TEDxMechanicsville

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Alex Keenan

  Alex Keenan’s mission is to help people feel more connected: to themselves, to each other, and to the natural world. She’s built a career teaching professionals how to grow their influence and impact through skillful communication, and in her free time she is a committed non-profit volunteer who uses her legal training and communication skills for the benefit of the environmental movement. Alex’s love of nature, sparked during her childhood on her grandparents’ Christmas tree farm, led her to Te Araroa, a 3000-kilometre trail in Aotearoa New Zealand which she hiked in 2024. She learned about the incredible personal and social benefits of outdoor adventure, and how collective action can lower barriers and democratize access to those benefits. She envisions a world where outdoor adventure is celebrated as a tool to enhance personal well-being, grow supportive communities, and heal our relationships with the land.

• Beth Ciavaglia

  Beth is a warm, community-focused leader who finds joy in travel, meaningful connections, and the company of her family, friends and Bernadoodles, Marty McFly and Doc Brown.A physiotherapist by training, Beth is now a patient engagement professional and nonprofit Executive Director, while also serving on the boards of Arnprior Health and the Ottawa Food Bank.Her writing has been featured in the New England Journal of Medicine Evidence, Wildfire Magazine, and eCHIMA, establishing her as both a thought-leader and an advocate. She was featured on the CBC podcast "Sickboy".In her TEDx talk, Beth will explore why quality of life for people with cancer must be treated with the same importance as survival, and why our culture needs to shift from “more is better” toward thoughtful, least-intervention approaches that give patients the best possible outcomes.

• Dale Allen

  Dale Allen led with soul, clarity, and the kind of rhythm that turned tough moments into spontaneous dance parties – even when it’s just your shoulders that move.She was rooted, wildly real, and never afraid of big talk, big joy, or the kind of leadership that leaves people lighter than it found them. Dale is a leadership coach, culture strategist, and co-founder of ConsciousLead.She works with individuals, teams, families and leaders across sectors to metabolize stress, shift survival patterns, and lead with integrity—without causing harm to themselves or others.Her work doesn’t just make people feel better—it changes how they work, relate, and create. With a Master’s in Kinesiology and certifications in Executive Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, and Process Facilitation, Dale has spent 20+ years coaching thousands of leaders across sectors including: Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, national police and defence services, public schools, healthcare systems, and global ventures like Shopify, Accenture, and Experis-Veritaaq. She’s a proud Forty Under 40 awardee and Coralus Venture recipient, recognized for helping leaders make work more human—and results more real—through coaching that blends emotional intelligence, somatic wisdom, justice-informed systems thinking, and neuroscience-rooted tools. What if the true measure of leadership was how much care, clarity, dignity, and joy we return…especially in the hardest moments, at home, at work, and in every room we enter? Dale's future vision is a world where people metabolize stress, use power with care, and leave families, workplaces, and relationships better than they found them – in ways that don’t demand more than they can give.

• Emilie Valiquette

  Émilie Valiquette is a leader in digital health transformation, passionate about driving meaningful change through collaboration and innovation. As the Digital Experience Project Manager at The Ottawa Hospital, she specializes in project strategy, quality improvement, and change management, spearheading initiatives that blend technology with human-centered design. She leads high-impact projects integrating Artificial Intelligence, remote patient monitoring, and digital communications. Émilie is a graduate of the Telfer School of Management’s QIPS program and is pursuing a Master’s in Health Administration at ÉNAP. On the TEDx stage, she will share how co-design can turn resistance into momentum and provide practical tools to make change happen. She challenges audiences to reimagine change as a collective act and leave equipped to drive transformation in their own communities.

• Jay Smith

  Jay Smith is a farmer and educator who proves that joy can emerge even in life’s most uncertain seasons. As co-founder of Thunder Gardens, a permaculture farm that offers space for community gardeners, he helps people discover purpose in learning, in the soil, and in themselves. An award-winning educator and coach, Jay brings 15 years of experience guiding others through transformation. At TEDxMechanicsville, he will share how nature offers a powerful blueprint for resilience, showing that what looks like an ending may simply be a new beginning, quietly taking root beneath the surface, patiently waiting for you to notice.

