PACE Event Photos!

WE THINK OUR MIDDLE NAME IS CURIOSITY... AND FUN!

To demonstrte that, we celebrate our post-event for PACE: Impact Beyond Speed with this short video shot by our main stage photographer, Scott Blasken, during the initial talk by Julien LePage. We kicked off with a dynamic shared drumming activation, demonstrating that "pace" takes many forms...

Our event would not be what it was without our amazing volunteers and our speakers...

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For us, it's a rare thing to have one hard-working event photographer capture another having a moment of pure, raw, fun... that's what makes this such a delightful discovery when we were checking photo sets and saw this one of long-time volunteer and true TEDxCalgary friend Scott Blasken. He has captured more iconic images for us over the years with his masterful eye.than we can count, so our thanks to the About Love Photography team for this one!  

Just Released! Visit our TEDxCalgary photo account on Flickr to see speaker and participant photos from the amazing (always!) Scott Blasken of Chinook Arch Photography!

 

 

 

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Joining us this year as a first-time partner was About Love Photography Services, who were at our event to capture images of our Interactions Partners, participants, and volunteers!

They did an exceptional job and captured this amazing set of photos:

TEDx Calgary - 2025 by About Love

 

TEDxCalgary
TEDxCalgary

Website URL: http://tedxcalgary.ca

Larissa Petrocino

Published in Core Team

Larissa Petrocino--Director of Volunteers

Larissa is an experienced TEDx-er coming to us from events in Brazil, and is responsible for guiding our volunteers in pursuit of excellent events!

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Dr. Chelsea Matisz, PhD. MSc - Gut-brain Scientist & Science Communicator

Published in Speakers | PACE: Impact Beyond Speed (2025)

Dr. Chelsea Matisz

Chelsea Matisz is an award-winning gut-brain scientist and science communicator.

She earned her PhD from the University of Calgary, studying how parasites can change immune responses in inflammatory bowel disease. She then completed several fellowships where she explored how inflammation of the gut affects brain and behaviour. Some of her projects included looking at how cannabinoids and psilocybin might be able to reduce pain and anxiety/depression caused by inflammation.

She is passionate about helping people understand how gut health affects brain health and mental health. Her diverse research background includes evolutionary biology, parasitology, gastrointestinal sciences, inflammatory bowel diseases, immunology, and behavioural neuroscience.

Chelsea believes research is a public good, and should be accessible so that people, institutions, and governments can make evidence-based decisions.

What does the theme of PACE mean for you?

Personally, it means making a conscious realignment with the relationship between our bodies and the environment. 
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Gayathri Shukla - Storyteller

Published in Speakers | PACE: Impact Beyond Speed (2025)

Gayathri Shukla

Gayathri Shukla is the founder of Campfire Kinship, a social enterprise that helps organizations build inclusive, trust-based cultures, by starting with one of the most powerful tools we all have: story.

With a background in electrical engineering, an MBA, and now pursuing her PhD in Transdisciplinary Research at the University of Calgary, Gayathri brings a unique mix of rigor, empathy, and lived experience to her work.

After 17 years leading teams in the energy and mining sector, she saw firsthand how innovation stalls when people don’t feel seen or heard. That realization led her to launch Campfire Kinship—where she now works with leaders across industries to move from check-the-box inclusion to real, human connection.

She’s the bestselling author of Landed: Transformative Stories of Canadian Immigrant Women, host of the Hearth 2 Heart podcast, and a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for her community work.

 

What does the theme of PACE mean to you?

To me, this theme is a call to RESPOND, instead of REACT, to the unprecedented pace of change is our world today. This means that human presence, connection, and authentic interaction is still required, despite AI tools prioritizing efficiency. One way to do this is to reflect on what makes us uniquely human - our story.
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PACE: Impact Beyond Speed

Published in TEDxCalgary Events

Unravelling by Freddy Meynard (2025)

See our Online Event Program for details

 

Our 2025 event, "PACE: Impact Beyond Speed", takes us on a deep journey about this time and place in our human story.

We're in a time of great flux, where the pace of life, the speed of decisions, environmental and political volatility and the rate of technological change conspire to... exhaust? inspire? terrify?

Take your pick!

Our dozen speakers and performers will provoke deep discussions, leading to even more profound connections for participants. They'll be joined by our interactions partners, whose activations will take your thinking even further as you directly experience ideas in action.

Join us on October 25th!

 

GET TICKETS NOW ON SHOWPASS!

 

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Introducing our PACE: Impact Beyond Speed speakers...


PACE2025speakers

 

Announcing the full list of speakers for PACE: Impact Beyond Speed on October 25th! 

Individual speaker profiles will continue to appear over the next couple of weeks, but here's the overview of our speaker line-up.

Top Row, Left to Right

Chad Lefevre

Transformational Changemaker

Julien LePage

Registered Social Worker (BSW, MSW Leadership), trauma specialist, and lifelong drummer

Dr. Kerry Black, PhD, PEng

Associate Professor, University of Calgary and Canada Research Chair in (Re)Engineering Sustainable Communities

Kate Thompson, Architect, AAA, FRAIC

President & CEO of Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC)

Middle Row, Left to Right

Dr. Chelsea Matisz, PhD, MSc

Gut-Brain Scientist and Science Communicator

Wish Bakshi

Founder & AI Systems Engineer | Specialist in Commodities Trading & Operations (OT) | Power, Nat Gas, Data Centers, LNG, SCADA

Shone Thistle

Calgary Poet Laureate, 2024-26, author, poet and multidisciplinary artist

George Damian

Philanthopist and Tech Investor

Bottom Row, Left to Right

Gayathri Shukla, PEng., MBA

Storyteller and founder of Campfire Kinship

Dr. Laleh Behjat, PhD, PEng (b. 328/423 ppm*)

Professor in Electrical and Software Engineering at the University of Calgary and the NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering – Prairies

Dr. Lina Kattan, PhD. P. Eng.

Professor in the Schulich School of Engineering, the Urban Alliance Professor in Transportation System Optimization, and program director of CREATE-Integrated Infrastructure for Sustainable Cities

The Honourable Leela Aheer

Former Alberta MLA and Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women (2019 - 2021)

 

*A personal measure of what the Earth's CO2 levels were at birth, compared to now. All of us should know this!

 

 

Check out our list of Past Events, complete with links to all the amazing talks we've recorded!

We're immensely proud of all our speakers, and encourage you to enjoy the talks.

The TEDxCalgary Team

 

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