Rehab Tech Summit 2022 Speakers Coming Soon!
Speaker applications for RTS 2022 have now closed. Our speakers will be announced soon. If you would like to reach out to us, please contact us at info@rehabtechsummit.com.
Rehab Tech Summit Keynote Speakers
Dr. Lili Liu
PhD
Dr. Lili Liu
PhD
Lili Liu is a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems, and Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Liu earned degrees in BSc (Occupational Therapy), MSc and PhD (Rehabilitation Science), at McGill University. She began her academic career at the University of Alberta where she progressed through the ranks and served as chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy from 2008 to 2019 before joining the University of Waterloo.
In 2018, Liu received the 40th Muriel Driver Memorial Lectureship Award. The prestigious award recognizes a member of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) who has gone above and beyond for the profession through research, education and practice. Her lecture, titled “Occupational Therapy in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, reviewed the evolution of occupational therapy and the technological innovations faced by occupational therapists and their clients in the context of automation and changing job market requirements.
Liu advances health-care technology through her leadership roles in research, administration, service and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, as well as post-doctoral fellows. She maintains an externally funded research program that examines acceptance and adoption of technologies by older adults, their care partners, health care professionals, and unlicensed care personnel.
As a rehabilitation professional, Liu also engages with community organizations, as well as policy and decision makers. Alzheimer Societies, search and rescue personnel, dementia advocacy and caregiver associations, nationally and internationally, are partners in her research program.
Liu is an AGE-WELL network investigator, and her current research program examines the applications of technologies and other innovations to mitigate risks of going missing among persons living with dementia. Her team focuses on approaches to inform and implement policies that create safe environments for older adults.
Sarah Thomas
Executive-in-Residence, Aging2.0
Sarah Thomas
Executive-in-Residence, Aging2.0
Sarah Thomas is an accomplished leader of innovation. She serves as a global aging expert advising startups, large corporations and investors, with nearly 20 years dedicated to transforming the aging experience. Sarah has held key leadership positions across the US and Asia, developing and implementing strategic corporate innovation initiatives, including change management. She serves as the Executive-in-Residence at Aging2.0 and a principal consultant in the Nexus Insights firm for aging transformation. She most recently led all commercial activity for Seismic Holdings - a Silicon Valley-based company shaping human potential through integration of apparel and robotics to augment human strength and performance. Sarah’s commercial expertise helped position the organization for esteemed recognition by the World Economic Forum, Fast Company, The Economist and CES. Prior to Seismic, Sarah led all global innovation for the largest post-acute care provider in the US, Genesis, serving more than 55,000 individuals a day. She combines her Occupational Therapy expertise with her operational, clinical and entrepreneurial experience to inspire global improvements in design and systems innovation worldwide. She designed an innovation center in China as a part of a vitality initiative to improve the health and well-being of global communities. A published author, she serves in multiple advisory positions, sits on numerous boards and is an accomplished keynote speaker on topics like healthy longevity and aging innovations.
Dr. Charlotte Yeh
Chief Medical Officer, AARP
Dr. Charlotte Yeh
Chief Medical Officer, AARP
Dr. Charlotte Yeh is the Chief Medical Officer for AARP Services, Inc. In this capacity, she works with independent carriers that make health-related products and services available to AARP members on programs that help lead to enhanced care for older adults. She brings more than three decades of healthcare experience to this role as a practitioner and Chief of Emergency Medicine at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Tufts Medical Center, Medical Director for the National Heritage Insurance Company, Medicare Part B claims contractor, and the Regional Administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Boston. She has been widely recognized for her achievements.
