Passion Speaker Series Events
Are you interested in sharing your passion or career journey?
Apply below to be a speaker for Convergence in the 2022-2023 year. Deadline to apply is July 31st.
Apply below to be a speaker for Convergence in the 2022-2023 year. Deadline to apply is July 31st.
Upcoming Speakers
Stay Tuned for Next Season's Speakers
2021-2022 Past Speakers
Tarek Ghazzaoui - Building Engineer
Tarek Ghazzaoui is a building engineer with 10+ years experience in Design Technology, with a keen interest in business management, change management and innovation. As a results-driven and detail-oriented professional, he is passionate about helping architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms manage change and leverage the use of technology and computational design. His management experience coupled with his technical expertise helped improve organizational cultures, tackle complex workflows and overcome challenging designs.
Tarek had the privilege of working with and managing interdisciplinary BIM teams of up to 70+ members on major construction projects ranging from $200M to $2.2B, including airports, hospitals, sports complexes, factories as well as residential, commercial and mixed-use projects in Canada and the US.
Tarek holds certificates in project management, marketing and product development, and is a professional member of OIQ, ASHRAE and PMI. He is also fluent in English, French and Arabic, intermediate in Russian and beginner in Mandarin Chinese.
Tarek had the privilege of working with and managing interdisciplinary BIM teams of up to 70+ members on major construction projects ranging from $200M to $2.2B, including airports, hospitals, sports complexes, factories as well as residential, commercial and mixed-use projects in Canada and the US.
Tarek holds certificates in project management, marketing and product development, and is a professional member of OIQ, ASHRAE and PMI. He is also fluent in English, French and Arabic, intermediate in Russian and beginner in Mandarin Chinese.
Victor Martinez - Product and Industrial Design
Dr. Victor Martinez – Started his professional career as car designer in Mexico and later in Italy collaborating in projects for FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Italdesign-Giugiaro among many others.
He has worked as an independent designer for 20 years wining a Red Dot Award, and as academic has explored the sustainability and future of design linked to Systems Thinking and Complexity Theory. |
Michelle Lauwers & jenny green - dentistry
neil kamide - education
Mr. Kamide was born and raised in Richmond and has spent most of his life in Richmond Schools. After graduating from a Richmond High School, Mr. Kamide coached basketball and football in the District while attending University. After Student Teaching in Richmond, Mr. Kamide was hired as a teacher in Richmond. Mr. Kamide taught for 8 years, served as a vice principal (London and McMath) for 6 years and then served as a principal (Boyd, Cambie, McMath, and McRoberts) for the past 22 years. In total, Mr. Kamide has been part of the Richmond School District for over 50 years as a student, coach, and educator.
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Perigon games - game design
Perigon Games was formed about two years ago in the summer of May 2019 by a group of students from UBC. We formed the team with the purpose of publishing our first game together as most of us had not done so and we wanted to show ourselves that we were able to get this done while working on the game part time while we were all still students. Now, two years later, the goal remains the same even though most of us are now working full time jobs.
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Lucas kuhn - astronomy
Lucas is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Astronomy at the University of British Columbia. His research primarily focuses on extragalactic astronomy (i.e. the study of our galaxy and beyond) and he has completed several such research projects as an intern at the Canadian Space Agency and as a visiting researcher at Western University. Outside of his work, Lucas is also greatly attentive to the outreach aspect of astronomy seen through his role as the president of the UBC Astronomy Club and board member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s Education and Public Outreach Committee.
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gurkamal dhillon - nursing
Hello! My name is Gurkamal and I’m currently a 2nd year nursing student at BCIT. I’m completing my maternity and pediatrics rotation at this time. I’m interested in pursuing a career in either public health or maternity. Outside of school, I enjoy trying new restaurants, biking along the seawall and kayaking. I love traveling but due to the pandemic I haven’t been able to as much as I would like. Some of my recent trips (pre-covid) were to New York and Los Angeles.
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2020-2021 Past Speakers
andrew welling - entrepreneurship
In March 2019, Andrea joined Futurpreneur as the Regional Director for BC & Yukon. For 7.5 years prior she worked at the YMCA where she managed EI Self Employment programs in Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast and the Kootenays.
