Andrew Phung

Community Developer

"You learn by failing" is the philosophy taught to TEDxCalgary speaker Andrew at a young age. Born and raised in the Northeast of Calgary, Andrew is a unique character with a tank full of energy. While attending high school, Andrew became a volunteer at the Loose Moose Theatre Company.

Taken under the wing by many of his improve heroes, Andrew developed a love for the stage. To him the theatre was the one place where he fit in and could be himself. It is at the Loose Moose Theatre where An

Anil Patel

Community Connector

Anil is the co-founder of Framework, the charity that runs the Timeraiser and developed innovative ideas like Civic Footprint and Sharesies. Anil is shifting the approaches of both volunteers and volunteer/non-profit organizations to beco

C.R. Avery

Musician

C.R. Avery began playing music professionally at the age of 17 when he toured from the nation's capitol to the far interior of Vancouver Island. The train was just beginning to gather steam. Fifteen albums and seven operas later smoke stack lightening is the eternal horizon. In the past four years, Avery has played almost every major Canadian folk festival. This year he headlined his own tour across France and opened on two major tours for Billy Bragg and BUCK 65. He has performed extensively throughout Nort

Dan Meades

Community Changer

TEDxCalgary speaker Dan is originally from St John's, Newfoundland where he studied English and Business at Memorial University before starting his career in community development and poverty reduction. Dan's work has led him throughout Canada, Europe, the United States and West Africa; all the while his focus has been on community change and civic empowerment. Dan is driven by the thought that our world can be a better place for everyone in it and prides himself on working to give a voice to popula

Donna Kennedy Glans

James Temple

Community Discourser

TEDxCalgary speaker James is the Director of Corporate Responsibility for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and has a dual role leading the PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada Foundation.

With a focus on helping to build and empower community leadership, James is a committed volunteer and shares his expertise on a variety of not-for-profit boards and committees: he is Co-Chair of the Association of Corporate Grantmakers; a member of the Board of Advisors for the Institute at Havergal College; and s

Jamie Niessen

Event Stage Host

As we share ideas about volunteerism and challenge ourselves to volunteer...even better, who better to lead the discussion than the new President and CEO of Volunteer Calgary, whose mission is leading, promoting, connecting, and strengthening volunteerism.

Jaimie has tremendous corporate experience and is also the Chair of the Calgary Public Library Board during its largest expansion in history.

Kris Demeanor

Musician and Performer

Calgary born songwriter/spoken word/theatre artist Kris Demeanor delights in exposing the underbelly of western Canadian culture- gambling, drug use, murder, religion, the suburbs. His CDs, "The Guilt and the Shame- tales of the Canadian West", and "Go Away (with me)" examine these darker, stranger corners of his home province. "I Have Seen the Future", an animated short film based on Kris's spoken word piece about a father/son tennis game sabotaged by three cruel teens, screened in 2008 at t

Louise Gallagher

Community Leader

Louise has a remarkable personal story that has turned tragic circumstances into a life filled with passion and joy. Her book The Dandelion Spirit was turned into a documentary for the Oprah Network and has touched people's lives across North America.

Louise's work at the Calgary Drop-In Centre includes inspiring efforts like the developme

Martha Parker

Community Creator

TEDxCalgary speaker Martha Parker retired from her sixteen-year position as the Executive Director of Volunteer Calgary, one of Canada's most successful Volunteer Centres, in October of 2004. During her career, Martha served on dozens of community initiatives: she was a member of the Joint Coordinating Committee of the National Voluntary Sector Initiative and was one of the founding members of Volunteer Alberta, the National Advisory Council of Volunteer Centres, the Canadian Federation of Voluntary

Paul Loeb

Community Soul

Paul Loeb has spent thirty-five years researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment--asking what makes some people choose lives of social commitment, while others abstain. He's the author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time, which St Martin's recently released in a wholly updated new edition after 100,000 copies in print, and is already in its fourth printing). He's also the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Gui

Steve Mesler

Community Champion

Steve's story is one of gratitude and a deep sense of responsibility to give back to the communities and people who believed in him on his 20-year journey to Olympic gold. From an early age, he was a talented athlete, achieving national level success in high school and a track scholarship to the University of Florida. When injuries kept him from his full potential on the track, he was not content to let his dream of being an Olympian die. Switching to the sport of bobsled, it was another 10 years o

Tonya Surman

Community Animator

TEDxCalgary speaker Tonya Surman is a social entrepreneur, community animator and network choreographer. With a passion for bringing life to world-changing projects, Tonya is the founding executive director of the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) – a dynamic convergence space in Toronto whose mission is to catalyze, connect and support new ideas that are changing the world. CSI provides shared space to 200 social mission groups, acts as a community centre for social innovators and is an incubat