Speakers

Biography

Kerry Adler is the President and Chief Executive Officer of SkyPower, one of the largest and most successful developers and owners of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) energy projects in the world. As a pioneer of renewable energy initiatives in North America, Kerry continues to be a leading proponent and public champion of solar energy and its potential to help address climate change and poverty around the world.
Prior to SkyPower, Kerry was the Founder, President and CEO of Webhelp Worldwide, an international BPO solutions group, which today has grown to over 40,000 employees with revenue approaching USD 1 billion. Kerry is an active board member, advisor and investor to numerous companies in emerging technology, infrastructure and innovative sectors as well as a sought after industry expert and speaker. His continued commitment to protecting and conserving the environment was honored by the United Nations Global Compact as the 2016/2017 SDG Pioneer for Climate Action.
Kerry was also named Solar Advocate of the Year by the Canadian Solar Industries Association and he earned the Clean50 Executive Award for his outstanding contribution to sustainable development and clean capitalism. Kerry was educated in the United States and Canada, attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Bryant and Concordia Universities, where he received Honors in the field of Economics.

Biography

Louis Audet is Executive Chairman of the Board of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc., having stepped into the position on September 1, 2018.

Mr. Audet joined Cogeco in 1981 and held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. starting in 1993. Under his leadership, Cogeco has become a leading Canadian communications company, operating internationally and generating revenues of over $2.3 billion annually. As Executive Chair, Louis Audet plays an active executive role focusing on major business issues and strategies while working closely with and supporting recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, Philippe Jetté.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of CableLabs. He previously sat on the Boards of Directors of the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, Clarica,the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Corporation de l'École Polytechnique de Montréal, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the Association canadienne de la radio et de la télévision de langue française, and served as Governor of the Council on Canadian Unity. He was also Chairman of the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf Development Fund.

Over the years, Mr. Audet has often been recognized by both the business and philanthropic communities for his numerous achievements. Amongst his contributions, he acted as co-Chair of the 2017 campaign for Centraide of Greater Montréal and as Chair of the 2014-2020 fundraising campaign for the Old Brewery Mission Foundation, a major foundation which provides emergency and other services for homeless people in the Montreal area.

Mr. Audet holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School (Boston, MA) and has graduated from École Polytechnique (Montréal) with an Engineering Degree, Electronics and Communications. He holds a college diploma (DEC) from Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf (Montréal).

He was named Member of the Order of Canada in 2013. He has been inducted into the Club des entrepreneurs du Conseil du patronat du Québec, and was awarded the Order of Merit of the Université de Montréal Alumni Association, as well as the Merit Award of the École Polytechnique Alumni Association. In 2018, he received two Honorary Doctorates from Université de Montréal and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

Biography

Dominic Barton is the Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Company. In his 27 years with the firm, Dominic has advised clients in a range of industries including banking, consumer goods, high tech and industrial. Prior to his current role, Dominic was based in Shanghai as McKinsey’s Asia Chairman from 2004 to 2009 and led the Korea office from 2000 to 2004.

Dominic is an active participant in international fora including Davos, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Les Rencontres Économiques d’Aix-en-Provence, the Asia Business Council and the China Development Forum. He has authored more than 80 articles on the role of business in society, leadership, financial services, Asia, history and the issues and opportunities facing markets worldwide. Dominic is a co-author, with Roberto Newell and Greg Wilson, of Dangerous Markets: Managing in Financial Crises (Wiley & Sons, 2002), and his most recent book is China Vignettes: An Inside Look at China (Talisman, 2007).

Dominic leads McKinsey’s work on the future of capitalism, long-term value-creation and the role of business leadership in society. This is a set of research initiatives and projects to convene organisations and leaders for constructive action. One such project was a task force on Inclusive Capitalism, which Dominic co-led with Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild (sponsored by the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank). The task force – comprised of business and public leaders in the US and UK – developed approaches for engaging and scaling business actions to address issues that create both social and economic value.

He is a Trustee of the Brookings Institution, a member of the Singapore Economic Development Board’s International Advisory Council, an advisor to the Asia Development Bank, a member of the Advisory Board for the China Development Bank Capital Group and a Board Member of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Dominic has received multiple awards for his business leadership and contributions to the communities in which he has lived – for example, in February 2013 Dominic received the Order of Civil Merit (Peony Medal) from former President Lee of South Korea. He is a Rhodes Trustee and an Honorary Fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford. Dominic is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Tsinghua University, Beijing.

