Keynotes 2010
Our Keynote presenters will be sharing their stories at the Assemblies throughout the Conference.  You will hear from REAL PEOPLE who are doing great things in communities just like yours.  Listen to what inspired them to take action and learn from their achievements, life lessons and wisdom.
THURSDAY MORNING  The Sum of Success for Youth City of St. Albert
After surveying more than 6,000 students in the community, the City of St. Albert moved forward on its journey to further enrich the lives of youth through the 40 Assets philosophy. And while that journey continues, we are proud to share our story with conference participants from across Canada. Through the development of a widespread promotional campaign that told the stories of the community�fs asset champions to the offering of multiple learning opportunities to stakeholder groups, the City has shown its commitment to positive youth development. Join us and hear the interesting, exciting story of our efforts to ensure everyone becomes a part of the sum of success for youth in St. Albert.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON Playing WITH the Rules - The Story of Positive Tickets A journey of inspiration and hope
"My community, like so many others, struggled with the number of calls for youth disturbances and crime. The reactive approach to solving this problem was not working. Kids saw us as 'the hunters.' With that mindset, the good kids shied away from us, and the marginal kids turned it into a game of 'cat and mouse' to see how much they could get away with before getting caught. So I thought, what if we flipped things around? What if we catch and reward kids for doing good things instead of focusing on only the negative things? What if we start handing out Positive Tickets instead of only violations or warnings? It totally went against the old reactive, post-incident, corrective policing model. The results of the Positive Ticket program have been remarkable."   Superintendent Ward Clapham (rtd.) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.	Chief Ward Clapham, Transit Police �NC Metro Vancouver, and Former Superintendent RCMP Richmond
Ward's vision was inspired by master story teller and teacher Keith Pattinson who had given a presentation on the 40 Developmental Assets. Ward's vision was based upon the notion of police officers hunting for the positive in youth (instead of just the negative). In other words, positive connections and working with youth in a proactive nature, and trying everything possible to prevent crime and tragedy from ever occuring. Forty thousand Positive Tickets a year later the proof is in the results.
Ward has now taken his vision of cops and kids one step further. In addition to transforming police departments and communities, Ward is now assisting organizations and businesses on ways they can put the Positive Ticket philosophy into action...ways to reward and recognize employees and customers to enhance the bottom line. Because of the thousands of requests Ward receives every year for more information on how to implement Positive Tickets, he has created a book. In Playing With the Rules: The Story of Positive Tickets, Ward shares the journey that his community took with launching and establishing the Positive Tickets program. He has also included a practical, step-by-step, how-to guide. This section of the book outlines what you can do to implement a similar program in your community.  Watch www.positiveticketing.com for details on the release of the book scheduled for May 2010.
FRIDAY MORNING  The Power of YOUR Story
Learn the power of finding and sharing your stories about Positive Youth Development and Asset Building.  We know that it's the stories about those magical moments and people who made a difference that stick with us.  The stories inspire us to take action and be intentional and deliberate about connecting with youth in our communities and lives.  Experience one of the most powerful stories in Asset Building folklore, Maria's Story, and join your fellow delegates in exploring how to find those stories in your community.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON - CLOSING
A dream born in Kenya has become a charitable organization of hopeful young people uniting as The Otesha Project (www.otesha.ca). Otesha, which means "reason to dream" in Swahili, was created to mobilize youth to create local and global change through their daily consumer choices. Otesha believes that there are alternatives to our culture of over consumption, and that each one of us has opportunities to have positive impacts every single day. Jennifer Valberg, originally from Kingston, and 27 years of age, is the Development Director for The Otesha Project.  The Project's education programs and bicycle tours use theatre, multi-media, and storytelling to engage a wide range of audiences, and have reached more than 100,000 people to date. Otesha's performances focus on re-evaluating our daily choices to reflect the kind of future we'd like to see - rethinking what we really need, conserving resources, and voting with our dollars. They aim to demonstrate the positive effects our everyday choices can have, by living sustainably, changing the world, and having loads of fun--all at the same time!
Jennifer has spoken to over 7,000 people, and performed in over 25 communities as a member of Otesha's Lake Superior cycling and performance team. She has trained multiple 'Hopeful Highschool Hooligan' (Triple H) teams to perform The Otesha Play in their communities. Jennifer also runs an award-winning company, Ghetto Couture, where she is the sole designer and creator of her unique reconstructed clothing. Sharing her experiences as a young leader, entrepreneur and activist, Jen shares the hopeful philosophy behind The Otesha Project, and inspire audiences to reflect the on the impact they can, and do have on the world around them.