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).

Event Space, Bow Valley College
345 6th Avenue Southeast, Calgary, AB, Canada
345 6 Avenue Southeast
Calgary, Alberta, T2G 4V1
Canada

Crystal Manyfingers

Crystal Manyfingers is a Teaching and Learning Consultant for Curriculum, Indigenization, and Decolonization at Bow Valley College. She was recognized with a Faculty Award in February 2020. She is a Blackfoot (Kainaiki) woman, from the Kainani (Blood) First Nation in southern Alberta, and is mother to Tricia and Alex. Crystal’s professional journey surrounds researching, creating, and developing anti-racist pedagogies that inform the development of intercultural competencies in students. Living side by side, together ‘In a Good Way’ underlines the importance of ethical spaces, in an environment of decolonization. Often the journeys we take, are not embarked upon for ourselves, but rather to fulfill a larger cause. These paths must be taken together, laying a fortified foundation of unity, ally ship, and collective care. In doing so, these journeys reach a destination of mutual understanding and appreciation.

Dara MacKay

TEDxBowValleyCollege 2020 centres on the theme Niitawatophii, which is a Blackfoot term loosely translated to mean Our Journey. We are shaped by the journeys of those before us, and we influence the journeys of those who come after. Dara is an instructor for the School of Global Access in the Youth in Transition Program. Dara guides her students in their journeys towards post-secondary education and careers in Canada. Dara passionately believes that in order to teach young women to be strong and independent, they must have female role models who will pave the way for them. She strives to be that person in her work, her daily life, her role as a partner, and most especially as a mother. Dara’s talk Should be a Statistic takes us to a very personal place, speaking to the universality of gaining our resilience along the journeys we take. Dara offers her own perspective on enduring despite the presence of trauma within one’s life, and to find moments of self-appreciation along the way.

Mariama Diallo

Mariama is a student in the Academic Upgrading program in the School of Foundational Learning. Mariama is a recipient of the School of Foundational Learning Recognition Award, and was a Black History Month panelist in the Intercultural Centre in 2019. Mariama’s goal is to become a teacher, and to provide leadership programs for youth in Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast. For Mariama, one’s journey is interconnected with the legacies of those before them. Mariama Diallo explores the impact of the choices and paths taken by those who came before her, and how they have become the steps in her own personal ladder. In her talk Dondee, which in the West African language Fulani means legacy, Mariama reflects on how she reconciles the expectations of the past, and her hopes for the future, within her daily life.

Nikki Guyett

Nikki has been a member of Toastmasters for over 5 years, obtaining the status of Distinguished Toastmaster, as well as winning Toastmaster of the Year, President of the Year, and Area Director of the Year in her club’s division. Currently Nikki is an engaged volunteer with the Kidney Foundation, raising awareness of kidney diseases.

Tammy Wolinsky

Tammy Wolinsky is an instructor with the School of Foundational Learning. She spent ten years working in inner-city schools both in Los Angeles and New York City before returning to Canada. For Tammy, her journey and evolution within education are both about a constant revelation of self, and curiosity about others. In her talk To know your students, know yourself, Tammy Wolinsky addresses the intertwined journey of teacher and student, their efforts to understand one another, and the impacts it has on the learning environment. For Tammy, this connection cannot be overemphasized, as the connection built in the classroom can have lasting effects on one’s future relationship to learning and discovery.