Avital Zeisler
Avital Zeisler is a hand-to-hand combat expert, author, women’s empowerment coach, and creator of The Soteria Method™ – a unique practice of self-defense, fitness and self-discovery that has transformed the lives of women from all walks of life. Originally a professional dancer trained at The National Ballet School of Canada, she began her exploration of self-defense to overcome the trauma associated with experiencing violence and sexual assault. Avital is the creator of Weapons of Fitness™, “the workout program that could save your life”, while sculpting your ultimate body. She works with a wide range of groups, corporations and celebrities for self-defense, fitness and empowerment instruction. Avital has lead numerous workshops for women in the Cayman Islands and as a result has ignited a love for Cayman. She brought The Soteria Method to the Cayman Islands in summer 2015.
Once a victim of a violent sexual assault, Avital Zeisler chose to "attack back" by learning Self Defense. She embarked on a journey that led her to become an internationally known hand-to-hand combat instructor. Yet, despite her success, she struggled to break through the negativity and pain of her trauma.
Billie Bryan
Billie Bryan—affectionately known as ‘Bee’—is an eco-conscious graphic designer, web designer, artist, musician, vegan, entrepreneur and activist. She is also a pansexual, polyamourous, transgender woman. Born and raised in the Cayman Islands, Billie hopes to radically reshape the prevalent conservative mindset of her country and create a safe, social environment for the local LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, et al.) community through the Colours Cayman campaign. Having first-hand knowledge and experience of living as a gender nonconforming person, Billie has come to recognise the very serious need for the redefinition of sex, gender and everything in between. She just might teach you a thing or two about yourself. When she’s not writing HTML and pushing pixels, Billie enjoys snorkeling with her family, playing video games, reading fantasy novels, listening to jazz or curling up on the couch for the night with a good sci-fi movie.
Are you a man or a woman? And how can you be so sure? You may be surprised to discover that it's not as simple as you might think. As LGBTQ people around the world continue to step forward and live a life of authenticity, we are forced to reexamine our understanding of what it means to be human. Billie Bryan says it's time we throw tired assumptions about sex, gender and romantic attraction out the window. As it turns out, the lines are not as clearly drawn as once thought.
Chris Bailey
Chris Bailey has 15+ years in international recruitment and HR, spending time living in several different countries. As an established search consultant Chris has interviewed thousands of executives and helped build the C-Suite of many household names. He has a unique perspective on HR, which puts it firmly at the executive table as the most important facet of engaging the modern human capital workforce. He has been the conference Co Chair & Chair for the last three of Cayman’s biggest HR events and will be the incoming President of the 2016 Cayman Islands HR Society. He holds several board appointments for other charities on island and is a supporter of the Guatemala Literacy Project. He now calls Cayman home and holds it responsible for a lifestyle change that saved his life. This time last year Chris was 300+lbs. Chris is a huge believer in the phrase you get out what you put in.
Chris Bailey delivers an insight-filled rhyming message that ensures Monday won't ruin your Sunday!
CLAIRE KEMP
Professionally I have grown up in a “greenhouse” – being lucky enough to work in an organisation that has always adjusted the climate to allow me to grow my ideas about who I might be. I have performed many roles and have been allowed to assume my own title. Being a “Gardener” is my analogy for cultivating an environment in the organisation in which knowledge workers can thrive. Most days I arrive at the office with a “great idea” and every night I leave with a smile on my face, knowing that by listening to other people’s ideas, I am a catalyst for changes to increase their happiness in our organisation and improve the chances of great ideas growing into products that add more colour to life. As an aside, my eldest daughter is a cancer survivor and the journey that my family went on taught me some of life’s most fruitful ideas: all man needs is health, love, a smile and the grace to realise that every day is another opportunity to win.
The worker's experience of employment is fundamental to retention of talent across organisations. Gamification of antiquated HR systems in Claire Kemp's organisation resulted in redesigning the UX of employment. She shares how they used these updates to win the game of employee retention.
ELLEN ROGIN
Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP® is an expert on living a life of success and prosperity. As the founder of a wealth management firm, Ellen combines her credentialed expertise with an inspired, conscious approach to money. Chockfull of “left brain” credentials, MBA, CPA, and Certified Financial Planner™, Ellen also walks on the “right” side, balancing values, big picture ideas, meditation and humor with all her professional training. She is as comfortable talking about the power of compound interest as she is talking about the power of belief. In their latest book, “Picture Your Prosperity: Smart Money Moves to Turn Your Vision into Reality,” Ellen and her co-author illustrate how a positive outlook accompanied by the right financial tools will help you have the resources to create the life you’ve imagined. Ellen is also founder of the Abundance Activist® movement whose mission it is to help the world think and act more prosperously.
Focusing on allowance and financial concepts to teach kids to be smart with money is a great start. But, If this is all we focus on, we miss the opportunity to ensure our kids grow into prosperous adults. Listen to Ellen Rogin's surprisingly simple system anyone can implement to nurture a child's prosperity right away.
JASON NEHRA
Passionate about education and all things science, Jason Nehra left his teaching career in the UK in 2003 to start the new A-level Physics programme at Cayman Prep & High School. He took on the role of Faculty Head of Science in 2006 and takes great pride in the growth and success that the faculty has seen over the past nine years. The introduction of a new A-level in Marine Science has been a particular success, with students attaining “top of the world” grades on two occasions. Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Jason completed his Bachelors of Science at the University of British Columbia before moving on to the UK to undertake his teacher training. Now with almost two decades in the classroom, Jason routinely encounters exceptional people in Cayman who at one time shared his laboratory and he feels very privileged to have been a part of their journey. Jason is also really looking forward to adding TEDx speaker to his rather short bio.
From an accidental beginning to the highest point on the Island. The George Town Landfill dominates the skyline and is undoubtedly the most urgent public health challenge facing the residents of Grand Cayman. Jason Nehra shows that exciting, sustainable solutions exist. Will attitudes and behavior stand in the way?
KARIMA MARIAMA-ARTHUR
As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WordSmithRapport™, Karima Mariama-Arthur brings more than two decades of comprehensive, blue chip experience in law, business, and academia to the field of professional development. A leading authority in cutting-edge adult education and professional development, Karima is distinguished by her commitment to excellence and extraordinary talent for elevating executive brands. As an expert facilitator, executive communications consultant, and strategic leadership advisor, she trains, coaches, and consults individuals and organizations on the dynamics of complex communication and high performance leadership competence. Karima has been featured by Forbes, Entrepreneur, Success, Chief Executive Magazine, Speaker Magazine, Ebony and Black Enterprise, among others. She is a Cornell Fellow and graduate of the University of California, Davis, and Roger Williams University School of Law.
Karima Mariama-Arthur is former corporate attorney who found fulfillment in an improbable place. Listening to her inspiring journey, you will hear key learning points to lead a select few to success and freedom as an entrepreneur.
KELLY BOS
Kelly Flannigan Bos, MSW, is a psychotherapist focusing on individual, marriage, and family relationships. She is a well-known relationship expert, and has appeared in a professional capacity in countless media markets as a guest and writer. As a professional therapist – as well as wife and mom to a young daughter and an infant son – Kelly not only talks the talk when it comes to interpersonal relationships, she walks the walk! Helping people find meaning and joy in their relationships – with themselves and others – is her passion. Her interest in interpersonal relationships started years ago, when she and a friend formed a wildly successful “Bootcamp” business for getting over difficult relationships. Media and press picked up the story and Kelly realized she loved helping people. Flash forward 20 years and she now counsels clients internationally as a professional in her successful private practice and as a school counsellor in the British Virgin Islands.
Kelly Bos' charming talk reveals simple ways to live in the moment. Our thoughts are consumed by the future and caught up in the past, while gratification in each moment is lost. This talk describes the challenges that come from failing to live in the present, providing intentional, available practices that can make this moment yours.
