandma gave her a pink journal when she was 8 years old, and started performing about 5 years ago. She writes from a place of passion and of raw and heartfelt honesty. She tells the story of her battles with addiction, of hospitals and the streets, of losing and finding faith, love and heartbreak and sometimes even writes about sex. Her comfort food is baked lasagne, and she would love to hear your stories over coffee after the show.

Melissa Emblin

As an Occupational Therapist and professional dancer, Melissa Emblin has been using her skillset as well as her passion for dance to help share the message that everyone can dance. Together with her husband, Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli and friend, Marie-Elaine Patenaude, Melissa founded Projet RAD, an inclusive urban dance program, with the aim of increasing universal accessibility, shattering stereotypes, and granting people with special needs equal opportunity. For many years now, she has played a major role in encouraging people of all ages all abilities to get out in the community, develop a passion, increase their self-esteem and push their limits. She believes that being different is strength, that doing things your own way is power, and that when there is a will there is a way; it’s all about adaptation.

Nivatha Balendra

Nivatha Balendra is a young scientist studying Physiology at McGill University. Her recent environmental science research work focuses on novel species of Pseudomonas genus bacteria and their future application in oil contamination cleanups. She has won numerous research awards, including the chance to participate at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and she was awarded the inaugural World Economic Forum Future Scientists Award held in Tianjin, China. Nivatha is currently continuing her project at l’Institut national de la recherche scientifique- Institut Armand-Frappier in the hopes of developing it into a product for industrial use. Nivatha recently founded the International Young Scientists Mentorship Program, a non-profit organization to encourage more youth to participate in STEM activities and provide opportunities for their scientific enrichment. Nivatha envisions herself applying health sciences research in the field of global health and comparative healthcare.

Salima Visram

Salima is a 22 year old social entrepreneur and the Founder of The Soular Backpack – a social innovation that channels the energy of the sun into creating a brighter future for every child. She grew up in Mombasa, Kenya and developed a passion to do her part in making the world a better place from a very young age. Now a 4th year student at McGill majoring in International Development, Salima continues to embody her passion with optimism and tenacity.

Vincent W. Li

Dr. Li is a scientist, physician, innovator and social entrepreneur. For over 20yrs, he has led breakthrough efforts in the field of angiogenesis. Li attended Harvard Medical School (HMS), MIT, Cambridge Univ and Harvard Business School (Fellow in Social Enterprise). With a specialty in dermatology, tissue regeneration, and cancer, Li is Asst Clinical Prof at HMS and founded the world’s first Angiogenesis Clinic at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital Dermatology Dept. Li has gained recognition for pioneering treatments for health and has received numerous honors including the Paul Dudley White Award, the MIT-Japan Science & Tech Prize, the top award from the American Academy of Dermatology, and highest recognition from the New England Cancer Society. He is a co-founder of the Angiogenesis Foundation and serves as Scientific Director and COO. Li helps oversee the DIY Health Revolution and Eat to Defeat, a systematic evidence-based approach to studying foods and lifestyle to maintain health.