Symposia, Conferences & Fairs 2008 Change is Possible: the Ultimate Career & Education Fair On May 7th we co-chaired and coordinated the Change Is Possible Ultimate Career & Education Fair in conjunction with our community partners. Open to the public, over 120 world class exhibitors presented the biggest and best employers in Metro Vancouver. World class speaker and CEO of CanadaWide Magazine, Peter Legge, gave a riveting lecture on taking charge of your future. 2007 Realizing Our Potential: A Symposium on Human Rights for People with Mental Illness January 29th 2007 we collaborated with our community partners to put together a symposium regarding human rights for those with mental illness. Speakers included: Dr. David Goldbloom, MD; Jim O'Dea, Principal of Terra Housing Consultants;  and Loyanne McCuiag, schizophrenia survivor and community advocate. The keynote speaker was one of Time Magazine's most influential people of 2005, Stephen Lewis. He is currently serving as the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, and is also a commissioner for the World Health organization's commission on the Social Determinants of Health. 2006 Educating Our World: the Power of People May 15th & 16th, 2006. We co-chaired and coordinated the BC Career Colleges Association conference at the River Rock in Richmond, BC. The highlight was two lectures given by Stephen Lewis, Canada’s former Ambassador to the United Nations and the UN’s Special Envoy for HIV / AIDS in Africa. Named one of Time Magazine’s100 Most Influential People in The World in 2005 and recognized as one of the world’s most passionate and powerfulspeakers, Lewis’ talk was incredibly moving and inspiring. Over $5000 was raised in donations for UNICEF which will fully fund the building of a clinic in Africa to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to her unborn child. 2004 Caring for Our Youth: A Symposium on Child & Youth Care October 22nd & 23rd, 2004 at Central City in Surrey, BC. Over 1000 individuals attended the two day symposium which featured five topics: 1) Care & Treatment; 2)Addiction: 3) Emotional Intelligence & Conflict Resolution; 4) Gangs; and 5) Hate, Violence & Exploitation. Speakers included: Dr. Penny Parry, former Child & Youth Advocate for the City of Vancouver; Dr. Edward Khantzian, MD, from Harvard Medical School; Dr. Ian Martin, Three Bridges Community Health Centre; Dr. Marc Brackett, Associate Director of Health, Emotions, and Behavior Laboratory, Yale University; Dr. Ed Dunkelblau, bullying expert and Director of the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning; Lou Desmerais, Vancouver Native Health Society and Dr. Robert Gordon, Simon Fraser University.