Biography

Laurence Batlle is Chairwoman of the RATP Dev Executive Board, and has sat on the RATP Group Executive Board since 1^st January 2017. She joined RATP Dev in 2007 as CFO, and since then has played a major role in defining its strategy and supervising its international growth. She became a member of the Executive Board in 2011, and was in charge of its Americas-Africa and Sightseeing Business Units from 2014 to 2016. She has also been an independent Board member of Elior Group since 2014.

Laurence Batlle has a proven executive management track record: prior to joining RATP Dev, she spent 14 years driving sales growth in major consulting firms, first for PricewaterhouseCoopers and then as VP Global Finance Support at Atos Origin for two years. She is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Institut Commercial de Nancy, and is a Knight of the French National Order of Merit.

Biography

The Honourable Perrin Beatty is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the 200,000-member Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canada’s largest and most representative national business association. Mr. Beatty is the principal spokesperson advocating the policy positions of the Canadian Chamber’s members to the federal government, international organizations, the media and the general public. Prior to joining the Canadian Chamber in August 2007, Mr. Beatty was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME).

A descendant of one of Canada’s most prominent manufacturing families, Mr. Beatty grew up in Fergus, Ontario and graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1971. In 1972 he was elected to the House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative and in 1979 he was appointed Minister of State (Treasury Board) in the government of Joe Clark. He held six additional portfolios in subsequent Progressive Conservative governments, including National Revenue in 1984, Solicitor General in 1985, National Defence in 1986, Health and Welfare in 1989, Communications in 1991, and Secretary of State for External Affairs in 1993.

In 1994, Mr. Beatty joined a number of private sector boards and worked as a consultant in the field of communications. He was a Honourary Visiting Professor with the Department of Political Science, University of Western Ontario. He wrote a weekly column on government and politics for a major Canadian newspaper. From 1995 - 1999, Mr. Beatty was President and CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Mr. Beatty has served on a number of Canadian government advisory committees, is a member of the advisory council of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian International Council. In 2008, Mr. Beatty was named Chancellor of the University of Ontario Institute Of Technology. In 2012, Mr. Beatty became a member of the Board of Directors of Mitsui Canada.

Biography

John M. Beck is Founder and Executive Chairman of Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE), Canada’s premier construction and infrastructure development company.   A leader in providing services to private and public sector clients throughout Canada and internationally, Aecon primarily serves the Infrastructure, Energy and Mining sectors.

A graduate in Civil Engineering from McGill University, Mr. Beck has more than 50 years of experience in the construction industry in Canada and internationally. His background includes corporate leadership in numerous construction activities including heavy civil projects and public-private partnerships for the development of infrastructure, such as airports, toll roads and transit systems.

Mr. Beck is currently a member of the Board of Directors of PPP Canada, the Ontario Financing Authority, the Royal Conservatory of Music as well as Co-Chair of the Infrastructure & Urban Development Industries at the World Economic Forum.  He is a member of the Advisory Council for the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary and is also a member of the Business Council of Canada. He was previously Chairman of the Board of the Ontario Power Authority, a government agency with responsibility for planning and procuring all of the province’s power needs for the next 20 years.  He was named P3 Champion of the Year by the Canadian Council of Public Private Partnerships in 2013. In recognition of his distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession, Mr. Beck was inducted as a Fellow into the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Biography

Afsaneh M. Beschloss is founder and CEO of Rock Creek, a leading global investment and advisory firm that applies cutting-edge technology and innovation to investments. Previously, she was Managing Director and Partner at the Carlyle Group and President of Carlyle Asset Management, and Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer of the World Bank. Ms. Beschloss also worked at Shell International and J.P. Morgan. She has led global public policy and financial policy advising governments and central banks in energy, infrastructure and impact investing.
She serves on the boards of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the World Resources Institute, the American Red Cross, and is the Vice-Chair of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Chair of the World Wide Web Foundation. Ms. Beschloss is a member of the World Economic Forum and the Council of Foreign Relations. She is a recipient of the Institutional Investor Lifetime Achievement Award, Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, and recognized as one of American Banker’s Most Powerful Women in Banking.
Ms. Beschloss holds an MPhil (Honors) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she taught international trade and economic development. She is the co‐author of The Economics of Natural Gas and author of numerous journal articles on energy policy.

