Speakers

Breath 2.0: Upgrading Your Breathing Operating System

John Tukums is the founder and CEO of DeepSubconscious.ai Inc. and the author of the book Sustaining Happiness. He followed his father and grandfather into health care, and through his initiatives, John works with clients to help them take action and seize the day. As the host of Happiness 2.02 Podcast, John interviews world-renowned executives and remarkable leaders so that listeners can apply their wisdom. Through his work and podcast, John focuses on stripping away the fear-inducing language related to breathing and helping clients experience an integrated approach to health, wellness and well-being.  John is a Fellow Founder of the inaugural World Happiness Summit in Miami. John was invited  to be a participant of Global Dialogue for Happiness and World Government Summit in Dubai and was a speaker at the 2019 Transformative Technology Conference, which is dedicated to unlocking the future of health, work, and human excellence through transformative technology.

Healing is Messy

Lindsay Gulanes owns a Yoga Studio in Uptown Waterloo, where she has been a practitioner for almost a decade, and she has been the lead instructor of a 200-hour yoga teacher training program since 2014.  She has studied neuroscience and kinesiology in various forms and is currently enrolled in courses at WLU related to the study of addiction. One of her specialties is Somatic Healing, which focuses on being present with your body and its sensations, similar to mindfulness. Her personal story is very moving; she suffered sexual trauma as a child and did not realize that she was living under its shadow until she turned 35, at which point she devoted herself to a full-time process of understanding herself, and healing along the way. She has created a public fund for people who are unable to afford therapy, in order to make it more accessible for those who really need it. 

Canada’s white supremacy problem: A Message to White "Allies"

Elizabeth Moore was born and raised in Toronto-Scarborough. From 1992-1995, Elizabeth was one of the few prominent female spokespeople in Canada’s largest white supremacist organization, The Heritage Front. She has contributed to numerous anti-racist education and arts initiatives, reaching millions with her story of personal change. In 1998, she consulted on the award winning CBC drama, White Lies, starring Sarah Polley and Lynn Redgrave. Elizabeth continues to be a speaker and educator on racist extremism, and is a member of the advisory board for the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, and the Community Network for Parents for Peace.

Why You Should Email Your Grandparents More

Colin Whaley is a Masters of Science in Pharmacy student at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy, and co-founder of the enTECH Computer Club, a registered student club with the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association. EnTECH's goal is to engage people with technology, especially those who may lack access to it, with a focus on older adults living in retirement homes and cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Colin's research interests include healthcare, mental health, gerontology, clinician decision making, and clinician communication. The application of his research includes why he believes teaching older adults how to use technology will help them engage more with the world and connect more with their friends and family. This has been proven to have positive impacts on the mental health of older adults.

The Inevitable Future of Machine Intelligence

Alishba is a 17-year-old Machine Learning and Blockchain Developer who was recently named a Young Innovator to Watch at CES. She’s worked with companies such as IBM to develop a platform on Blockchain to track medication and put an end to counterfeit medication in supply chain systems in developing countries. In the past, she’s also interned with the top banks in Canada working on AI enterprise solutions and new product lines for credit analysis. Currently, she’s working with top manufactures in energy storage on a machine learning product to accelerate the testing of energy storage devices from months to days for renewable energy.She’s also an apprentice at Hanson Robotics where she’s helping build out Sofia 2020 and working on improving sensing, grasping/griping through various novel sensing, perception and deep learning techniques. Outside of this, she's supported by the University of San Jose & the University of Alberta to develop a cheaper alternative to prosthetic arms using 3D printed to bring down the cost and deep learning to improve hand manipulation. Alishba's passion is to use technology to help progress humanity forward by solving social impact problems!

How Sudan Laid a Revolutionary Blueprint for Africa

Ola Idris is a politics and economics undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo, President of the Black Association for Student Expression and a Sudanese liberation activist. She has always been passionate about finding the link between the bigger picture and everyday life practices as well as how the world shapes our identity. Her research includes how collectivism, as opposed to individualism, is a more efficient way to advance Pan-Africanism through talks about resistance movements. By exploring the revolution, she hopes to paint a blueprint for liberation struggles across the African continent – one that is centered around the people not individual political leaders. 

The logical next step in drug policy

Ben completed his BA in Combined Social Sciences at Durham University in the U.K and in January 2020 graduated from the University of Waterloo with an MA in Public Issues Anthropology. With a specialisation in drug policy, Ben's research to date has used a qualitative focus to analyse the relationship between law enforcement and marginalised drug users who frequent supervised consumption sites in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Today, Ben works for a local Vancouver non-profit which operates emergency shelters, supportive housing units and supervised consumption sites and in September 2021 is beginning his PhD in the field of Social Policy. In his doctoral research, Ben will be undertaking a global comparative analysis on the ways in which law enforcement and public health agencies could better serve their communities through purposeful collaboration. Acutely aware of the rising overdose rates in many parts of the world, Ben is passionate about producing research and directing policy that can help governments in their efforts to address the complex health, environmental and socio-economic needs of the often homeless community members impacted by the overdose crisis.