2026 Conference Keynote Speakers
Thank you for attending ASPSH’s 16th Biennial Conference on Sexual Health on April 24-April 25!
Thank you to our sponsors: SIECCAN, Pro-chocie Society of Lethbridge and Southern Alberta, The Disability and Sexuality Lab, Saskatchewan Prevention Institute, and MediaSmarts. for sponsoring ASPSH’s 16th Biennial Conference!
Dr. Kristopher Wells, Independent Senator of Alberta
April 24th, 2026
Dr. Kristopher Wells is an independent Senator from Alberta. He currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Canadian Parliamentary Pride Caucus and is a member of the Senate Human Rights; Rules, Regulations and Rights of Parliament; and Legal and Constitutional Affairs committees.
Previously, Dr. Wells was an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair for the Public Understanding of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth at MacEwan University. Dr. Wells also served as the founding director of the MacEwan Centre for Sexual Gender Diversity and as the Editor-in-Chief of the international Journal of LGBT Youth. He has helped create initiatives such as Camp fYrefly, the Alberta GSA Network, and Pride Tape, which has been adopted by all teams of the National Hockey League and in 60+ countries around the world as a symbol of diversity and inclusion. In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Dr. Wells has received several awards and accolades, including the Alberta Centennial Medal, the Alberta Award for Study of Canadian Human Rights and Multiculturalism, the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s Public Education Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.
Amelia Marie Newbert, Co-Executive Director at Skipping Stone
April 25th, 2026
Amelia (she/her) is a Sephardic Jewish women who, in her words, ‘in vitro immigrated’ from unceded Palestinian territory to live on the lands of the Indigenous people of Treaty 7. She is a founder and Managing Director of Skipping Stone, a nationally recognized nonprofit which supports trans and gender diverse youth, adults and families.
She has previously held positions with Calgary Pride, as the President of the Trans Equality Society of Alberta and serves as a faculty member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, through which, over the past decade, she has played an important role in the introduction and implementation of legislation recognizing the rights of trans individuals at all levels of government. In recognition of her work, she has been awarded the Outstanding Community Impact Award from University of Calgary Law, the Grand Heart Award and, most recently, the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of her significant contributions to advancing 2SLGBTQIA+ human rights in Alberta.