Things That Matter

Carrie Hessler-Radelet is the President & CEO of Global Communities, an international non-profit organization dedicated to catalyzing local ingenuity and global insights to save lives, advance equity and secure strong futures.  Prior to that, Carrie served as the President & CEO of Project Concern International (PCI), which merged into Global Communities in 2020.   Under the Obama Administration, Carrie led the US Peace Corps, first as Deputy Director (2010-2012), Acting and then Senate-Confirmed Director (2012-2017), leading America’s iconic international volunteer service organization with programs in over 65 countries. At Peace Corps, she and her team led historic reforms to modernize and strengthen the agency to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. Prior to her Peace Corps appointment, Carrie worked as the Vice President and Director of the Washington D.C. office of John Snow, Inc. (JSI), overseeing the management of public health programs in 85 countries around the world. Her decades of global health work also included serving as the lead consultant on the first Five-Year Global HIV/AIDS Strategy for the US Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), working with USAID in Indonesia on maternal and child health and HIV programming, founding the Special Olympics in The Gambia, and serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer with her husband, Steve Radelet, in Western Samoa. Carrie is passionate about accompanying communities on their pathway to developing their own sustainable, innovative solutions to reducing poverty and building resilience. She holds a Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Boston University. Rose Kamyab is a medical student at McGill University. She has devoted much of her time to science communications and to research in the field of Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. The majority of Rose's work outside of science and medicine is comprised of policy analysis, political campaigning and to bringing equal access to STEM education to youth from underprivileged backgrounds. Meimei Weston, from Vancouver, Canada, is a senior at Harvard University, pursuing a degree in History of Science, with a Secondary in Government. Passionate about educating, inspiring and empowering youth, she has experience working in Senegal on a women empowerment project, in rural Vietnam teaching in an area with low education and graduation rates, and mentoring underprivileged children in rural Boston through the Harvard Education Portal. Meimei is a founding advisor of the Canadian Health and Fitness Institute, worked at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, served as the Prime Minister of the Harvard Canadian Club, and rows on Harvard’s Women’s Varsity Lightweight team. She speaks French and studied Mandarin in Greater China, and is eager to learn more about international affairs through a career of foreign service and politics post graduation.

Business owner, board member, author, columnist, TV host, professional athlete World record holder Father and Husband all describe Dave Phillips. He has also been a stunt man, professional ski show performer, and coach for some of Canada's finest athletes. Dave broke two Guinness World Records for ski duration. The first on snow by skiing continuously for over 83 hours (500 chairlift rides and over 340,000 vertical feet) and the second on water by skiing over 2140 KM in 57 hours (Almost from Vancouver to Winnipeg) with partner Ralph Hildebrand. Dave was also awarded the Bronze Medal for Bravery for his part in a life saving effort. Currently he spends his time as a speaker and Leadership Mentor for CEO's and business leaders. He is a top ranked YPO (Young Presidents Organization) resource who has presented to groups in Canada, USA and the UK. Over the past 25 years he has served on the boards of several public and private companies. Dave is married to Ontario Native and Olympic Gold Medalist in Alpine Skiing, Kathy Kreiner-Phillips. They now live in North Vancouver and have three grown Children, Nelson, Liam & Michela. For 25 years, Jonathan Michael, ,has been a teacher, exemplar, activator and mentor of world class leaders, a catalyst for change in organizations and an experienced and certified Job and Career Development Coach and Senior Birkman Consultant. He has been trained in Coaching, leadership and effectiveness philosophy and practices, by Blue Point Leadership (formerly the Tom Peters Company), the Coaches Training Institute and Franklin Covey. He is a Senior Birkman Certified Consultant (Level III), Job and Career Development Coach (JCDC) and Principal of Foresight Leadership Solutions. He has been mentored in Career Development by Richard Knowdell, renowned career development author, and the founder of the Career Development Network. Jonathan graduated with an M.A. from Trinity Western University, winning the prestigious Governor General’s Gold Medal, which is the highest academic achievement in Canadian education. Other people of note who have won this award include Pierre Trudeau, Tommy Douglas, Kim Campbell, Robert Bourassa, Robert Stanfield and Gabrielle Roy. Hundreds of young people and those seeking to have clarity around career choices and personal and leadership development have consulted Jonathan, whether a Harvard trained Lawyer or the President of Canada’s largest University Student Society. Jonathan is also mentioned several times in his role as a Coach and Birkman Consultant because of his transformational results, in the book “The Birkman Method” by Stephanie Capparell (author of the best selling “Shackleton’s Way”) and Sharon Birkman Fink, CEO of Birkman International Inc. “The Birkman Method” was among Amazon’s top ten business books for May 2013. Jonathan’s clients are as diverse as a Member of Parliament, University Administrators, HR Directors, Small business owners and a President of Canada’s largest Student Society.

