Theme: MOVE!

TEDxEastVan is dedicated to discovering great ideas and sharing them with the rest of the world. We welcome interesting people into the community and showcase and celebrate the dynamic ideas that exist in East Vancouver.

TEDxEastVan is a day-long event that brings together creators, catalysts, designers and thinkers to share their ideas worth spreading on the TEDx stage. A day of listening and connecting that invites thought, discussion and play, the TEDx talks are interspersed with activities, performances, and food worth eating.

York Theatre
639 Commercial Dr
Vancouver, British Columbia, V5L 3W3
Canada

Barbara Alink

Mobility aid designer

Barbara Alink, woodworker and architect, left the Netherlands for what grew into 10 years international reconstruction work. She felt locked up between the labels that were attached to all the rights western societies were proud of. She missed a sense of community and struck out to find a place where her soul could be free. She ended up in the seemingly harsh environments of Sudan and Afghanistan where she found honest and humble communities that were living in complete acceptance of life and death and the here and now. Back in the Western World since 2009, she now shares her experiences, creating awareness and insight into the devastating consequences of the denial of death and how we can come together, be inclusive, and create a safe community.

Chief Dr Robert Joseph

Reconciliation expert

Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, O.B.C. is a true peace-builder whose life and work are examples of his personal commitment. A Hereditary Chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation, Chief Joseph has dedicated his life to bridging the differences brought about by intolerance, lack of understanding and racism at home and abroad. His insights into the destructive impacts these forces can have on people’s lives, families, and cultures were shaped by his experience with the Canadian Indian Residential School system. Chief Joseph is currently the Ambassador for Reconciliation Canada and a member of the National Assembly of First Nations Elders Council. As one of the last few speakers of the Kwakwaka’wakw language, Chief Joseph is an eloquent and inspiring Ceremonial House Speaker. He shares his knowledge and wisdom in the Big House and as a Language Speaker with the University of BC, an internationally recognized art curator and as co-author of “Down from the Shimmering Sky: Masks of the Northwest Coast”.

Christopher Bush

Sustainable agriculture pioneer

Chris started his life in a small farming town in Southern Ontario, and, like many country kids, couldn’t wait to get to the city. He knew for sure what he would be when he grew up – a race car driver. When his family came apart at 16, he went out and made his own way. In 1990, he was part of a group invited to an event in British Columbia, and at the end of it he stayed out west. After years of going with the flow, life had him at quite a low point. A sudden succession of meeting people in the right place at the right time with the right message led to a radical turn and a change of life. He went on a mission to identify a path to personal success. Today, he is a sustainability pioneer who lives with his family in the self proclaimed agricultural capital of Canada, Abbotsford, BC.

Devon Boorman

Swordmaster

Devon Boorman worked in a variety of jobs before finding his calling as the Master Instructor and Director of Academie Duello, the world’s largest centre for the practice of European swordplay and martial arts. For the past 12 years, he and his instructors have been working to revive the lost arts of the knight and nobles, including mastery of both hand to hand and mounted combat, as well as archery and wrestling. He’s currently exploring the nexus between physical and spiritual empowerment. He believes that through the exploration and mastery of movement, we can find mastery in the broader internal and external aspects of our lives.

Dominic Walliman

Quantum physicist + children's writer

Dominic Walliman is a physicist, and award-winning science writer. He received his PhD in quantum device physics from the University of Birmingham and currently works at D-Wave Systems Inc., a quantum computing company in Vancouver. Dominic grew up reading science books and remembers vividly the excitement of discovering the mind-boggling explanations that science gives us about the Universe. If he can pass on this wonder and enjoyment to the next generation, he will consider it a job well done.

Dr. Alexandra T. Greenhill

Physician

Dr. Alexandra T. Greenhill is a an award-winning physician leader and startup CEO. She completed her medical training in Montreal and spent two decades working on health care reform across Canada, her efforts recognised with the Queen Elizabeth II Medal of Service and Top 40 under 40. Intent on making the biggest impact possible, she came up with a website that would help people connect and support each other in real life. The innovative thinking behind this led to her company becoming the first to win the Cartier World Entrepreneur Award and spending time at the Blackbox / Google for Entrepreneurs accelerator.

Edward Westerhuis

Visual artist, filmmaker + puppeteer

Edward Westerhuis is visual artist and performer who often works collaboratively to build intersections between video and other art forms. His breakout work Sci-Fi Double Feature, produced by Ramshackle Theatre, showcases his talents as a writer, producer, and performer. Edward has toured this project across Canada, with performances at The Yukon Arts Centre, The Banff Centre, and National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Eyoälha Baker

Artist + photographer

Eyoälha Baker is a photographer and muralist. Born on Canada’s West Coast, Eyoälha (Eee-YO-Lah) means the wind in the Kwakwa’ka’wakw (Kwakiutl) language. Traveling and living around the world has given her a great appreciation for cultural differences and human similarities. She has a BFA from Concordia University, a Diploma in Media Resources, and Studied International Business Management. After running a small interior decorating business and helping start up a furnishing rental business, she decided to follow her passion as a photographer. Eyoälha is a passionate advocate for supporting people with barriers in the DTES.

Geoff Dembicki

Climate change writer

Originally from the suburbs of Edmonton, Alberta, Geoff Dembicki arrived in Vancouver by way of Carleton University’s Journalism program. He’s written for a variety of media outlets, such as Foreign Policy, Vice, Salon, Walrus and the Toronto Star and has been a staff writer for The Tyee for the last six years. He’s travelled to locales across the globe and experienced transformative change and movement from people wanting to make a difference in places such as Beijing, Hawaii, San Francisco, New York, and Paris.

Paul Fijal

Social entrepreneur

Paul Fijal is a young social entrepreneur and Lead Biomedical Engineer with Awake Labs, who provide personalized, quantified care solutions to people living with autism. He is also dedicated to growing Vancouver’s reputation as a hub for social entrepreneurship and impact ventures. Paul is currently involved with the Coast Capital Savings Innovation Hub and is helping to bootstrap the brand new MedTech Development Hub at VGH with a group of young engineers and entrepreneurs. A Francophone originally from Calgary, Alberta, Paul graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BASc in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical option, in May of 2015. He’s interested in new ventures focusing on social impact, as well as the biomedical and biotech industry.

Sam Wadsworth

Human airways engineer + 3D-bio printing expert

Sam is a scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur. He completed his Ph.D. in respiratory cell biology in the UK before relocating to Vancouver in 2007 to work as an academic researcher at St. Paul’s Hospital. In 2013, Sam co-founded a biotechnology company that uses a unique bioprinting technology that has the potential to revolutionise how we treat disease and the ageing process. He sees a future where human tissues can be provided on demand, where donor organs are built, not harvested, and where drugs are tested on bioprinted artificial tissues, not animals.

Tima Kurdi

Refugee advocate

A Kurdish woman from Syria, Tima immigrated to Canada in 1992. A hairstylist by trade, she has supported her family back home in Syria. In September 2015, a personal tragedy struck Tima’s family – her brother, Abdullah, lost his wife, Rehanna, and two boys, Alan and Ghalib, while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. The picture of Alan Kurdi lying on the beach woke up the world to the plight of the Syrian refugees escaping their country and brought international attention to the Syrian refugee crisis. Since then, Tima’s been speaking out to bring awareness to the reality of Syrian refugees in the hopes that this tragedy can be resolved.