Why I Design: Unpacking a Circular Economy

Panelist Bios

Adam Corneil is a serial entrepreneur with an extensive background in deconstruction, reclaimed woodwork & Passive House construction. Flipping his first house with his father at the age of 16, he was instantly hooked on crafting old, weathered projects into new, fresh and well-built homes and spaces. After founding and running Naturally Crafted Contracting for 5 years, Adam saw a need for major changes in the demolition industry. Validating a deconstruction company through several projects and fine tuning the processes, Unbuilders Deconstruction was launched in January 2018. Passionate about skiing, hiking mountains and spending as much time outdoors, he is committed in providing a sustainable future for generations to enjoy.

Lara Kehler grew up directing her own education; bypassing traditional elementary and high school Lara graduated college with a structural engineering diploma. Her life long passion for design, systems thinking and psychology lead her to find her niche in game and UX design, where she has been working for over a decade. As a mother, and someone never content with the status quo, Lara desired a different type of learning environment for her kids...one that was focused on creating a “learning culture”, and not a “teaching culture”.  Lara co-founded a community for self-directed children and their families. Located in Mission, BC - Fraser Valley Free Learners is based on democratic free school models and influenced by agile practices from the game industry.

Dr. Victor Martinez started his professional career as car designer in Mexico and later in Italy collaborating in projects for FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Italdesign-Giugiaro among many others. He has worked as an independent designer for 15 years wining a Red Dot Award, and as an academic explored the sustainability and future of design linked to Systems Thinking and Complexity Theory.

Colienne Regout is the CEO and founder of Look4Loops. Colienne’s mission is to put business models on circular tracks to empower their sustainable impact and generate new revenue streams by optimizing the use of resources and designing out waste. Her unique perspective on the Circular Economy is grounded in both her European and Canadian experience in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sharing Economy. Colienne has helped more than 30 international organizations increase their economic, social and ecological impact. She always enjoys introducing new perspectives and implementing interactive and operational tools as well as steering multinational corporations, non-profits and government agencies towards different kinds of innovative partnerships.

Jocelyn Macdougall [Moderator] is a professional convener and facilitator, delighting in bringing together groups of interesting, committed and passionate people for meaningful, productive conversations. She values equity, justice and dignity as foundational, and believes that getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is a necessary skill in today's divided world. Jocelyn believes the arts are a price-of-admission component of a sane, healthy society, having a unique propensity to enable self and social reflection. She is also lucky enough to sing with Vancouver’s hottest funk and Motown band, Queer As Funk.