Biography

Jean-Nicolas Beuze worked for more than 20 years with the United Nations in the areas of Human Rights (OHCHR), Peacekeeping (DPKO) and UNICEF at Headquarters and in the field (Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Afghanistan and the Middle-East and North Africa region) before joining UNHCR in Lebanon as Deputy Representative for Protection and Inter-Agency Coordination.
Prior to joining UNHCR, he was the UNICEF Child Protection Advisor for the MENA region (2010-13) working on emergency responses in Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and strengthening public child protection and education systems in the region. He was previously appointed as the Deputy Director of the Human Rights Unit of UN Peace-Keeping/DPKO mission in Afghanistan/UNAMA (2008-10) focusing on women’s rights, elections, poverty and the protection of civilians.
He previously worked as a Research Director in a human rights think-tank (International Council on Human Rights Policy) on issues of peace agreements, transitional justice, national human rights institutions and the reform of the UN human rights system. Jean-Nicolas Beuze holds a LL.M in international human rights law from Essex University, UK, and a Master in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Relations, Geneva/Switzerland.

Biography

As Chief Executive Officer of Iron Galaxy Studios, Adam Boyes is responsible for the Company’s finances, strategic development, partnerships and alliances. Prior to his current role, Boyes was Vice President of Third Party Relations & Developer Technology Group at Sony Interactive Entertainment America where he oversaw Publisher & Developer Relations, Portfolio Strategy, Financial Strategy, Partner Alliance, Technical Account Management, Developer Technology Group and the 3rd Party Production team - driving them to record revenue and profitability numbers consistently year over year. Previously, Boyes was Executive Producer and Director of Product Development at Midway Games and Capcom respectively. Boyes studied Computer Science & Business Administration at Simon Fraser University. In his spare time, Boyes enjoys traveling, biking, cooking, playing with his kids and beat boxing. He once competed on Food Network Canada.

Biography

Richard Bradley is Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Officer of The Worth Group. He is also the #1 New York Times best-selling author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr. A seasoned and respected editor and journalist, Bradley’s career has always combined journalism and academia. American Son generated tremendous national attention, including the cover of People magazine and a guest appearance on NBC’s Today Show. Mr. Bradley was also the subject of a Barbara Walters interview on ABC’s 20/20. American Son spent seven weeks on The New York Times non-fiction bestseller list, ultimately climbing to number one. In addition to his jobs as a magazine editor and his book writing, Richard Bradley has authored articles for numerous publications, including: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, George, The New Republic, Rolling Stone, Boston Magazine, Salon.com, The Washington Monthly, Worth, and Mother Jones. He has also written a column of media analysis for the website TomPaine.com.

Biography

Shelly Bruce was appointed to the position of Chief, CSE effective 27 June 2018. Shelly joined CSE in 1989 as a linguist and intelligence analyst within the SIGINT branch. After a series of roles in SIGINT collection, planning, policy, in IT Security, and as executive assistant to the Chief CSE, she served as Director General Access and Facilitation, and Director General Intelligence. In 2007, she was seconded to the Security and Intelligence Secretariat at the Privy Council Office as Director, Operations and also as Deputy, Afghanistan Intelligence Lead Official. Between 2009 and 2017, Shelly was Deputy Chief at CSE, responsible for Canada’s national SIGINT program.

Shelly has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dalhousie University and a Masters in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of Toronto.

Shelly lives in Ottawa with her husband, John. They have a son, Jack, and a dog, Sasha.

Biography

Laura Buhler is the Executive Director of C100, a private San-Francisco-based not-for-profit association of influential and accomplished Canadians in technology whose mission is to support Canadian entrepreneurs through community, talent, thought leadership, and investment. Every year, C100 brings over 100 entrepreneurs from across Canada to Silicon Valley to expand their networks of mentors, investors, and partners. Laura serves as an advisor to the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial thinking at the University of Calgary, and on the Advisory Board of NewCo Toronto, helping to connect talent to Toronto startups.

