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Threads 2021 Speakers & Agenda

2021 Keynote Speakers

Andrea Menard
Andrea Menard

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2021 Special Guest Speakers

The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson
The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson

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Mayor Charlie Clark
Mayor Charlie Clark

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Kamal Al-Solaylee
Kamal Al-Solaylee

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Omayra Issa
Omayra Issa

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2021 Threads Speakers

Ali Abukar
Ali Abukar

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Ahmad Majid
Ahmad Majid

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Ali Mehdi
Ali Mehdi

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Anastasiya Baranova
Anastasiya Baranova

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Andrea Menard
Andrea Menard

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Anita Ogurlu
Anita Ogurlu

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Awel Deng
Awel Deng

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Brian Chartier
Brian Chartier

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Daniel Regnier
Daniel Regnier

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Ebiye Agbai
Ebiye Agbai

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Elder Florence Highway
Elder Florence Highway

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Elijah Ren
Elijah Ren

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Ernie Louttit
Ernie Louttit

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Dr. Ernest Walker
Dr. Ernest Walker

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Faly Golshan
Faly Golshan

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Haleh Mir Miri
Haleh Mir Miri

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Hyunjung Shin
Hyunjung Shin

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Jaswant Guzder
Jaswant Guzder

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Jeff O’Brien
Jeff O’Brien

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Juliana Ofori
Juliana Ofori

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Kas Rea
Kas Rea

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Kevin L. Pee-Ace
Kevin L. Pee-Ace

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Leona Larsen
Leona Larsen

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Liwen Zhang
Liwen Zhang

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Louise B. Halfe
Louise B. Halfe

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Marina Iyeme-Eteng
Marina Iyeme-Eteng

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Meera Kachroo
Meera Kachroo

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Michael Afenfia
Michael Afenfia

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Peace Akintade
Peace Akintade

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Phyllis Ivanochko
Phyllis Ivanochko

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Ruth Cuthand
Ruth Cuthand

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Sepideh Khonsari
Sepideh Khonsari

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Steven Meurrens
Steven Meurrens

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Sultan Ali Sadat
Sultan Ali Sadat

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Taidgh Lynch
Taidgh Lynch

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Xiaoxue (Grace) Xie
Xiaoxue (Grace) Xie

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Yulissa Campos
Yulissa Campos

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Threads 2021 Agenda

Day 1 - January 20, 2021

Morning | 9:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

INVITING YOU IN

10:00 a.m.
Opening Speeches

10:15 a.m.
INTERLUDE: THE STORY OF THREADS, Phyllis Ivanochko 
and Anita Ogurlu


10:20 a.m.
OMAYRA IN CONVERSATION WITH THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
ADRIENNE  CLARKSON 
How are diverse cultures represented in the media? How do they help create a narrative to truly belong as a citizen?
Omayra Issa and the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson 
Learning outcome: Understand the evolution of multiculturalism in Canada, its challenges and aims for a fairer, richer population of today and tomorrow.

11:00 a.m. 
STRANGERS AT OUR GATES: IMMIGRATION IN EARLY SASKATOON
How has immigration in Saskatoon changed across the centuries?
Jeff O’Brien
Learning outcome: Learn which immigrants were more welcomed than others across the 20th century in Saskatoon, and the implications this has on our perceptions of Newcomers today.

11:30 a.m. 
INTERLUDE: (PART 1) WHAT MAKES CANADIANS, CANADIAN?

11:35 a.m. 
NURTURING THE SELF: COMFORTABLE IN MY OWN SKIN
Is it possible to belong, even if I’m different?
Taidgh Lynch, Grace Xie, Michael Afenfia
Learning outcome: Listen to the different experiences diverse Newcomers have in Saskatoon based on their race, geography and gender.

11:55 a.m. 
INTERLUDE: THEATRE PERFORMANCE - Job Interview, Yulissa Campos

12:00 p.m. 
CANADIAN IMMIGRATION: ARRIVING AT YOUR DESTINATION
What are some challenges in immigration then and now?
Steven Meurrens
Learning outcome: Learn about immigration laws and how they have evolved across the centuries in Canada.

Afternoon | 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

2:00 p.m. 
INTERLUDE: THE LONG JOURNEY HOME, Louise B. Halfe

2:05 p.m. 
INTERLUDE: THE WALL PROJECT - SECURITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY, Faly Golshan

2:10 p.m. 
AUTHORITY & CULTURE: BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
How do the police perceive diverse cultures?
Ernie Louttit and Michael Afenfia
Learning outcome: Learn about the role of police and their relationship to Newcomers, People of Colour and Indigenous peoples.

2:25 p.m. 
INTERLUDE: THEATRE; DRIVING LICENSE, Yulissa Campos

2:30 p.m. 
YOUTH ADAPTATION: YOUTH CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Are Newcomer teens caught in between?
Dr. Jaswant Guzder
Learning outcome: Rethink how Newcomer youth cultivate a sense of belonging in their new home.

3:00 p.m. 
INTERLUDE: WHAT MAKES ME, ME? D.A.R.E. Elementary School Students and Sepideh Khonsari

3:10 p.m. 
APPROACHES TO GRIEF & MOURNING: A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH
How do rituals around death help us live a fulfilled life?
Meera Kachroo and Dr. Brian Chartier
Learning outcome: Learn how diverse cultural approaches to grief and death bind us to life and how sharing stories of grief heals.

3:25 p.m. 
THE ONE & THE MANY: MUSIC & PHILOSOPHY
What can music and philosophy teach us about the wonder of living?
Dr. Daniel Regnier
Learning outcome: Learn the philosophical wonder of music and cross-cultural understanding.

