Transforming Lives Through Education - This event will feature speakers that are making a huge difference in their communities and around the world along with a Global Marketplace featuring information and vendor booths for NGO's creating a local and global impact.

Global Citizen Kelowna’s Speakers Series has brought to Kelowna amazing social activists like Craig Kielburger, Dr. Samantha Nutt and Michel Chikwanine. 2013 will prove to be another banner year for the series.  

The Global Citizen Kelowna Speaker Series is presented this year by SUN FM and JCI Okanagan, a local leadership development organization who’s goal is to “empower young people to create positive change”.  We would also like to thank UBC Okanagan for their generous support.

Taylor Conroy

"Destroy Normal" is the phrase Taylor Conroy lives by. And he means it. At age twenty he became the youngest firefighter in Canada. At 24, he picked up his real estate license to use on his days off from the firehall, and in his first full year, became the top grossing new agent on the continent. Over the next 3 years he built a million dollar real estate business that he would later sell to fund his current social venture, 'Change Heroes'.  CEO of Change Heroes, a ground breaking online fundraising platform, has funded 50 schools and libraries in 5 developing countries that will educate roughly 50,000 children. He gave a keynote address at Harvard Universities Social Enterprise Conference and will be presenting at the United Nations in New York in 2013.  Topic: innovative fundraising. He lectures on social entrepreneurship at New York University, and is considered a pioneer and thought leader in the social entrepreneurship and social enterprise space. In 2013, Taylor plans to use Change Heroes to educate 1 million of the worlds most in need children. And as he puts it, "have a total blast while doing it".  Taylor also happens to be a highschool graduate from Springvalley Secondary in Kelowna.

Rhonda Draper

Opening for Taylor Conroy is Rhonda Draper, founder of Month of Love.  Meet at music teacher from Kelowna who has inspired her students to give up one thing in their lives for one month to improve the lives of hundreds of others.  Their first campaign raiser $13,000.00 and led to the creation of the Glenmore Elementary Book Mobile which delivers books to impoverished schools in and around Kampala, Uganda.

Global Marketplace

Prior to and after the Speakers Series visit the Global Market Place!  Booths in the foyer hosted by over 30 NGO’s will showcase how local groups are supporting the UN Millennium Development goals in their own unique and astounding ways.

Global Citizen Kelowna would like to acknowledge our partner for the 2013 Speaker Series.

JCI Okanagan

We are a membership-based nonprofit organization of 200,000 young active citizens ages 18 to 40 in 5,000 communities and more than 100 countries around the world. Each JCI Member shares the belief that in order to create lasting positive change, we must improve ourselves and the world around us. We seek targeted solutions to the unique problems in our communities to build a better world, creating global impact.  Membership is open to individuals who would like the opportunity to develop new skills and reach their greatest potential.

At JCI, we encourage our members to get involved and make a difference in our community. We focus on leadership development through managing projects, internal training, and real hands-on experience. We provide an opportunity for business networking, international travel and the development of lifelong friendships.

http://www.jci.cc/local/info/okanagan/otherinfo