Jourdan Saunders
MS, CCC-SLP
Jourdan Saunders
MS, CCC-SLP
Jourdan Saunders, MS, CCC-SLP, has been a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) for over 10 years using her expertise as a Disability Inclusion Consultant as the CEO & Founder of The Resource Key which focuses on Inclusive Branding to ensure People with Disabilities are included, and making meaningful connections with brands. Jourdan was recently awarded LinkedIn Top Voices 2020: Equity in the Workplace, established one of the first resource websites for students interested in the field of Speech Language Pathology (Futureslps.com) which has received recognition worldwide, owner of one of the largest SLP resources groups on LinkedIn with over 15,000 members. Her work has been featured in USA Gymnastics, American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), MarketWatch, PopSugar, Association of University Centers on Disability, and Kennedy Center. Jourdan's creativity, leadership, and diverse skillset is evident from her work as an advisor to companies and organizations ranging from digital speech therapy, gymnastics, international reading literacy initiatives, culinary industry technology platform, and many more.
Dr. Allison Sekuler
PhD
Dr. Allison Sekuler (BA, Mathematics & Psychology, Pomona College; PhD, Psychology, University of California Berkley) is the Vice-President Research at and Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at Baycrest Health Sciences, and the Managing Director of the Rotman Research Institute, one of the world’s leading research centres in gerocognition and neuroscience. She is also the Managing Director of the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), led by Baycrest, where she works to ensure that aging and brain health solutions are developed, tested, and disseminated so that older adults and their caregivers can live their best possible lives. A Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, Dr. Sekuler's research focuses on perception, aging, and cognitive neuroscience, and aims to develop methods to detect, prevent, and treat age-related sensory- and cognitive-decline. Dr. Sekuler has held appointments on numerous boards, currently serving as Chair of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada's Alliance Public Value Impact Panel, as well as serving on the boards and advisory committees for Hamilton Health Sciences, Western University’s BrainsCAN and York University’s VISTA Innovation programs, and the Canadian Brain Research Strategy. Among Dr. Sekuler’s many awards, she was the country’s first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience, and recently (2019) was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network for her accomplishments in science and in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusivity.
Salim Teja
Salim Teja is a Partner with Radical Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs applying deep technology to transform massive industries. With a primary focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence, Radical Ventures partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build enduring global companies.
Salim brings over 20 years of experience in the technology sector as an entrepreneur, venture investor, corporate innovator and innovation ecosystem builder. Prior to Radical Ventures, Salim served as President, Venture Services for MaRS Discovery District, one of the world’s largest urban innovation centres. Salim led the strategic direction of MaRS’ Venture Services Program across four sectors including Energy & Environment (Cleantech), Finance &Commerce (Fintech), Health and Enterprise. This program engaged a portfolio of over 1200 high growth ventures who had raised over $1.3B in capital and had generated over $1.4B in revenue.
Prior to MaRS, Salim has held leadership roles with Indigo Books & Music, Brightspark Ventures and San Francisco-based MobShop Inc, a pioneering e-commerce venture funded by GE Capital, Visa International and Mayfield Fund.
Sanjana Basu
Sanjana Basu is an Investor at Radical Ventures. Radical Ventures is a $325 Million Series A fund investing in bold entrepreneurs developing and applying artificial intelligence and other deep technologies to invent the future. Sanjana is passionate about the healthcare space and the many companies that are using deeply disruptive technology to advance the sector. Prior to Radical, Sanjana worked at the strategic investing and incubation arm of the Tata Group, the $100B Indian conglomerate based out of Mumbai, India. Sanjana also worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at Barclays focused on M&A and DCM.
She completed her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and her undergraduate in Economics & International Relations from Tufts University in Boston, US.
OTech Canada
While in occupational therapy (OT) school, co-founders Shahrose Aratia, Karishma Patel, Priya Thakkar, Noelannah Neubauer, Juanita Gnanapragasam, and Karen Ogilvie noticed a need to actively engage OT students in the possibilities and opportunities that lie at the intersection of healthcare and technology. Together, they founded OTech Canada. OTech Canada is a student-run organization that aims to create a community of clinical students across Canada who are interested in technology. Their mission is simple: to prepare students to be knowledgeable about health technologies and become active contributors to the dialogue in this technological revolution. They’ve done this by supporting the creation of chapters at universities across Canada while simultaneously building meaningful connections with interprofessional who work in this sector, both within and outside of healthcare such as computing science, engineering, policy and industry. Check out their session to learn how to grow your passion project into a national organization. They’ll be speaking about how you, as a student, can empower change at your school!
