Allanah has over 20 years of experience in strategy, storytelling and social impact. She started her career as a marketing coordinator for the Calgary Flames, where she worked on marketing strategy and sponsor relations. Allanah's last corporate role was as acting community relations director for the Vancouver Canucks. She was responsible for the off-ice image of the team, including player appearances, special events, fundraising and community partnerships. Allanah later left the Canucks to start her own communications agency, Lionheart Productions. Her work has been translated into seven languages and her safety campaign for Teck Resources reduced worker injuries by 50%. She currently works as Director of Operations for Anstice Communications in Calgary. Allanah continues to produce social impact film projects, including a documentary web series, Making a Comeback , designed to reduce mental health stigma and transform the understanding and treatment of trauma, despair, and suicide.

Allanah Mooney @allanahmooney @lionheartpr makingacomeback

Website:allanah.com, makingacomeback.com, mhmythbusters.com

Andy Bird, 27 years old. A First Nations from Montreal Lake Cree Nation (Saskatchewan) who overcame homelessness at 14, a shelter at 15, living in over 25 homes, transferring to 7 schools, having been raised by a single deaf mother and influenced by an alcoholic father to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional wrestler, and is currently the ECCW Canadian Champion, and paying it forward through a non-profit organization called The Bird's Nest Society, aiming to assist First Nations youth like Andy to pursue their dreams.

Denise has dedicated her career to the exploration of profound emotional shifts that can occurs through interaction with immersive, multisensory artistic artefacts and technological experiences. She is a researcher of the immersive realities, specifically creation and design of virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) content and interfaces for profound emotional shifts, like awe and wonder.

After spending over a decade in the film and VFX industry, she founded an immersive R&D studio worked in University research departments, and is now a graduate student at the iSpace Lab at SFU’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology. A great deal of her experience as a woman in technology, and as an individual with inflammatory arthritis since childhood feeds into her motivation around understanding how emotional shifts combined with technology can help facilitate compassion, understanding, interconnectivity for ourselves, one another, and our planet.

Denise is an active volunteer with service to the global community. After many years of forming local communities, she launched a new VR & AR program called VR Village at the annual non-profit SIGGRAPH conference in 2015. SIGGRAPH is the world’s largest computer graphics (CG) and interactive techniques event, and Denise has now guided VR Village into its third year as one of the most popular immersive programs in the world while also mentoring dozens of students, artists, and practitioners. She is also heavily involved in volunteer service in non-profit organizations responsible for advocacy and policy-making in the health care and technological fields on a national and international level.

Denise Quesnel @denise_quesnel

Website: denisequesnel.ca, SFU ispace, SIGGRAPH VR Village

Elim Chu is a freelance Fashion Stylist and Consultant shifting her community towards mindful clothing choices by actively elevating this conversation through social media and public speaking.

Before devoting her work to freelance styling and conservation efforts through fashion, she served as Brand Stylist at lululemon where she helped build the in-house Photo Studio and Stylist teams.

In addition to being a stylist, Elim advocates for social and creative causes, women-led businesses, and brands getting it right through her monthly newsletter, aptly called The Newsletter.

@elim_chu Website: elimchu.com @elimchu

Born and raised in Montréal, Glen moved to Los Angeles after graduating from McGill University to study at UCLA where he completed a M.Sc. and PhD in Neuroscience. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship (PDF) in Niigata, Japan as sponsored by the American Heart Association. Glen returned to LA to do a second PDF and become an Assistant Research Professor in Pediatric Cardiology at UCLA.

Following another move to Seattle where he acted as an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington he returned to Canada to assume a position as an Assistant Professor at SFU after having lived outside of the country for 15 years. Glen is currently the Canada Research Chair in Molecular Cardiac Physiology and a Professor at SFU.

Mark Friesen is the consulting manager at Vantage Point, where he assists not-for-profit organizations throughout BC with strategic planning, governance, and capacity building. At Vantage Point, Mark assesses governance structures and pursues democratic solutions to organizational challenges. He can be found facilitating new and seasoned not-for-profits at various stages in their organizational life cycle.

