Keynotes

HON. RAVI KAHLON

Minister Responsible for Housing

Ravi Kahlon was first elected as MLA for Delta North in May 2017 and was named BC’s minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation in November 2020. He previously served as the parliamentary secretary for Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, where he championed the use of mass timber and innovation in B.C.’s forest sector. As parliamentary secretary for Sport and Multiculturalism, he helped restore the BC Human Rights Commission and traveled the province to build an anti-racism strategy. As minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, Ravi’s first priority was to support families and communities through the pandemic and he worked closely with business, workers, First Nations and communities to develop and deliver on a strategy for long-term sustainability, jobs and growth. A two-time Olympian, Ravi played field hockey for Team Canada at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics.

MONDAY, November 20AFTERNOON PLENARY

DR. DERENDA SCHUBERT

Psychologist

Dr. Derenda Schubert, a licensed psychologist, has extensive professional experience counselling children and families and creating, managing, and evaluating foster care, mental health and developmental disability programs. Additionally, she has conducted research in the areas of developmental disabilities and children’s mental health. She has held several executive leadership roles including Associate Director of Training at two of Oregon’s largest child and family mental health agencies. Dr. Schubert is an intergenerational champion, leading the team that created Bridge Meadows, advocating nationally for intergenerational solutions to complex social challenges, spearheading strategic planning and shaping Bridge Meadows’ expansive vision for the future. Dr. Schubert speaks locally and nationally on the topics of children’s mental health, community building, and intergenerational living. Under Dr. Schubert’s leadership, Bridge Meadows has received national and international recognition from the National Home Builders Association, Angel in Adoption TM by Senator Wyden, the Intergenerational Excellence Prize from the Eisner Foundation, and the 2017 Fostering Innovation Award from Corporate LiveWire. She was also included in the top 10 Most Admired Non-profits by the Portland Business Journal, honoured as Extraordinary Executive Director by Portland Monthly Magazine, and recognized as a 2017 Woman of Influence by the Portland Business Journal.

TUESDAY, November 21MORNING PLENARY

WANDA DALLA COSTA

Architect and Professor

Wanda Dalla Costa, AIA, LEED A.P. holds a joint position at Arizona State University between The Design School as Institute Professor, and the School of Construction as Associate Professor. She is a member of the Saddle Lake First Nation and has spent nearly 20 years working with Indigenous communities in North America. Her current work focuses on re-operationalizing Indigenous ways of knowing, being and connecting in contemporary architecture education and practice. Her interests include co-design methodologies, Indigenous place-keeping and climatic resiliency based in regional architectures. Dalla Costa was the first, First Nation woman to become an architect in Canada, and was part of a team of Indigenous architects representing Canada at the 2018 Venice Biennale. Dalla Costa’s coursework at ASU includes Indigenous Planning, Architecture and Construction and a multidisciplinary Indigenous Construction Studio, where architecture, construction and planning students work directly with tribal communities.

TUESDAY, November 21AFTERNOON PLENARY

MICHELLE GOOD – IN CONVERSATION WITH SHELAGH ROGERS

Michelle Good is a Cree writer and a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. After working for Indigenous organizations for 25 years, she obtained a law degree and advocated for residential school survivors for over 14 years. Good earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia while still practising law and managing her own law firm. Her poems, short stories, and essays have been published in magazines and anthologies across Canada, and her poetry was included on two lists of the best Canadian poetry in 2016 and 2017. Five Little Indians, her first novel, won the HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize, the Amazon First Novel Award, the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Award, the Evergreen Award, the City of Vancouver Book of the Year Award, and Canada Reads 2022. It was also longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and a finalist for the Writer’s Trust Award, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. In October 2022 Simon Fraser University granted her an Honorary Doctor of Letters. Her new work, Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada is out now.