Keren Etkin
Creator, TheGerontechnologist.com
Keren Etkin
Creator, TheGerontechnologist.com
Keren is the Creator of TheGerontechnologist.com, a website that covers the global age tech ecosystem.
In 2019, she was named one of the most influential people in aging by Next Avenue. Keren is a public speaker and an advisor for age tech startups, investors in the longevity economy, care providers and organizations who work on innovation in aging.
Keren was the first employee at Intuition Robotics, the startup behind ElliQ, the world’s first social robot designed with and for older adults, and co-founder & VP of Product at Sensi.Ai, a startup that developed the first and only audio-AI solution for remote care monitoring.
She holds an M.A. in Gerontology, B.Sc. in Life Sciences.
Mini-Summit Speakers
A deep dive into Age-Tech for clinicians, focusing on innovation in the aging space.
Sarah Thomas
Executive-in-Residence, Aging2.0
Sarah Thomas
Executive-in-Residence, Aging2.0
Sarah Thomas is an accomplished leader of innovation. She serves as a global aging expert advising startups, large corporations and investors, with nearly 20 years dedicated to transforming the aging experience. Sarah has held key leadership positions across the US and Asia, developing and implementing strategic corporate innovation initiatives, including change management. She serves as the Executive-in-Residence at Aging2.0 and a principal consultant in the Nexus Insights firm for aging transformation. She most recently led all commercial activity for Seismic Holdings - a Silicon Valley-based company shaping human potential through integration of apparel and robotics to augment human strength and performance. Sarah’s commercial expertise helped position the organization for esteemed recognition by the World Economic Forum, Fast Company, The Economist and CES. Prior to Seismic, Sarah led all global innovation for the largest post-acute care provider in the US, Genesis, serving more than 55,000 individuals a day. She combines her Occupational Therapy expertise with her operational, clinical and entrepreneurial experience to inspire global improvements in design and systems innovation worldwide. She designed an innovation center in China as a part of a vitality initiative to improve the health and well-being of global communities. A published author, she serves in multiple advisory positions, sits on numerous boards and is an accomplished keynote speaker on topics like healthy longevity and aging innovations.
Dr. Charlotte Yeh
Chief Medical Officer, AARP
Dr. Charlotte Yeh
Chief Medical Officer, AARP
Dr. Charlotte Yeh is the Chief Medical Officer for AARP Services, Inc. In this capacity, she works with independent carriers that make health-related products and services available to AARP members on programs that help lead to enhanced care for older adults. She brings more than three decades of healthcare experience to this role as a practitioner and Chief of Emergency Medicine at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Tufts Medical Center, Medical Director for the National Heritage Insurance Company, Medicare Part B claims contractor, and the Regional Administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Boston. She has been widely recognized for her achievements.
Andrew Sixsmith
Associate Scientific Director, AGE-WELL NCE
Andrew Sixsmith
Associate Scientific Director, AGE-WELL NCE
Andrew Sixsmith PhD is the Associate Scientific Director of AGE-WELL NCE, the Director of the STAR (Science and Technology for Aging Research) Institute at Simon Fraser University (SFU), and a professor in the SFU Gerontology department. He is past President of the International Society of Gerontechnology and was previously Director of the Gerontology Research Centre and Deputy Director of the IRMACS Centre at SFU. His research interests include aging, social isolation, technologies to connect people, technology for independent living, technology policy and the digital divide, theories and methods in aging and understanding the innovation process. His work has involved him in a leadership and advisory role in numerous major international research projects and initiatives with academic, government and industry partners. He received his doctorate from the University of London and was previously a lecturer at the University of Liverpool in the Institute of Human Ageing and Department of Primary Care.