KIM KADIYALA
Kim Kadiyala is a customer experience designer and an efficiency expert. Her interest in productivity and collaboration hacks came from balancing the pursuit of a full-time Masters degree and a full-time job while staying active and refusing to miss an episode of Top Chef. She spent 5 years working at advertising agencies and in-house creative departments on brands including SC Johnson, Oracle and Disney before switching gears to the tech landscape with Techstars, one of the top startup accelerators in the US. She is an advocate of the digital nomad lifestyle and works remotely with creative teams around the world. Kim has a Bachelors degree in Advertising and a Masters in Digital Media Management from the prestigious learning institute Hyper Island. She has called Cayman home since 2010 and lives with her husband and two paddleboards in South Sound.
If you work in an open-plan office, it might be because your company believes that some of the best ideas come from random encounters with coworkers. But if these collisions are so great, why can they sometimes feel so disruptive and, well, awful? Kim Kadiyala explores and explains.
LAURIE JOY KINGWELL
Laurie Joy Kingwell grew up in a small community in Saskatchewan, Canada. Following high school graduation she moved to the big city to see what life had to offer which is where her journey of working with children all began. As far back as she can remember she adored children, even when she was a child herself. So it was no surprise when she realized she could work as a nanny in the city that she jumped at the opportunity. The following year she moved to Red Deer, Alberta where she attained her Level 3 Diploma in Early Childhood Development. Fast forward ten years, hundreds of children who she has been blessed to encounter, and she still feels like the luckiest girl in the world to do what she does each and every day. In her spare time she trains in Krav Maga, writes music, plays guitar as well enjoys just being lazy on the beach with a good book and her husband her my side.
There is a serious misunderstanding as adults and the role were to play in our children's lives. This passionate talk by Laurie Joy Kingwell will change perspectives, approach and philosophy towards ourselves and the children in our care.
ROGER COURVILLE
Roger Courville is an internationally sought-after expert and analyst on the psychosocial aspects of “connectorship” — engaging people authentically with and through technology. Once dubbed “The Michael Jordan of Virtual Presentations,” Roger is a multi-book author, award winning writer, and multi-company entrepreneur. His work includes working with organisations as diverse as FedEx, Australia Institute of Training and Development, and American Management Association. By night Roger volunteers on several non-profit boards, as a taxi driver for his three kids, and as a guitar player for any band unlucky enough to have him.
The world noisier than it's ever been. Unfortunately we're already evolving out of the information age to a place which school has not prepared us for. The good news? Roger Courville shows us that the intersection of humanity and technology doesn't have to be a deadly collision.
SHANNON SEYMOUR
Shannon Seymour is the Founding Director and Registered Psychologist at The Wellness Centre. The Wellness Centre has been a leading private provider of psychological services, mental health counseling and corporate wellness services since 2004. Shannon’s clinical career has taken many paths in both Canada and the Cayman Islands. She has worked for Family Services Canada, Health Services Canada and the Cayman Islands Government, and in 2004 she founded The Wellness Centre Ltd. Shannon has worked in multiple areas within the field of clinical psychology, including child and adolescent mental health, addictions, family violence and most recently she has been committed to increasing early identification and treatment for children with autism and related developmental disorders. The Wellness Centre Ltd is currently the only provider of the Early Start Denver Model in the Cayman Islands.
The accidental inclusion of 5-year-old Calum in a social skills group not suited to meet his needs set in motion a career path change for this speaker, eventually making Shannon Seymour the island expert on autism spectrum diagnosis and treatment.
Zoë Conolly Basdeo
Zoë Conolly Basdeo is a Year 10 student at Cayman Prep and High School. An assignment by her English teacher led her to reflect on Cayman’s social and cultural environment and its impact on her life. This inspired her talkat TEDxSevenMileBeach. With a Montessori foundation, Zoë excels as a student and participates in several extra-curricular activities. She has especially enjoyed the Model United Nations (MUN) programme and recently attended the Yale Model Government Europe session in Budapest, Hungary. She appreciated this opportunity to tackle world problems with others who were willing to discuss and debate difficult topics. As a 7-year-old, Zoë was a community advocate to save the local Ironwood forest. Zoë first took the stage as a 5 year old and this was the foundation of an interest in and appreciation of the creative arts.
This compelling talk by fourteen-year-old Zoë Conolly Basdeo explores two often overlooked significant factors influencing our youth: culture and religion. Zoë argues we must fully consider their impact on young people and the role they play in the ability of youthful leaders to shape a future that works for everyone.