TEDxWhite Rock

Speakers

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

• Doug Tennant

  Doug Tennant is the CEO of UNITI, an organization that supports people with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries to live self-directed, connected lives in their communities. For more than two decades, Doug has worked at the intersection of leadership, governance, and inclusion. He challenges systems that concentrate power and advances models that trust people with lived experience to lead. Under his leadership, UNITI has expanded inclusive housing, employment initiatives, and self-advocate leadership programs that position people with disabilities not as recipients of services, but as contributors and decision-makers. Most notably, Doug helped lead the successful approval of Harmony Apartments, an inclusive housing development that became a catalyst for a broader community conversation about who gets to shape civic life. Doug is a frequent speaker on governance, community leadership, and the future of inclusive housing. He believes that communities thrive when leadership is recognized where it has always existed and when institutions are willing to listen. While he is retiring in 2026, he remains inspired by the self-advocates who continue to redefine what leadership looks like in their communities.

• Jack Sawatzky

  Jake Sawatzky currently serves as the federal Member of Parliament for New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville. In April 2025, he made history by becoming elected as one of the four Canadian MPs born in the 21st century, representing a new generation of Canadian voices. Jake Sawatzky has a background in mental health and counselling psychology. He is the president of Drop the Puck for Mental Health, an annual hockey event that raises funds for the Canadian Mental Health Association.

• Jake Sawatzky

  Jake Sawatzky currently serves as the federal Member of Parliament for New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville. In April 2025, he made history by becoming elected as one of the four Canadian MPs born in the 21st century, representing a new generation of Canadian voices. Jake Sawatzky has a background in mental health and counselling psychology. He is the president of Drop the Puck for Mental Health, an annual hockey event that raises funds for the Canadian Mental Health Association.

• Laurie Shopland

  Laurie Shopland is a speaker, emotional well-being strategist, award-winning life coach, and the creator of the transformational Becoming Online Course. Known as the “Chief Encouragement Officer,” Laurie spent two decades raising more than $40 million for causes she believed in before devoting her full-time energy to helping people create the lives they feel called to live. As the co-founder of Shopland Coaching, she is recognized for bringing honesty, compassion, and uplifting clarity to every room she enters. Her signature framework, The Truth Model, has guided individuals across North America to show up as the truest version of themselves, rebuild self-trust, and live aligned, abundant lives. Laurie’s passion is walking alongside people as they discover who they were truly created to be. She believes that when we learn to tell the truth—to ourselves and to the world—we unlock the freedom, confidence, and impact we’ve been searching for.

• Maria Zhang

  Maria Zhang is a highschool student at Semiahmoo Secondary. She delivered the entertainment portion of TEDxWhite Rock.

• Mehrnaz Bassiri

  Mehrnaz Bassiri is a progress specialist whose work explores the quiet, powerful ways we grow. She is an award-winning educator and scientist with a master’s degree in chemistry. Growing up neurodivergent in the '80s and '90s taught her to be comfortable with difference, fluent in silence, and attuned to what often goes unspoken. Once a child who could barely speak due to severe social anxiety, Mehrnaz learned that transformation rarely happens in grand leaps, but through steady, courageous acts of showing up. Through speaking, teaching, and coaching at her companies, MyGradeBooster and Shomal Coaching, Mehrnaz helps others experience the power of incremental growth—the exact principle that guided her own journey from silence to voice, and from fear to purpose.

• Roxanne Charles

  Roxanne Charles is a mixed media artist from Semiahmoo First Nation. She is an active member of her community where she promotes arts, language, and culture. She explores a variety of mediums including digital, jewelry, engraving, painting, weaving, sculpture, ceramics, and installation based works. Roxanne received a BFA as well as a BA in General Studies with Minors in Art History and Cultural Anthropology from Kwantlen Polytechnic University is 2016. She is currently completing her Master of Fine Arts at Simon Fraser University. Her work explores a variety of themes that reflect her lived experience as an indigenous woman on Turtle Island. Some of the themes commonly explored in her work are culture, nature, spirituality, environment, identity, hybridity, urbanization, exploitation, intergenerational trauma, and various forms of violence (such as lateral, systemic, and domestic). Roxanne is a contemporary storyteller and historian. Her work activates visual representation, oral history, and ceremony (methods which have been utilized by the Semiahmoo People for thousands of years).

• Sabine Lapointe

  Sabine Lapointe is a grade 11 student at Earl Marriott Secondary. She is the President and Founder of the Playful Palette Foundation, a teen-led nonprofit that provides children with access to arts courses. Sabine discovered her voice while volunteering at the White Rock Players Club, where the arts are more than a stage, they are family. Her organization has supported several children, allowing them to engage in the arts, and enjoy the connection that has shaped who she is. Sabine's goal is to inspire others to make an impact, using her voice to show people that they too can make their mark. As a White Rock Ambassador with aspirations in politics, she is committed to using her platform to enhance her community. Sabine is honoured to speak at TEDx White Rock. She hopes to encourage others to find their own ways to make a difference through what they love.

• Susan Bains

  Susan Bains is a passionate community leader, entrepreneur, and accessibility advocate with over 15 years of experience in human resources, leadership, and public service. A proud White Rock resident for more than 17 years, she is dedicated to creating spaces where everyone can participate and belong. Driven by persistence and purpose, Susan champions inclusion across all sectors. With a solutions-focused mindset, she turns challenges into opportunities and inspires others through action and meaningful change.