3:40 p.m. 
INTERLUDE: KARMA, Peace Akintade

3:50 p.m. 
WHAT DO WE KNOW? PERCEPTION VERSUS REALITY
How do our perceptions frame our worldview?
Sepideh Khonsari
Learning outcome: Learn how different perceptions of reality shape our worldviews.

4:00 p.m. 
CROSS-CULTURAL MARRIAGES: BENEFITS & CHALLENGES OF SAYING “I DO”
What’s it like to marry into another culture? Does this change our perceptions about culture?
Anita Ogurlu and Elijah Ren
Learning outcome: Discover how love conquers all and that through cross-cultural marriages, we can break through cultural barriers.

Day 2 - January 21, 2021

Morning | 9:55 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

EXPANDING OUR PERCEPTION

10:00 a.m. 
GLOBALIZATION & IMMIGRATION: WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING OUT THERE?
How are the world and Canada changing? 
Kamal Al-Solaylee
Learning outcome: Discover how globalization sets people on the move, and how skin colour and country of origin can dictate how we live and what we do for work, across Canada and around the world.

10:20 a.m. 
INTERLUDE: CONFINED ROOM, LAND, WORLD & ETC, Haleh Mir Miri

10:25 a.m. 
RACISM, DISCRIMINATION AND BULLYING: WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?
How shall we learn to live together?
Dr. Jaswant Guzder
Learning outcome: Understand institutional racism and how we can work to overcome it.

10:40 a.m. 
INTERLUDE: TURTLE ISLAND TO BABYLON, Ahmad Majid

10:45 a.m. 
WORLDVIEWS: A VIEW FROM A WORLD TRAVELER
How do the people of the world live?
Ali Mehdi
Learning outcome: Discover how cultures from around the world live their everyday lives.

10:55 a.m. 
INTERLUDE: THE EGUSI SOUP COOK-OFF, Ebiye Mary Agbai and Juliana Ofori

11:00 a.m. 
WEARING A CULTURAL IDENTITY: GARMENTS OF DIFFERENCE
How do cultures dress by borrowing ideas from each other?
Anita Ogurlu and Michael Afenfia
Learning outcome: Learn how geographic, economic, historical, political and religious contexts shape how we dress and wear garments that have roots that weave across cultures.

11:20 a.m. 
INTERLUDE: SHOWCASE OF UKRAINIAN GARMENTS, Anastasiya Baranova 

11:25 a.m. 
INDIGENOUS ON THE PLAINS: GARMENTS OF ADORNMENT
Historically, how did the Indigenous adorn their garments and for what purposes? 
Ernie Walker
Learning outcome: Understand how geography shaped and influenced Indigenous garments and how that changed after first contact with the Europeans.

11:35 a.m. 
INTERLUDE: THE BEADING OASIS & STORIES OF BELONGING
How does the craft of Indigenous beadwork transform into new stories?
Ruth Cuthand
Learning outcome: Understand how contemporary Indigenous beading tells stories of survival and resiliency of the past that also links us to the present, in the time of Covid-19.

11:40 a.m. 
STORYTELLING THROUGH ART
How did being a residential school survivor influence the artist to develop in a person?
Kevin Pee-Ace
Learning outcome: Explore the vibrant colors and images in art and how personal experiences and culture have drawn forth ways of storytelling through artistic expression.

11:50 a.m. 
INTERLUDE: GRANDMOTHERS 4 GRANDMOTHERS, Leona Larsen

Afternoon | 1:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

GROWING OUR ROOTS

2:00 p.m. 
VOCAL POWER - DISCOVERING THE FOUR SACRED VOICES
How can the Indigenous rediscover their right to speak? How can we discover the Four Sacred Voices to build vocal strength, confidence, and trust?
Andrea Menard
Learning outcome: Explore how we can learn to use our voices to bring positive social change.

2:25 p.m. 
THE MAGIC OF MULTILINGUAL MINDS
What is the impact of speaking multiple languages on our worldviews?
Dr. Hyunjung Shin
Learning outcome: Understand how multilingualism provides the ability to view the world and one’s place in it, in multiple perspectives, to help solve problems and live a fulfilled life.

2:40 p.m
IDENTITY IN LITERATURE: WRITING THE LITTLE GUY
What are the benefits of reading about an average person’s experiences?
Michael Afenfia
Learning outcome: Rediscover that by writing stories about average people, we come to understand that we have much in common, and that it is the everyday people who make history.

2:50 p.m. 
INTERLUDE: THE ART PROJECT

2:55 p.m. 
TELL ME A STORY: RESILIENCE AND BELONGING
What might be some of the odd experiences Newcomers have in a new land?
Awel Deng and Sultan Ali Sadat
Learning outcome: Learn about how resilient and resourceful Newcomers are and a few reasons why they might be misunderstood.

3:10 p.m. 
EMPOWERED WOMEN IN A NEW LAND
What challenges do Newcomer women face in Canada?
Marina Iyeme-Eteng and Liwen Zhang
Learning outcome: Recognize the multi-tasking abilities of Newcomer women to forge and cultivate a new home in a new country despite all the obstacles.

3:30 p.m. 
INTERLUDE: (PART 2) WHAT MAKES CANADIANS, CANADIAN?

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Programs and Events

WEConnect Job Fairs

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Women's Business Hub

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Annual Diversity Awards Gala

The only multicultural awards event in Saskatoon exclusively celebrating workforce diversity!