Rahim Sajan

Rahim could be accurately described as a roving mind happily surfing and occasionally struggling with the heritage of humanity. He is a community organizer, teacher, explorer and orator, whose work intentionally weaves together multiple disciplines.

As a teacher he is a part of the largest enterprise that much of humanity is actively involved in: Education. He is on a mission to figure out how we can better educate people for an uncertain future. His adventurous professional career includes teaching and architecting learning environments in remote First Nation’s communities, the richer suburbs of this province, the streets of Calgary as part of the public system and even a brief stint in East Africa.

Rahim is Co-founder and Past Curator of TEDxCalgary (2009-2019), Along with his good friend and Co-Founder Jonathan Perkins, they made it their mission to rejuvenate the role of civil society in Calgary; by creating a garden of ideas and nurturing a culture of conversation in YYC.

Rahim was a Senator in the University of Calgary Senate, where he served in the executive committee and as Chair of the Honorary Degree Process. Rahim also serves as an Advisor, and former founding Government Relations and Civil Society Lead for the Communications Portfolio, of The Aga Khan Council for Canada. He has also served as Founding Advisor for The Deans Talks at the Cumming School of Medicine, and as part of the Dean’s Advisory Circle in the Werklund School of Education.

As a community organizer, Rahim is currently working on an audacious civil society endeavour that has the explicit aim of building an even better Alberta and an even better Canada. He calls all these parts of his engagement his real world masters degree! Rahim just finished his Graduate studies in the University of Calgary, attaining his M.Ed in 2020. He has been recognized for his work with a Calgary Top 40 under 40 selection and recognized by his Alumni at the University of Calgary with an Arch Award.

Jonathan Perkins

When he’s not out meeting volunteers, prospective partners, and others interested in talking about ideas like Progress Engines and related collaborative initiatives, Jonathan Perkins provides integrated talent and learning, continuous improvement and innovation solutions.

He is a co-founder and current curator for TEDxCalgary.

From November 2011 to October 2015 he was a member of the Calgary Police Commission, serving two terms. He currently chairs the board of the Calgary Military Family Resource Centre.

A few years back, Jonathan was introduced to the practice of Strategic Doing and has become an avid supporter of this practical approach to ideating about and initiating powerful community projects. He currently is a member of the collaborative Strategic Doing Network for Calgary (SDN-YYC). Jonathan also is an alumnus of the Leadership Calgary class of 2003, and was a returning guide in 2004.

He has previously worked with the LeadWell Foundation/LeadWell Initiatve as Chief Operating Officer, with the Certified Management Accountants of Alberta as Vice President of Accreditation, with CentrePoint as a manager of consulting, and with the Parliamentary Centre in Ottawa as a coordinator of international parliamentary programs and an advisor to Canadian Parliamentary delegations.

Jonathan is an avid student of history, politics, and technology. Once in a while, he can also be found wading the fly-fishing streams of Southern Alberta, hiking in one of our amazing Provincial or Federal parks, or tent camping with his now not-so-new dog.