Marc Kielburger
Keynote Speaker for Thur. May 22, 2008, evening session
Marc Kielburger is an accomplished social advocate and the chief executive director of Free the Children (http://www.freethechildren.com), the world's largest network of children helping children through education. A passionate and powerful speaker, Marc will show how one person can make a difference and how a vision to address the exploitation of children resulted in an international movement with an impact across the world. The “me to we” philosophy that he developed with his brother is about finding meaning in our lives and our world by reaching out to others. Marc will speak on how to make these ideas relevant in today's modern world.

Martha Kuwee Kumsa
Plenary Speaker for Fri. May 23, 2008, morning session
Human rights in a “glocalizing” world
Martha Kuwee Kumsa was born and raised in Ethiopia, where she worked as a print and radio journalist. As a result of her work, she was jailed and spent the 1980s as a prisoner of conscience. She is now an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. This presentation will explore how the notion of human rights has been transformed through the push and pull of global and local issues related to economy, culture and social relations at local levels, and how identities and rights are involved in the resulting homogenization at a global level and fragmentation at local levels. She will relate the idea of “glocal” (global + local) self/identity to being a social worker.

Cindy Blackstock
Beverley Antle Memorial Lecture on Social Work Ethics
Plenary Speaker for Sat. May 24, 2008, morning session
Where is the eloquence in social work ethics?
Cindy Blackstock, a member of the Gitksan First Nation, has worked in the field of child and family services for more than 20 years. She is the Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (http://www.fncaringsociety.com). This presentation will explore the eloquence of social work's code of ethics from the perspective of the profession's historic and contemporary relationship with Aboriginal peoples in child welfare. Cindy will discuss social work's relationship with Aboriginal peoples throughout Canadian history, what the profession has learned from its successes and failures, and what this means for how social work is practiced today.

Margaret Trudeau
Banquet Speaker for Sat. May 24, 2008, evening session
Margaret Trudeau is a mental health advocate who will address the enduring stigma associated with mental illness. Thrust onto the public stage in her early 20s as the wife of prominent politician Pierre Elliot Trudeau and mother of three small children, she battled undiagnosed mood swings. Her long struggle with mental health problems and her experience with the social stigma frequently related to mental health conditions cut across all segments of society. Her presentation will highlight, from her unique perspective, the need for greater public education and better funding of resources to combat what's increasingly being termed a mental health epidemic.

Ariane Brunet
Plenary Speaker for Sun. May 25, 2008, morning session
Ariane Brunet is the Women's Rights Coordinator at Rights & Democracy (R&D), which she represents at the UN Human Rights Commission. She contributed to the creation of a coalition that monitors gender-related crimes in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and has been instrumental in setting up the Women's Rights in Afghanistan Fund. Ariane was active in ensuring that Canada became a leader on a resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission to appoint a Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences. She is a co-founder of the Urgent Action Fund (UAF), which both grants and initiates programs to equip women's human rights activists with the resources necessary to respond to women and girls brutalized in conflict situations. As well, she was a member of the International Advisory Committee for the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery.