Kale Bonham is an Ojibway woman and member of the Manitoba, Swan Lake First Nation who grew up in the North End of Winnipeg. As a youth care worker, teacher candidate and artist, she has been blazing trails in North End  Winnipeg’s Selkirk Avenue community through art, education, and the Aboriginal Youth Opportunities (AYO) anti-gang program. Her peers describe Kale as a very good mentor with lots of ideas to bring to the table. University of Manitoba Faculty of Education instructor Pauline Broderick says, “Kale is a gifted artist. Her work speaks to issues of social justice and inspires us to engage in making the world a better place for all. She is a fearless explorer of possibilities.” We are delighted that Kale will speak at TedxManitoba at our February event.

What motivates you?

I am motivated by possibility: what could be, what should be and by finding out what that means.

What do you do for a living and why?

I am currently a full-time student, studying to become a teacher. I want to become a teacher because teachers play integral roles in empowering the future—our young people. The most exciting thing is to ask a group of youth what they want in their futures, hear their responses and make plans to actualize their aspirations. Educators are on the forefront of what tomorrow will be like. What’s better than that? We might not change the world, but we may spark the minds that do.

Which TED talk do you think everyone should watch?

Jeff Duncan-Andrade’s Growing Roses in Concrete

Why are you excited to speak at TEDxManitoba?

Louis Riel is the grandfather of Manitoba, and he said, “My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.” I am excited to speak at TedxManitoba so I can say that my people are awake now, and that they’ve had beautiful dreams that are about to come true.

What is your idea worth spreading?

When people go to another country, city or even another side of town, they form their own perceptions of what it is like there. This can create barriers, stereotypes, intimidation, and fear on both sides of the tracks. By using visual communication (community art projects), one can show others what their own experiences of their community are: culture, hopes & dreams, friends & family, etc.,—a humanizing process of understanding each other along with recognizing differences/similarities that can bring communities together. Community provoked art ignites pride and positive identity within a neighbourhood and can create a visual dialogue that bridges communities.

Since her daughter Candace was abducted and murdered in 1984, Wilma Derksen has influenced victims, offenders and the community by telling her story. She’s also had an impact by facilitating the support group for survivors of homicide, organizing dialogue between victims and inmates in prison, conducting training, giving lectures, participating in panel discussions, presenting her insights to the justice system, and addressing victims’ needs at restorative justice conferences throughout Canada and the United States. Wilma Derksen is the author of Have you seen Candace? and Confronting the Horror: the Aftermath of Violence. We are honoured that Wilma will take the stage to speak at TedxManitoba at our event in February.

What motivates you?

I have this huge longing in my heart to understand the universe and the people who inhabit it. I am filled to the brim with questions about it all. I think at the core of my being is a spiritual quest to find meaning in my life which finds expression in a desire to create connections with the people around me. Part of this expression is always about words. I love story. I have an insatiable desire to find the right word for the right situation. This is an ongoing challenge.

What do you do for a living and why?

I work as a consultant for programs funded by government agencies. I advocate for crime victims and facilitate group and individual conversations. I also write and have authored three books. Actually, the murder of my daughter was influential in the direction my work and my life has taken.

Why are you excited to speak at TEDxManitoba?

TEDxManitoba has created a platform to explore the world of communication. I believe words are powerful. Words can lift us up, drag us down, wound us deeply or heal our hearts. Words have the power to transform our world. I am excited to be part of any organization that encourages the telling of dramatic, positive stories with the hope of making a difference.

Words have set whole nations in motion…Give me the right word and the right accent and I will move the world.
—Joseph Conrad

What is your idea worth spreading?

Love first, justice second. It is a tiny shift in our thinking that can change the world and the relationships around us. It is as simple as taking the time to express our love to our children first before we correct them, or as enormous as loving our enemies before we enter into a justice-making process. If we take the time to see beyond the presenting faults, to see someone’s gift and their humanity, it will make a difference in how we pursue justice. It might look similar. It might even have the same end result, but it will feel different. The long term results will probably be more promising. I truly believe if we would love first and do justice second, we would build stronger communities.

Grant Barkman is a seasoned traveler who has lived in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He owns DecisionWorks, a consulting firm dedicated to turning vision into action through effective consensus-based decision-making. TEDxManitoba is excited that he’ll speak at our February 2012 event.

What motivates you?

Innovation before design, courage in the face of adversity, truth in the face of consequence, compassion in the face of poverty, love in the face of hate.

What do you do for a living and why?

I help management teams increase their capacity to change and increase the velocity at which change can safely occur within organizations. My primary vehicle for doing this is through highly effective decision-making. The need for this type of management consulting came to me about five years ago after spending countless years in senior management roles where little more than rhetoric or corporate budget reporting ever occurred. Lip service was paid to our employees about positive and lasting change but little was ever really accomplished.

Why are you excited to speak at TedxManitoba?

Quite simply, TEDx Manitoba offers an opportunity to spread an idea I have been applying for many years in my personal and professional life to a wider audience. It offers a chance to get feedback and to look for other ideas of a similar nature that, when combined, form larger and more powerful ideas.

What is your idea worth spreading?