SHELAGH ROGERS

Shelagh Rogers is a veteran broadcast journalist, and is well-known for her work on programs such as Morningside, The Arts Tonight, This Morning, and most recently The Next Chapter. Shelagh has won the John Drainie Award for Significant Contribution to Canadian Broadcasting, and has been an advocate for people with mental illness for more than 15 years, often speaking about her own depression. In 2011, she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for promoting Canadian culture, for advocacy in mental health, truth and reconciliation, and adult literacy. That same year, she was inducted as an Honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a role she committed to for the rest of her life. Shelagh is a co-editor of the series of the Speaking My Truth books about truth, justice and reconciliation published by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. She holds honorary doctorates from eight Canadian universities and is Chancellor of the University of Victoria. Shelagh is of Métis and Scottish ancestry. Her great-grandmother Edith Rogers was the first Michif woman, and the first woman, elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Edith was from Norway House, where David A. Robertson’s family has deep roots.

WEDNESDAY, November 22MORNING PLENARY

Inclusive Housing Lived Experience Panel MORNING PLENARY

More than 5,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are looking for homes in British Columbia. This panel will feature four people that have a lot to say about inclusive housing. For those who have found a home to call their own, they share a sense of freedom, security, and connection. For others who are waiting, their words express frustration, sadness, and lingering hope. We know how to create inclusive housing options for people. Now, the challenge will be to scale up these efforts to change lives in 2023 and beyond.

LARA GUNKEL

Lara Nadeszna Gunkel lives alone in Burnaby, BC in a building operated by the New Chelsea Society. She is hoping to get a cat soon to keep her company. Lara describes herself as plus-size with club feet, and she wears thick glasses. She has Marfan Syndrome, dyslexia, learning difficulties, and Type 2 diabetes. Lara is passionate, caring, and ambitious. She holds three jobs: she works as a Peer Facilitator for the Real Talk initiative, where she helps facilitate conversations around relationships and sexuality, is a member of the Community Living BC Editorial Board and a Self-Advocate co-creating and acting in two theatre productions – Romance, Relationships and Rights, and We Deserve to Work.

LAUREN SIMPSON

Hi, my name is Lauren Simpson and I advocate for people with disabilities like me. I made a documentary called Lauren’s Story and it is about my journey. I am passionate about affordable housing. I was a Community Ambassador with the City of Surrey and helped to get a survey out to the community so their voices were heard in the Housing Needs Report. My work with other community members on Harmony, an affordable and inclusive apartment building in South Surrey, helped the Mayor and Council see why it’s important and have it approved.

Karla Verschoor - Moderator

Karla Verschoor has over 15 years of experience working alongside people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, and the community organizations that provided disability-related support. Karla co-led the Inclusive Housing Task Force alongside Community Living BC (CLBC), which produced the report 'Home is Where Our Story Begins', and continues to co-chair the Reimaging Community Inclusion Initiative with the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and CLBC. Inclusion BC believes in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities having choice and control over the supports and services they need to flourish in the community.

WEDNESDAY, November 22AFTERNOON PLENARY

VU LE

Writer

Vu Le (“voo lay”) is a writer, speaker, vegan, Pisces, and the former Executive Director of RVC, a non-profit in Seattle that promotes social justice by developing leaders of color, strengthening organizations led by communities of color, and fostering collaboration among diverse communities. Born in Vietnam, Vu and his family moved to the US when he was eight, beginning his journey in Seattle before high school in Memphis, Tennessee, and college and graduate school in St. Louis. With a BA in Psychology and a Master in Social Work, Vu is a father of two kids, ages eight and five, and a staunch defender of the Oxford Comma. His passion for making the world a better place, combined with a low score on the Law School Admission Test, led him into the field of non-profit work. It was here that he learned the importance of taking the work seriously, but not themselves. In a world teeming with humor, Vu took on the task of documenting it. He hopes that one day, a TV producer will recognize the cool and intriguing aspects of the non-profit world and create a show about non-profit work, complete with attractive actors navigating strategic planning meetings and filing 990 tax forms. Known for his no-BS approach, irreverent sense of humor, and love of unicorns, Vu Le has been featured in dozens, if not hundreds, of his own blog posts at NonprofitAF.com. He is also a founding board member of Community-Centric Fundraising, a movement that aims to ground fundraising practices in racial equity and social justice.