2018 Speakers
Dr. Kathy Reichs
Forensic Anthropologist and
Author and Producer of the hit Fox TV series, Bones
Kathy Reichs’s first novel Déjà Dead catapulted her to fame when it became a New York Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. Her other Temperance Brennan books include Death du Jour, Deadly Décisions, Fatal Voyage, Grave Secrets, Bare Bones, Monday Mourning, Cross Bones, Break No Bones, Bones to Ashes, Devil Bones, 206 Bones, Spider Bones, Flash and Bones, Bones Are Forever, Bones of the Lost, Bones Never Lie, Speaking in Bones and the Temperance Brennan short story collection, The Bone Collection. In addition, Kathy co-authored the Virals young adult series with her son, Brendan Reichs. The best-selling titles are: Virals, Seizure, Code, Exposure, Terminal, and the novella collection Trace Evidence. The series follows the adventures of Temperance Brennan’s great niece, Tory Brennan. Dr. Reichs’ latest novel, Two Nights, was released July 11, 2018 and features Sunday Night, a tough-talking, scarred heroine. Dr. Reichs was also a producer of the hit Fox TV series, Bones, which is based on her work and her novels.
From teaching FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains, to separating and identifying commingled body parts in her Montreal lab, as a forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has brought her own dramatic work experience to her mesmerizing forensic thrillers. For years she consulted to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina and to the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Québec. Dr. Reichs has travelled to Rwanda to testify at the UN Tribunal on Genocide, and helped exhume a mass grave in Guatemala. As part of her work at JPAC (Formerly CILHI) she aided in the identification of war dead from World War II, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Dr. Reichs also assisted in the recovery of remains at the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Dr. Reichs is one of 80 forensic anthropologists currently certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. She served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council in Canada. She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
Dr. Reichs is a native of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time between Charlotte, NC and Montreal, Québec.
Séan McCann
Great Big Sea former / founding member, singer-songwriter, mental health, abuse and recovery advocate
Séan McCann bought his first guitar in 1989 which he affectionately calls “Old Brown”. Old Brown has been around. He was there for the first song Séan ever wrote. He was there as Séan founded Great Big Sea, the acclaimed and multi-million album selling band that would change his life. He was there to hold Séan up many a night as he struggled with alcoholism, and he has been there to help guide Séan out of the darkness with music as his medicine.
John Lennon once sang “You can live a lie until you die. One thing you can’t hide is when you’re crippled inside.” After exiting the internationally renowned Newfoundland folk group and publicly admitting a secret past where he used alcohol to mask the pain of sexual abuse by a priest ; Séan stopped lying to himself. With his 2 sons and his wife Andrea as his motivation, Séan found the courage to face his truth and overcome his demons. Today he continues his journey as a singer, songwriter, husband, father, and now a sought after speaker and mental health advocate, always with Old Brown by his side.
Séan’s 2014 album “Help Your Self” was a battle cry; a line in the sand which announced that he was ready to start over again. It resonated with people in a way he never could have expected. The experience helped Séan understand that he wasn’t alone and that telling his story could help others as much as it helped him. His album, “You Know I Love You” (2015) was inspired by the love Séan found in sharing that story and his attempts to find connection in a world seduced by the false social media promise of real connectivity. The latest album, “There’s a Place”, is a collection of songs from a man who is determined to remain “face to face” when we are tempted to keep our eyes buried in our screens and the artificial light of this digital age. It is the story of a man freed from the weight of a lie; a man who is changing his narrative and never forgetting……that he is not alone.
Follow Sean on Twitter @seanmccannsings
Nilufer Erdebil
Founder and CEO of Spring2Innovation
Design Thinking
Award winning, Spring2Innovation founder, Nilufer Erdebil is a leading innovation and design thinking consultant with a range of experience in telecommunications, defense, application development, project management & information technology management. Throughout her career she has always had a passion for technology, business, commercializing technology and navigating change.
