Conversations That Matter

Workplace Inclusion - SAP's Autism Employment Program with Kirsten Sutton

Ep 120

Kirsten Sutton

Workplace Inclusion

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Kirsten Sutton of SAP Canada a company that has mandated that 1% of its workforce is made up of people with autism, a rate that reflects the percentage of people in the world with autism.

 

Sutton says this is not some feel good program, rather it’s a program that is reshaping the company and is paying dividends, “This is not a philanthropic endeavor. We have open roles that we can't fill. Folks on that spectrum are absolutely suited for these roles, and they're not getting employed. So we're filling roles with people that have amazing talents. We've had folks start 1st day in a, say a software testing role, find a bug in the software that's been there 15 years, nobody else has identified it.”

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Vancouver's Housing Crisis, some solutions with Micheal Geller

Michael Geller

Housing Crisis Solutions

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Michael Geller who acknowledges Vancouver really does have a housing crisis. While he agrees with the provincial government’s 15% foreign ownership tax he’s not onboard with it’s implementation, “The way they went about it was very unwise and was quite shocking, but it just shows how emotion and political considerations can often dominate common sense.”

Common sense is what Geller is proposing. As far as he’s concerned it’s quite simple, increase the supply. “So the question is how do we do that? People immediately assume that if you're going to increase supply that means high-rises are coming, and I think that's wrong. There's a lot of housing that I call in between housing, something in between the single family house and the high-rise apartment. And it includes duplexes and townhouses along all the arterials. The other thing is looking at opportunities to do more intensive development. Why don't we take these corner lots and divide them into two?”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Don't get conned by weight loss promises

Dr Michael Lyon

Healthy Weight Management

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Dr. Michael Lyon one of Canada’s top obesity experts who says we’ve been conned by the weight loss industry into believing there is a magic formula to losing weight and keeping it off. He says, “eat less and move more” is only half true.

He has dedicated himself to understanding how the human body works, why it puts on weight and never wants to lose it. He maintains the key to managing a healthy weight is complex but it can be done. “you get into a long term mindset where you know, this is gonna be something I work at ‘for the rest of my life.’ It's something you work at every day. That doesn't mean necessarily that weight maintenance is harder, it certainly requires daily vigilance, and as time goes on the key is you have to develop a new rhythm of life.”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Welcome to the Men's Group

Joseph Culp - Men’s Group

Conversations That Matter features Joseph Culp on being a man. Culp wrote, produced, directed and stars in, “Welcome to the Men’s Group” a social commentary on the state of masculinity in western culture. Culp says, “We were the soldiers, we were breadwinners, we had to be stoic and be strong, and we didn't want to be weak, which means showing your feelings and being vulnerable. Well guess what? Evolution is here. And we're changing, and life is changing, and women changed too. And I think the significance of feminism in the last 40 odd years has put a kind-of demand on men to investigate their own way of relating to each other.”

Welcome to the Men’s group takes viewers deep inside the confusing lives of eight men who lay it all out there. It is a sobering look at “male vulnerability” and also is quite funny, using humor and irreverence to celebrate the zaniness and extremes of men. Through the characters, however, viewers will find pieces of themselves and the men who are a part of their lives.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Marriage after 50? Really!

Tracy Theemes - Marriage after 50? Really!

Conversations That Matter features Tracy Theemes a certified financial planner with a keen eye on the complex issues related to marriage later in life. Theemes says there are multiple reasons why after a half century of living it gets harder to get together, “we become more exaggerated versions of ourselves, our problems, our suitcases of net worth, cash flow issues, personal development issues, sexuality issues, family issues like parents and even grandparents, it adds up.”

Despite the challenges, Theemes is optimistic about successful marriages post 50. As she puts it, “there are five reasons to get married, they are, social, spiritual, legal, financial and love”  Theemes goes on to say marriage is a good institution no matter how old you are especially when you go into it with eyes wide open.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Emergency Communications Plan - do you have one?

Christine Sommers

Epact - Emergency Communications Plan

 

Conversations That Matter features Christine Sommers of ePACT has developed an emergency communications network that ensures you and your loved ones can always let each other know your whereabouts and your condition. Sommers says, “landlines, mobile and text are iffy at best, email is actually the number one way to communicate because the internet was built to withstand World War III.”

 

Sommers says if everything in life were a straight line that would be good enough, but of course they don’t. The kids are at school or ballet or soccer or or or. How does that organization connect with parents and next contacts? Enter epact, Sommers says we developed a system that allows the school or the day care or the sports team to connect directly with families so that they can share their data, they can actually connect each person’s support network.”

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Changing the world through sport

Ep 114

Aileen McManamon

Changing the world through sport

 

Conversations That Matter features Aileen McManamon an expert at creating social good from sport. McManamon embraces Nelson Mandela’s dictum that, “Sport has the power to change the world” and to that end we in Canada are missing out on opportunities to influence change.

 

McManamon points to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, “what we did well as a country, was to put on a great sporting event. What we didn't do well was to take the occasion to talk about things like gender equality. And the women's World Cup presented a unique opportunity to do that. Because Canada's hosting was the first time that that field had been expanded from 16 to 24 teams. So that was a big leap toward parity on the sporting front. And we really missed that opportunity to deal with that. And we also missed a number of economic opportunities.”

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Reconciliation

Episode 113

Louise Mandell

Reconciliation

Conversations That Matter features Louise Mandell who for the past four decades has been at the heart of aboriginal and treaty litigation, work that has lead to a shift in the colonial paradigm. Mandell says the old arguments of distinguisher rights have been dropped, “we've reached the point where crown governments and indigenous governments are now able to build trust, collaborate, cooperate, and actually build systems that talk to one another in a good way.”

According to Mandell we may have come a long way but we’re not there. We’re not living in a country that has reconciled. She is hopeful, “think if we intend to listen to each other, to help indigenous people with capacity to heal from colonization - in their own way, if we intend to be making decisions about the land, if we intend that indigenous people are going to be self-determining in ways that we are self-determining as a culture and we intend this for our children, we are so gonna get there.”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

The path to leadership in complex organizations for women

Petra Kuret - The path to leadership

Conversations That Matter features Petra Kuret on the path to leadership for women in complex international organizations. Kuret says it starts with picking the right company, a company with a culture that promotes diversity and opportunity for all. Kuret leads an executive team of five at Accenture, British Columbia, four women and one man.

The path to leadership is complex for anyone and more so for women.  Kuret points out, “in addition to the culture of the company, women need to be willing to stretch beyond their comfort zone, develop that next level of skill set, take intellectual risks, develop mentors and find a work life integration all the while developing leadership skills.” The journey to leadership is challenging in a global company but Kuret says, “it’s path that will allow you to realize your full potential”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

What is a citizen city?

Gregory Henriquez - What is a Citizen City?

Conversations That Matter features Gregory Henriquez the architect that re-imagined the old Woodwards’ site turning it into a model of community redevelopment. A model that respects the needs of the Downtown Eastside and appreciates the market value of the site. Henriquez says he was motivated by his belief, “that a complete society needs to be inclusive and reflect the diversity of our population. A city that has the goal of embracing inclusivity and finding ways to enable it to be as good as it can be.”

Henriquez has shared his insights in a new book, “Citizen City”. He contends, “the goal is to create physical environments that reflect the nature of our society and how we can nurture it to make sure that the urban environment is something that allows everyone to feel at home.” He goes on to say, “it sounds simplistic but by working with marginalized populations, you start to understand the sense of place we feel as privileged Vancouverites isn't always the same as for people who have challenges.”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv