An educator with over 22 years of experience, Ramona Big Head is currently in her second year as principal of the ground-breaking Kainai High School, where she and associate principal Charlton Weasel Head are using a combination of brain science and traditional ways of knowing to help Kainai youth find their identity and advance their education through innovative curricula. A prior instructor at the University of Lethbridge for two years (2011-2013) in the Faculty of Education, Ramona currently is also a PhD Candidate out of the University of British Columbia examining the correlation between arts education and identity in Kainai youth.

At a time where it is emerging as an ever more powerful voice, where is girls' culture headed online, and how powerful a platform for activism and community is it? Dr. Jessalynn Keller is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, Media, & Film at the University of Calgary and an expert in girls’ media cultures, contemporary digital feminisms, and mediated celebrity culture.

When you think about artificial intelligence, do you see an apocalyptic future of a machine-dominated world, or one where human capabilities are augmented in new and potentially wonderful ways? Briana Brownell is a data scientist turned tech entrepreneur, futurist and expert in artificial intelligence. She is exploring Uncanny Learning: impacts of building technology that surprises us with creativity, insight and intelligence.

The second of our main events for 2014, "Truth(s)" explored the depths of what truths we hold to be important. From new dinosaur discoveries, to making the health system work, and understanding the depth of pain being suffered by our Aboriginal communities through the loss of missing and murdered Aboriginal women, our speakers and participants spoke from the heart.

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It's where we started in 2010, with "Humanity 3.0: Leadership the World Needs Now" as our first event. We explored the linked themes of conflict, poverty, youth and elders at our very first TEDxCalgary event, and featured speakers like Naheed Nenshi, Nick Nissley, and many other courageous speakers who believed in what we were doing, and lent us their talents on stage.

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Our main annual event for 2011, "Breaking Through: Exploring the frontiers of ideas and actions" allowed us to explore the question of "where to next?", and what types of ideas and attitudes we needed to make positive change on a number of fronts.

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For our main event in 2012, "City 2.0", we joined more than 30 TEDx organizations in other cities worldwide for a simultaneous day of exploring what happens to our cities when they approach their next horizon of growth and change.

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Our main annual event for 2013, "Energy: Full Spectrum" explored many interpretations of energy, from being a valuable natural resource to human body and mental energy.

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Our main event for 2016, "(r)Evolutions", took us full circle around the immensely creative talents of our speakers, who included the co-founder of Beakerhead, an Olympic gymnast, a guru of the world of work, and scientists using video game technology to better understand bodies.

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Our main event for 2017, "Signal vs Noise", featured speakers ranging from astronauts and astronomers to inventors and poets to soldiers and young robot designers. All had one thing in common: their messages were clear signal that needed to cut through the noise of our crowded, every-day lives.

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