Speakers

Hear from our Harbourside members who travelled to Guatemala in January 2026 to attend the Antigua Project Fair and tour projects in Lake Atitlan and Guatemala City.
Members like Dave and Heather Murray, Barbara Fox and Mary Coward will share exciting projects in environment, education, maternal health and economic development.
Keith Phillips will update us on all the achievements of the International Service Committee in the past year. Be inspired! 

Mackenzie has been a Vancouver Island resident since 2019 and is currently completing a Master of Science degree at the University of Victoria. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in dementia-focused research, which has since evolved into a broader focus on lifestyle interventions and social prescribing. Her work within the BRain Aging and NeuroCognitive Health (BRANCH) research group aims to support healthy cognitive aging by exploring how social engagement, physical activity, and community-based programs can be utilized throughout older adulthood.

Mackenzie will introduce the concept of aging with agency: the ability of older adults to make meaningful choices, maintain autonomy, and actively shape their own well-being and life experiences as they age. This will include a discussion of current population-specific trends, highlight research emerging from the University of Victoria, and explore how evidence-based strategies, such as music- and exercise-based group activities, can support ongoing cognitive health. In addition, she will focus on bridging the gap between laboratory research and real-world application, with an emphasis on community implementation to reduce the impacts of loneliness and improve the experiences of older adults and caregivers alike.

Even with experience and success, many of us reach points where we feel stuck—repeating familiar patterns or sensing there’s another chapter we haven’t fully stepped into. In this talk, Dr. Kim Foster explores why change so often feels difficult, not because of a lack of discipline, but because of something deeper: the way we see ourselves.    Drawing on her own reinvention and her work in identity-driven transformation, she introduces a powerful idea: lasting change doesn’t start with what you do—it starts with who you believe yourself to be. Through stories and practical insights, she offers a simple way to begin stepping into a new chapter with greater clarity and confidence.

Dr. Kim Foster is an MD-turned–reinvention expert, author, and TEDx speaker who helps people change their lives by changing who they believe themselves to be. After 20 years practicing medicine, Kim left her career to build a global platform teaching the science of identity transformation. Her work blends behavioral psychology, personal development, and wellness, and she develops digital education programs that help people redesign their inner blueprint and build lives that actually reflect the person they’re becoming. Her thriving YouTube channel has grown to more than 250,000 subscribers and her forthcoming book, Redesigning You (June 2026), explores how to shift the beliefs and stories that shape behavior and destiny. Kim’s mission is to empower people to reinvent themselves at any age and step into who they were meant to become