NSB Logo Dr. Samantha Nutt Dr. Samantha Nutt

Dr. Samantha Nutt

Speaker Featured

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Global Humanitarian, Founder of War Child & Public Health Specialist

Dr. Samantha Nutt is an award-winning humanitarian, bestselling author and medical doctor. She’s the founder of the renowned humanitarian organizations, War Child Canada and War Child USA, and has worked with children and their families at the frontline of many of the world’s major crises – from Iraq to Afghanistan, Somalia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone to Darfur, Sudan. With a background in public health, she continues to put science at the forefront of her international work. A leading authority on current affairs, war, international aid, public health, and foreign policy, Dr. Nutt is one of the most intrepid and recognized voices in the humanitarian arena and is a highly sought-after public speaker in North America. 

Keynote Speeches

Virtual Keynotes & Webinars
Contact us for more information about this speaker & their virtual presentations. Click here for some of the most popular formats for virtual events.
Adapting to the Unknown: Strategies for Employers during the COVID Pandemic

This presentation is highly personalized for businesses who are looking to develop public health protocols and strategies for their businesses and includes a look at current realities (epidemiologic trends), infection control practices to consider, the evidence around the efficacy of specific interventions, and future developments and considerations. 

What Just Happened? Leading Through Fear and Uncertainty

This is an engaging presentation that helps leaders tap into the tools needed to withstand and lead their businesses and organizations through unstable and unpredictable times. This is suitable for corporate, nonprofit, academic and other audiences.

We Will Get Through This: An Antidote to Hopelessness

This is a personal presentation about tapping into resiliency and not succumbing to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness in times of tremendous upheaval and uncertainty. Having spent years working in war zones, Dr. Samantha Nutt knows what it means to feel fear and dread about what new uncertainties lie around the corner. This is an uplifting presentation about withstanding life’s ups and downs, and dealing with change.

The Significance of Leadership

Leaders have strength, courage, and conviction. Were they born with these illusive qualities, alongside a perfect balance of knowledge and charisma, or have they simply learned to communicate their experience and ideas more effectively than the rest of us? Leaders encourage us to inspire, to think, and to demand more of ourselves and of our society. They connect us to something larger than ourselves. But is leadership just ingrained in certain people, or can it be acquired? Can we all be leaders?

In this presentation, Dr. Nutt looks at the meaning and significance of leadership. She maps out ways in which we can all be more effective leaders – in the world and in the workplace – because the capacity to lead exists in each and every one of us.

When Women Lead

A popular choice for International Women’s Day and other events celebrating women’s leadership, this presentation combines humour and personal reflections on women in the 21st century and why the women’s movement is unfinished everywhere. Dr. Nutt’s often satirical take on hot topics such as “Lean In” and whether “women can have it all” offers an engaging, thought-provoking and entertaining examination of the challenges women still face in the world and how women (and men) can advocate for change. This presentation is also suitable for businesses and other groups looking to promote diversity and strengthen gender equality at the senior management and executive levels, as well as on Boards.

Canada: Where do we go from here?

The world is changing in complex and at times frightening ways. Globalization, terrorism, integrated economies, climate change, population displacement, emerging epidemics – all of these are impacting on how Canadians view the world and our relationship to it. What does it mean to be Canadian now? Is there a role for us in the world? Are we who we think we are and how do other countries see us? Join recognized global affairs expert and award-winning humanitarian Dr. Samantha Nutt as she explores the meaning of Canada in the 21st century and learn about what Canadians can do to have a lasting global impact.

Customized Presentations

Dr. Samantha Nutt tailors her keynote addresses to the themes and objectives of individual groups. All of her presentations are unique and consider the needs, interests and backgrounds of her audiences.

These are just a snapshot of Dr. Nutt’s unique and customized approach to her presentations. You can find some of her other presentations here.

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Panelist/In Conversation
A leading authority on current affairs, war, international aid and foreign policy, Dr. Samantha Nutt is a great option to spark lively conversation on hot-button issues of the day.

