Guest Speakers

Trinity College School is committed to inviting varied and interesting guest speakers to address the School community. Our guest speakers present to our community during a variety of TCS events such as the Mac Campbell Lecture Series, subject specific lectures and other special occasions such as Scholar's Awards Evening and Week Without Walls.

Ghislaine Landry & Olivia Apps ’16
Date: Friday, April 30, 2021 - 1:30pm
Location: Online Event
Event: Centennial Lecture/Event: Mac Campbell Lecture Series

Ghislaine Landry (left) has become one of the most prolific try scorers in women’s rugby. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Ghislaine has experienced plenty of success on the rugby pitch. After playing provincially with Ontario, she attended St. Francis Xavier University where she won the CIS Rookie of the Year award, two back-to-back CIS Player of the Year awards as well as a CIS title. Ghislaine made her debut with Canada’s Senior National Team in 2011 and had a breakthrough performance at the 2013 Women’s Sevens World Cup, finishing second in tournament scoring as Canada earned a silver medal. She was named Athlete of the Week by the Canadian Olympic Team for her achievements. Ghislaine finished the 2014-2015 World Rugby Women’s Sevens World Series (WSWS) first overall in scoring with 297 points. She was the second-leading scorer on the Canadian team that won gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, with 47 points on five tries and 11 of 21 conversions. Her success continued during the 2015-2016 WSWS, finishing first once again in scoring with 158 points. She was also named to the 2015-2016 WSWS Dream Team. Ghislaine is currently second all-time in WSWS scoring with 475 points. In the Olympic debut of rugby sevens at Rio 2016, Ghislaine was Canada’s leading scorer with 41 points, the second-highest total in the tournament, on the strength of five tries and eight conversions, as Canada won the bronze medal.

Olivia Apps ’16 (right) started playing rugby in Grade 10, playing for her local club and the provincial team. Within that year she had her first opportunity to play for the u18 Canadian Women’s Sevens team at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Samoa, winning a silver medal. From there, Olivia was on the national team radar. After she graduated high school, Olivia was offered a position on the National Senior Women’s Sevens team, and joined the centralized program in Victoria, BC. The team had just won an Olympic bronze medal and were at the top of their game. Olivia played her first international match for Canada at the Sydney Sevens World Series tournament in 2018. Since then, Olivia has competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the 2018 World Cup in San Francisco, and has competed on the World Sevens Series. In 2019 Olivia tore her ACL and began her 10-month return to play process. She returned to full training just as COVID hit. The team just competed in the Dubai Invitational Sevens Tournament, where Olivia joined for her first tournament back post-injury. The team won a gold medal, defeating the U.S.A. in the final. The team is now in their final prep stages for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games this July in hopes of bringing home a gold medal.

Eternity Martis
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 - 1:00pm
Location: Virtual Presentation
Event: Black History Month

Eternity Martis is an award-winning Toronto-based journalist. She was a 2017 National Magazine Awards finalist for Best New Writer and the 2018 winner of the Canadian Online Publishing Awards for Best Investigative Article. Her work has appeared in Vice, Huffington Post, The Walrus, CBC, Hazlitt, The Fader, Salon and on academic syllabuses around the world. Her work on race and language has influenced media style guide changes across the country. She is the course developer and instructor of Reporting On Race: The Black Community in the Media at Ryerson University, the first of its kind in Canada, an adjunct professor in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at UBC and the 2021 Journalist-in-Residence at UBC. She earned an honours B.A. and a Certificate in Writing from Western University and an M.J. from Ryerson University. In 2020, she was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by Women’s Executive Network.

Her debut memoir, They Said This Would Be Fun, is a Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and Vancouver Sun bestseller. It’s featured on anticipated and essential book lists including Now, the Globe and Mail, BlogTO, CBC, Chatelaine and more. CBC has named her one of “Six Canadian writers of Black heritage to watch in 2020” and the book as one of “20 moving Canadian memoirs to read right now.” PopSugar named it one of “5 Books About Race on College Campuses Every Student Should Read” and it is one of Chapters/Indigo’s “Best Books of 2020.” The audiobook has been named one of the “Best Audiobooks Of 2020” by Apple and Audible. Recently, it became a finalist for the International Book Awards in the categories of Autobiography/Memoir and Social Change.

