George Smitherman and Andreas Souvaliotis come from polarized ends of the corporate spectrum. George, a "recovering politician," grew up trying to make the world a better place through political activism. Andreas was a businessman, simply "trying to make money."

In TEDxRyersonU's first dual talk, these passionate professionals share their perspectives on harnessing the power of capitalism through social activism. George shares his belief in government as a vehicle that can address the most fundamental challenges we face as a society, and highlights the application of his personal values in community-based activism to foster the acknowledgement of equality in our society. Andreas takes us on his journey as a "corporate guy" turned social activist, and the benefits of capitalizing on the power of incentive. He shares his exhilaration upon "grabbing on to a steering wheel" to promote Canadians' involvement in social and environmental issues- subsequently affecting 70% of the country's households.

In this powerful talk, George Smitherman and Andreas Souvaliotis share the value of harnessing the power of government, profit and economy to bring about social change.

A former Ontario Deputy Premier, Minister of Energy and Minister of Health, George Smitherman served as the government's leading spokesperson on many of the most contentious issues facing the province during his six year tenure as a senior cabinet minister. Since leaving office, he is much sought after for his advice and recognized as one of Canada's leading public policy voices, having been active in public life as an elected official and senior advisor at the local, provincial and federal levels.

Andreas is the founder of Green Rewards, and later AIR MILES for Social Change, the world's first national environmental and healthy lifestyle incentive programs. He is also an active member of the Young Presidents' Organization, and the chair of the national advisory committee on climate change for the Canadian Branch of the World Wildlife Foundation. He is currently a guest lecturer at Ryerson's Ted Rogers School of Management.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)