Laura previously held roles in Business Development, Marketing, and Strategy at Gilt.com (acquired by HBC), an e-commerce startup on the frontlines of New York’s burgeoning tech scene. In her early career, Laura was a Project Manager at the World Economic Forum in New York, and a consultant with McKinsey & Co. in New York and in Canada. Laura is an alumna of the University of Calgary and of HEC Paris. A Calgary native, Laura currently lives in Oakland, California with her partner, Bryan.

Biography

Gunnar Carlsson is one of the most renowned mathematicians in the world. He is Ayasdi’s President and a co-founder and has an  undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from Stanford, where he was Chair of the Department of Mathematics from 1995 -1998. Over the past 35 years, Gunnar has taught at the University of Chicago, University of California, Princeton University, and since 1991, Gunnar has been a professor of mathematics at Stanford University, where he has been a thought leader in a branch of mathematics called topology, the study of shape. In the theoretical sense, topology has been around since the 1700s, but Gunnar pioneered the applied use of topology to solve complex real world problems starting in the late 1990s. In the early 2000s, this work led to $10M in research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and DARPA to study the application of Topological Data Analysis (TDA) to problems of interest within the U.S. government. In 2008, based on the success of these efforts, Gunnar, along with two other Stanford mathematicians, co-founded Ayasdi.

Biography

Rob Carrick has been writing about personal finance, business and economics for close to 30 years. He joined The Globe and Mail in late 1996 and shortly afterward suggested the paper offer more coverage of personal finance. He's been writing about investing and personal finance ever since. Rob's personal finance column appears in The Globe twice weekly, and his Portfolio Strategy column for investors appears on alternating Saturdays. Rob has a new podcast on retirement called The Retirementality, and he writes a twice-weekly e-mail newsletter called Carrick on Money.  He's also active on social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Rob is the author or co-author of five books, the most recent of which is How Not to Move Back in With Your Parents: The Young Person's Complete Guide to Financial Empowerment.

Biography

John Carrington, CEO and Director, he has a distinguished track record with over 25 years of proven leadership in technology, energy and industrial companies. John comes to Stem from thin film solar company MiaSole, the world’s largest CIGS-based thin film solar company globally where he was Chief Executive Officer and Director. Prior to MiaSole, John was Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at First Solar where he grew the company revenue from $300 million to over $2 billion, opening markets in the US, Asia and Europe. John spent over 16 years at General Electric, most recently as General Manager and Chief Marketing Officer of the $7 billion GE Plastics global organization where he led global innovation, new technology efforts and product strategy for over 30,000 customers. John was part of a small executive team that executed on the $12 billion sale of GE Plastics to SABIC in 2007. He is an alumnus of the University of Colorado.

Biography

M^e Jean-Henry Céant, né le 27 Septembre 1956 à Port au Prince, Haïti, a exercé la profession de notaire de 1986 à 2018. Engagé dans la vie politique de son pays,  il a été candidat à la présidence d'Haïti lors des élections de 2010 et de 2015.

Marié et père de quatre enfants.

Il a été nommé Premier ministre le 5 août 2018

Professeur de droit dans différentes universités, il a été l’initiateur de la fondation « Dwa Pou Tout Moun » (Droit pour Tous). Il a produit et animé une série d’émissions télévisées sur le droit  également appelée : « Dwa Pou Tout Moun ». Il a publié plusieurs ouvrages, dont : Le Vade-mecum du Notaire et ses Clients, Le Vade-mecum de l’Agent de la Fonction Publique et de l’Administré(3 volumes).  Son livre, « État d’urgence / Loi du 15 avril 2010 » ; est une analyse conjoncturelle et juridique de la situation d’Haïti après le séisme du 12 Janvier 2010.

Jean-Henry Céant adore voyager. Il a pu ainsi découvrir et apprécier d’autres cultures.

En tant que mécène, il a supporté de nombreux artistes et artisans du pays au cours des trente dernières années.

Jean-Henry Céant a été distingué pour son leadership par la Fondation SIMACT. Cette reconnaissance lui a valu des félicitations de l'assemblée de l'État de New York, du Conseil municipal de New York ainsi que de l'arrondissement de Brooklyn. Son dévouement inlassable et ses initiatives, pour des réponses adaptées aux besoins de ses frères et sœurs haïtiens lors du tremblement de terre du 12 Janvier 2010, ont été remarqués et notés par l’Association médicale islamique d'Amérique du nord (IMANA) et l'organisation Haitiano-americaine « NOAH-New York».