• Julie Lavergne

  Julie Lavergne believes it’s time to unlock the power of generalists. In a world built for specialists, she shines a light on what’s often overlooked: the generalist’s ability to spot patterns, bridge gaps, and solve problems at the scale they actually exist—system-wide. As a strategy consultant, Julie helps leaders and teams get clear on where they’re going—and how to get there. She brings structure to big ideas and turns complexity into action, helping organizations think more broadly and make smarter, more connected decisions. Julie has built her career at the intersection of systems, people, and strategy—with experience spanning engineering, HR, and executive leadership. For the past 15 years, she’s been helping teams cut through complexity to get clear on what matters most. She also hosts The Generalist Advantage podcast, heard in 37 countries, where she explores the value of range, adaptability, and systems thinking in a changing world. Her TEDx talk introduces The Dragonfly Viewpoint—a new way of working that unlocks generalist thinking to solve today’s complex, interconnected challenges. To navigate this era of uncertainty and scale, Julie argues, we must recognize and empower generalists to work alongside specialists—elevating how we solve problems, make decisions, and shape the future.

• Kara Stonehouse

  Kara is the founder of Aha! Graphic Facilitation, a professional graphic regording agency in Ottawa, Canada and a Meshworker and Collective Impact facilitator with the Hague Center for Global Governance Innovation and Emergence where she innovates on sacred governance for the global commons. Kara was the lead collective impact facilitator of the Ottawa VOLT initiative - a multi-stakeholder plan to reduce carbon emissions in Ottawa until she relocated to France in 2018. She is now a presenter on World Unity Week global convergences.

• Krista Swanson

  Krista Swanson is a joyful technology leader who believes connection is the true catalyst for innovation and transformation.As a VP of Corporate IT, Krista leads global technology strategy, security, and AI-driven transformation, empowering teams to deliver impact at scale.Recognized as a mentor and community builder, Krista has championed women in technology, guided digital transformations, and built AI programs that align with real business value.The Joy Engine, reveals how connection fuels creativity, resilience, and progress in both business and life.Krista challenges us to design lives, teams, and communities where joy isn’t an afterthought, but the engine driving innovation.

• Lisa Weagle

  Lisa Weagle is a two-time Olympian, world champion, and one of Canada’s most respected curling athletes, having spent over 15 years competing at the highest levels of sport. Recently retired from competition, she is the founder of the Lisa Weagle Curling Academy, where she coaches the next generation of high-performance youth athletes. Drawing on her experiences of competing on the world stage, Lisa’s TEDx talk explores how we can quiet the inner critic by reframing joy not as a result, but as a mindset that shapes how we experience challenge and success. Rooted in elite sport, her message resonates far beyond the field of play, offering practical tools to help anyone build resilience, find meaning, and thrive under pressure.

• Natalia Popowych

  I spent years thinking strength meant holding it all together, until life made sure I couldn’t anymore. Turns out, falling apart isn’t failure; it’s the gateway to the kind of resilience that actually lasts. I’m Natalia Popowych, co-owner of Larimar Strategies Inc., where for almost 30 years I’ve been helping leaders and organizations wrestle with strategy, resilience, and the messy middle of change. What I’ve learned along the way is this: leadership isn’t about having all the answers or never cracking under pressure. It’s about being human enough to bend, hopeful enough to rise again, and bold enough to laugh at the chaos while you do it. If life is going to knock us sideways (and it will), we might as well get good at cartwheels!

• Peter Georgariou

  My mission is to help people and organizations have the courage to be themselves in this lifetime and design a fulfilling and meaningful life. I am the CEO of karmadharma, a B-Corp certified make-the-world-a-better-place agency specializing in people & culture, marketing and social impact strategy services. For over 25 years, I’ve led teams and client work across Canada and the U.S., helping nonprofits, foundations, and purpose-driven companies align strategy, brand, and culture. Your life does not need a perfect roadmap; your path teaches you how to walk it. Let go of how you think your life ""should"" turn out and trust that you are always exactly where you are meant to be."

