Theme: Innovating Our Future

TEDxSacredHeartCHS is a one-day event filled with exceptional speakers, thought-provoking video, and engaging conversation. In true TEDx spirit, our goal is to spark conversation, foster learning, inspiration, and wonder and provoke conversations that matter. At TEDxSacredHeartCHS, our definition of innovation includes finding new pathways to reach our goals, developing new and exciting technology or alternatives for existing designs, shifting the social conversation in a particular field/profession, and exploring new forms of creative expression in entertainment.

YCDSB Center for the Arts
525 Westminster Drive
Thornhill, ON., Ontario, L4J 7X3
Canada

Anandhi Narayanan

ZerotoStartup Founder

Anandhi is the founder and leader of ZerotoStartup, a new program designed to give young people the courage, confidence and skills to take risk, embrace innovation, defy the status quo and create their own future.

Blake Fly

College Motivational Speaker

Blake has been a TEDx conference host, a featured TEDx speaker and is the author of The Campus Life Guide. He has shared the stage with CBC’s Rick Mercer and his message with countless student audiences. Blake is known for his creative approach to community building, both back in school and in present day.

Dina Pestonji

Motivational Speaker

Dina Pestonji is a motivational speaker who addresses various audiences including schools, companies and associations on how to overcome life challenges: personal and professional.

Lee Crockett

Global Digital Citizen Foundation CEO

Author, speaker, designer, inspirational thinker and the creative force behind some of the most exciting transformations in education happening worldwide today. Lee is co-author of Understanding the Digital Generation, The Digital Diet, Living on the Future Edge, Literacy is not Enough.

Mackenzie Valdez

FRC 4343 Maxtech Robotics Director

St. Maximilian Kolbe high school student and assistant director of the FRC4343 Maxtech Robotics team. Mackenzie and her team build and compete in Robotics competitions across Ontario and beyond.

Padina Pezeshki

OsteoCoolTM Contributor

Dr. Pezeshki has authored over 40 journal and conference papers, delivered several national and international invited lectures, and is a co-inventor of four medical devices that have been patented. Dr. Pezeshki has also presented at a 2012 TED talk.

Sarah Shujah

Librarian at Centennial College

Sarah is a science librarian at Centennial College. Sarah has successfully organized hackathons at York University and Centennial College. Her goal is to democratize hackathons through the library as a place of social equity and inclusion.

Sean Stephens

Treefrog Inc. CEO

Sean is the CEO of Treefrog, a large Canadian digital marketing agency based in Newmarket. Sean is the CEO of LassoSoft, a popular website programming language which runs hundreds of thousands of websites worldwide; and the CEO of PerfectlySoft, the most popular server-side iPhone programming framework in the world. Sean is the recent winner of Newmarket’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Taylor Gunn

Civix CEO

Taylor is the President of CIVIX, a national non-partisan charity focusing on civic education. Taylor developed the Student Vote Program which has coordinated 30 parallel elections and has reached more than 10, 000 teachers and 3 million students across Canada.

Tina Zita

Instructional Technology Teacher PDSB

Tina is an instructional Technology Resource teacher with the Peel District School Board as well as a Sessional Facilitator of OISE’s Additional Qualification courses.