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Dr. Shimi Kang

Leading Expert in Change, Leadership, Innovation, and Wellness

Shimi Headshot Sept 2024
Speaker Reel
Shimi Kang Thumb 1
The Two Critical Things Play Does for Us
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We've Forgotten How to Be Human
Shimi Kang thumb 1
Three Global Trends Affecting Our Health
Shimi Kang thumb 2
Make Better Choices by Understanding the Ingredients of Life
The Science of Habits
Dr.
Shimi Kang Thumb 1
Shimi Kang thumb 3
Shimi Kang thumb 1
Shimi Kang thumb 2
Shimi Headshot Sept 2024
Speaker Reel
Shimi Kang Thumb 1
The Two Critical Things Play Does for Us
Shimi Kang thumb 3
We've Forgotten How to Be Human
Shimi Kang thumb 1
Three Global Trends Affecting Our Health
Shimi Kang thumb 2
Make Better Choices by Understanding the Ingredients of Life
The Science of Habits

An award-winning medical doctor, researcher, and expert on the neuroscience behind innovation, leadership, and motivation. Dr. Shimi Kang provides science-based solutions for health, happiness, and achievement at home, work, and in the classroom. She draws on 20 years of clinical experience, and extensive research into the science behind optimizing human intelligence, to show audiences how to cultivate key 21st century skills, including resilience, connection, adaptability, creativity, and more.

Kang is a practicing psychiatrist and clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. She is also the founder of Future-Ready Minds; co-founder of the digital platform, Get Sparky; and the principal investigator for Canada’s first research study on psychedelics for treating addiction, depression, and PTSD. Kang is helping to usher in a new era of plant-based medicine.

As a thought leader, Kang has been featured in major media outlets around the world, including BBC World News, US News & World Report, TIME, NPR, CBC, and The Washington Post. She is also the author of The Self-Motivated Kid; the #1 national bestseller, The Dolphin Parent; and The Tech Solution: Creating Healthy Habits for a Digital World. Kang is also the host of the YouTube series, “Mental Wealth”.

An entertaining and experienced speaker, Kang has presented at events ranging from the world’s largest conferences to customized workshops for small groups. She has shared the stage with cutting edge scientists, movie stars, CEOs, professional athletes, and global leaders. Her 2016 TEDx presentation on the power of adaptability has been viewed millions of times.

In recognition of her work, Kang has been honoured with five national awards in mental health and the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Health. She is also the proud recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her years of outstanding community service, and a member of the International Women’s Forum.

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

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Client reviews

  • Dr. Shimi Kang was an absolute hit at our event! Her talk on “Finding Balance in an Imbalanced World” focusing on The Dolphin Way and prescriptions for Play, Others, and Downtime ( P.O.D.) really connected and resonated with our group. Dr. Kang was an absolute pleasure to work with.  She adjusted her talking points to incorporate McDonald’s examples to make it meaningful to our audience which was greatly appreciated.

  • During the pandemic, our educational organization wanted to offer our member schools virtual professional development that was not only timely during the current circumstances, but relevant going forward. Dr. Shimi Kang facilitated a webinar for our educators and school administrators that hit the nail on the head. Her talk incorporated neuroscience, social-emotional learning, and words of wisdom that encouraged and inspired our participants. Despite the virtual delivery, Dr. Kang was interactive, warm, and engaging. We participated in live polls, asked questions, and felt like we were in this together, despite the distance. Many presenters struggle to make the leap from in-person delivery to virtual, but Dr. Kang left us all feeling like we had spent an hour learning from a new (wiser) friend. The content was relatable and we had real strategies to implement in our lives inside the classroom and beyond. Dr. Shimi Kang is an outstanding presenter with a deep well of knowledge that she shares with ease. I am looking forward to inviting her back again in the future!

  • The concept of Dolphin Parenting definitely struck a chord with our communities, and we had to add a third event to accommodate the unprecedented demand! Dr. Shimi Kang is a highly intelligent, eloquent and engaging speaker. Our audiences greatly appreciated the very practical and accessible parenting tips, which were based on solid research and Dr. Kang’s own extensive professional and personal experiences.

  • I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Kang’s talk.  She has a beautiful and relaxed style and offered a lot of valuable information in a short time frame. Her presentation was audience appropriate, compelling, personal and motivating.

  • “Relevant content, practical, enlightening and useful perspectives for advising, parenting, self-motivation and self-understanding.”

    “Just an incredible speaker who brings evidence to understanding human behaviors.”

    “Very engaging. Very tactical.  It is refreshing to see theory and practical application so nicely woven together.”

    “She is an actual expert, with real experience. She provided applicable tools that just within the last 2 days I have already referred to a few times.”

  • It was an honor and privilege to meet Dr. Kang and introduce her as this year’s keynote for Davis Parent University. Dr. Kang’s lecture was outstanding with strong content, helpful tips, and suggestions. Her gift of presenting her content was just as powerful, as she developed a bond and engaged  the 450 attendees from the minute she walked on stage to her successful book signing followed by her Q &A. Dr. Kang and her book continue to be the conversation at parties, meetings and school functions. We love her!

