Speaker Schedule

"Cameras for Girls"

Amina Mohamed is the Founder and Executive Director of Cameras For Girls, a Canadian charity and Ugandan nonprofit that supports young women across Africa to build careers in photography, storytelling, and media. Since 2018, Cameras For Girls has trained over 200 women and distributed more than 200 cameras, helping graduates move into paid work in male dominated media spaces.

Amina began her career in film and television and has spent over 15 years working as a producer and production manager. Born in the UK, she arrived in Canada with her family as refugees from Uganda, in 1972. Her work today sits at the intersection of ethical storytelling, gender equality, and servant leadership. She is a sought-after speaker on ethical storytelling, global development, and the power of long-term community driven change.

"Ghost Towns of Ontario"

"Nobody knows Ontario like Ron Brown" is how the CBC once described this author, geographer, and travel writer. Best-selling author Ron Brown has long had a love affair with the landscapes of Canada and has included his vast knowledge in his many books.

His travel pieces have been published in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, the Canadian Geographic Magazine, and VIA Rail Magazine. His 5000 image stock shot inventory includes views of Ontario's lesser-known landscapes, with a specialization in historic buildings, main streets, railway stations and ghost towns. He has provided consulting services to advertisers and film makers, including a History Channel series, seeking unusual locations at which to film. He has participated on TVO's Studio Two panels to determine Ontario's "most historic town," Ontario's "prettiest town," and Ontario's "best main street."

Following a 27-year career as a writer and community planner, including his role as an advisor to BIA's, with the Ontario government, Ron Brown now lectures on, and leads tours to ghost towns and heritage landscapes across Ontario. Ron is a member of the Travel Media Association of Canada, and is past chair of The Writers' Union of Canada.

In 2015, Ron received the Writers' Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award for his ongoing promotion of freedom to read and write in Canada.

"The Future is Now:  AI"

Google, Alexi, and Siri are mere infants compared to today’s AIs. Discover the ways AI is being used by seniors every day. You’ll see how AI works, the features of the most popular AIs, and how to get started. Amazement guaranteed!

We enjoyed Rob's presentation on a nostalgic look at the movies, last year.  He joins us again with his presentation on the world of AI:

Rob Smythe was a secondary school teacher of science, mathematics, computer science, and music, with a special fondness for physics. He has written several textbooks, including the astronomy unit for Ontario Grade 9 science, and six novels that, he says, few people have read. He has performed in such musical stage productions as Damn Yankees, West Side Story, and The Marriage of Figaro. He has directed close to a dozen high school musicals, and conducted bands and choirs. He is an enthusiastic movie lover, enjoying thrillers, musicals, mysteries, historical epics, and science fiction.