Theme: IGNITE

Imagine Kanata and Ottawa’s most fascinating and engaging presenters, artists and thinkers coming together to share their passions and discuss their visions for the world all within an underlying theme. Well, it’s happening at TEDxKanata featuring some of Canada’s most interesting and inspiring speakers.

This year's theme for TEDxKanata 2020 is IGNITE! The definition of ignite includes = to glow, to light-up, catch fire, intense, arouse or inflame (an emotion or situation) and to give life or energy to (someone or something). And, synonyms include: erupt, explode, arouse, kindle, trigger, spark, instigate, excite, provoke, foment. Our aim this year is to ignite excitement, intrigue and arouse curiosity and interest.

Brookstreet Hotel
525 Legget Dirve
525 Legget Drive
Ottawa, Ontario, K2K2W2
Canada

Ashleigh Kennedy

Founder, Neurovine Inc.

Ashleigh is a health technology entrepreneur from Stanford University with a PhD in Exercise Physiology and a post-doctoral fellowship in Neuroscience from the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. She is the founder and CEO of Neurovine, a deep tech company delivering data driven brain health solutions. Before founding Neurovine, Ashleigh was a wearable technology consultant who worked with innovative startups and large scale medical institutions. These experiences revealed the amazing potential of AI in health care but also highlighted the dangers of automation in this industry.

Dr. Delphie Dugal-Tessier

Neuroscientist and Head of Research

Neuroscientist Dr. Delphie Dugal-Tessier is currently the Head of Research at Staterra Inc. a nutritional and supplement R&D company where she is conducting research supported by the NRC-IRAP, OCE & NSERC. In the emerging field of nutritional neuroscience, Dr. Dugal-Tessier is passionate about understanding how stress depletes the raw materials required for brain health (mood, cognition, learning and memory) and how this impacts performance. In addition, she is no stranger to competitive sports. In 2007, she competed on the Canadian mogul freestyle ski team and now trains, teaches and competes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. As a mother of two, an entrepreneur, a competitor and a woman in science, Dr. Dugal-Tessier knows all too well the challenges and struggles our brain faces on a daily basis and how this can affect mental wellness, happiness and productivity.

JP Michel

Founder, SparkPath

JP Michel is on a mission to change the way we prepare people for their careers. He is the founder and head coach at SparkPath and creator of the challenge mindset. JP’s work on careers has been featured on the BBC, CBC and TFO. Since 2009, he has leveraged his experience coaching high-performing leaders to help hundreds of high-school students develop their potential, set meaningful career paths, and accomplish their goals. The question ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ is no longer serving young people. For too long, we’ve encouraged them to prepare for their future by choosing a job title. This approach is causing anxiety and not preparing them for a complex future.

Kim Moore

Founder and Director of Clinical Development

Founder and Director of Clinical Development, Kim Moore has dedicated her professional career to exploring innovative, effective and science-based therapies for individuals with autism. Having spent years implementing traditional autism intervention programs, Kim recognized the need for evolution within the field. Moving beyond the unnatural and rigid intensive therapies, Kim opened Aspire Academy in 2019. The Academy is setting a new standard for the education of students with unique learning needs by offering individualized teaching within a group setting. Bringing together some of the best educators in Ottawa, her vision for a positive, nourishing and comprehensive school experience for students with autism has become a reality. Kim’s vision reaches beyond the doors of her academy, she continues to share her philosophies and expertise with her larger community. She’s working with educators from various disciplines and spreading a positive message about what we can accomplish.

Kostyantyn Khomutov

CEO of GBatteries

Kostyantyn is the CEO of GBatteries, an advanced battery technology company working towards enabling electric vehicles to charge as fast as it takes to fill-up a tank of gas, with the goal of accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles, and in turn reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Operating since 2014 at the intersection of artificial intelligence, electrochemistry, signal processing, and high-power electronics, GBatteries has the first and only demonstrated technology that can ultra-fast charge lithium-ion batteries without compromising battery life or changing the battery’s chemistry. With applications ranging from smart phones to electric vehicles, GBatteries is revolutionizing the way batteries are charged. Prior to GBatteries, Kostyantyn was the founder of Wolna, a SatCom company working on connecting airplanes to ground via satellite network, and Smart Rotor Systems (SRS), a vibration and noise reduction technology for helicopters.

Liora Raitblat

Strategic Change Consultant

Liora is a Strategic Change Consultant at Deloitte where she supports organizations adapt through their largest digital transformations, leveraging innovative change management techniques. Previously, Liora founded a startup focused on supporting nonprofit donation strategies through the changing digital era. Liora continues to give back to the community as the former Head and current Board Member of the Ottawa Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, focused on fostering positive change and sustainable impact locally and internationally.

Rose Cain

Vice President, Business Operations

Rose's career spans over 30 years in the Ottawa tech sector. Her natural curiosity drives her creative problem-solving abilities and exceptional analytical skills. As VP of Business Operations at Solace, she specializes in sales enablement and productivity and business automation. Rose doesn’t describe herself as a thrill seeker or extremely adventurous. She used to say she was “just plain lucky” or “fell into opportunities” when describing her path. With further reflection, she has uncovered the real secret behind her choices – and it starts with curiosity. Rose will present a talk on why curiosity is so important to relationships and for business. Rose is Ottawa Chapter President of the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals and member of the Sales Enablement Society. She is a sought-after mentor and coach with a passion for building and enabling high performing teams.

Simeon Wong

Professional Career Coach and Founder

Simeon is a business professional with over 16 years of global corporate experience. He has served in senior management consulting roles at Deloitte, PwC Consulting, Accenture, Jackman and Slalom Consulting, and in leadership positions in multi-billion $ companies such as Rogers Communications, Maple Leaf Foods and Sears Canada. After a tumultuous 25-year journey, Simeon has discovered his passion in Career Coaching, as an enabler of others’ successes. His clients range from new immigrants looking to enter the Canadian workforce, to new university graduates, to seasoned professionals in transition or recently laid off to help them get back on their feet. A proponent of higher and continuous education, Simeon completed a Bachelor and Master of Science at University of Toronto, and a Master of Business Administration at McMaster University.

Wendy Knight Agard

Coach at Shopify

Wendy is a Coach at Shopify, she understands how to leverage the delicate dance that occurs between the intellect and our emotions—and will spark insights that will help you embrace diversity within yourself so that you can be truly inclusive of others. The issue of inclusion and diversity is finally on the minds of leaders everywhere. As we work toward understanding how to create and maintain truly inclusive cultures, comprised of diverse groups of people, the focus has been on what we can do for others. What’s most important is how do we become conscious of embracing and developing diversity within ourselves? This question is key, because if we can’t accept all of ourselves then our ability to accept others is compromised.