Bianca Stern
BSc. OT, MSc., Executive Director, CABHI
Bianca Stern
BSc. OT, MSc., Executive Director, CABHI
Bianca’s career spans over 40 years in health care within private and public sectors; including community, post-acute and long-term care. She has also been involved at university and college levels in curriculum design, research, teaching and student mentorship. Bianca has built on her bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy from McGill University and master’s degree in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Toronto, creatively intersecting the art and science of healthcare with innovation, technology, and industry. In the last 26 years at Baycrest Health Sciences, Bianca has acted in leadership roles including the Director and Professional Practice Chief for the Occupational Therapy Department, Co-Director of the Brain Health Center, Executive Director of the Culture, Arts & Innovation Department and Executive Director, Health Innovations, Center for Aging & Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). Bianca is a thought leader in the area of innovation, blending an occupational therapy lens, design thinking and arts-based tools with an inclusive, participatory user focus; capitalizing on emerging technologies and theoretical knowledge to stimulate innovative solutions for the journey of aging. Bianca currently oversees the Innovation Office, Knowledge Mobilization team and Leap virtual end user community. She is also actively involved in helping to foster a culture of innovation and knowledge mobilization at Baycrest and across the CABHI network partner sites.
Keren Etkin
Creator, TheGerontechnologist.com
Keren Etkin
Creator, TheGerontechnologist.com
Keren is the Creator of TheGerontechnologist.com, a website that covers the global age tech ecosystem.
In 2019, she was named one of the most influential people in aging by Next Avenue. Keren is a public speaker and an advisor for age tech startups, investors in the longevity economy, care providers and organizations who work on innovation in aging.
Keren was the first employee at Intuition Robotics, the startup behind ElliQ, the world’s first social robot designed with and for older adults, and co-founder & VP of Product at Sensi.Ai, a startup that developed the first and only audio-AI solution for remote care monitoring.
She holds an M.A. in Gerontology, B.Sc. in Life Sciences.
Lise Pape
Founder, Walk With Path
Lise Pape
Founder, Walk With Path
Lise Pape is the Founder of Walk With Path and in charge of business development, strategy and partnership. Lise holds a BSc in Human Biology from King’s College London and a double masters MA/MSc in Innovation Design Engineering from Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. In addition, Lise has worked in finance for J.P. Morgan, where she held roles in Product Management, Network Management, and was responsible for client and stakeholder relationships internally and externally. She has also worked in advertising for AOL’s Advertising.com, where she was a Delivery Manager responsible for the Nordic region. Additionally, Lise has worked as Investment Manager at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark at the Royal Danish Embassy in London, where she was responsible for job creation intoDenmark within life sciences and clean technologies. Lise founded Walk With Path in 2014, based on her developments during Innovation Design Engineering, and her personal experience with Parkinson’s suffered by her father. The company launched its first product in 2017; Path Finder, a visual cueing shoe attachment to help those with Parkinson’s. The second product, a haptic feedback insole to improve balance; Path Feel, is in development.
Amanda Rees
CEO and Co-Founder, Bold
Amanda Rees
CEO and Co-Founder, Bold
Amanda Rees is CEO and Co-Founder of Bold. Bold is a seed stage digital health and wellness company backed by leading investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Primetime Partners and GingerBread Capital. Bold’s platform uses personalized exercise programs to address some of the most fundamental health and wellbeing challenges faced by older adults. Bold leverages research and data science to prevent falls, manage chronic conditions, and increase activity levels for older adults with clinically-effective and engaging exercise programs. Bold partners with health plans and providers to improve member outcomes and reduce care costs.
Prior to co-founding Bold, Amanda managed strategic grantmaking for the renewable energy and transportation portfolio at The 11th Hour Project, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation. She has been a researcher at Stanford, Princeton and UCLA, and has been a fitness instructor for over a decade, teaching dance, yoga, indoor cycling, and community tai chi. Amanda has a BSE in chemical & biological engineering from Princeton University.