Citoyen concerné et engagé, Jean-Henry Céant croit que l'avenir et la reconstruction d'Haïti dépendent de la participation de tous les Haïtiens.

Biography

A distinguished and proven leader in the technology industry.

John Chen is Executive Chairman of BlackBerry’s Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer.  Under his leadership, BlackBerry has transformed into a market-leading software and services company.

Prior to joining BlackBerry, he served as Chairman and CEO of Sybase Inc. from 1998 for 15 years, where he developed and led the company’s re-invention from a mature, slower-growth technology company into a $1.5 billion-plus high-growth innovator. Under his direction, Sybase became the leading provider of enterprise mobility and mobile commerce solutions, achieving 55 consecutive quarters of profitability.

John previously held a series of executive positions at Siemens Nixdorf, Pyramid Technology Corp., Unisys and Burroughs Corp, where he started his career as an engineer.

He graduated from Brown University magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and holds a master's in electrical engineering from California Institute of Technology.

He is actively involved in international relations and has testified before Congress on U.S.–China trade relations.

John serves on the board of directors for The Walt Disney Company. He is active in the not-for-profit community, and is also a trustee of Caltech, member of CFR, national trustee of The First Tee and Governor of the San Francisco Symphony.

Biography

Mike joined Ipsos in 1997 after more than twelve years of working within both social and economic portfolios of the Government of Canada.  With over 20 years in the research and intelligence business, Mike has worked with leading governments and businesses across Canada to use evidence and data to drive change and help organizations succeed.

Mike’s background and expertise covers all facets of public and private sector communications as well as government policy and program development. He has examined issues that range from encouraging people to donate blood, to positioning the Government of Canada’s annual Budget, to measuring the influence of social media during elections.  Mike’s focus of late has been on Ipsos CanadaNext a national study that looks at the wave of change about to happen across Canada. Driven by demographic shifts and technology advancement, our economy, our communities, our governments, our businesses, and our lives are about to change drastically. CanadaNext bring the views of Canadians and their expectations into the conversation about the next 10 years and the changes that are occurring across Canada.

Mike currently oversees a cross country team of 45 research professionals whose main goal is to help their clients better understand the world around them. Whether it is through surveys, consultations, engagement exercises, social media listening or other qualitative exercises, the Public Affairs Group provides clients with the evidence, insight and advice they need to make the decisions that move their organizations forward.

Biography

Guy Cormier has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins Group since April 2016. Desjardins is the leading cooperative financial group in Canada and sixth in the world, with assets of over $248 billion. It is one of the 20 largest employers in the country, supported by the skills of its 47,000 employees and the commitment of more than 5,000 elected officers. Drawing on the strength of its caisse network in Quebec and Ontario and its subsidiaries across Canada, Desjardins Group offers a full range of financial products and services to its millions of members and clients. Desjardins specializes in wealth management, life and health insurance, property and casualty insurance, personal services, and business and institutional services.

Mr. Cormier has been with Desjardins since 1992, and was General Manager of several caisses in the network. He was Vice-President of Cooperative Network Finance from 2009 to 2012, before being appointed Vice-President of Cooperative Network, in 2012, and then Senior Vice-President of Cooperative Network and Personal Services in 2013.

Mr. Cormier has always encouraged audacity, agility and innovation to improve the experience of members and clients. Under his leadership, the organization's AccèsD Services earned their 11th Customer Operations Performance Center (COPC) certification, making Desjardins the only financial institution in the world to hold the certification that long. It was also under Mr. Cormier that new innovative technology-focused service centres were launched, earning several awards internationally.

In 2014, he was invited to give lectures and take part in round tables for events organized by the World Health Organization and the International Summit of Cooperative.

In 2013, the Quebec MBA Association recognized Mr. Cormier as one of 40 Quebecers with a major influence on business in the province.

Biography

Straightview provides strategic intelligence, decision-making and execution for B2G and B2B clients operating globally in complex and culturally sensitive environments, leveraging wide cross-sector/market expertise.  As Chair, Piers has led an international career working in and with multi-national corporations, private equity, governments and civil society organisations across Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.  He is a board director and vice-chair of the Investment Committee of Global Sustainable Capital Management; Partner and Head of UK for AYNFG, a professional services firm focussed on high growth businesses in Europe and Asia; and a director of South Pole Group, a global sustainability consultancy.  He has been a board director of public corporations, and has managed two PE funds, in Africa and Russia.  More recently he was Head of Partnership at the World Economic Forum, and Chairman Europe of Veracity, a global business intelligence firm.