  • Dr. Kang has spoken to our student body, as well as to our parents and faculty members.  Dynamic, engaging and personable, she is able to bridge the gap between theory and practical application, sharing numerous anecdotes drawn from her own family life, as well as her clinical practice.  She also does an excellent job of fielding questions and of tailoring her presentation to meet the needs of a particular audience.

  • Dr. Kang delivered a fluid and practical approach to how we live our lives, and teach our children and families to become fulfilled. Her delivery to the large audience was seamless and the reactions have been immediately positive. Dr. Kang’s talk has been one of the more popular in responses and views so far, illustrating how well her P.O.D. principles will be adopted by the audience. Thanks again, for the fantastic ‘Idea Worth Spreading’!

  • I have the fortunate opportunity to attend a Keynote address at a HR conference by Dr. Kang, and her dolphin way for the workplace.  The session was excellent and very enlightening.   It took very complex topics, such as: neuroplasticity, motivation and psychology and presented them in a very applicable way which can easily be used in every workplace. It is a new way to look an individual motivation.  I would highly recommend her for any workplace speaking event.

  • I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Kang’s presentation.  She is an engaging speaker, who connected very quickly with our audience.  Her topic was interesting and filled with relevant, compelling examples and anecdotes.  The pace she set was perfect for our group, and she checked regularly to confirm that she was understood and was providing not too many or too few details. The dolphin model is an interesting one: simple enough to pick up quickly, while still being complex enough to fit a broad range of business and personal situations.  I would definitely leap at the chance to listen to Dr. Kang speak again if given the opportunity.

  • Dr. Kang is an eloquent and engaging speaker whose timely  message  of motivating others through open and empathetic communication will be of value for any audience.  Emphasizing a cooperative “dolphin” approach rather than an aggressive “tiger” method, her belief is that applying good communication techniques does not have to be complicated, and she provides many practical strategies that can be adopted immediately.

  • Dr. Shimi Kang was a hit with our members. ADHD Adults are a tough crowd and they were enthused and engaged: “Very interesting.” “Very helpful.” “Great presentation.” “Outstanding.” “THANK YOU!”  Dr. Kang is knowledgeable passionate.  She shared the hard facts with clarity, and the human story without judgment. Head and hearta rare combination.

  • I have had the privilege of seeing Dr. Kang present on at least 12 occasions. Positive, energetic, motivating, engaging, compelling and humble are just a few words that describe this incredible presenter.  I always leave Dr. Kang’s presentation with a sense that I can always accomplish more in everything I do.  One of the BEST presenters I have had the pleasure of seeing!

  • Using a coffee table as an impromptu stage, Dr. Shimi Kang led an instructive and engaging fireside chat with more than 60 experienced communication practitioners. Likable, welcoming, professional and direct, she explained how the Dophin Way applies to both positive parenting and productive leadership in the workplace. Using stories and enthusiasm, Dr. Kang summarized the benefits of play, curiosity and empathy for others on one’s professional relationships and career. The lively discussion that took place following her address – both in the room and online – confirmed Dr. Kang’s ability to connect with her audience and spark conversation.

  • Dr. Kang is a skilled and experience  clinician who has the ability to integrate research, science and clinical practise and then explain it to lay audiences in an understandable and compelling way.

  • Dr Kang’s presentation experience shined through. Her timing was impeccable and at one point in her presentation, she displayed only a black screen for 40 seconds. This was probably the most dramatic moment of the night. Her hope is for health care workers to motivate and inspire their patients to implement lifestyle changes towards positive health.

  • I’ve had the pleasure of having Dr. Kang speak for me on a number of occasions and she is one of the most dynamic and engaging speakers I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Dr. Kang presents her information with poise, charisma and complete confidence in her grasp of the material at hand while remaining accessible to the audience. A typical first question I receive following one of Dr. Kang’s presentation is – when can she come back?!

  • Dr. Kang’s 2014 TEDx talk was not only thought provoking and insightful, it was brilliantly inspiring and profoundly enlightening!  Can’t wait to read The Dolphin Way, I’ve always felt like we need to play more, laugh and get silly again. ‘Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional’ ~Carroll Bryant”

     

  • The event was perfect and exceeded our expectations.  Dr. Kang integrated our pre-event discussion seamlessly into her presentation.  Her books sold out in minutes, in fact we ran out.  She was so lovely to work with and took time to meet with the faculty after her presentation.  She also was interested in and visited our other breakout sessions briefly following her keynote, to see our new collaborative spaces. This was very generous of her and I know that people really appreciated the sincerity of her interest in them.  Thank you all again for making this work for us.  I really appreciate your lightening quick response and professional, super organized manner.  You are all wonderful to work with.

  • Dr. Kang was a fabulous speaker for our conference!  She connected with each attendee like they were the only one in the room even though there were over 800 people.  From the very beginning of the planning stage she was engaged and wanted to know exactly what was going on in our community so she could make sure she touched on the most important and relevant topics.  She gave three presentations during the conference, but people never got tired of hearing her.  Her rooms kept filling up to max capacity, when a room holds 400-800 people that is hard to do.  I would say she is one of the BEST speakers I have hired.  We are so grateful that Dr. Kang was part of our conference!