Between 1984 and 2001 John worked as a lawyer and senior civil servant for the Government of British Columbia;  a partner in western Canada’s largest public affairs firm;  and a lobbyist for the Jim Pattison Group.  Since 2001 he has operated his own government relations firm in Vancouver.  John has also been active in the political process, having worked on over 50 federal, provincial and municipal election campaigns since 1979. He has also served on the boards of numerous community, charitable, political and business organizations. Cathy Peters is a former inner city high school teacher raising awareness about "Human Sex Trafficking, Sexual Exploitation and Child Sex Trafficking" to politicians, police and the public. She has received 13 Challenge Coins for her work and advocacy from law enforcement detachments and recently presented at a RCMP Human trafficking Webinar for law enforcement across Canada. She presented at the Global Summit "Connecting to Protect" (University of Calgary) and has been keynote speaker at MMIWG gatherings and various Indigenous groups. She received the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal. 

Markku has served as an executive in the non-profit sector for over twenty years and is passionate about seeing organizations grow and develop in executing their mission and impact. To enable this, Markku takes an entrepreneurial and relational approach to revenue generation and partnerships. He loves developing organizational strategies and coaching CEOs and leadership teams to grow organizations. "I first engaged with Sanctuary Mental Health (sanctuarymentalhealth.org) as a volunteer after being diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder a few years ago. This work is so critical and timely. I love what Sanctuary does. It is a huge privilege for me now to serve with Sanctuary and help the organization have a broader impact on mental well-being. " Dr. Jeanne Talbot is currently working at the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR) at The Royal as a Physician Scientist. Her research areas of interest are the synergies between ketamine treatment and psychotherapy for chronic depression and the study of novel non—pharmacological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder. Until recently, Dr. Talbot was the psychiatry residency training director in the University of Ottawa Department Of Psychiatry. Prior to this, she was the psychotherapy director in the uOttawa department of Psychiatry. Prior to completing her medical degree at the University of Montreal, she also completed a PhD in neuroscience in Montreal, including imaging studies at the Montreal Neurological Institute.  She then went on to complete her psychiatry residency training in the University of Toronto and McGill. After psychiatry training, she completed a fellowship in cognitive behavioural therapy at McGill. She is certified by the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and has supervised and taught cognitive behavioural therapy for over 25 years. Silke is a Movement Disorder Neurologist, Associate Professor and Marg Meikle Professor at the University of British Columbia. With a strong athletic background, her clinical and research work focusses on a holistic, interdisciplinary approach for physical and emotional wellbeing, promoting active engagement in care through exercise, art, mindfulness, nutrition, and community building. She is investigating the role of the gut microbiome with the goal to find new approaches to neurodegenerative disorders. She serves as the director of the annual National Canadian Neurology Residents Course for Movement Disorders, as President of the Canadian Movement Disorder Group and co-founding director of the BC Brain Wellness Foundation.

Ozzie loves real estate. He managed large corporations in Canada and the US, small ones in Canada and Taiwan and created countless real estate investment ventures . He wrote 4 books, 23000 subscribers get his Ozbuzz blogs and ozcasts. He sees himself as eclectic, is thrilled with life and loves boating, skiing, playing games and being ‘in action’ . He adores his 5 grand kids, son and daughter and his ONE wife.