Audience reviews:

  • Sam completely thrilled the audience. She gave a passionate, lively, honest and relevant speech that captivated the audience. People came to let me know they were amazed by the quality of her material and how she delivered it…Her tips were appreciated and tweeted profusely…I saw people crying and laughing at different moments during the speech – touching moments, and hilarious moments altogether. Her speech was a great success and made our event memorable for that.

    - Vice-Chair of the Young Professionals Network at Public Services and Procurement Canada
  • Well she was quite the hit...the union members LOVED her and want us to bring her back. She spoke from the heart, great experiences and related to real life women moving forward and that was key. I have heard Samantha before so knew she was good, wondered how she would be received--- suffice it to say she was fantastic.

    - Union Representative Education, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees
  • Dr. Nutt’s keynote presentation was excellent and a huge success! Her presentation was thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and very inspirational. It was very evident that Dr. Nutt struck a chord with many of the physicians in the room especially during the Q&A session.

    - Ottawa Hospital Academic Medical Organization
  • Great, great, great presentation!!! I am so proud to be Canadian right now!!! You are an inspiration to us all!

    - Trinity College School
  • I was really inspired by you as well as your speech.. I've never seen the crowd so moved by a speaker.

    - University of Chicago, Illinois
  • Samantha Nutt was absolutely incredible. Hands down the best inspirational guest speaker we've had. She is my new role model.

    - Grant MacEwan College
  • Samantha Nutt's presentation was fabulous. It was the highlight event of our conference! Her speech was very inspiring and touching, and it resonated tremendously with our conference participants.

    - Canadian Bureau for International Education
  • Samantha was amazing! She was funny, down to earth, personable, and certainly passionate about her causes. She motivated our delegates to take action and share the stories she told. We sold most of her books after her keynote. She was truly a delight to work with.

    - Association Consultant, Ontario School Counsellors' Association
  • You’ll be glad to hear that Dr. Samantha Nutt’s talk was our highest rated talk for our 2022 agenda! - Event Planner, Clinical Trials Ontario
  • Dr. Nutt knocked it out of the park and the feedback has been phenomenal. - Executive Director, Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs

Speaker Biography

Dr. Samantha Nutt is a respected authority for many of North America’s leading media outlets. She is a regular foreign affairs and public health panelist on the acclaimed news program, CBC TV NEWS “The National”, and has appeared on the popular podcast, “Great Minds” with Advertising Week Global CEO Matt Scheckner. She has also been featured in Town & Country Magazine, AP News, Time Magazine, The Epoch Times (New York), More Magazine and on NBC Nightly News, BBC World News Service, America’s Radio News Network, NPR, CTV Power Play, CTV National News, Global TV News, and CBC Radio, to name just a few. 

For the past 25 years, Dr. Nutt’s work has focused on public health as the science of prevention. In 2020, she spearheaded the Emergency Coalition of Canadian Charities to continue supporting vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been asked by schools, sports franchises and other organizations to provide guidance and advice to them and to their employees around COVID and to review their infection control strategies. Her expertise has been shared on CBC NEWS The National’s “Beyond Our Borders Panel: Covid-19”, as well as a number of other interviews and Q&A’s.

Dr. Nutt’s written work has been published by TED Ideas, Reuters, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Toronto Star, Maclean’s Magazine, The Ottawa Citizen, The Huffington Post, and other publications. Her critically acclaimed book Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies, and Aid, a bracing and uncompromising account of her work in some of the most devastated regions of the world, was the #1 national bestseller in both hardcover and paperback.

Named one of Canada’s 25 Transformational Canadians by The Globe and Mail, Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and Canada’s Five Leading Activists by Time Magazine, Dr. Nutt was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2011 for her contributions in improving the plight of young people in the world’s worst conflict zones.

Dr. Nutt graduated summa cum laude from McMaster University, earned a M.Sc in Public Health with distinction from the University of London and holds a Fellowship in Community Medicine (FRCPC) from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She is further certified by the College of Family Practice and completed a sub specialization in women’s health through the University of Toronto as a Women’s Health Scholar. Dr. Nutt is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates from universities in Canada and the U.S.A.

Dr. Nutt is a staff physician at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is a Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto and is on the board of the David Suzuki Foundation.