 

Anthony Johnson
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 - 1:30pm
Location: Virtual Presentation
Event: Mac Campbell Lecture Series

Anthony Johnson, a self-proclaimed spiritual nomad, is an artist, poet, photographer, cultural documentarian, public speaker and a strategic analyst whose mission in life is to explore the beauty of the Earth and its inhabitants. A proud Dine (Navajo) man who was born and raised on the Navajo Nation, he’s lived in many cities across Turtle Island and even had a short stint in Shanghai, China. After graduating from Harvard University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Social Anthropology of East Asia, he has worked in the tech industry, fashion world and project consulting.

Back home, Anthony regularly did odd jobs for individuals in his community and volunteered wherever he could. His community has an unemployment rate of 50% which sparked frustration for him, as it was hard for him to visualize a future as it would be nearly impossible for him to be able to make a good life on his reserve. In dedicating his time volunteering and doing odd jobs in his community, Anthony learned that he had a strong will to help others through human connection. He realized the power of making someone smile, giving them hope and to advocate for people who faced similar problems. That’s where he found the highest value for himself. This led him down a new path of restoration with a passion to make real change in each other which will then change systems and social structures that promote inequality.

His move to Treaty 6 Territory in Edmonton, Alberta, marked the beginning of the newest chapter in his life when he wed his husband, Dr. James Makokis, while running the BMO Harris Vancouver Marathon in 2017. The married couple then represented the LGBTQ2 community as the first Two-Spirit team (Team Ahkameyimok) on Amazing Race Canada. They faced many obstacles during the season, escaping elimination on three separate occasions. Their resilience, teamwork and communication improved episode after episode and they’re “never give up” attitude showed the world the inner strength of Two-Spirit resilience. The season was the most-watched season in Canada and they had the world talking about their triumphs and their cause, bringing awareness through their advocacy for Two-Spirit, LGBTQ2 and First Nation issues in the mainstream culture.

Anthony’s story is one of hope, overcoming adversity and activism. He represents the unfortunate realities of race and gender segregation and offers insights on individuals, families and friends that can help break down inner thought processes to treat others with respect, love and offer support. He is passionate to bring awareness to the importance to abolish social constructions and systematic segregation and to replace it with equality. Anthony is regularly involved with activism, community engagement and is passionate in teaching others and promoting wellness, resilience and hope for everyone he comes in touch with.

Michael “Pinball” Clemons
Date: Monday, September 21, 2020 - 2:30pm
Location: Virtual Presentation
Event: Mac Campbell Lecture Series

To Canadians, the name “Pinball” stands for remarkable athletic talent, outstanding sportsmanship and a commitment to the community.

As a former all-star running back, Grey Cup winning coach, President and CEO of the Toronto Argonauts, Michael “Pinball” Clemons is a man of unquestionable character and spirit. He is equally renowned for his achievements on the football field as he is for his impact as a motivational speaker.

Michael’s presentations are at once captivating and empowering. He inspires audiences by demonstrating what it means to beat the odds and encourages listeners to use teamwork to achieve their goals. Michael’s football career was characterized by incredible perseverance and great skill. At only 5 feet 6 inches and 170 pounds, he won against all odds. He succeeded while others predicted failure and gave more when less would have been satisfactory. All Heart is the story of a young man guided by fierce determination.

Born and raised in Florida, the William and Mary economics graduate began his career in the CFL in 1989 after a brief stint in the National Football League with Kansas City and Tampa Bay. As a player, Michael compiled a brilliant CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts, including a pro-football record for most career combined yards with 25,396. On September 15, 2000, Pinball hung up his Argo’s jersey after 12 seasons to take the reigns as head coach.

As a player he retired a three-time Grey Cup Champion with 12 all-time team records to his credit. He has also won Grey Cup as the head coach of the 2004 Argos. Known for a personality that is as electric as his style of play on the field was, Michael redefines the meaning of community involvement and has been recognized by many organizations for his tireless work with charities, schools and other community groups.

Michael is an athlete with true character, an incredibly generous spirit and a quiet dignity that shines on and off the field. Michael tells how his upbringing has shaped him, how his steadfast faith has always guided him and how his commitment to his team and his community is much more than just a professional veneer – but a deeply held feeling of true spirit and belonging.