2021 Keynote Speakers

Meet Our Keynotes

Lisa Arora, Expert Visual Facilitator
Donna Hicks, PH.D. Internationally Renowned Authority on Dignity
Dylan Marron, Digital Creator

Keynote | 22 March 12:45 PM – 1:45 PM

Dylan Marron, Digital Creator

Dylan Marron is a Webby Award-winning Digital Creator. In 2015 he made the viral series Every Single Word, in which he edited down popular films to only the words spoken by people of color, which was named Tumblr's "Most Viral Blog" of the year.

As a writer and correspondent at Seriously.tv Dylan created, hosted, and produced various satirical videos, Shutting Down Bullsh*t, and his signature Unboxing series, racking up over 100 million views over various platforms. His interview show Sitting in Bathrooms with Trans People was nominated for an IFP Gotham Award for Outstanding Short Form Series.

He currently hosts and produces Conversations with People Who Hate Me, a podcast where he gets to know the people behind negative comments on the internet. It was selected as a Podcast Pick by USA Today and The Guardian and named "the timeliest podcast" by FastCompany. The show has been profiled on The Today Show, PBS, and The New York Times, and was the subject of his widely-shared TED Talk.

His forthcoming book Snowflake will be published by Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster in 2021.

More About Dylan

Dylan Marron's Ted Talk

Keynote | 23 March 8:00 AM – 9:30 PM

Donna Hicks, PH.D. Internationally Renowned Authority on Dignity

Harvard’s Donna Hicks is the pioneering mind behind the Dignity Model, a signature approach that she has applied to the most divisive and deep-seated conflicts around the world. Her award-winning book Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict, broke new ground and established dignity as a universal, powerful and motivating force behind all human interaction. Now with her landmark book, Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People, Dr. Hicks is empowering leaders in business, health care, government, and other fields to create cultures of dignity as the key to fostering innovation, productive relationships and successful outcomes. A dynamic and thought-provoking speaker, Dr. Hicks draws upon her extensive background in international conflict resolution and experience utilizing the Dignity Model to transform work cultures in a range of businesses and organizations. Her presentations provide a thorough understanding of the role of dignity in human relationships. She also provides a playbook for creating a culture in which everyone—employees, customers, patients, clients, and others—thrives.

During more than two decades at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Dr. Hicks has focused on the world’s most extreme conflicts with extensive work on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, a ten-year project on Sri Lanka, conflicts in Colombia and Northern Ireland (with Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu), and several US/Cuba dialogues. In addition, Dr. Hicks was the Deputy Director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR) at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and is now an Associate at the Center. Her clients include the World Bank, United Nations, US Navy, and governments worldwide. Dr. Hicks is currently involved in a dignity restoration project in Syria and Libya as Vice President of Ara Pacis, an Italian organization sponsored by the Italian Foreign Ministry.

She was a consultant to the BBC, co-facilitating encounters between victims and perpetrators of the Northern Irish conflict with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The encounters were made into three television programs entitled Facing the Truth. Dr. Hicks has taught courses in conflict resolution at Harvard, Clark, and Columbia Universities and conducts dignity leadership trainings and educational seminars around the world.

Dr. Hicks’s experiences in resolving world conflict are now being implemented to transform workplace cultures. She connects the essential human need for dignity to the challenges facing corporations, healthcare, and human services organizations—even to fostering civil dialog on college campuses. Sharing real-word case stories, her insightful, highly human, and frequently brilliant presentations provide an eye-opening and instantly actionable approach that is redefining effective leadership. Backed by research and case studies, Dr. Hicks shows how a culture of dignity goes beyond making people feel valued. It also optimizes performance, unlocks potential, and fosters innovation in any organization.

More About Donna

Donna Hicks Books

Keynote | 24 March 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM

Lisa Arora, Expert Visual Facilitator

An expert visual facilitator Lisa is the founder of Get The Picture (www.getthepicture.ca), based in Victoria, Canada. For over a decade, she’s helped executives, CEOs, boards, government officials, and project leaders around the globe get clear on their desired futures and lined up for actions that get results.

Also a pioneer of visual mediation (www.bigtimevisual.com), Lisa now also works with teams and families leveraging the power of visual communication to resolve disputes faster and easier. She speaks at dispute resolution conferences and is the creator of BIG Beginnings in Visual Mediation, the world’s only online program that teaches dispute resolution practitioners how to amplify the effect of any intervention with visuals and help parties go far more easily from stuck to solved.

Lisa holds a B.Ed. from The University of Victoria, a Community Support Worker Certificate, and a Certificate in Family Mediation from the Justice Institute of British Columbia.