Kelowna

Confirmed Speakers

• Alaina Podmorow
  Alaina Podmorow is a 15 year old young lady who is presently a grade 9 student at Aberdeen Hall university preparatory school in Kelowna B.C. Alaina is the founder of Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan and is passionate in her commitment to enforce universal human rights. Alaina is an avid soccer and basketball player, track and cross country runner and loves snowboarding in the winter.
• Crystal Flaman
  Social Entrepreneur and athlete, Crystal Flaman’s personal mission in life is to make a difference in the world. She’s raised over 1.4 million dollars for various charities including the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Diabetes Association and Room To Read through her work and athletic endeavours.
• Curtis Stone
  A musician turned urban farmer, Curtis Stone is the owner/operator of Green City Acres, an urban farm based out of Kelowna, BC. Green City Acres farms under an acre of land spread out amongst seven different urban plots to grow vegetables for various direct consumer markets throughout Kelowna. All transport is accomplished using only bicycles and custom built trailers. Having no prior experience as a farmer or gardener, Curtis started his farm simply out of a desire to be more autonomous, and to make a living by the triple bottom line principle. His farm has now completed two successful seasons, employs one other person full time, and is still growing. During his off-season, Curtis works as a public speaker, teacher, and consultant, sharing his story and inspiring a new generation of farmers.
• Nicole Rustad
  In addition to developing strategy for the Disney Online Studios corporate citizenship, Nicole manages grants on every continent, oversees Disney Online Studios’ employee volunteer efforts and works with her team globally towards empowering the players of their online communities like Disney’s Club Penguin (the largest and fastest-growing virtual world for kids on the globe with players in over 200 countries) to make a difference through programs like Coins For Change which engages millions of children to make a difference annually. Nicole also ensures that Disney Online Studio’s Green Plan is embraced at all levels.
• Paul Etherington
  Paul graduated from Queen’s University with an Honors, BA in 1999. He is the Corporate Vice President of Etherington Generations Inc, a privately held insurance consulting boutique based in Toronto that specializes in employee and executive benefits; personal life insurance and estate planning and planned giving (www.teg.ca)
• Rhonda Draper
  Rhonda Draper is a Governor General’s Award-winning educator who works as a music specialist in the public education system. While teaching, she asks the students to help her recognize the needs of the more vulnerable. This has allowed Rhonda to make a leap from concert to ‘benefit concert’, from drumming to ‘drumming for peace’ from singing to teaching children to ‘raise their voices’ for others in song. Currently, Rhonda and her students are working on a humanitarian project/song called ‘Raise Your Voice’. Her students have empty pockets but that doesn’t stop them from forging ahead for change!
• Dr Frank Hayden
  From humble beginnings in a school basement in Toronto, Dr. Frank Hayden has changed the face of sport for people with disabilities the world over. A career spanning five decades, his life’s work is today renowned as the Special Olympics. To the athletes, it’s known as the place where dreams begin. A sport enthusiast and varsity athlete, Frank kept his passion for sport close to his heart while studying science, eventually earning his PhD in Exercise Physiology and Psychology from the University of Illinois. Early in his post-doc career and working at a school, Frank noticed an obvious gap in the care structure for the children with cognitive and learning disabilities. In short, they weren’t getting any exercise. He knew that it had nothing to do with capability and everything to do with attitude; that if given the right opportunities, the children with disabilities could reap the same social and physical benefits from sport as any other child. His ideas and a proposal for a regimented sport program caught the attention of one key advocate – the Kennedy Foundation. From the first games in Chicago in 1968, his vision for healthier, stronger kids has grown into an international organization that has helped more than 3.5 million athletes with over 226 Special Olympics programs in 170 countries.
• Jan Vozenilek
  Jan Vozenilek is a cinematographer and photographer and over the past fifteen years, he has worked on documentaries, travel films and corporate promos for an array of clients worldwide. Jan’s passions include environmental education and telling extraordinary stories that bring together people, nature, cinematic beauty and history all through the eye of his lens. In his TEDxKelowna presentation, Jan will share what he and his team discovered, during their most recent project, on one of the remotest islands on our planet, called Midway.
• John Bromley
  John believes that charity matters and is opinionated on how to facilitate it. Right now, most of his time is spent working towards making giving simpler and more rewarding for Canadians, whether they do a little or a lot of it. He's doing this through the internet, helping shape how people interact with charity in an increasingly online culture. John started his career in corporate finance and banking, but charity has been a longtime interest. He's been around it in one way or another all of his life; his dad, Blake Bromley, is one of the world's leading charity lawyers. Together, they started Benefic Group to fill the void in specialized expertise in charity law, strategy and policy in Canada. John has also founded two technology platforms for the charity sector: Peer Giving Solutions, which helps charities raise awareness, supporters and money through the power of online community and storytelling; and Chimp, a kind of "charitable bank" that lets account holders give in a number of ways from just one place
• Mark Holland
  Mark is seen by many as a leader of innovations in planning, and his past projects and accomplishments include: • He played a major role in the planning of Southeast False Creek in Vancouver, which was declared the greenest neighbourhood in North America in 2009 by the US Green Building Council; • He has won many awards for his projects and has developed many concepts and frameworks relating to sustainable communities such as the 8 Pillars of a Sustainable Community, Urban Magnets, and the acclaimed Resilient Cities Manifesto in 2009; • He is the co-author of the widely referenced book, Agricultural Urbanism, that focuses on progressive ways of integrating sustainable food systems into city planning and design; • He has served on numerous boards, including being a founding director of the Institute for Urban Vitality, the Healing Cities Institute and the Pacific Arrowsmith Institute. He is currently on the Board of the Urban Development Institute in BC; • In the past he was recognized as one of Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40, and in 2010, he was awarded the “Planner of the Year”, by his peers in the Planning Institute of BC.