Anila is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Newcomers, and has 25 years of experience in the settlement sector. During her tenure as CEO, she has spearheaded programming to include volunteer-led refugee supports; indigenous integration for newcomers; LGBTQ+ supports, domestic violence, homeless and mental health support services and broadened vulnerable youth programming and social venture opportunities.

Dr. Ryan Todd is a psychiatrist at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, where he has seen and treated thousands of individuals who have a mental illness as a result of trauma, medical or surgical illness.

Dr. Todd believes mental wellness can be learned and practiced by everyone, and that technology is a vital resource in helping bridge the gap between demand and mental healthcare today. This belief fuelled his desire to start headversity, a mental wellness tech company where he acts as CEO. Through headversity, Dr. Todd envisions building a culture of mental wellness in the Canadian workforce through mobile, micro, and measurable training.

What else do you do after you've been a world traveller (including working as a carnie and on a cattle station in Australia), ran for city council at age 20, and completed an engineering degree? Move to Canada and start over 75,000 conversations that matter, of course!

We first saw glimpses of Jan's skills with deep conversations at TEDFest in 2018, when his Ask Deep Questions cards were being used to spark new ideas and deep conversation across TEDx organizers from around the world. Right then, we knew he was someone we wanted as part of our ENGAGE: with Ideas series, which is all about making new and deeper connections across our participants. Jan is a connection coach based in Toronto, a video creator, and a passionate entrepreneur.

Spoken word poet meets eternal optimist: Miranda's poetry ranges in topic from child's play to empowerment, giving life's obstacles a feel-good finish. A Calgary Arts Development grant recipient, a 2-time Canada Council for the Arts grant recipient, a member of the 2016 national wild card team, and a member of the 2013 Spoken Word Program at the Banff Centre, she now runs the spoken word network YYSpeak: a communal and supportive space for local spoken word artists.

Since "a dozen different cultures who historically hated each other had to make love to make [her]," Krogstad has developed a keen interest in inclusivity and acceptance. From fully-captioned shows to events on gender equality, mental health, and cultural diversity, her spoken word poetry strives to be empowering and accessible to varying abilities and languages. Ultimately, her work encourages individuals of all walks of life to share their voice kindly, bravely, and inclusively.

Explore a different way of building community through deep, intentional dialogue. In the process, discover how we can help shape our sense of purpose either individually, or collectively as a city.

Our three speakers sparked our imaginations with their talks, sharing both perspectives and tools that our participants could use to engage other participants in a set of deep conversations about what YOU think we need to change about our dialogue on community. We immersed ourselves in interactions with other equally curious Calgarians, helping us generate a new and far-reaching conversation about how we define our purpose.

Especially amidst our current environment of rampant "Me, Here, Now" thinking that emphasizes short-term gratification over long-term thinking about the impacts of our gradually changing land use habits, Dr. Brad Stelfox's message from our Energy: Full Spectrum event in 2013 is even more important than ever. And, as many climate change activists remind us, time is running out.

It's a stark and compelling reminder that we need to engage in deeper societal discussions about the way in which we intend to use our most precious assets of water, land, and energy. Back in 2013, more than 77% of Alberta's land was under some form of active use, and key indicators of water quality were steadily declining. Today's picture is no better, and likely worse based on the historical numbers. The challenge is that such change is gradual, and easily slips past our human notice – akin to the famous "boiling frog" fable.

 

An accomplished professional strategist, commentator, and multi-book author, Satya's talk at our 2011 "Breaking Through" event contributed a recurring theme for us as an organization: helping to make Calgary not just one of the best cities IN the world, but one of the best FOR the world.

There are many people and organizations across Calgary – and Alberta – who are seeking a similar outcome, but few express it as eloquently, thoughtfully, and passionately as Satya. In his talk, he reminds us that we enjoy the unique position of having won the "geological lottery", sitting atop some of the world's most impressive proven reserves of oil and gas (not to mention other forms of geothermal energy, solar, and wind). Along with the relative prosperity and immense opportunity that brings in comparision to other parts of Canada and the world, it also conveys with it a sense of responsibility. Alone, our province has enough theoretical natural resources wealth to be able to finance resolving intractable world problems like hunger. But how will we choose to spend our legacy?

Since his talk with us in 2011, Satya continues to be a dynamic media commentator in both English and French, and is launching a new book in 2019 called Us, about humans who live together enjoying freedom from fear and freedom from want: in community, with dignity, in harmony with one another and with the natural world. Along with his other works, it highlights a rich personal life matched with professional and volunteer work that is deeply informed with a lifelong commitment to human rights as a way of life, and the principles of human dignity espoused by M.K. Gandhi.

A week after the event, it's easier to gain perspective on what our ENGAGE: Intentionally salon meant as a formal kick-off to our year of engaging with ideas.

Special thanks to Calgary on Purpose, our event partners for the ENGAGE: Intentionally Salon. They are a group of Calgarians interested in what makes a ‘successful’ city, and are engaging people from all walks of life to join that conversation. As a citizen-led platform, their mission is to increase transparency, build trust, and facilitate inclusion. They believe that every individual has the power to shape Calgary’s future.

Our deepest appreciation to the Calgary Public Library for their encouragement and ongoing support of our programming efforts in so many different areas. They have been am excellent and steadfast partner since our very early days.

Special mention has to be made about our community salon series. Pre-COVID, three times a month, nine months out of the year, we held small gatherings of curious Calgarians at library branches in downtown (New Central Library), the Southeast (Fish Creek Library) and the Northwest (Crowfoot Library). We watched a pre-recorded TEDTalk together, and dove deep into conversation on what it means for us as engaged citizens, and the wider context of Calgary. For us, that was a fundamental building block of our helping to build community.

As we slowly emerge from COVID, we hope to resume a new series of programming opportunities with the Library. Stay tuned in 2023!