Simon Jackson - Nature Labs

D. Simon Jackson - The Next Journey

Simon Jackson spent two decades building the six million-strong spirit bear youth coalition to help save Canada's rare white Kermode or spirit bear. Successful in his mission, Simon now dedicates his time to building on the ideals the youth coalition championed: fostering a thoughtful citizenry and creating a better balance between the needs of people and nature.

Biography

At the age of 13, Simon founded the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition in the quest to unite the voice of young people to save Canada’s endangered white Kermode or spirit bear. Through the Youth Coalition, Simon led the campaign that helped raise international awareness about the plight of the rare bear, transforming the organization into the world’s largest youth-led environmental movement with a global network of more than 6 million in over 85 countries.

After almost two decades of work, the spirit bear is now saved, with its last intact habitat having been set aside from development through one of the largest land protection measures in North American history.

Simon has received several honours for his work to save the spirit bear, including being awarded Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, being named as one of the 100 Angels of the Earth by UNESCO and, most notably, being honoured as one of Time Magazine’s sixty Heroes for the Planet – one of only six young people selected from around the world. His life’s work was the focus of an internationally televised movie, Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story.

Today, as a storyteller and movement builder, Simon is focused on tackling environmental literacy through the Ghost Bear Institute, an organization he co-founded. Its signature project, Nature Labs, is working to provide thousands of Canadian high school teachers with the critical resources needed to help hundreds of thousands of students understand why nature matters and what they can do to create a better balance.

Simon also remains committed to bettering our public discourse, having led Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s leadership program Hope Decoded, while bringing together diverse voices for ALT/Now – a social residency focused on finding market-based solutions to economic inequality. Simon was also the driving force behind telling the story and mobilizing the public for the BC government’s Year of Science education program and has helped launch new movements, including CoalitionWILD – a mentorship-focused environmental innovation incubator.

As a board member, Simon has contributed to the success of numerous non-profit organizations beyond the Youth Coalition, including the Jane Goodall Institute, DreamNow, the International Institute for Child Rights and Development and The WILD Foundation.

Simon is an accomplished motivational speaker with agency Speakers’ Spotlight, having delivered hundreds of speeches to audiences around the world, and is an award-winning photographer and a widely published writer. He has contributed images and chapters to eight books – including co-authoring the book A Geography of Hope: Saving Primary Forests – and has served as a columnist for CBC and the Huffington Post. Simon’s writing led him to being named a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers.

Simon @ Speakers Spotlight

Speaking Topics

Nature Labs: Fostering Curiosity

Canada is polarized and divided, with fewer and fewer people understanding how our society works or how we fit into our complex, ever-changing world. Healing our democracy begins with fostering curiosity and creativity through education — but this must be a societal challenge, not another burden placed on the shoulders of educators. That’s where Simon Jackson wants to help.

Co-founder of Nature Labs — a virtual, storytelling-driven high school textbook — Jackson spent seven years travelling and listening to the stories of diverse Canadians in order to find a common starting point for learning that can move our society beyond polarity. What he uncovered? While the environment divides, nature unites and encourages curiosity. With dynamic storytelling, Jackson shares this story and walks educators through how they can help students think more critically and act more creatively – and how they can help the next generation reimagine what’s actually possible when we work together.

The Accidental Leader: The Power of One to Make a Difference

At just 13 years old, Simon Jackson founded the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition to save Canada’s endangered white Kermode, or spirit bear. Over the next two decades, Jackson became the accidental leader of a global movement with a network of six million people across 85 countries. His efforts led to the creation of one of the largest land protection measures in North American history, with the last intact habitat of the spirit bear being set aside from development.

Through sharing his personal story, Jackson inspires audiences to realize the “power of one” — how it only takes one person to make a difference and shape our society. He shares lessons learned from his leadership journey to show audiences how they can empower themselves and those around them to create a better world.

Environmental Balance: Building a Better Future

For two decades, Simon Jackson led the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition in an effort to save Canada’s endangered Kermode, or spirit bear. It resulted in the last intact habitat of the spirit bear being set aside from development through one of the largest land protection measures in North American history. Today, Jackson is the co-founder of Nature Labs, a virtual storytelling-driven high school textbook that aims to help a new generation think critically and act creatively.

