Founder & President, Let’s Talk Science
London, ON
Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, CM, FRSC is the founder and president of Let’s Talk Science, an award-winning, national Canadian charitable organization that she started in 1991 while completing a PhD in Physiology. Let’s Talk Science helps children and youth fulfill their potential and prepare for their future careers and citizenship role by supporting their learning through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) engagement. Since its inception, approximately 10 million youth and educators have been reached and an estimated 30,000 volunteers have been engaged.
With an Interest in systems change, during 2016-18, Dr. Schmidt spearheaded Canada 2067, an ambitious collaborative initiative to shape the future of STEM education. Building on global policy research, Canada 2067 solicited input from youth, educators, decision-makers and the general public across the country to develop a learning roadmap and key recommendations to enhance STEM learning.
An active contributor to the scientific and education communities, Dr. Schmidt was a member of the PISA Expert Strategic Visioning Group to the OECD in 2020 and she served on the Federal Government’s Public Awareness of AI Working Group. During 2016-19, she Chaired the National Leadership Taskforce on Education & Skills for the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC). Dr. Schmidt previously served on the Board of Directors of Ontario Genomics, the Board of Governors of Ontario Tech University, and she was the Founding Co-Chair of the Science and Technology Awareness Network. Committed to good governance, she completed the ICD Directors Education Program in 2019.
For her efforts in education and youth development, Dr. Schmidt has received more than a dozen awards and was named to the Order of Canada in 2015 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2018.