Public Speaking and Training

Keynote Speaker and Moderator

Leela Viswanathan Keynote SpeakerAs a keynote speaker, Dr. Leela Viswanathan is an original, enterprising, and forward-thinking communicator. She works directly with event organizers or hosts to solidify familiarity with the intended audience, their needs, and expectations, including language and key messaging when preparing for the talk or event. Audiences leave inspired, informed, and motivated.

As a moderator, Leela implements a transparent and collaborative process with the event host. She connects with panellists prior to the event to identify, discuss, and highlight shared themes and to develop questions that will guide the conversation to add fluidity, clarity, and coherence to the panel discussion with the goal of engaging with and informing the audience. She also offers event organizers suggestions for panel participants to facilitate diversity in content and equitable representation to be more inclusive of the audience. With Leela, audiences, large or small, explore different, complex, topics related to diversity, race, and inclusion, and the need for social awareness in order to generate ideas, encourage conversation, and inspire action.

If you would like to invite Dr. Viswanathan to speak at your next event, please contact her in the form below for scheduling and to inquire about her fees.

Leela is great to collaborate with and is an enthusiastic and captivating speaker. In her keynote speech to community-engaged researchers, she talked about her planning work and also spoke of her own background in a way which inspired audience members. Leela reminds us that our backgrounds are part of why we do community-engaged work and should be brought to the fore.

Dr. Sheila Stewart, University of Toronto

Beginning from the School’s abstract idea for training, Leela took time to understand and listen to our needs to develop learning objectives. We felt heard. Leela provided sound advice and dynamically tailored training content along the way.

Dr. Erna Snelgrove-Clarke, Vice-Dean (Faculty of Health Sciences) and Director, School of Nursing, Queen’s University
Dr. Leela Viswanathan

Public Speaking and Training Events

Videos and Podcasts

Anti-Racism Speakers Series
The Red River College (RRC) Polytech’s Anti-Racism Committee presents the first in a four-part Anti-Racism Speaker Series.
20 views
Treaty Relations, Planning & Indigenous Consultation at the City of Toronto
Treaties, the Crown’s Duty to Consult, and Ontario’s Provincial Planning Policy Statement have triggered new practices of Indigenous consultation and urban planning in Toronto.
101 views
COVID Reflection
COVID Reflection Podcast, hosted on https://360degree.city/
1 views
Planning with Empathy
Planning with Empathy Podcast, hosted on https://360degree.city/
3 views
Planning Cities with Compassion, For Connection
Planning Cities with Compassion, For Connection Podcast - Session 11
2 views
The Urban Geography of Race and Culture
The Urban Geography of Race and Culture: Ethnic segregation from a ...
33 views
Forward Planning - Conversation #1
The first Forward Planning conversation launched on January 11, 2019, ...
86 views
Forward Planning - Conversation #2
The second Forward Planning conversation launched February 22, 2019, ...
26 views
Forward Planning - Conversation #3
The third Forward Planning conversation (en français) launched May 31, ...
35 views
Forward Planning - Conversation #4
The fourth Forward Planning conversation launches July 4, 2019, at the ...
43 views