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Johnathon Vaughn Strebly

@johnathonv

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Strategic Facilitator & Creative Leader | Principal, JVS Consulting Inc. | Former Chief of Staff, Squamish Nation | Former President, ICoD

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LFG by @johnathonv

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4 months ago

Last month in Shenzhen, I stood at a podium and said something I’ve been thinking about for years:

“The question is not whether we will transform — we know we will. The question is how high we dare to fly, and whether we dare to fly together.”

The room was full of design cities and communities from across the Asia-Pacific, and the world. The occasion was the World Designers Congress and Shenzhen Design Week, one of the more significant gatherings of global design leadership I’ve had the privilege of being part of.

I delivered the opening keynote and facilitated the UNESCO Cities of Design roundtable on how Asia-Pacific design cities can strengthen cooperation in the age of AI. The conversation was honest, urgent, and genuinely hopeful, exactly the kind of thinking our world needs right now.

Canada is a founding member of APEC. Being in that room, in Shenzhen, as APEC 2026 approaches — representing a country that helped build this Pacific partnership — felt like more than a professional milestone. It felt like a responsibility. One I don’t take lightly.

What struck me most wasn’t any single presentation or panel. It was the collective intelligence in that room. Around the table sat UNESCO Cities of Design from Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, the United States, New Zealand, Canada, and China — each carrying distinct cultural wisdom, each holding pieces of an answer that no single city possesses alone. We are not competing archives. We are complementary vocabularies.

And in the AI era, that matters more than ever. AI can generate form. It cannot generate meaning. That work, the work of deciding what should be made, and why, and for whom, still belongs entirely to us.

Grateful to the organizers of Shenzhen Design Week and the World Designers Congress for creating space where these conversations can happen at scale. And to the participants of the UNESCO roundtable, your perspectives made this one of the most substantive dialogues I’ve been part of in years.

Design integrates cities. And right now, cities need each other.

#ShenzhenDesignWeek #WorldDesignersCongress #UNESCOCitiesOfDesign #APEC taken in Shenzhen, China by @johnathonv

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5 months ago

Above the clouds, en route to Shenzhen, China

Honoured to be joining Shenzhen Design Week as a keynote speaker for the opening ceremony, and to facilitate roundtable conversations with UNESCO Cities of Design on AI and innovation at the World Designers Congress.

Moments like these remind me why the work matters. Representing Canada on the world stage, alongside some of the most thoughtful design minds on the planet, is a privilege I don’t take lightly.

Grateful for the relationships built through years of service with @descan.ca and @theicod and for what continues to grow from advocacy and promotion of good design.

This type of convening, dialogue, and collaboration plants beautiful seeds towards bettering our global communities.

Onwards.

#APEC #Shenzhen #DesignWeek #UNESCO #AI by @johnathonv

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5 months ago

“One day many years ago a man walked along and stood in the sound of the ocean on a cold sunless shore and said, “We need a voice to call across the water, to warn ships; I’ll make one. I’ll make a voice like all of time and all of the fog that ever was; I’ll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long, and like an empty house when you open the door, and like trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds flying south, crying, and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore. I’ll make a sound that’s so alone that no one can miss it, that whoever hears it will weep in their souls, and hearths will seem warmer, and being inside will seem better to all who hear it in the distant towns. I’ll make me a sound and an apparatus and they’ll call it a Fog Horn and whoever hears it will know the sadness of eternity and the briefness of life.”

The Fog Horn blew.

~Ray Bradbury

#fog #walk #stanleypark taken in Stanley Park by @johnathonv

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9 months ago

Happy to share this portrait of me by one of my favourite Vancouver photographers, Wayne Hoecherl (@wahpix / @ordealart). His ability to reveal both the nature and mystery in his subjects is something I have admired for years. I was truly honoured when he invited me to be part of his new portrait series, which features 52 remarkable individuals.

The exhibition opens tomorrow night — Friday, December 5 — from 7 to 10 PM at Room 46 Gallery. I’m looking forward to seeing all 52 portraits together and celebrating the vibrant community of visual artists who make this city such an inspiring place to live and create.

#Vancouver #Photography #Portraiture #WayneHoecherl #ArtCommunity by @johnathonv

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10 months ago

What a birthday! 🥂

Thank you all for the flood of messages, calls and good wishes. I felt completely spoiled, celebrated and reminded of how lucky I am to have such amazing people in my life.