Prior to launching Spring2 Innovation, an innovation and design thinking consulting and training firm, Nilufer began her career working as a software engineer working on leading edge technologies and products, in a variety of international defense and telecommunications companies, including General Dynamics, CrossKeys Systems (now Oracle) and Marconi Wireless (now Ericsson). After going back to school to earn an MBA, she worked in a number of Technology, Project Management and Marketing positions at Bell Canada. Nilufer now designs, develops and facilitates design thinking sessions and training programs for the public and private sector.
Nilufer is a 2014 recipient of the Ottawa Business Journal Forty Under 40 Award and a 2016 recipient of the WCT Leadership Award from Women in Communications and Technology. She is a Professional Engineer with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Queen’s University.
Follow Nilufer on Twitter @digitalNil
Robin Grosset
Chief Technology Officer at MindBridge AI
Robin Grosset is Chief Technology Officer at MindBridge AI where he works on applying artificial intelligence technology to financial data. Robin has a track record as an entrepreneur having founded successful software startups which resulted in him joining Cognos and then IBM through acquisitions. At IBM Robin was a Distinguished Engineer and led the development of IBM Watson Analytics. Robin grew up in Scotland and studied Physics and Computing Science at Newcastle University in the UK.
Follow Robin on Twitter @robingrosset
Anne Connelly
Faculty at Singularity University at NASA Ames in Silicon Valley and Vice Chair of the board of Blockchain Canada
Anne Connelly is passionate about harnessing blockchain and decentralized technology to transform the lives of people in developing countries. Anne is Faculty at Singularity University at NASA Ames in Silicon Valley, teaching global leaders how exponential technologies can solve problems that impact over a billion people. She has been an active part of the global blockchain community since 2012, working with and advising notable companies including Jaxx, Ledger Labs, ixo, and Bunz, and is currently the Vice Chair of the board of Blockchain Canada. She previously worked with Doctors Without Borders Canada in Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and currently serves on their board of directors. Anne was born and raised in Ottawa, and has a Bachelor of Life Sciences from Queen’s University, an MBA from McMaster University, and a Fintech Certificate from MIT. She was honoured as one of CBC’s 12 Young Leaders Changing Canada and one of the Fifty Most Inspirational Women in Technology in Canada.F
Be sure to follow Anne Twitter at @Anne_Connelly
Jodi Mosley and Sharon John
End Human Trafficking Advocates
Jodi Mosley
An active member of the Ottawa Coalition to End Human Trafficking and heads its training program, which provides training to service providers on human trafficking indicators and appropriate responses. a graduate of the Child & Youth Care Program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario, and holds certificates in Behavioural Management Intervention, Drug and Alcohol Counselling, Financial Management and, most recently, Advanced Anti-Human Trafficking. Jodi is also the Chair of the Board of A New Day and also sits on the Algonquin College Advisory Committee for the Child and Youth Care Program.
Earlier in her career, Jodi worked as the Program Coordinator and Acting Manager of Isumaqsunngittukkuvik, a secure young offenders facility in Iqualuit, Nunavut for 6 years. During this time, she also held the position of Sexual Harassment Officer for the Baffin Region.
In 2002, Jodi co-founded and co-directs Stepping Stones Foster Care Inc. (SSFC); an agency that offers foster homes to children aged 0-18 years, transitional homes to youth aged 18-21 years as well as specialized programs for high-risk youth. SSFC provides individual and wrap-around services in a family setting. Most recently, in response to the prevalence of human trafficking affecting those serviced by SSFC, Jodi co-founded A New Day Youth and Adult Services. This is a charitable organization that offers a residential treatment program for trafficked women; the first of its kind in the region.
Sharon John
Having experienced addictions and commercial sexual exploitation throughout her teens and early adult years, Sharon took back her life! She completed high school at the age of 31, graduated from Algonquin College with a diploma in Development Service Work at age 42 and has been clean and sober for 15 years. She is an experiential peer counsellor, mentor, foster parent and a residential counsellor. Sharon has been blessed and is using her experiences to make a difference in young peoples lives by providing them with the message of hope and healing. Sharon is not just a survivor; she is a “Thriver”.
Want to learn more? www.anewdayyas.com www.endhumantrafficking.ca
Twitter: @anewdayottawa and @oceht
Facebook: ottawacoalition and anewdayyas