In Conversation
Sunday, October 31
2:00 pm ET
Featuring Samra Zafar &
Dr. Lynn Gehl (live from Peterborough)
with host Lucy van Oldenbarneveld
ATTEND IN PERSON OR ONLINE!
Samra Zafar and Lynn Gehl … their stories matter.
Attend in Person*
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Samra and Lynn share their challenges, passions, fears, joys and triumphs.
Through their unique stories of hardship and triumph, we’ll discover new energy, resilience and strength for ourselves. They will convey meaning and purpose that will help us understand ourselves better and find commonality with others.
Through their unique stories of hardship and triumph, we’ll discover new energy, resilience and strength for ourselves. They will convey meaning and purpose that will help us understand ourselves better and find commonality with others.
* Vaccine Passport and ID required at the door for in-person events.
Click here for COVID-19 protocols.
Click here for COVID-19 protocols.
SAMRA ZAFAR will leave you feeling empowered with her story of escaping abuse and becoming a best-selling author and advocate for women. Her memoir has been described as "a modern-day fairy tale where the heroine saves her own life." DR. LYNN GEHL, Algonquin Anishinaabe Kwe, has been an advocate for Indigenous women's rights for nearly half a century. She has dedicated her life to ensuring hundreds of thousands of Indigenous mothers are able to pass their status on to their children. Her decades-long struggle and victory is the embodiment of Indigenous wisdom and courage.
Samra Zafar and Dr. Lynn Gehl, along with host Lucy van Oldenbarneveld, will be In Conversation at our final event. Born in Pakistan to a Muslim family, Zafar—an award-winning international speaker, author, scholar, and social entrepreneur—engages audiences around the world on authentic leadership, resilience, human rights, and youth empowerment. Dr. Gehl is an author, advocate, public speaker and artist whose work encompasses anti-colonial issues and the celebration of Indigenous knowledge.
These two bold, transformative women are examples of strong female leaders and activists who have emerged from adversity. They will share thoughtful and provocative observations about life experiences and their impact, and how they hope to influence women and girls for a better future.
These two bold, transformative women are examples of strong female leaders and activists who have emerged from adversity. They will share thoughtful and provocative observations about life experiences and their impact, and how they hope to influence women and girls for a better future.
After escaping a decade of abuse living as a child bride in a forced marriage in Canada, SAMRA ZAFAR became a beacon of hope for many people facing exclusion, abuse, and gender-based violence. Now an award-winning international speaker, bestselling author, scholar, and social entrepreneur, she engages audiences around the world speaking about collective resilience, authentic leadership, inclusive workplaces, youth, human rights, mental health, and more.
In 2019, Zafar published her first book, A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose, which became a national bestseller and named one of CBC's Best Books of 2019 for Canadian Non-fiction. It is now being adapted into a TV series and published internationally. She has given three TEDx talks and delivered keynotes for major organizations around the world.
Zafar has been recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 100 Most Powerful Women” by Women’s Executive Network, among the “Top 25 Most Inspirational Women” by CanadianSME Magazine, and a “Top 25 Canadian Immigrant” by RBC. She is also a celebrated ambassador for Plan International Canada and a board member for Women’s College Hospital Foundation. For more visit: https://www.samrazafar.com/
In 2019, Zafar published her first book, A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose, which became a national bestseller and named one of CBC's Best Books of 2019 for Canadian Non-fiction. It is now being adapted into a TV series and published internationally. She has given three TEDx talks and delivered keynotes for major organizations around the world.
Zafar has been recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 100 Most Powerful Women” by Women’s Executive Network, among the “Top 25 Most Inspirational Women” by CanadianSME Magazine, and a “Top 25 Canadian Immigrant” by RBC. She is also a celebrated ambassador for Plan International Canada and a board member for Women’s College Hospital Foundation. For more visit: https://www.samrazafar.com/
In the Anishinaabe tradition, people express times of bereavement through the practice of Mkadengwe, which translates to Black Face. This tradition involved painting one’s face with black ash or paint to signify one’s state of being. L.Gehl
DR. LYNN GEHL is an author, advocate, public speaker, and artist. Lynn is the creator of the slogan known as “6(1)a All the Way!” that many people and Senate members rallied around in their 2017 effort to remove the long standing sex discrimination in the Indian Act.
Her work encompasses both anti-colonial work and the celebration of Indigenous knowledge. She challenges Canada’s practices, policies, and laws of colonial genocide such as the land claims and self-government process, sex-discrimination in the Indian Act, the continued destruction of Akikpautik / Chaudière Falls–an Anishinaabeg sacred place, and Canada’s lack of policy addressing Indigenous women and girls with disabilities who are bigger targets of sexual violence.
While only learning how to read and write beyond the primary school level in her thirties, Lynn was successful in obtaining the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Scholarship. She completed her Ph.D. in 2010 and has since focused on knowledge production, both in academic and community based venues.
She weaves wampum belts, builds petro-forms, and paints. She has three books, The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process; Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit; and most recently Gehl v Canada: Challenging Sex Discrimination in the Indian Act. She has several academic contributions in journals and chapters in books, and has contributed to numerous magazines, websites, news papers, and op-eds; as well as personal blogs. Lynn is frequently called upon as an expert by various media outlets to offer commentary on Indigenous issues.
For more, visit https://www.lynngehl.com
DR. LYNN GEHL is an author, advocate, public speaker, and artist. Lynn is the creator of the slogan known as “6(1)a All the Way!” that many people and Senate members rallied around in their 2017 effort to remove the long standing sex discrimination in the Indian Act.
Her work encompasses both anti-colonial work and the celebration of Indigenous knowledge. She challenges Canada’s practices, policies, and laws of colonial genocide such as the land claims and self-government process, sex-discrimination in the Indian Act, the continued destruction of Akikpautik / Chaudière Falls–an Anishinaabeg sacred place, and Canada’s lack of policy addressing Indigenous women and girls with disabilities who are bigger targets of sexual violence.
While only learning how to read and write beyond the primary school level in her thirties, Lynn was successful in obtaining the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Scholarship. She completed her Ph.D. in 2010 and has since focused on knowledge production, both in academic and community based venues.
She weaves wampum belts, builds petro-forms, and paints. She has three books, The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process; Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit; and most recently Gehl v Canada: Challenging Sex Discrimination in the Indian Act. She has several academic contributions in journals and chapters in books, and has contributed to numerous magazines, websites, news papers, and op-eds; as well as personal blogs. Lynn is frequently called upon as an expert by various media outlets to offer commentary on Indigenous issues.
For more, visit https://www.lynngehl.com
LUCY VAN OLDENBARNEVELD is an actress and director, and former host of CBC Ottawa News at 6.
