Mar 23, 2018   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Kumail Nanjiani Added as Headliner for True North Conference in Waterloo Region

Communitech is pleased to announce Kumail Nanjiani as a keynote speaker at the True North conference happening May 29-31, 2018. As a critically-acclaimed actor, comedian and emerging social activist, Nanjiani is best known for co-writing the Oscar nominated screenplay for the film The Big Sick, and starring in HBO’s Emmy Award-winning comedy series Silicon Valley.

Nanjiani will take the True North main stage on the final day of the conference at Lot42, a 17-acre former industrial site that has been re-imagined as a global meeting place. He will join Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, Affectiva CEO Rana el Kaliouby, and journalist and serial entrepreneur Sarah Lacy as headliners for a three-day conversation about AI, diversity, fake news and other issues at the intersection of society and technology. True North is an opportunity to reconsider tech’s purpose, to imagine and re-imagine the impact of technology on everyone, and to examine the values that guide technology innovation.

During the day, entrepreneurs, creatives and decision makers will come together to engage some of tech’s most pressing challenges. At night, attendees will be treated to cutting-edge art, lively music and local food in Downtown Kitchener.

Communitech is also pleased to announce a number of additional speakers, including:

  • Siyabuela Xuza, Founder and Managing Director, Galactic Energy Ventures. Born and raised in South Africa, Siyabuela Xuza rose to international attention with his award-winning rocket fuel science. Today, Xuza is focused on building solutions to address the energy needs of the planet – in both developed and developing nations. His work has won him accolades across the globe – and even beyond our atmosphere – he has a minor planet near Jupiter named in recognition of his achievements.
  • Talia Sanhewe, Managing Director, Talia Productions. Prior to starting her production company, Talia Sanhewe was a reporter and producer for CNBC Africa. In 2009, Talia won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year in the Television News Category, for her award-winning piece focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention through social entrepreneurship. Her work experience includes the BBC World Service, CNN International, Forbes Africa Magazine and Oprah Magazine.
  • Craig Silverman, Media Editor, BuzzFeed News. Craig Silverman is an award-winning author, journalist and one of the world’s leading experts on online misinformation, fake news and content verification.

For speaker updates, ticket sales, event schedule and more information please visit www.truenorthwaterloo.com.

About Communitech

Communitech was founded in 1997 by a group of entrepreneurs committed to making Waterloo Region a global innovation leader. At the time it was crazy talk, but somehow this community managed to pull it off. Today, Communitech is a public-private innovation hub that supports a community of more than 1400 companies — from startups to scale-ups to large global players.

Communitech is a member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs and helps tech companies start, grow and succeed in three distinct ways.

  • Communitech is a place – the center of gravity for entrepreneurs and innovators. A clubhouse for building cool tech and great companies.
  • Communitech delivers programs – helping companies at all stages with access to capital, customers and talent. We are here to help them grow and innovate.
  • Communitech partners in building a world-leading ecosystem – making sure we have all the ingredients (and the brand) to go from a small startup to a global giant.