  • Dr. Kang’s events went very well.  Her presentation was very informative and her style was warm and engaging.  Everything went very smoothly.

  • Dr. Kang’s opening keynote on Leadership in the Workplace captivated 450 Project Managers with ‘wonderful, tactical takeaways for personal and professional life’ and was ‘inspirational’ to others. Attendees enjoyed the audience participation and practicality of her other presentation on Adaptability, presented to another full house. It is easy to see why – she articulates her expertise with genuine warmth and a complete connection with the audience – tailoring the contents specifically for our attendees.

    It was a pleasure to work with Dr. Kang to help us make the conference a success.

  • Dr. Kang’s presentation, Optimizing Mindfulness for the New 21st Century Intelligence, aligned perfectly with the theme and her science based techniques offered participants thoughtful strategies and data to implement moving forward, both during their personal and professional journey.

  • Dr Kang was tremendous as both a presenter and a person. The audience was captivated by her words of wisdom and inspiration. There was interaction throughout.

  • Dr. Kang was a huge success! So far, I’ve received very positive reviews. Our attendees mentioned how engaging Dr. Kang’s presentation was and that they really enjoyed listening to her.

  • “Shimi made me realize that there are several obvious things I should be thinking about related to my life, my work, my activities.  She packaged them in a simple to understand story.”

    “I learned an enormous amount on how to manage my health.”

    “I found the scientific explanations to the way we feel easy to follow and very helpful to managing my well-being.”

  • I have never seen a keynote speaker participate in a meeting and try to soak up as much of the culture as she did – we were shocked and awed in the best way! Really appreciated her efforts to get to know our audience and her belief that they have the power to change the world for the better.

  • Appealing to the scientifically-minded school leaders, Dr. Shimi offered some practical activities that support the development of resilience and vitality along with brain-based explanations why the activities support wellness. Through this, school leaders were able to understand the science behind the wellness as they move forward on their individual journeys of well-being.

  • Girl Scouts Heart of Central California partnered with Dr. Shimi Kang, as the keynote speaker, for our Big Volunteer Conference, held in August 2020. She delivered The Power of Play keynote, and the Developing Innovation, Connection, and Wellness Through Play workshop. Our conference participants reported, “the keynote was outstanding,” and “I loved learning about the importance of play.” Participants found that her content could be applied to both the girls they work with, and themselves. While originally planned as an in-person event, circumstances required us to adapt, and host it virtually. Our planning team met with Dr. Kang several times as we prepared – to ensure she understood the aims our event, to ensure the content she delivered would be relevant to our audience, and to test our technology tools. Dr. Kang was patient, flexible and accountable, as we learned our virtual platform tools, to ensure the best experience at our event for herself, as our speaker, and for our conference participants. She was an engaging speaker, and contributed to the overall success of our event.

  • On behalf of the Talent, Learning and Engagement Team at Western University, we want to thank you for your outstanding keynote yesterday for our Virtual Speakers Series!

    Feedback from our survey was glowing:

    • “Dr. Kang covered all aspects of what life is like right now balancing Freeze, Fight and Flight. She gave very useful tips to succeed with our work colleagues, families and friends. Excellent session!”
    • “Dr. Kang was very well spoken and had great tips and ideas that provide practical ways to implement changes to improve wellbeing. Definitely worth my time and would welcome her back again. Wonderful session.”
    • “Particularly appreciated the concrete, practical suggestions. The simple is not easy, and breaking it down and reminding us the importance of actively developing healthy and alternative pathways to stress landed well with me! Thank you Dr. Kang and organizers!”

    Participants were given tangible actions that could be implemented right away in their everyday lives to maintain their own adaptability, mental wealth, and connection during times of stress. Thank you!

  • Dr. Kang’s presentation to the Allenby Community was exactly what parents have been looking for! Understanding the impacts of tech use and how to effectively make changes for our families is a topic that is raised by parents time and time again. Dr. Kang made the issues easy to understand and equating healthy tech use to a healthy diet is something we can all relate to.

    We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response from the community and we are looking forward to connecting again with Dr. Kang to check in on our progress towards achieving healthy tech use and to discuss Dr. Kang’s book – The Tech Solution!

  • Dr. Shimi Kang is a phenomenal speaker. She has the ability to connect with any audience to deliver impactful and memorable experiences. She delivered an engaging, interactive virtual keynote for CSPN’s 5th Annual Women in Leadership Summit and received extremely positive attendee feedback. The participants appreciated for Shimi’s enthusiasm, positive attitude, and authenticity, and left the session with strategic tips and tricks they felt were both valuable and beneficial to use in both their personal and professional lives. Thank you Dr. Kang!

  • We had overwhelming positive feedback from Dr. Shimi Kang’s presentation. It really resonated with the group and continued to be a theme and message throughout the rest of the conference!

  • Our team is so pleased to have her keynote at the conference. She did exactly as we had hoped as the opening keynote — set the tone of creating community with vulnerability, humour, and data relatable to our audience. She is a lovely person and our participants got a lot out of her sessions. I highly recommend her! It was a joy to have her as part of our event!

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