Keynote Speakers

The abduction of Elizabeth Smart was one of the most followed child abduction cases of our time. Smart was abducted on June 5, 2002, and her captors controlled her by threatening to kill her and her family if she tried to escape. Fortunately, the police safely returned Smart back to her family on March 12, 2003 after being held prisoner for 9 grueling months.
Through this traumatic experience Smart has become an advocate for change related to child abduction, recovery programs and National legislation. Elizabeth triumphantly testified before her captor and the world about the very private nightmare she suffered during her abduction, which lead to conviction. Founder of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, Smart has also helped promote The National AMBER Alert, The Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act and other safety legislation to help prevent abductions.
Smart has chronicled her experiences in the New York Times best-selling book, My Story. In addition, she and other abduction survivors worked with the Department of Justice to create a survivors guide, entitled, You’re Not Alone: The Journey From Abduction to Empowerment. This guide is meant to encourage children who have gone through similar experiences not to give up but to know that there is hope for a rewarding life. Learn more. 

Sage Paul is an urban Denesuliné tskwe based in Toronto and a member of English River First Nation. Sage is an award-winning artist & designer and a recognized leader of Indigenous fashion, craft and textiles. Her work centres family, sovereignty and resistance for balance. Sage is also founding collective member and Artistic Director of Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto. Sage’s art and designs have been shown at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s First Thursday, Harbourfront Centre, The Centre for Craft, Creativity and Design (North Carolina, USA), and a curated program at Western Canada Fashion Week by Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective. She has designed costumes for Kent Monkman, Darlene Naponse, Danis Goulet and more. Sage speaks about Indigenous fashion including engagements at Canada House (London, UK), The Walrus Magazine, Ryerson University, Toronto Women’s Fashion Week and South Africa Fashion Week. Sage Paul sits on the Ryerson School of Fashion Advisory Board, sits on the Board of Directors for Red Pepper Spectacle Arts and is developing an Indigenous Fashion elective course for George Brown College. Learn more.

Perdita Felicien is an author, television host, sports broadcaster, two-time Olympian, ten-time National Champion, and the first Canadian woman to win a World Championship gold medal in track and field. During her career as a 100-metre hurdler, she earned numerous honours, including Canada's Athlete of the Year and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Felicien retired from professional sports in 2013 and is now a broadcast journalist. She was part of CBC's broadcast team at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, and was inducted into Athletics Canada's Hall of Fame. Her memoir, My Mother's Daughter (Doubleday Canada), was published in 2021. Learn more.

Newfoundland and Labrador Panel Discussion

Panel Host

Leila Beaudoin (BA ’09) is an award-winning storyteller, and mother of two cats. She has bachelor’s degrees in English and journalism, and a certificate in communications. Beaudoin grew up on the Northern Peninsula but got her start reporting out west for both CTV and CBC.   She wrote about her experience growing up in rural Newfoundland in the acclaimed anthology Land of Many Shores. In 2019, Leila was recognized for her work in video journalism with a silver Atlantic Journalism Award. In 2020, she was named Women of Distinction (Public Sphere). She was also a 2022 nominee for the Lansberg award. Leila made her mark in Newfoundland and Labrador journalism reporting with NTV, where she was one of NTV’s chief reporters on social issues and the fishery. These days she’s living in a cottage by the sea, freelance reporting, and working with a team focused on sustaining coastal communities. 

Panelists

Kanani Penashue Davis (B. Ed ’18) became Chief Executive Officer of Mamu Tshishkutamashutau in early 2018, serving as director of education for the Innu of Labrador. In 2019 the Innu Language Project, a continuing partnership between Dr. Marguerite Mackenzie and Ms. Davis (representing Mamu Tshishkutamashutau) received Memorial University’s President’s Award for Public Engagement.

Ms. Davis is a proud member of the Innu Nation and grew up in Sheshatshiu. Innu is her first language. She was the first Indigenous person to receive a Bachelor of Education from Memorial University.

She is married with four children. Her specialized training in linguistics has enabled her, among other accomplishments, to provide standardized spelling for children’s books published in Innu aimun. Equally comfortable in a tent, a classroom or a boardroom, Kanani Davis brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion to all of her endeavours including writing, travel and her family.

Originally from St. John's NL, Christine Goudie is the Co-Founder and CEO of Granville Biomedical -
a Canadian healthtech company, specializing in the design of anatomical pelvic health models and
medical devices to address the lack of patient education and product innovation within women’s health.
To date, the company’s pelvic health models have been distributed across 14 countries and are used
by healthcare educators, pelvic health practitioners, midwifery/doula programs, and sexual health advocates to advance women's health on a global scale.

Christine hails from a medical device design background, with in-depth experience researching and developing products for persons with disabilities. She is also an Interdisciplinary PhD student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, focusing her research on the development of a novel assistive device for persons living with spinal cord injuries.

Originally from Nigeria, Dr. Zainab Jerrett (PhD'98) came to Canada 30 years ago to embark on doctoral studies in folklore at Memorial after receiving a prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship.

As executive director of the Tombolo Multicultural Festival, founder and CEO of We Care Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and the owner/operator of International Food and Craft Expo Inc., her work has enriched the local arts and crafts community. Much of her volunteer work is devoted to developing and increasing cross-cultural understanding and caring in the community and providing unheralded support to newcomers, both students and immigrant and refugee families. Dr. Jerrett has worked closely with St. Augustine’s Anglican Church to help international students adjust to life in Newfoundland and Labrador. Her advocacy for the international community involved sponsoring international suppers at the church, which were sometimes coupled with a concert of international singers. Often, 200 people would attend, not only sharing meals, but merging cultures and learning from each other.

In April of 2014 Boko haram, a Nigerian terrorist organization, abducted 276 school girls in the region where Dr. Jerrett grew up. Her sister’s village was also attacked, forcing her family to flee in the night. Within two weeks of her sister’s escape to assist with the care of the girls who also escaped their captors, Dr. Jerrett raised funds to create more than 100 scholarships (her original goal was 12). Within that initial fundraiser, We Care Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador was born. Since then, her outreach efforts broadened to collect donations of supplies for students and communities affected by the insurgencies.

On countless occasions, Dr. Jerrett has reached out to marginalized communities, both in Newfoundland and Labrador and beyond. Her devotion to relieving poverty, providing educational opportunities and her desire for a better tomorrow that includes all people is a beacon of hope for the future.