James Li
Co-Founder & CEO, Mighty Health
James Li
Co-Founder & CEO, Mighty Health
James Li is the co-founder and CEO of Mighty Health, the first exercise, nutrition, and wellness platform designed specifically for adults over 50. Mighty Health is backed by Y Combinator, Vivek Garipalli (Clover Health), NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana, RRE Ventures, and NextView Ventures. Previously, James co-founded Encore Alert, a social media analytics platform that helped executives at brands like IDEO, Under Armour, and the American Cancer Society identify and act on their top opportunities and crises each day. In March 2016, Encore Alert was acquired by Meltwater, the leading media intelligence platform. James also regularly writes and speaks about practical startup tactics at his site, JamesLi.com, and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, TechCrunch, NPR, and Bloomberg.
Ellen Corman
Injury Prevention and Community Engagement Manager, Stanford Health Care
Ellen Corman
Injury Prevention and Community Engagement Manager, Stanford Health Care
Ellen Corman, Injury Prevention and Community Engagement Manager for the Trauma Service at Stanford Health Care, has over 20 years experience working in the area of injury prevention. She has an undergraduate degree in Occupational Therapy and a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Administration. She is a strong collaborator, building relationships with local and state health departments, law enforcement representatives, schools, community leaders and others in order to maximize efforts in injury prevention. Ellen is a leader in the Stop Falls California network, and state representative for the National Council on Aging’s Falls Free Network. Ellen developed and manages a fall prevention program for older adults called Farewell to Falls at Stanford’s Trauma Service and currently co-chairs the Santa Clara County Fall Prevention Task Force. She is a lead trainer and Master Trainer for the Matter of Balance program and certified in SAIL (Staying Active and Independent for Life), and is a Stepping On Instructor. She has published in professional journals, has presented locally to seniors, caregivers and professionals and has presented on fall prevention for webinars and at national conferences. Other injury prevention efforts include work on bicycle safety, pedestrian safety, and impaired driving, She is a member of California Teen Safe Driving Coalition, on the Steering Committee for Traffic Safe Communities Network of Santa Clara County, the board of Silicon Valley Healthy Aging Partnership, and is a member of the injury prevention committee of TCAA (Trauma Center Association of America).
Dr. Pooja Viswanathan
CEO and Co-Founder, Braze Mobility
Dr. Pooja Viswanathan
CEO and Co-Founder, Braze Mobility
Dr. Pooja Viswanathan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Braze Mobility. She has a passion for improving accessibility and independence for people with physical disabilities. She has completed doctoral and post-doctoral research in robotics and assistive technologies, and has been working with "smart" wheelchair technology for over a decade. Pooja is an expert in knowledge translation and commercialization and acts as a consultant to many Canadian networks and organizations. She has received awards and scholarships from several prestigious organizations in Canada and the U.S., including Google. When she's not working, she's climbing, teaching music, playing racquet sports, or solving escape rooms.
Shaun Chavis
Founder and CEO, LVNGbook
Shaun Chavis
Founder and CEO, LVNGbook
Shaun Chavis is the founder and CEO of LVNGbook, an Atlanta-based health engagement company that helps people prevent or manage chronic disease through food, technology, culture, and behavioral science. LVNGbook is a recipient of the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund and a Finalist in the 2020 AARP Innovation Labs Grand Pitch Finale. Shaun’s career includes 20 years as a journalist and media professional for organizations such as Time Inc. and ABC News / The Walt Disney Company. Her work has won two a James Beard Award and made the New York Times Nonfiction Bestsellers list. She co-founded of FoodBlogSouth, which became the largest food blogging conference in the Southeast US. She has a culinary degree and a Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy from Boston University and has taught in Boston University’s avocational culinary program and at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Atlanta.
