Presenter Bios

Jake Bailey is a public speaker, the youngest #1 bestselling author in New Zealand history, and a passionate educator on the power of resilience.

Jake first caused a global sensation in 2015, when his speech as Head Boy at Christchurch Boys’ High School’s prize-giving ceremony went viral. A week before he was due to deliver this speech, Jake was diagnosed with the most aggressive form of cancer known to man and given two weeks to live if this was left untreated. Jake persevered through to make his speech from a wheelchair, the video of which went on to touch the hearts of tens of millions and draw support and praise from across the globe.

Since being announced in remission in 2016, Jake has gone on to share his story with over 40,000 people, through hundreds of speeches across dozens of cities. Through his development of resilience and wellbeing strategies for corporates, organisations, and schools across the globe, Jake has helped audiences ranging from elite athletes to kids in outback towns, Fortune 500 CEO’s to prison inmates, and foreign governments to retirement homes to understand how we can most successfully overcome the adversity we all inevitably face in life. Jake is driven by having himself seen the powerful impact that resilience and perspective has had on his own life both during and post-cancer, and consequently knowing the potential which this trainable and attainable skill can have on the success and happiness of others in life.

Shei Ascencio describes herself as an international educator, learner, consultant, workshop leader, online facilitator, and at heart mum, partner, friend, traveler and foodie. Shei comes from Mexico with almost two decades of experience living and working in Africa, Asia and North America. Shei recently relocated to Canada after several years of living in Luanda, Angola and teaching at the Luanda International School (LIS).

As part of CBK Associates, Shei facilitates and guides the development of service learning in international schools in Eritrea, Uzbekistan, China, and Angola among others. She is a fully trained educator in the Primary Years (PYP), Middle Years (MYP) and the Diploma Programme (DP) and an active member in the International Baccalaureate Educator Network (IBEN)

Her current focus is strengthening practice of service learning through the creativity, activity and service element of the DP. As an online facilitator and team member of MastermindEd, Shei facilitates personalized learning for educators through digital spaces with a focus on service learning. As a result of student-initiated action at the Luanda International School where she recently taught, Shei is an advocate for women’s and girls’ access to menstrual education and care products. Her students’ work with girls and women in a refugee setting in north Angola was featured by Ruby Cup (“a savvy period company fighting for equality”) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Angola.

When asked “Where do you live?,” Cathryn Berger Kaye often answers “in Los Angeles and airports.” As president of CBK Associates, she has traveled throughout the United States and globally, providing professional and organizational development programs, conference keynotes, in-depth institutes, and tailored education and learning resources. Her expertise spans service learning, 21st century competencies, social and emotional learning, climate and culture, youth engagement and leadership, effective teacher strategies, and environmental sustainability, all towards infusing social justice into the mainstream of education. Her work exemplifies best teaching practices.

A former teacher, Cathryn engages participants and collaborators with practical ideas that work, poignant stories worth remembering, and strategies that enliven teaching and learning. With years of experience in diverse settings—including teaching in rural, suburban and urban schools—she knows the importance of a community’s landscape. She is known for sustained relationships that build internal capacity for excellence.

She is the author of The Complete Guide to Service Learning and two books with environmental advocate Philippe Cousteau, Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers & Wetlands and Make a Splash! A Kid’s Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands. She has also written a series of Kid’s Guides tackling the subjects of climate change and global warming, hunger and homeless, reading, protecting and caring for animals.

Cathryn is the recipient of the Inspirational Spirit Award, Learn & Serve American 2005, and the Seal of Excellence by the Council for Service-Learning Excellence.