PUBLIC SPEAKER SERIES

Summer Institute for Student Leadership
 & Global Citizenship

PUBLIC SPEAKER SERIES
April 30 - May 5, 2010

 

Throughout the 10-day Summer Institute for Student Leadership and Global Citizenship, the public will have an opportunity to get involved by taking part in the Public Speaker Series.

Admission to the Public Speaker Series is free. 

All Public Speaker Series events events are located on the University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus.

 
Public Speaker Series Resources:
Public Speaker Series Poster
Public Speaker Series Session Descriptions & Speaker Bios

SPEAKERS:

 

SCHEDULE: 

Fri, April 30   I   10:00 am
Changing the World at Six: The Dandelion Project - Ryan Hreljac

Sat, May 1   I   8:30 am
Nguvu ya Jamii - The Power of the Community - Japhet Emmanuel

Sat, May 1   I   10:30 am
Reflections on an Alternative Spring Break in El Salvador - Edgar Sanchez

Tue, May 4   I   10:00 am
Blood on the Stone: Greed, Corruption and War in the Global Diamond Trade - Ian Smillie

Tue, May 4   I   3:00 pm
Learning, Development and Money: Lessons from Bangladesh - Ian Smillie

Wed, May 5   I   7:00 pm
Human Resilience & Leadership in Times of Stress & Conflict:  Stories from the Field - Nahlah Ayed

 

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS & SPEAKER BIOS:

Changing the World at Six:
The Dandelion Project

Fri., April 30   I   10:00 am   I   Engineering 3 - RM 270

Ryan Hreljac
Founder of Ryan's Well Foundation

Ryan Hreljac likes to talk about dandelions.  When he was in Grade 1, he learned from his teacher that children in developing countries were dying because they did not have clean water to drink.  Find out how the dream of a six-year-old boy is now a full-fledged program that has brought life-enhancing safe water and sanitation to more than 600,000 people in sixteen developing countries.  Through the Ryan’s Well Foundation, a family of dedicated people and organizations from around the world is working to help deliver water and sanitation projects and build more sustainable communities.  Ryan Hreljac, now 18 and a freshman at university, will speak about his experiences and about what is possible when the spirit of volunteerism is ignited and fostered in children.

Ryan Hreljac is the founder of Ryan's Well Foundation - 600,000 people served.  As seen on Oprah (twice!)

 

Nguvu ya Jamii -
The Power of the Community

Sat., May 1   I   8:30 am   I   Engineering 2 - RM 229

Japhet Emmanuel
Program Director, CPAR Tanzania

Drawing upon his extensive experience in Tanzania, Japhet Emmanuel will illustrate how rural communities are empowering themselves and taking charge of the development process. Using examples from the field, he will share how communities are identifying their priorities, deciding what they want to do, and how and when they want to do it.   CPAR Tanzania will share stories and examples of how persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV) are tackling stigma and other obstacles; how women and men who farm are building their skills and self-confidence and increasing their food production while developing more equal gender relations; and how primary school students are managing their school water supplies. Japhet’s presentation will illustrate why locally owned and driven development projects work best, but he will also comment on how intermediary organizations like CPAR can help facilitate this process, and how Canadians can support it.

Japhet Emmanuel:  Born on the slopes of Mt. Meru in Tanzania, Japhet has spent the last decade working closely with communities in Karatu. His unique perspective on building healthy communities is founded on his field experience and his formal academic training in public health and community-based natural resource management.  

 

Reflections on an Alternative
Spring Break in El Salvador

Sat., May 1   I   10:30 am   I   Engineering 2 - RM 229

Edgar Sanchez
Coodinator, Lutheran World Federation, Nicaragua

Edgar Sanchez: Edgar Sanchez has been involved in humanitarian aid and development issues in Germany and throughout Central America for the last 10 years. Since 2003 he has been an officer with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a relief and development agency, where he coordinates the agency’s work in Nicaragua. He is currently involved with projects relating to poverty, equitable gender relations, citizen’s rights, community-based income-generation initiatives, and disaster preparation.

Blood on the Stone: Greed, Corruption
and War in the Global Diamond Trade

Tue., May 4   I   10:00 am   I   Engineering 3 - Senate Chambers (RM 262)

Ian Smillie
Author, Practitioner and Evaluation Specialist

How diamonds fuelled some of the most brutal wars in Africa; how an NGO campaign led to the creation of a first-ever global regulatory system; and how a handful of misguided and venal governments have managed to bring the entire diamond industry back to the brink of disaster.

Ian Smillie:  Ian is author of numerous books, including Freedom from Want, which documents the success of BRAC in Bangladesh. His wisdom, experience, and critiques, have been sought (and feared) by governments, civil society, the private sector and development practitioners all over the world. In 1999 he spearheaded the Kimberly Process, a movement to regulate the trade of diamonds.

 

Learning, Development and Money:
Lessons from Bangladesh

Tue., May 4   I   3:00 pm   I   Robert B. Schultz Theatre (RM 172), St. John's College

Ian Smillie
Author, Practitioner and Evaluation Specialist

When a small group of Bangladeshis formed an organization they called BRAC in 1972, they had no idea it would become the biggest and probably the most effective NGO in the entire world. BRAC's micro lending in 2009 topped $1 billion, but that is a small part of its work which ranges from TB eradication to human rights, 36,000 primary schools and a university like no other. It is the largest international NGO in Afghanistan, and it is rapidly changing the development dynamic in Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Haiti. BRAC: the most remarkable organization you never heard of.

Ian Smillie:  Ian is author of numerous books, including Freedom from Want, which documents the success of BRAC in Bangladesh. His wisdom, experience and critiques have been sought (and feared) by governments, civil society, the private sector and development practitioners all over the world. In 1999 he spearheaded the Kimberly Process, a movement to regulate the trade of diamonds.

 

Human Resilience & Leadership in
Times of Stress & Conflict:
Stories from the Field

Wed., May 5   I   7:00 pm   I   Robert B. Schultz Theatre (RM 172), St. John's College

Nahlah Ayed
CBC Award-winning Journalist and Correspondent

Modern day conflict, political unrest and natural disasters are part of the lives of millions of people around the globe—and all make for compelling stories. Just as compelling are the stories of those among them who undertake extraordinary efforts to help others—and themselves—in such times of trouble. It could be as simple as taking a picture, or as involved as creating safe spaces for children to play. Nahlah Ayed chronicles stories of leadership, generosity and resilience.

Nahlah Ayed:  For the past seven years, Nahlah Ayed has been the CBC’s Arab world correspondent. From Riyadh to Tehran, Beirut to Baghdad, Ayed covered the region extensively, interviewing key leaders and reporting from several major conflicts. A graduate of Carleton University’s Master of Journalism program, Ayed also holds a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and a B.Sc. in Genetics from the University of Manitoba. She was born and raised in Winnipeg and, as of September, lives in Montreal.

 

The Summer Institute for Student Leadership & Global Citizenship is sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency and the University of Manitoba.