Gina Adams
Founder and CEO, Ware•ologie
Gina Adams
Founder and CEO, Ware•ologie
Gina Adams is the Founder and CEO of Ware•ologie, a social venture that creates innovative hardware to restore levels of independence and empower people with physical challenges. After witnessing the severe impacts of Parkinson’s on her step-father, Adams understood first hand, the physical and emotional impact on individuals and their caregivers. She launched Ware•ologie in 2018, with the company’s flagship product, Buttons 2 Button Magnetic Adaptors. Adams invented the adaptive consumer dressing aid to help people carry out a vital activity of daily living and button effortlessly. Gina holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Wayne State University and a bachelor’s degree in Human Environment and Design from Michigan State University. In addition to her startup, Adams is active as the Founder and Executive Director of the environmental nonprofit, Peace, Love & Planet, is a member of the Lawrence Tech University Centrepolis Accelerator, Michigan Recycling Coalition, and Inforum. She also sits on the planning committee of MI Arthritis Foundation and is a board member of the MI United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
Sam Tackeff
Co-Founder, Ompractice
Sam Tackeff
Co-Founder, Ompractice
Sam Tackeff is the Co-Founder of Ompractice, the leading two-way video yoga and wellness platform for large organizations, and teams. Ompractice has been building virtual yoga and wellness at scale since 2018, and partners with companies like AARP, Harvard Pilgrim, and the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Their north star is serving people who the wellness industry has historically overlooked, and providing disproportionate access to the proven health outcomes of yoga and mindfulness to those who need it the most. Prior to founding Ompractice, Sam led globalization for the mobile fitness app, Runkeeper, helping to scale to millions of users worldwide, and was an early team member at Square. Among her other pursuits, she’s a culinary adventurer and former manager of the cookbook haven Omnivore Books, a certified personal trainer and running coach; and teaches courses for women and entrepreneurs on Self Care. Sam is a graduate of Wellesley College.
Charlene Nadalin
Founder, Amintro
Charlene Nadalin
Founder, Amintro
Charlene Nadalin is a social entrepreneur in Toronto who is working to combat the effects of loneliness among older adults. She’s the Founder of Amintro, a free social platform and information hub designed for people aged 50+ who may feel lonely and/or socially isolated. The idea for Amintro came to Nadalin in 2012. Her mother, Marge, had been widowed 11 years earlier at the age of 56. Marge was independent and active, but over time, she had become increasingly alone, says Nadalin. Like many women of her generation, Marge was focused on family and work in her younger years, and she didn’t have much time to socialize or nurture friendships. Nadalin wanted to help her mom connect with other older adults and make new friends. Noticing that her mom used social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, the idea of Amintro was born- an accessible platform for her to make new friends and find activities easily. Amintro was launched in 2018 to provide her mom with an easy way to make new friends locally and access activities and experiences to share with her new friends.
Daniel Marrello
CEO, UpTOSpeed
Daniel Marrello
CEO, UpTOSpeed
Daniel is considered one of Canada’s leading experts in the field of senior digital literacy. After recognizing that seniors were facing severe isolation as a result of COVID-19 social distancing measures, he started the non-profit organization TechServe (formerly TechServeTO) with his brother David in April 2020. TechServe is a free software-enabled platform that pairs tech-savvy young volunteers with older adults who require technological assistance. TechServe provides one-on-one technical support sessions, hosts virtual workshops on various online platforms, creates digital literacy resources, and refurbishes used devices for distribution to low income seniors. To date, TechServe has provided support to over 1500 seniors across Canada through the mobilization of over 175 volunteers and has been featured in national media sources such as the Globe & Mail, Global News National, the Toronto Star. Following acceptance into the prestigious Next 36 startup accelerator, Daniel co-founded UpTOSpeed, a marketplace for universal technical support and education tailored for older adults. UpTOSpeed employs the insights from TechServe to provide a premium service for residents and patients of retirement homes, independent living centres, pensions associations, and healthcare institutions.
