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Ilona Dougherty

Leading Expert on Young People and Intergenerational Teams

Ilona Dougherty
Speaker Reel
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TEDx: Wired for Innovation
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Recruit and Retain Young Talent
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Amplifying Impact of Young Changemakers
Can2020 Panel: How Young Employees Contribute to Innovation
Ilona
Dougherty Thumb 2
Dougherty Thumb 2
Dougherty Thumb 1
Ilona Dougherty
Speaker Reel
Dougherty Thumb 2
TEDx: Wired for Innovation
Dougherty Thumb 2
Recruit and Retain Young Talent
Dougherty Thumb 1
Amplifying Impact of Young Changemakers
Can2020 Panel: How Young Employees Contribute to Innovation

Businesses, organizations, and governments looking to succeed as demographics shift and the pace of change increases turn to Ilona Dougherty. Her engaging and insightful presentations draw on original interdisciplinary research to support leaders as they build strong intergenerational teams and recruit and retain young talent.

Dougherty is an award-winning social innovator and a respected researcher. As the co-creator and managing director of the Youth and Innovation Project at the University of Waterloo, her work is often featured in the media, including the Globe and Mail, the Financial Post, The New York Times, CTV, Global, and CBC, among many others. Dougherty has also advised several companies including the Royal Bank of Canada, the Government of Canada, Recipe Unlimited, the Coaching Association of Canada, YMCA Canada, and many more.

Dougherty has extensive leadership and governance experience having co-founded and led several organizations. This includes Apathy is Boring, a Canadian non-partisan social enterprise that Dougherty co-founded at the age of 23 to educate youth about democracy and encourage them to vote.

Named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Women” in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network, Dougherty has been recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, a Global Ashoka Fellowship, and a Yukon Women’s Award. Dougherty is fully bilingual and delivers presentations in both English and French.

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

  • The feedback we received was tremendous; Ilona’s presentation opened people’s eyes.

  • We are not only happy that Ilona Dougherty came to speak on this important topic, but she is also an excellent example of an intelligent, energetic, young leader working hard to make a difference in our country.

  • With practical examples, research and humour, Ilona’s combination of insight and analysis brought our understanding of young adult engagement to a whole new level. So many people know that engaging young people is a critical issue, but Ilona allowed us to understand the Why and How of young adult engagement.

  • We are grateful to have had someone of your expertise and credentials to address our group about engaging youth. It was a terrific presentation.

  • Both our current (and future) students were inspired by your talk, and I’ve had several students approach me directly after the event and indicate that they were first timid, but are now inspired to take action on what they care about (yeah!).

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