Andrea has a BA in Political Science and Business from the University of Calgary and a Master’s degree in Women’s Studies from Simon Fraser University. The Master’s thesis focused on food security, local economic development and women in business. After completing her master’s degree, Andrea decided to become an entrepreneur and co-founded Ladybug Organics Home Delivery Service in the Fraser Valley. The experience of being an entrepreneur fuels Andrea’s passion for the work she does today for Futurpreneur Canada. To reach out to Andrea for questions, advice or mentorship, feel free to email her at [email protected]! |
vivian - social work
Hello! My name is Vivian and I graduated from UBC in May 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. I am currently working as a Mental Health Clinician for Fraser Health, and am also a Research Assistant for UBC and Laurentian University working on 8 projects in areas of child welfare and social work education.
I am passionate about mental health advocacy, particularly with children and youth, and hope to apply this to a future career in law. In my free time, I enjoy trying new foods, being outdoors, and spending time with my family and friends! To reach out to Vivian for questions, advice or mentorship, feel free to email her at [email protected]! |
beatriz martin - animation
After earning a medical degree from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), a Fulbright Scholarship allowed her to pursue a MA in Biological and Medical Illustration at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After working in Sweden for the Karolinska Institute as a Graphic artist, in 2015 she moved to Canada to study animation. With curiosity and enthusiasm, Bea has collaborated with scientists, physicians, and other specialists to transform complex information into illustrations and animations, merging art with science.
She currently works at WildBrain Studios as character animator and freelances as science illustrator and educator. To reach out to Beatriz for questions, advice or mentorship, feel free to email her at [email protected]! |
laurel wayne-nixon - international development
Laurel moved to Vancouver in the summer of 2018 to do an internship with BCCIC. She had spent the previous year in Norway, busy with the first year of her Masters in International Environmental Studies. Prior to moving abroad, Laurel lived in Victoria and obtained a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies from the University of Victoria.
She was a cheerleader for 9 years and has an impressive house plant collection (of over 20 plants!). Laurel is passionate about the intersection between policy, food, and environmental sustainability, and she wrote her Masters thesis on the barriers that environmentally-sustainable food businesses face. Laurel started working on SDG policy briefs during her internship at BCCIC and became fully immersed in the 2030 Agenda. She sees a powerful opportunity in the SDGs, and she loves to build meaningful partnerships through BCCIC to achieve these goals. To reach out to Laurel for questions, advice or mentorship, feel free to email her at [email protected]! |
erin cherban - clinical research
Erin Cherban is the Chief Clinical Research Officer for the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network and the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences. The CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN) is a national network of clinical trial sites that has received continuous federal funding for the last 30 years. The Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS) is a multidisciplinary health research centre founded to pursue excellence in research through the rigorous evaluation, interpretation, and dissemination of health outcomes information.
Erin’s expertise includes management of academic clinical research centres; protocol development; clinical trial project management; monitoring clinical trial sites; and collaborative leadership of multidisciplinary teams. Erin is actively involved in volunteer work to promote clinical research continuing education and professional development. To reach out to Erin for questions, advice or mentorship, feel free to email her at [email protected]! |
andrew wade - theatre arts
Andrew Wade is the Executive Director for the Richmond Arts Coalition, and is an award-winning playwright, actor, and stage manager. A 2011 University of Victoria graduate (BFA in Acting, BA in Writing), he won the 2011 Vancouver Young Playwright's Competition for The Romantics and has written and performed original works in twenty-three festivals across Canada.
Wade co-created and wrote book+lyrics for TITUS! The Light and Delightful Musical Comedy of Titus Andronicus, which received a five-star review from the Vancouver Sun, and wrote the Steveston historic vignettes. He geeks out about professional wrestling and magic cards. |
cody lo - medicine
Cody is a 4th year medical student at UBC. He received his BSc in Pharmacology from UBC where he graduated as a Wesbrook scholar and recipient of the Carl Bradford Robertson scholarship, two of the University’s most prestigious designations.
He is active in research having conducted work in pharmacogenomics at Stanford University. He is an author of over 30 academic publications and has given presentations at international conferences. He is also committed to medical education as an instructor with UBC’s Vancouver Summer Program, by sitting on several academic committees, and has created multiple educational modules for UBC’s medical program. |
lauren venema - event planning
Lauren Venema is an Event Planner who loves bringing the biggest events to life. Since completing her Bachelor of Commerce Degree at the UBC Sauder School of Business Lauren has been part of the organizing teams behind some of BC’s biggest events – GranFondo cycling races, IronMan Triathlons, National Triathlon Championships, Scotiabank Half Marathon, and UBC Orientations.
She lives in South Surrey with her husband of 7 years, is very involved in the church and local community, spends more time at her Crossfit gym than most people consider normal, and is excited to be welcoming a baby girl to the family in November. |