Dorina Simeonov
AGE-WELL
Dorina Simeonov
AGE-WELL
Dorina Simeonov is the Policy and Knowledge Mobilization Manager at AGE-WELL, Canada’s technology and aging network. She is a visual communicator, knowledge mobilizer and policy enthusiast. Dorina enjoys working with diverse teams to dream up innovative ways of putting research into practice. She has a formal education in the health sciences with a focus on methods and policy. Dorina enjoys speaking to broad audiences, brainstorming new ideas, and working collaboratively to implement solutions. She is part of the ROSE project – reusable open source equipment – developing a reusable face mask that meets medical standards for safety. She is a fierce mental health advocate and also the Operations Officer for Art the Science, a Canadian not-for-profit organization committed to celebrating the connections between art and science.
Manik Chaudhery
Co-Founder and CTO, UpTOSpeed
Manik Chaudhery
Co-Founder and CTO, UpTOSpeed
Manik is currently the co-founder and CTO of UpTOSpeed, a marketplace for universal technical support and education that works to narrow the digital divide. He is a highly-motivated entrepreneur driven to find the gaps in the product market and innovate ways to major societal issues. Manik completed his computer engineering degree from the University Of Toronto where he specialized in artificial intelligence and business. Manik has previously co-founded 2 startups, one of them being Easy Jobs, an iOS application to help struggling students find jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has a spectrum of experiences in the technology space, having previously worked as a Data Scientist at Ecobee, software developer at Interac, and a technical product manager at a non-profit organization, Livelihood Project. Manik is also an avid hackathon enthusiast, where he has developed award winning innovative products for Canadian banks, Toronto Police Services (TPS), and mental health initiatives, all aimed towards the betterment of society.
Raheema Hemraj
OTR/L
Raheema Hemraj
OTR/L
Raheema Hemraj is an Occupational Therapist and Gerontologist with a speciality in falls prevention. She has over 15 years of experience working with older adults to promote successful aging-in-place and is trained in multiple evidence-based falls prevention programs. Raheema has spoken nationally on the outcomes of falls prevention programs for community-based older adults, the value of home safety evaluations in falls prevention and the impact of technology in the aging space. Currently, Raheema provides group and home-based falls education through Stanford Health Care’s Farewell to Falls program. She is also the founder of Grips+Gadgets, a company which seeks to connect healthtech startups with rehab professionals. As its principal health technology consultant, she has worked with multiple companies to ensure their clinical relevance as they build products to support older adults. Previously, Raheema led the clinical program at an early-stage company using AI to detect and prevent falls and she has worked in home care and as a home accessibility consultant. Raheema has a passion for preventative healthcare, utilizing technology to improve health outcomes, and enabling people of all ages to pursue their chosen life activities.
Grace Andruszkiewicz
Director of Marketing & Partnerships, Rendever
Grace Andruszkiewicz
Director of Marketing & Partnerships, Rendever
Julie Lineberger
President, Wheel Pad L3C
Julie Lineberger
President, Wheel Pad L3C
Julie Lineberger, EdM Harvard, is a successful entrepreneur, and President of Wheel Pad L3C providing accessible living and working spaces for people with mobility challenges, keeping families together in emergency, temporary, or permanent situations. Offerings include accessible bed/bath additions, accessible tiny homes, accessible work spaces, and accessible multi unit buildings. All PADs are built with standard features to make it easier to live, play, and work from the comfort of one’s own home. Her past success with LineSync Architecture, a green and sustainable firm in southern Vermont, garnered numerous awards for both Design and Business Management. A previous career in International Development included managing and participating in projects for the United Nations Development Program, the International Rescue Committee, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees throughout the world. As current chair of Green America Board of Directors and past chair of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility Board of Directors, Julie leads many workshops and is a consultant on various aspects of business management. She is also involved in various community efforts and in maintaining positive, healthy work environments both at LineSync Architecture and at Wheel Pad L3C.