• Rebecca Aird

  I’ve worked and volunteered for over four decades on environmental, resource and sustainability issues with a wide diversity of organizations, institutions, cultures and communities. So I’ve witnessed, and sometimes been responsible for, a sizeable trove of both failures and successes in focusing collaborative will to stem the tide of environmental destruction. While there have been some remarkable achievements, it is clear that we cannot regulate our way into the urgent need to right our relationship with nature. Instead we need to “crowd in” the many and growing seams of inquiry, innovation, technology, practice, and aspiration that are enabling people to work co-creatively with natural systems to establish healthy, productive and unique economies and places. One umbrella term for this broad movement is “nature-based solutions”. Ottawa is so well positioned to be a leading example of this ultimate “do what you can with what you’ve got where you are” opportunity. We have a huge, nature- and resource-rich land-base within City limits, a highly educated population, research and technology capacity, and wealth. The potential to harness these assets to shape a more satisfying and resilient future is already beginning to manifest. For ourselves and for the future, let’s massively boost this potential in our city and region.

• Richard Webster

  Dr. Richard Webster is a climate champion and scientist at a children’s hospital. He is a Scientific Director at CHEO, Canada’s capital children treatment center, and co-leads the CHEO Green Team. His lab bridges the gap between carbon emissions, cost efficiency and clinical care by implementing net-zero healthcare that is strategic for leaders, practical for providers, and better for patients. Richard sees a future where individuals are detectives, hunting down the largest carbon hotspots in their sphere of influence, be that that workplace, community or home life.

• Simon Bell

  Simon is a seasoned chef and longtime member of the local culinary community, with experience spanning back to the mid-1990s. Over the years, he has developed a deep appreciation for the cultural and personal significance of food, and the powerful role it plays in shaping communities. As the current head of the Parkdale Food Centre Kitchen, Simon is committed to using his voice and privilege to create inclusive spaces where others can learn, grow, and share their own food journeys. His work focuses on empowering individuals through food, fostering community, and redefining what it means to lead in a kitchen.Simon invites audiences to rethink common narratives around food insecurity — not as a problem of scarcity, but of access, equity, and dignity.

• urooj Qureshi

  Urooj Qureshi is a changemaker who has dedicated his career to using design to solve complex issues in technology, government, and education—creating groundbreaking solutions that shape how systems serve people and communities. He is committed to building companies and systems based on principles of justice and shared prosperity. Founder and CEO of Design Centered Co., an award-winning user experience and design agency transforming how people interact with solutions and services. Urooj advises senior leadership in government and industry, helping shape solutions for greater impact. Urooj is a highly sought-after speaker and advisor in solutions design and entrepreneurship. His accomplishments include launching multiple award-winning businesses focused on pressing societal needs, leading transformative education initiatives across South Asia, and building Design Centered Co. into one of Ottawa's Fastest Growing Companies (2025); he also created the Impact Centered Design framework and Impactor, which won the 2024 Disruptor Award. Impact happens when we understand the root cause, get radically clear on the outcome we want to create, and design purposefully around the people and systems that must deliver it. Ask yourself: Whose life is better because of what you do? The answer to that question is more challenging than we realize.

• Zen Tharani

  Helping leaders rediscover what makes us human. Zen Tharani blends strategy, empathy, and story to build leadership that’s joyful, just, and deeply human. Leadership coach, digital health strategist, and founder of Xenex Consulting Inc., Zen works at the intersection of digital transformation, people, and organizational change. With 25 years of experience across public and private sectors, Zen has led national strategies, driven large-scale digital transformation, and mentored emerging changemakers across Canada.He was recently named one of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants, recognizing his leadership and impact nationwide. At TEDx, Zen reveals how five unexpected books hold timeless lessons for building ourselves to be more human and values-driven. Because leading well isn’t about knowing more — it’s about remembering what matters most.