Born in 1963, and the son of a WWII veteran, Karl graduated from University of London, in 1984 with a BSc Honours degree in geology. Based in London between 1984 and 2009 Karl opened, operated, and sold many successful restaurants, bars, and music & comedy venues. In 2011 he was named one of the top twenty most influential people in the UK hospitality trade. He has found success as a real estate investor and developer since 1987 and involved in the travel sector since 2000, Karl is a co-founder and co-owner of a well-known family holiday brand operating in the UK, France, Spain and Ireland. In sport Karl was a co-founder/investor at Seattle SeaWolves which took the silverware in the first two seasons of Major League Rugby in the United States. He has been an occasional contributing writer for UK satirical magazine Private Eye. He has co-produced a series of award- winning short horror films. A campaigner for reform of abusive practices in the UK pub sector Karl was instrumental in The Fair Pint Campaign culminating in a change to UK law after the successful defeat of the Cameron government on the issue in House of Commons and the passage of a private member’s bill. Since 2009 he has lived in Vancouver, Canada, with Emma, his partner of 30 years and their two children. After family other passions include travel, wine, cooking, flyfishing for steelhead, big spaces, hunting, film, IPA, growing anything, being on his boat off the BC coast, music, trying to be better at playing the guitar, generally realizing that we aren’t here for very long at all, and motorbikes.............. Rupa Subramanya is a researcher and writer with graduate degrees in economics and international affairs from Carleton University, with more than ten years of experience in impactful, evidence-based public policy analysis and commentary focusing on India and the Asia Pacific region. At present, Ms. Subramanya is a columnist for the National Post and Nikkei Asia, focusing on Canada, India, and Asia Pacific issues. For a decade, Rupa was based in India, where she wrote regularly on economics and public policy issues in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and The Globe and Mail, among others. She has written reports on India and Asia Pacific issues for think-tanks in Canada and India and co-authored a best-selling book, Indianomix, published by Random House in 2012 and reprinted in paperback in 2015. Ms. Subramanya’s writing on violence against women in India led to a co-authored front page story in The Wall Street Journal (2013), which won the prestigious Society of Publishers in Asia award, and the story was anthologized in a book published by Harper Collins. Her recent research on sectarian violence in India has been widely cited, including in The Financial Times (2017). She is frequently interviewed in the international media, including in outlets such as The New York Times, Financial Times, and BBC News and by think-tanks such as Hudson Institute. Her research and writing have been quoted in parliamentary debates in both India and Australia. Ms. Subramanya has spoken at numerous invitation-only conferences and seminars, including making presentations to government officials and corporate and civil society leaders. Fora that she has spoken at or been invited as a panellist include the American Enterprise Institute, the Liberty Fund, the India Trilateral Forum (Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the US National Nuclear Security Administration, and Asia Society, amongst others.

Born in 1963, and the son of a WWII veteran, Karl graduated from University of London, in 1984 with a BSc Honours degree in geology. Based in London between 1984 and 2009 Karl opened, operated, and sold many successful restaurants, bars, and music & comedy venues. In 2011 he was named one of the top twenty most influential people in the UK hospitality trade. He has found success as a real estate investor and developer since 1987 and involved in the travel sector since 2000, Karl is a co-founder and co-owner of a well-known family holiday brand operating in the UK, France, Spain and Ireland. In sport Karl was a co-founder/investor at Seattle SeaWolves which took the silverware in the first two seasons of Major League Rugby in the United States. He has been an occasional contributing writer for UK satirical magazine Private Eye. He has co-produced a series of award- winning short horror films. A campaigner for reform of abusive practices in the UK pub sector Karl was instrumental in The Fair Pint Campaign culminating in a change to UK law after the successful defeat of the Cameron government on the issue in House of Commons and the passage of a private member’s bill. Since 2009 he has lived in Vancouver, Canada, with Emma, his partner of 30 years and their two children. After family other passions include travel, wine, cooking, flyfishing for steelhead, big spaces, hunting, film, IPA, growing anything, being on his boat off the BC coast, music, trying to be better at playing the guitar, generally realizing that we aren’t here for very long at all, and motorbikes.............. Rupa Subramanya is a freelance writer based in Ottawa.