Mark received a Graduate Fellowship in 2012, the Doug Drummond Research Fellowship in 2013, and graduated with the Dean of Graduate Studies Convocation Medal in 2015 for his research into governance at the scale of the city-region. As a member of Vancouver's Independent Election Task Force, Mark reviewed and proposed tactics to improve voter turnout and public confidence in local government. He has served as a volunteer, association founder, and an executive director, and has led fundraising, planning, and program development efforts throughout BC. A strong believer in civic engagement, Mark volunteers with his local Community Centre Association as well as the city of Vancouver's greenbloc program.

Website:www.evokebc.ca
@markalanfriesen @evokebc @markalanfriesen @evokebc

Mark is a Human Connection Specialist - an emotional translator, writer, speaker and coach.

Mark had always wondered what separated people with amazing relationships from those who were just average. Why did some relationships maintain bliss for a lifetime, and others… not so much? Why did some people have the ability to lead thousands, and others couldn’t even lead themselves?

From what he had have seen and experienced, how we connect to others will be the single greatest predictor of success in every facet of our lives. So he set out to discover the secrets of those who thrive in love and life so he could become one. His research became his life, and he lives everything he learns and writes about.

Through his work Mark helps people understand their emotional matrix and how to master themselves and their words. His clients range from individuals and couples, to businesses and leaders. He takes what you think you want, finds out what you really want, and gives you the tools to achieve your goals.

Maureen F. Fitzgerald, PhD, JD, LLM, BComm is a Gender Diversity Advisor and the author of eleven books. She practiced law for twenty years, was a professor of law and is a passionate advocate for social justice and gender equality.

With two law degrees, including a Masters of Law with Merit from the London School of Economics, a business degree, and a doctorate degree Fitzgerald bridges academia and the corporate world, alerting us all to the moral, economic and social reasons to seek gender parity. Her most recent books are a trilogy that provide solutions to ending gender inequality

Dr. Fitzgerald is an advocate, a disruptor and a promoter of feminine intelligence. Her motto is: Sharing the right ideas at the right time can change the world. She lives in beautiful Vancouver, BC with her husband and two daughters and dog. You can find her at www.MaureenFitzgerald.com.

Maureen F Fitzgerald, PhD @MFFitzgerald MaureenFitzgeraldPhD

Peter-Paul has over 15 years of experience in finance, investment management, and business consultancy. He's held multiple senior management positions with global banks including ABN AMRO Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland in the areas of corporate strategy, commercial and investment banking.

Upon relocating with his family to Canada in 2010, Peter-Paul worked as a consultant for several early stage companies and experienced the challenges that they face in attracting capital. He realized that venture financing was not leveraging technology and in 2013, Peter-Paul founded FrontFundr to address this challenge and take on the opportunity to create the New Capital Market, online and accessible to everyone. Peter-Paul also serves as a Director on the National Board of the Private Capital Markets Association of Canada (PCMA) and an Advisor of the National CrowdFunding Association Canada (NCFA). Peter-Paul holds a Master of Science in business economics and finance from Erasmus University Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.

Peter-Paul Van Hoeken
@frontfundr, @petervanhoeken Peter-Paul Van Hoeken

Philip J. Oosthuizen completed his Baccalareus Technologiae Drama degree in 2013 at the Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa. Parallel to his undergraduate studies, he completed his teacher’s licentiate at the South African Speech and Drama College. In 2012 he formed part of the Standard Bank Ovation award-winning production, Breathing In , written by acclaimed South African writer, Reza de Wet, at the National Arts Festival in South Africa. He has over six years’ worth of teaching experience, the most recent three of which have been spent in China where he has won two outstanding teacher awards.

He is currently the national academic director of the Enreach Education drama programme in Shanghai, creative director of the Educational Theatre Association China Chapter, and is working towards obtaining his Masters in Education from the University of Nottingham.Having grown up in Phalaborwa, a small town in the north of South Africa, he understands the power of authentic dialogue and the importance of self-liberation. He believes drama is the vehicle which will propel people to rediscover how to have enabling conversation that is true to who they are.

Website: creativephilipj.com @creativePhilipJ
@creativePhilipJ @creativephilipj

Vincent Andrisani, PhD, is an instructor in Simon Fraser University’s School of Communication. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Vincent spent much of his life playing drums in a number of bands, and performing music across a variety of genres. Today, he spends much of his time writing and lecturing about sound, popular music, and urbanism. Exploring the relationship between sound, space, and the city, Vincent’s research in the city of Havana, Cuba challenges us to rethink our understanding of urban development by simply listening to the everyday sounds that surround us.

@soundscrunchy Website: vincentandrisani.com