NSB Logo Avi Lewis Avi Lewis

Avi Lewis

Speaker

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Social & Political Commentator

Avi Lewis is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, activist and one of the leading advocates of the Leap Manifesto since its inception in 2015. In 2008 Avi co-created and became the longtime host of Al Jazeera English Television’s Fault Lines, an acclaimed weekly documentary series. He is the Strategic Director and Co-Founder of the Leap, an organization launched in 2017 to upend our collective response to the crises of climate, inequality and racism.

Keynote Speeches

The Value of Education
Globalization and Development
New Forms of Workplace Organization
Canada's Role in the World
Climate Change and the End of Oil

Duo presentation featuring Stephen Lewis and Avi Lewis
Avi Lewis, CBC journalist, activist and documentary filmmaker speaks candidly with his father, Stephen Lewis, the former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Duo presentation featuring Stephen Lewis and Avi Lewis

Avi Lewis, CBC journalist, activist and documentary filmmaker speaks candidly with his father, Stephen Lewis, the former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Audience reviews:

  • He did a great job getting the crowd going and keeping them on task throughout the evening…He was an excellent speaker and had quality conversations with our staff and the other not-for-profit organizations at the event.

    - Framework Foundation
  • Avi Lewis, the passionate and knowledgeable host brought his show's Town Hall style of spirited exchange...

    - Banff Television Festival
  • He was just amazing and gave such a great presentation and really engaged the audience.

    - VP Academic Students' Union, University of Lethbridge
 

Speaker Biography

He is the director and co-producer of the 2015 feature documentary This Changes Everything, inspired by the New York Times bestselling book of the same name by Naomi Klein.  Filmed in nine countries and five continents over four years, the film asks a provocative question: what if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world? This Changes Everything premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically worldwide; it has since been shown in more than 1300 community screenings around the world and has been translated into 20 languages to date.

His first documentary, The Take (2004), followed Argentina’s legendary movement of worker-run businesses. It premiered at the Venice Biennale and was released theatrically in Canada, the U.S., and across Europe. It won the International Jury prize at the American Film Institute festival in Los Angeles. It has also been shown in worker-occupied factories from Thessaloniki to Johannesburg, Chicago to Cairo.

In 2008, Avi Lewis co-created and became the longtime host of Fault Lines, an acclaimed weekly documentary series on Al Jazeera English Television.

He also hosted a series of current affairs and political talk shows on CBC Television and hosted City TV’s landmark syndicated music journalism show “The New Music.” At the same time, he was MuchMusic’s Political Specialist, pioneering political “uncoverage” for a youth audience in Canada.

He is the Strategic Director and Co-Founder of the Leap, an organization launched in 2017 to upend our collective response to the crises of climate, inequality and racism.