The day was full of laughter, a little indulgence and just the right amount of mischief. Here’s to more adventures, more creativity and yes, definitely more candles in cocktails. 🍸

Feeling grateful, feeling inspired and already looking forward to what this next year will bring. Let’s do some work and/or play together! taken in Pourhouse Vancouver Restaurant by @johnathonv

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a year ago

As this year comes to a close, I’m thinking next year will be promising, if we are willing to do the hard work to make it so. Damn the naysayers, to hell with sitting back and watching others choose our paths, say no to bad choices, lean into doing the right thing for you and for others, and definitely say… let’s f@cking GO! by @johnathonv

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

“I am struck by how, except when you’re young, you really need to prioritize in life, figuring out in what order you should divide up your time and energy. If you don’t get that sort of system set by a certain age, you’ll lack focus and your life will be out of balance.” ~Haruki Murakami

Priorities. Sometimes when we focus too long on others, we lose sight of our own pathways. I’ve been traveling to many places lately, internally and internationally, I love it. Revisiting your own initiatives and spheres of contribution through collaboration and community, while experiencing new sights, sounds, flavours, and people across the globe, is a great way to be simultaneously inspired and pushing the personal reset button.

Fresh back from Tokyo, I’m off to China again in two weeks. I look forward to collecting more stories, seeing old and new colleagues, continuing to advocate and make changes for good.

Onwards.

#priorities #reflection #lookingwithin #exploring #travel

Photo: Tokyo Portrait by the wonderful @pic_nic_time 📷❤️ taken in Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Səl̓ilwətaɁɬ, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Unceded Territory by @johnathonv

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2 years ago

Off to Tokyo and will celebrate my birthday with @aircanada crossing the International Date Line head on in about three hours. A birthday at 30,000+ feet and over the Pacific Ocean. First time for everything!

I’ve already travelled 85,000+ miles with @aircanada this year and they are always making travel enjoyable! Fingers crossed the awesome AC pilots get what they deserve at negotiations so we can all continue to enjoy seeing the world and appreciating great hospitality en route!

#travel #aircanada #hospitality #adventure #joy by @johnathonv

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2 years ago

Humbled and honoured by this accolade from my peers and colleagues. Those who know me know I am not shy to raise my voice in opportunities to make a situation better for others. Advocacy and lobbying for change is something I am proud to do. Being able to do this through the power of design is an art and a craft that I am still just beginning to understand and appreciate. It takes a village and a strong community to make the changes needed to help make our world a better place for ourselves, our families, and those that are sadly under represented.

I look forward to doing more, with a punk rock ethos firmly intact, even if my hair is not 😎

“Being awarded Fellowship by the Design professionals of Canada is pure joy. My journey in design was always accompanied by the advocacy work and community championed by GDC, now DesCan. Many who have received the DesCan Fellowship honorific are friends, colleagues, peers, and mentors. To be added to this rarified group of design ambassadors for Canada is humbling and thrilling. I hope to continue the incredible work of previous Fellows by fostering pathways to a stronger design community and to always sing the praises of the power of design and its obligation to help make our world a better place.”

My deepest gratitude to those who have given me so much and have made this happen @_descan @theicod @creativemorningsvancouver @squamishnation @mattsplatt61 @dogmah_gram @markbusse @anamasut @stussycdn @rodmcdonald46 and so many others. Merci beaucoup, Chen kw’enmantúmiyap, Grazie mille, Thank you.

#design #advocacy #community #change #volunteer #mentor #share #bebetter by @johnathonv

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2 years ago

Planning a return trip to Tokyo soon. Finally posting some snaps from my Jazz Kissa Tokyo tour a few months ago. I love Tokyo, an incredible city that is at once a cacophony of stimuli to overwhelm, and an oasis of calm for the soul. Pick your own adventure kind of place.

Jazz kissa, ジャズ喫茶), are cafés that specialise in the playing and appreciation of recorded jazz music. Unique to Japan, jazz kissa are spaces where jazz music is played for dedicated listening rather than as background music. A typical jazz kissa features a high-quality stereo system, a large music collection and dim lighting, and serves coffee and alcoholic drinks.

Jazz & Bar Kiri Ginza, Bar Martha, Blue Eyes, Candy, No Room for Squares, Jazzhaus Posy, Jazz Inn Uncle Tom, Music Bar Cave Shibuya, Flamingo and more, so many more incredible, eclectic, fascinating, curious, and so cool spots to explore.

I long for a true Jazz Kissa in my neighborhood, so much so I’m convinced that one day I will have to open my own.

#tokyo #jazzkissa #jazz #vinyl #whiskey #cocktails taken in Tokyo 東京, Japan by @johnathonv

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2 years ago