With just under two months to go until this year’s TEDxEastVan event, we’ve finally narrowed the list down to a group of speakers that we think truly reflect the spirit of TED and East Vancouver and will help us explore this year’s theme of “Human”.


Without further ado, here’s the first round of speakers with a little hint as to what their ideas worth spreading might be when they take the stage at the York Theatre on September 16th!

Bernhard Riecke
Words to Describe Me: Crossing Boundaries
Favourite TED Talk: Philip Zimbardo, The Demise of Guys?

After working as a post-doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Vanderbilt University and UC Santa Barbara, Bernhard joined SFU in 2008 as an associate professor at their School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) and directs their iSpace Lab. He likes to go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, combining natural sciences approaches (being a physicist by training) with human-centered and creative approaches (drawing from Psychology, Cognitive Science, Meditation, HCI, Design, and Art) using immersive Virtual Reality. He is increasingly interested in exploring how we could utilize the potential of multi-sensory media like Virtual Reality to foster meaningful or even pivotal experiences and profound emotional shifts that we might otherwise never be able to experience.

Patricia Liedl
3 Words to Describe: author, shit-disturber, iconoclast
Favourite TED Talk: I like them all!

Patricia Leidl is a Senior International Communications Advisor who specializes in strategic communications, political/security analysis and reputational risk management. Her clients and former employers include various international think tanks and non-governmental and multi-lateral agencies—a variety of United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization. Leidl has also consulted with various United States International Development Agency (USAID)-funded projects in Afghanistan, Yemen and Africa. Her 2015 book, The Hillary Doctrine: Sex and American Foreign Policy examines the relationship between the subjugation of women and the security of states.

Dr. Mari Swingle
3 Words to Describe: a Vibrant lateral thinker
Favourite TED Talk: Gabor Maté, The Power of Addiction and The Addiction of Power

Dr. Mari Swingle is an active writer, researcher and practitioner who has been working in collaborative clinical practice with adults, children and families at the Swingle Clinic for over twenty years. She is author of i-Minds: How Cell Phones, Computers, Gaming and Social Media are Changing Our Brains, Our Behavior, and the Evolution of Our Species and a 2015 recipient of a prestigious Federation of Associations in Brain and Behavioral Sciences Foundation (FABBS) Early Career Impact Award. Her message is strong; speaking to the need for balance between our relationship(s) with technology and with each other.

Mohammed Alsaleh
3 Words to Describe: Syrian Canadian Advocate
Favourite TED Talk: Alexander Betts, Our Refugee System is Failing. Here's How We can Fix it

During his final years of Med school, Mohammed Alsaleh was forced to flee Syria after surviving imprisonment and torture by the Assad regime for his involvement in the peaceful Syrian uprising. Fleeing to neighboring Lebanon, he had lost all hope facing hardships of forced displacement until his hope was restored by Canada. In 2014, he was offered a new opportunity in life as one of the first 28 Syrian refugee arrivals ever resettled in BC. Since then, Mohammed has been building a new life in Metro Vancouver while resuming his activism as a public speaker and volunteer at various public engagements, raising awareness and helping other newcomers settle in Canada.
 He currently serves as a Refugee Resettlement worker with Immigrant Services Society of BC. His journey from Syria to Canada and his work with refugees was featured in the documentary "Welcome to Canada".

Wendy Quan
3 Words to Describe: Compassion, Intention, Service.
Favourite TED Talk: Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight

Wendy Quan, founder of The Calm Monkey, is the industry leader helping organizations implement self-sustaining mindfulness meditation programs using change management techniques to create personal and organizational change resiliency. She trains and certifies meditators to become workplace and community facilitators through workshops and online training. Wendy is a certified organizational change manager who has been recognized as a pioneer by the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, the global Association of Change Management Professionals and the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources. Her worldwide clients include Google, the government of Dubai and amazing individuals who want to make a positive difference in the world.