What if the English language included standard symbols to express complex concepts like agreements, ideas, and emotions? Every day we look around and see individuals and collective groups attempting to extend, enhance, and make the English language more effective and efficient. What if these extensions, particularly those of a visual nature, were commonly understood and accepted? Think of how much further we could go within the time it takes for the collective learning process and the creative process in science and in business. Think of how much more effective and efficient we could be in conveying our hopes, dreams, and aspirations. The idea of incorporating visualization into everyday communication, particularly those involving groups of people has been shown to be effective in achieving consensus, commitment, and innovation.

Brad is an expert in human systems management, in celebrating diversity, and practicing inclusion. His approaches transcend cultural and racial diversity to encompass all forms of inclusion, including intergenerational workforces, LGBTTQ employees, and conscious entrepreneurs. Brad has worked with both the private and public sector across North America and the Pacific Rim. He was recognized as the Asia Pacific Entrepreneur of the Year from the Asper Centre. Building on his earlier experiences as a champion debater and professionally trained actor, Brad represented Canada in the 2004 International Championships of Public Speaking. We are delighted that Brad will take the TEDxManitoba stage in February, 2012.

What motivates you?

Bridging intersectional theory and the power of narrative—all we truly own is our stories. When a person realizes that they can change their story, it’s amazing. Storytelling is both the oldest form of communication in our human experience and the most compelling. Linking that to discoveries in quantum physics, sustainability, personal development, spiritual growth, citizenship, and human rights/dignity is something that excites me so much, I fairly vibrate!

What do you do for a living and why?

I am blessed in that my vocation is also my “paycation.” As a Senior Human Resource Consultant for The Legacy Bowes Group, I get to develop a practice around diversity and inclusion with focus on LGBTTQ issues, leadership development, and whole life coaching. As a sexuality educator and facilitator with the Rainbow Resource Centre and Klinic Community Health Centre, I am able to increase awareness and build capacity around issues of gender, gender identity, sexuality, sexual orientation, sexual activity, and the complexity that we has human beings bring to those issues and ourselves, in Winnipeg and Manitoba. As a writer I get to contribute articles to OutWords Inc. the LBGTTQ magazine for the Province of Manitoba. I also get to work on my upcoming book and occasionally act, as an extra for movies being filmed locally. This work chose me as much as I chose it. I couldn’t imagine not doing this type of work. It is simply too important, too engaging, and too much fun!

Which Ted Talk do you think everyone should watch?

Sir Ken Robinson’s bring on the learning revolution

Why are you excited to speak at TedxManitoba?

I have been a huge fan of the TED Talks since I first heard of them years ago—I love the idea of creating a space and place for conversations that matter, inspire, and provoke. To be honest, I have always thought it would be an incredibly cool experience to be one of those speakers. It is an amazing opportunity to interact with people who “get it” (the power that comes from being consciously engaged in the process). Being able to do this in my adopted hometown of Winnipeg, doesn’t get any better!

What is your idea worth spreading?

What if the majority of issues in the world weren’t black or white but grey? What if grey were glorious?

What gifts would the grey areas of life give to you and others? What if you can change your story? What story would you want to tell about yourself and your life? What if it wasn’t about some of us, it was about all of us? What if, everything was connected to everything else? What if nothing existed or operated in isolation? What would you do? How you are the change you wish to see in the world?

What if by being in the glorious grey you are able to be more fully who are you and who it is you want to become? What if you could give yourself permission to step through a doorway, from one way of being and/or viewing yourself and the world into another?

Since our stories are all we truly own, by changing our story, we change ourselves and we change our world. One person, one story at a time. By changing one thing, we change everything!

Getty Stewart is a mom, gardener, writer, professional home economist, educator, speaker, entrepreneur, and volunteer. She believes in taking action to build the kind of world we want to live in. She’s an energetic learner, educator and go-getter who is always involved in some sort of endeavour to appreciate and strengthen family, community or nature. TEDxManitoba cannot be more pleased that she will speak at our event in February 2012.

What motivates you?

I’m motivated by actions, ideas, and opportunities that enable me to be actively involved in strengthening, understanding, educating, and appreciating the things I love most—family, community, and nature.

What do you do for a living and why?

I am a mom, gardener, writer, professional home economist, educator, speaker, entrepreneur, and volunteer. I’m an initiator who loves getting new ideas and systems up and running. I spend my time raising two great kids, launching Fruit Share, writing a book on Prairie Fruit, writing a gardening blog, leading nature hikes at Camp Wasaga, and supporting the amazing people and culture of IBEX Payroll. I do these things because they’re what I believe in and while the paycheque is small, the payback is huge.

Which TED talk do you think everyone should watch?

Ken Robsinson’s Bring on the learning revolution!

Why are you excited to speak at TEDxManitoba?

I’m inspired, challenged, and moved by the passion, people, and ideas that converge at TEDx Manitoba. Exploring new ideas and interacting with an audience made up of talented, inquisitive, creative, and passionate people is my idea of a good time.

What is your idea worth spreading?

Let’s rethink what’s happening in our backyards and apply a new formula—X(Share). Fruit Share examined backyard fruit and discovered people would rather drive to big box stores to buy sprayed, waxed, over-packaged, transported fruit grown for storability and looks than to pick fresh, free, flavourful fruit growing in our own backyards. Our backyard fruit is left to rot or to be dumped in our landfill. Meanwhile 867,000 Canadians use food banks every month. It doesn’t make sense. So, Fruit Share adopted a new formula X(Share) to reconfigure the status quo. Can the X(Share) formula, where X is anything we have in abundance, be applied elsewhere?