Through dynamic storytelling, Jackson brings audiences on a journey through the inter-connected ecosystem we call home to explore how we can achieve a better balance between humans and nature. He draws on his lessons learned and experiences gained from working on the frontlines of complex environmental issues to illustrate the importance of fostering a greater understanding of the world around us and our place within it. Jackson passionately articulates how advancing nature literacy can allow us to tackle our shared environmental challenges while healing the divides we see in our society.

Community Building

Simon Jackson was able to create a global community of six million people across 85 countries to support and amplify his quest to save Canada’s endangered white Kermode, or spirit bear — a little-known animal native to British Columbia.

Jackson demonstrates how through compelling storytelling and building alliances with unlikely allies, he was able to make the bear’s story relatable, building a community of supporters that bridged political, regional, and generational divides. Through the sharing of his experiences, Jackson shows audiences how they too can build community, empower others, and organically rally people together to see powerful results that endure.

Speaking Testimonials

Simon was amazing. In addition to being an all-round delightful and endearingly self-effacing person, his keynote was passionate, inspiring, relatable and pragmatic. He tied his talk to our regional parks really well. The way he shared his personal story is so helpful for youth, who are struggling to pursue their passion while not “fitting in.”

He had an important message about the value of nature being common ground in an increasingly polarized society; that will really will help frame the importance of our work to others who might think it’s not as significant in the bigger picture.

And speaking of pictures, his photos were spectacular.

He was the perfect fit.

Metro Vancouver

We were thoroughly impressed! Simon did an absolutely outstanding job of weaving so many ideas together in such an entertaining way. We were blown away by the outstanding quality and excellent content. The density of the information is amazing and presented in an easily digestible manner.

Sam Sullivan, Former Mayor of Vancouver

Love the messages you’re sharing and believe that it’s critical to have these conversations, so kudos!

Arts Leader, Toronto

We were thrilled with Simon. He is an amazing speaker and everyone at the conference was inspired by him. For me, he was the highlight of the conference!

Queen’s University

Simon’s presentation was awesome. He has a very polished presentation, and the students relate well to him, particularly the older students. We were very pleased.

My World Conference

We’re taught to be attracted to really strong, polarized views. Simon teaches people how to do the opposite around what seems to be a very benign topic like nature; it gives me a lot of hope for other polarized issues that need attention.

Politician, Alberta

It was a joy to watch.

Community Leader, Waterloo

Very engrossing. Well done!

Environmental Leader, Alberta

I love the lens of nature. It’s very powerful and relatable in our everyday lives.

Community Leader, Vancouver

It’s clear that Simon is a professional. His talk was engaging, illuminating, and humorous. He’s an excellent speaker. He’s likely one of the best I have seen, to be honest.

Assumption University

Simon was awesome. We hope to have him back.

Environmental Services Association of Alberta

Simon’s speech inspired me to take action on things that need to be changed.

Student, Nelson (BC)

Simon’s speech is like having a fun conversation that makes learning cool without an adult trying to shove “cool” at you.

Student, Hamilton (ON)

Well, that was a wow. Very moved. It’s a powerful message. Wow.

Business Leader, Alberta

Simon is truly one of the most gifted, articulate, motivated and dedicated leaders. He is a dynamic speaker worldwide and has proven already the power of one.

BC Community Achievement Foundation

We could not have done it without Simon’s great contributions! We have been getting some amazing feedback.

Calgary Mayor’s Expo

Simon provided an excellent contribution to the professional development of educators of the North Central Teachers Association. The power of one speech touched a chord with many of our teachers and was significant to the program’s success.

North Central Alberta Teachers Association

It’s an opportunity to explore these really tough questions and these tough issues through something that will allow (the audience) to go on a journey and learn through (this story).

Educator, Ottawa

The presentation of information is engaging. You have set a high bar for educational presentations going forward.

Business Leader, USA

The story of a young person’s passion and determination, in spite of any handicap, to make a difference for a cause involving nature is always inspiring and worth knowing, and Jackson’s story is no exception.