Ignite: Celebrating 25 Years of Social Venture Institute (Online)

Presenters:

Gary Hirshberg

Gary Hirshberg is Chairman of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer, and Managing Director of Stonyfield Europe, with organic brands in Ireland, and France. Gary serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards including Applegate Farms, Honest Tea, Peak Organic Brewing, Late July, The Full Yield, Glenisk, the Danone Communities Fund and the Danone Livelihoods Fund. In 2011, President Obama appointed Gary to serve on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. He is a Co-Chair of AGree, an agricultural policy initiative formed by the Ford, Gates, Kellogg, Rockefeller, Walton and other leading foundations. He is Chairman and a founding Partner of “Just Label It, We Have the Right to Know,” the national campaign to label genetically engineered foods, and is co-author of Label It Now – What You Need to Know About Genetically Engineered Foods. He is the author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World.

Tami Simon

Tami Simon founded Sounds True in 1985 as a multimedia publishing house with a mission to disseminate spiritual wisdom. She hosts a popular weekly podcast called Insights at the Edge, where she has interviewed many of today’s leading teachers. Tami lives with her wife, Julie M. Kramer, and their two spoodles, Raspberry and Bula, in Boulder, Colorado.

Dae Shields

Deanna Shields is the founder and Executive Director of Afro Van Connect Society, Community Activist, Musician, Designer, Marketing and Events Coordinator. Deanna was born to a single mother shortly after her immigration to Brampton, Ontario from Jamaica. She was raised in a Christian household and was exposed to live music early on by her grandfather who was a reggae – gospel guitarist and vocalist. She eventually began performing with her church choir and discovered a profound connection to healing through the culture.

As an Emcee under the stage name ebonEmpress, Deanna aims to share her lived experience as an African-Jamaican-Canadian with her community. She is Bassist and Front Woman for Ital Blue formed in 2017.

Kor Kase

Kor Kase is an actor, artist, activist, entrepreneur, event coordinator and cofounder of Afro Van Connect. Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kor began his acting and music career in the 2013. As an actor he has appeared on shows like Man in the High in the Castle, Izombie, and See.

In 2019 Kor co-founded an artist collective called Afro Van Connect. As an organization focused on creating platforms for creatives of African descent to come together and express themselves. The intention of Afro Van Connect is to build community through creating safe spaces for healing and the arts.

Hafiz Mitha

Hafiz is a social entrepreneur dedicated to bringing people together, using play as a medium. After co-founding Katipult, a now-public company, he knew that he was not passionate about the field of finance and decided to sell his shares to start PlayCity – a company on a mission to make the world a better place, using technology to bring people together – offline. What started as an idea to find tennis partners in the same skill level has blossomed into a national company that is supported through partnerships with organizations like The University of Calgary, The City of Calgary and most recently MEC. He is looking to partner with organizations that share a mandate of promoting physical activity, diverse relationships and increasing wellbeing in a society that spends too much time isolated and on their phones.

James Johnson-Piett

James Johnson-Piett, with almost 20 years of experience in various facets of economic and community development, is responsible for the overall management of operations and strategic vision for Urbane, a social impact agency with offices in NYC and Philadelphia. His work focuses on strengthening small businesses and community anchor institutions operating in historically disinvested communities through an integrated approach that includes research, consulting, and place-based investing. James has worked in 50+ communities across North America and the Caribbean, with over 1,000 small businesses, representing over 1.1 million SF of commercial and community facility space. James has helped raise over $60 million for small business and community development initiatives in low-income areas with the goal of promoting community wealth generation.

David Eby

David was re-elected in 2017 to serve a second term in the B.C. Legislature and in July 2017 was appointed to his current role as Attorney General by Premier John Horgan. David is also responsible for gambling policy, liquor policy and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).

Before he was elected, David was the Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, and an adjunct professor of law at the University of British Columbia. An award-winning human rights lawyer, he has been repeatedly recognized as one of British Columbia’s most effective advocates. He has appeared at all levels of court in B.C.

Denise Williams

Denise Williams is a prominent Indigenous executive leader known for her visionary and transformative impact on the First Nations Technology Council. Named Top 40 Under 40 by BC Business, Denise also proudly serves as the President of the Urban Native Youth Association, advisor on innovation to the Governor General of Canada, Status of Women Canada’s Indigenous Women’s Circle, on the board of the First Mile Connectivity Consortium, Vancouver Economic Commission, and on the Simon Fraser University Board of Governors, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Business Administration in 2015.

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