TEDxCalgary
TEDxCalgary

Website URL: http://tedxcalgary.ca

Enyinnah Okere

Published in YES, and... (2023)

Enyinnah Okere is the Chief Operations Officer of the Edmonton Police Services’ Community Safety and Well-being Bureau.

In his current role with EPS, he provides leadership, vision, and strategic direction in the delivery of services focusing on:

o The centralization of resources and expertise to address the needs of those who have entered the justice system, with a focus on deterring serious and crimes, reducing demand on policing, reducing crime and disorder, with the goal of increasing community safety.

o His Bureau, specifically the EPS HELP Team, recently received a 2022 Alberta Community Justice Award – celebrating special efforts taken by professionals to contribute to community justice and serving the public. Community justice occurs when the system and community partners work together to make Alberta safer place to live, while supporting those who have been impacted by crime. It acknowledges our collective strength and our ability to go above and beyond in addressing root causes of crime, reacting to it, and serving those who are most vulnerable in our society.

o He spearheaded the organization's LGBTQ2S+ apology and has led, and continues to endorse, the EPS’ Commitment to Action - the largest ever public engagement initiative with the racialized community.

o Enyinnah chairs the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police (AACP) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.

Recent Awards include:
• Edify Edmonton's Top 40 Under 40 [2021]
• Queen’s Jubilee Award [2023]

He is the co-founder of REET Institute. This is a social impact platform, offering a unique program designed to train, develop, and mentor high school students to become the next generation of investors, owners, and leaders in the commercial real estate industry.

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Wakefield Brewster

Published in YES, and... (2023)

In January 1999, Wakefield Brewster stepped onto his first stage as a Poet and Spoken Word Artist. Today, he is known as one of Canada’s most powerful Professional Performance Poets.

A BlackMan raised in Toronto by parents from Barbados, he has resided in Calgary since 2016, and it is in the New West where Wakefield has been able to truly flourish as a Poet and as a Person.

Throughout his career, Wakefield has been published in several anthologies and since moving to Calgary, he has produced two professional recordings to his credit.

In 2019, he was appointed as The Resident Poet & Spoken Word Artist of The Grand Theatre House in Calgary, Alberta.

In 2021, Wakefield joined The League Of Canadian Poets in order to become a more integral part of Canada’s Literary scene, while representing the standards of Diversity and Representation.

He currently is Calgary’s Poet Laureate for 2022-2024.

After all that the stage has given him, he has discovered other ways that he may repay his beloved Poetry and Arts Communities by performing silently, backstage, for them.

Wakefield finds that underneath the many hats and the many hoodies he wears, resides a wonderful life.

He would like to sincerely Thank You all for being a part of it.

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Bill Chomik

Published in YES, and... (2023)

Bill Chomik has practiced architecture for over four decades. Throughout his career, he has steadfastly focused on enhancing people’s lives through powerful design which blends, with equal weight, form and function. Bill has consistently striven to create impactful built environments that are at once beautiful and utilitarian.

His work, which includes the design of over 700 buildings, spans the globe. He is considered the world’s leading architect in the design of planetariums and observatories, and is currently working on projects in Finland, Helsinki, USA, France, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. Bill’s Canadian accomplishments include the Calgary Courts Centre, National Music Centre, Calgary Humane Society, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Galt Museum, Taylor Family Digital Library, and Simon Fraser University Observatory and Science Park, to name a few.

Bill is committed to engagement in professional and community organizations having served as the president of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, chair of the Alberta Association of Architects (AAA) Banff Sessions, chair of the Calgary Urban Design Review Panel, chair of the Calgary Downtown Business Revitalization Zone, and chair of the Calgary Science Centre, to name only a few. He currently chairs the Calgary Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.

He has been the recipient of many prestigious awards throughout his career, including, among others, the AAA Tom Sutherland Award for Lifetime Achievement in Architecture, AAA Awards of Excellence, and a Governor Generals Medal for Architecture.

Bill is married to his wife of 45 years, Diane, and takes great pleasure in spending time with his children and grandchildren. An accomplished pianist, Bill also enjoys travelling, cooking, writing and golfing.

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Jung-Suk (JS) Ryu

Published in YES, and... (2023)

Jung-Suk (JS) Ryu was appointed the founding President and CEO of the National accessArts Centre (NaAC) in November 2020, after serving as CEO of the organization formerly known as the Indefinite Arts Centre since 2017. Under his leadership, the NaAC has grown to become Canada’s largest disability arts organization, more than doubling in size and proactively showcasing Canadian artists with disabilities on the global stage.

In February 2021, he unveiled plans to construct North America’s first multidisciplinary accessible arts hub, beginning with the revitalization of the old Scouts Hall in central Calgary that will house the NaAC’s visual arts studios – made possible by a multimillion dollar investment form the City of Calgary. In 2023, the NaAC will begin plans to develop the Won Lee Community Arts Hub in Toronto, activating a $2.5 million gallery space that once belonged to the late Canadian sculptor Won Lee.

Prior to this appointment, JS held senior roles across a broad range of sectors including: Director, External Relations at The Banff Centre; Director, Public Affairs with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind; Senior Consultant with the Alberta Medical Association; and Principal Speechwriter to His Excellency Kaoru Ishikawa, Ambassador of Japan. His career began in federal politics, where he was a senior-level campaign director and political aide to one of Canada’s most prominent politicians.

In 2017, JS was named one of five fellows from Canada – one in 50 globally – to participate in the Salzburg Global Seminar’s Forum for Young Cultural Innovators. He was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40 by Avenue Magazine in 2019. In 2022, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. The same year, he was an invited delegate to the Banff Forum.

JS serves or has served on the following boards: US-based National Arts Strategies, the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, Family and Community Support Services – Rocky View County, the Banff Heritage Corporation, Creative Calgary, the Alberta Health Coalition, and the Canadian Mountain Arts Foundation.

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