Dr. Clark Banack
Dr. Clark Banack is the Director of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta in Camrose. Clark has a PhD in Political Science from the University of British Columbia and is the co-editor of the forthcoming book Building Inclusive Communities in Rural Canada (University of Alberta Press), and the author of two additional academic books as well as several academic articles and book chapters on rural issues, Alberta politics, religion and politics, education policy, and populism in Canada. He was raised, and is proud to now be raising his family, in Camrose County.
Phil Callaway
Phil Callaway is the best-selling author of 30 books, including Making Life Rich Without Any Money, I Used to Have Answers…Now I Have Kids, and Laugh Like a Kid Again. He hosts the daily hit radio show Laugh Again, which airs on 400 stations in North America, and many more overseas. A frequent guest on radio and TV, Phil’s humorous stories on family life have been featured in hundreds of magazines worldwide. Still, he insists that his greatest achievement was convincing his wife to marry him. Phil and Ramona live in Canada within driving distance of their 3 kids—and 14 grandkids who find him hilarious.
Dr. Emily Milne
Emily Milne, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and a Board of Governors Research Chair at MacEwan University. She is a community-engaged researcher who uses theory and research methods to address and inform priority areas in education practice, teacher-training, and public policy, and to co-create solutions to social issues with community partners. For several years she has been involved in community-engaged projects in partnership with schools and school divisions, parents/caregivers as well as Elders that aim to support Indigenous students by identifying educational inequalities and developing school-based policies and strategies to reduce them. She has published numerous academic journal articles and book chapters on topics including education and reconciliation, educational inequality, social policy, family/school relationships, and community-engaged research. She has given many presentations at academic conferences and to professional/practitioner audiences, including educators and policy makers at Alberta Education, and she has prepared numerous reports for government and school divisions. Her research has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her research has also received national media attention and has been featured on several news outlets including Global News TV, The Globe and Mail, and the National Post, among others.
Dr. Michael Ungar
Michael Ungar, Ph.D., is a Family Therapist and Professor of Social Work at Dalhousie University where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience. His ground-breaking work is recognized around the world for its emphasis on how to use the theory of resilience to increase both individual and group agility during crises, with numerous communities, schools, organizations and businesses adopting his concept of resilience as a negotiated process that enhances people’s wellbeing when facing adversity. Dr. Ungar has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the subject of resilience and is the author of 17 books for mental health professionals, researchers, educators and caregivers. These include Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success, a book for adults experiencing stress at work and at home, Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs, a book for mental health professionals and educators, and Multisystemic Resilience: Adaptation and Transformation in Contexts of Change, an open access edited volume with contributors from a dozen diverse disciplines ranging from epigenetics and psychology to architecture and computing science. His blog, Nurturing Resilience, can be read on Psychology Today’s website.