A graduate of Harvard, and Former CEO of Dominion Construction, David helped bring the 2010 Olympics to Vancouver. As a professor, family enterprise advisor, and executive coach, David has written three books: The Company You Keep, Leaving a Legacy, and his most recent book Dear Younger Me: Wisdom for Family Enterprise Successors. In 2021, David was the kick-off speaker at TEDx Bear Creek Park for his talk Change Your Heroes; Change Your Life. In 2013, in his age group, he was ranked the number one male slalom skier in the world. Lynn Kanuka-Williams is a Canadian athlete from Saskatchewan. She competed in 3000m races, as well as a smaller number of 1500m races. She competed for Canada at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, U.S. in the 3,000 metres where she won the bronze medal. Four years later in South Korea she finished fifth in the 1500 metres. Additionally, she collected a bronze medal at the 1989 World Cross Country championships. Lynn is currently a  coach, and has created a special website to let all people have access to simple, tried-and-true running programs so they can #GetBacktoRunning during COVID.

A graduate of Harvard, and Former CEO of Dominion Construction, David helped bring the 2010 Olympics to Vancouver. As a professor, family enterprise advisor, and executive coach, David has written three books: The Company You Keep, Leaving a Legacy, and his most recent book Dear Younger Me: Wisdom for Family Enterprise Successors. In 2021, David was the kick-off speaker at TEDx Bear Creek Park for his talk Change Your Heroes; Change Your Life. In 2013, in his age group, he was ranked the number one male slalom skier in the world. Lynn Kanuka-Williams is a Canadian athlete from Saskatchewan. She competed in 3000m races, as well as a smaller number of 1500m races. She competed for Canada at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, U.S. in the 3,000 metres where she won the bronze medal. Four years later in South Korea she finished fifth in the 1500 metres. Additionally, she collected a bronze medal at the 1989 World Cross Country championships. Lynn is currently a  coach, and has created a special website to let all people have access to simple, tried-and-true running programs so they can #GetBacktoRunning during COVID.

Jonathan Manthorpe has been a journalist and author for over 55 years, mostly as a foreign correspondent and international affairs columnist. Manthorpe worked for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the Southam Group of Canadian metropolitan newspapers. Outside journalism, he was an advisor to Pierre Trudeau on patriation of the constitution, and was a member of the 2003-2006 Canada-Japan Forum. He has also done projects for the United Nations, the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank, and NGOs. Lihsin Liu assumed her post as Director General of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver in October 2021. During her 23 years of foreign service for the Taiwan Foreign Ministry, she was posted twice in the United States, respectively in Houston, Texas in 2002-2008, and Los Angeles, California in 2012-2018. Prior to her current post, she worked in the Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs, Deputy Foreign Minister’s Office, Mainland Affairs Council, Department of North American Affairs and Department of East Asian & Pacific Affairs. She has a master’s degree from SAIS, the Johns Hopkins University with a major in China Studies and international economics. She enjoys hiking, traveling, jogging, playing piano and reading. Li-hsin is happily married to Sam Tsay, a Taiwanese American and a commercial real estate investor and developer in Dallas, Texas, and they have no children.

Jonathan Manthorpe has been a journalist and author for over 55 years, mostly as a foreign correspondent and international affairs columnist. Manthorpe worked for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the Southam Group of Canadian metropolitan newspapers. Outside journalism, he was an advisor to Pierre Trudeau on patriation of the constitution, and was a member of the 2003-2006 Canada-Japan Forum. He has also done projects for the United Nations, the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank, and NGOs. Lihsin Liu assumed her post as Director General of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver in October 2021. During her 23 years of foreign service for the Taiwan Foreign Ministry, she was posted twice in the United States, respectively in Houston, Texas in 2002-2008, and Los Angeles, California in 2012-2018. Prior to her current post, she worked in the Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs, Deputy Foreign Minister’s Office, Mainland Affairs Council, Department of North American Affairs and Department of East Asian & Pacific Affairs. She has a master’s degree from SAIS, the Johns Hopkins University with a major in China Studies and international economics. She enjoys hiking, traveling, jogging, playing piano and reading. Li-hsin is happily married to Sam Tsay, a Taiwanese American and a commercial real estate investor and developer in Dallas, Texas, and they have no children. Register at johnweston.ca/register

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Join John Weston along with The Honourable Michael Chong and world-renowned Journalist Jonathan Manthorpe for a lively discussion on Managing Canada's Foreign Affairs.

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