Ideas worth spreading in Vancouver

This year’s TEDxVancouver will take place on Saturday, October 18 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. An independent event affiliated with the TED Talks, this is the sixth year that TEDx will be held in Vancouver.

Presenting on the theme of turning your dreams into reality, the first three speakers announced for the event are Victor Chan, Treana Peake, and Jay DeMerit — three individuals from the diverse fields of fashion, sport, spirituality, and philanthropy. With different backgrounds and experiences from opposite ends of the world, they each bring their unique stories with them to the inspiring TEDxVancouver this fall. Although they are speaking on diverse subject areas, they have one thing in common: they are all excited and honoured to be using this unique platform to share their “ideas worth spreading.”

Jay Demerit attributes much of his success as a professional soccer player to his strong family support system, helping him each step of the way. In fact, he is now in the process of creating the Rise and Shine Retreat, where he can support aspiring sports stars of the next generation. Rather than just a sports camp, he and his wife envisioned a place where “not only can they get a soccer education, they get a life education as well.” An overwhelming goal for the camp is to “create good people.”

Demerit is one who can attest to this year’s theme of turning your dreams into reality since that is exactly what he has done in his career. After not making a professional team in the US, he took all his money and his determination to Europe where he was signed to semi-professional Northwood and then to Watford where he played in the Championship and Premier leagues. From there, he created a legacy for himself as the first American-born captain in his team’s history. He continued this legacy by playing every minute of FIFA 2010, and as the Vancouver Whitecaps Captain until this year.

As someone who has triumphed over challenges, Demerit hopes that those who hear him speak will be able to apply his experiences to their own lives. When this happens, Demerit says he will have done his job at TEDxVancouver.

Treana Peake is a fashion designer who takes a unique approach to the fashion industry and its far reaching influence. Though it is quite an achievement to see her Obakki pieces on red carpet celebrities, some of the brand’s biggest accomplishments have been through the philanthropic efforts of the Obakki Foundation.

As someone who had been involved in philanthropy all of her life, Peake recognized the opportunity to incorporate the two different aspects under one brand. As she said, “there was a platform to be used, for good.” With these philanthropic endeavors, she not only created a foundation that funds orphanages, schools, and focuses on bringing clean water to areas that wouldn’t otherwise have access to it, she also created a new fundraising model.

Rather than the typical organization with overhead costs that cut into philanthropic goals and accomplishments, the Obakki clothing line absorbs any and all fees incurred by the foundation. Donor money does not pay for a cent of the line’s operating costs, which allows the foundation to focus on its goals, including building hundreds of water wells. “So many things expand from water,” says Peake, and with her time at TEDxVancouver, she hopes she can inspire the audience with all that a new take on a classic charitable idea can do.

When Victor Chan looks back at all that has happened leading to this present moment — being kidnapped by three rifle-wielding men in Afghanistan in the 70s, and adventuring with a fellow escapee to meet the Dalai Lama — he asserts that without these events, we would not be speaking to him nor hearing him speak.

Chan never set out to meet the Dalai Lama, nor did he predict he would become a co-author with and friend of His Holiness. However, he realizes what a privilege it has been to learn from someone “who has such moral authority,” and today, the two of them travel together promoting their two co-authored books.

Victor previously spoke at TEDxArgentina, and attended TEDxOxford. He is looking forward to speaking at the Vancouver event, spreading the ideas of living in a holistic and balanced way, a way that strongly values the worth of a “warm heart.”

His experience is a stark reminder of how the paths we take in life can change us. The overall message Chan has received from the Dalai Lama, and wishes to reiterate in his writing and his speaking, is one of compassion. He says, “We all want to be happy. The surest way to attain sustainable happiness is through compassion.”

Each of these speakers will present inspiring stories and speak about their unique ideas and experiences when they visit Vancouver in October. Most importantly, they all have ideas worth spreading.