Annelies Tjebbes is a Biomedical Engineer and social innovator. She has a passion and drive to enable positive systems change around healthcare access and technology, community wellbeing, and mental health. She is fired up about improving livelihoods in her community and addressing local and global healthcare issues. She loves working with and investing in people and works across race, age, gender, culture, religion and class boundaries to build collaborative solutions to challenges. Annelies provides strategic planning, project management and facilitation services through AnneliesVera Consulting to support NGOs, businesses and community projects. Highlights of this work include designing and delivering Indigenous Innovation Sessions across BC for the First Nations Technology Council, piloting a Clinical Innovation Lab to boost medical innovation and collaboration across BC, and developing a VR tool to address issues of anxiety during the reintegration of former inmates into society. She brings a background of work designing medical technology with StarFish Medical, leading community leadership strategies & youth mobilization with Engineers Without Borders and providing strategic oversight and support on several boards and advisory committees globally. Annelies believes in a world where everyone has access to the services and supports to lead a healthy and fulfilling life, and she works tirelessly to bring this vision to life.