Piers has a strong personal commitment to sustainable economic development: he is a board director and Investment Committee member of EWB Canada; in 2009 he established an SME social venture fund in Africa.

MA Oxford, business degree Coventry & GEC, ICD.D McGill/ICD.  Speaks a number of languages.

Biography

Mr. D’Souza is a seasoned, results-producing leader with experience steering and directing all aspects of risk management, security processes, investigations and intelligence frameworks.  He has extensive international skills through working, travelling and living in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.  He spent eight years with the Toronto Police Service, the majority of which, he was involved in an undercover capacity dealing with major, large-scale investigations.  He has led several cases to successful conclusions through every level of the court system. In addition to working for large multi-national organizations, Mr. D’Souza also spent time consulting on regulatory requirements and laws, as they apply to business, ensuring compliance across a wide cross-section of financial, retail and commercial sectors.

Currently, Mr. D’Souza leads an elite team of global managers, investigators and analysts at Facebook positioned across the globe, to resolve complex internal and external investigations, including but not limited to anti-fraud and piracy, threats to people or the workplace, asset protection, supply chain and data center investigations and misconduct.  His intelligence Team is focused on issues related to geopolitical, counter-terrorism and due diligence analysis.  He also leads all protective intelligence operations for the CEO, COO and company Executives globally.

Mr. D’Souza holds a MBA degree from Columbia Southern, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.  He is a frequently called upon speaker and subject matter expert, accredited as a Forensics Investigator and has been formally trained in Mobile Surveillance, Workplace Violence Detection and Prevention, Major Case Management, Interviewing and Interrogation, Drug Interdiction and Investigation, Death Investigations, Anti-Terrorism and Anarchist Detection, and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED).

Biography

Jan De Silva is a seasoned international business executive with a proven track record of excelling in on-the-ground leadership roles.

As President  & CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, Jan is spearheading efforts to make Toronto one of the most competitive and sought after business regions in the world.

Prior to joining the Board, Jan was CEO of Sun Life Financial Hong Kong and co-founded Retail China Limited, which was acquired in 2010. She’s also served as Dean of Ivey Asia, part of Western University.

Highly respected for her business advocacy and government engagement efforts, Jan has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, a Woman of our Time by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and made the Canadian Board Diversity Council’s inaugural Diversity 50 list. She currently sits on the boards of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, Intact Financial Corporation and Blue Umbrella Limited.

Biography

Dawn Desjardins joined the RBC Economics team in January 2006. She is a key contributor to the macroeconomic forecasts for Canada and the U.S. and is part of a team that is responsible for the interest rate forecasts for both countries. Dawn delivers economic analysis to RBC’s clients through a variety of publications and presentations. She is often interviewed by media from across North America to discuss developments in the economy and financial markets.
Prior to joining RBC, Dawn worked as a reporter for Bloomberg Financial News in Toronto covering the Canadian bond and currency markets and was the Canadian bond market strategist for a major U.S. bank for ten years. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto.

Biography

Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano joined VIA Rail in 2010 and was appointed President and CEO in May 2014.  Prior to his appointment, he was the Corporation's Chief Corporate & Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary.  A seasoned executive, Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano leads with passion, respect and transparency. He is known for embracing innovation and encouraging creative ideas. A natural communicator, he is in high demand as a keynote speaker at conferences, business events and universities. He prides himself on being an accessible CEO, and values every opportunity to meet and converse with both travellers and employees.

Prior to VIA Rail, Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano held several senior positions in legal, regulatory and government relations, business and corporate development, marketing communications and finance. In Montreal and Toronto, he worked for private and publicly held companies, in the information technology, telecommunications, marketing and entertainment industries. Past President of the Canadian Bar Association, Quebec Division, Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano was also Chief of Staff to the federal Minister of Labour and Minister of State for Transport.

Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano holds a law degree (LL.L.) from l’Université de Montréal and he completed Graduate Studies in Law (GSD) at McGill University. He also has a designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) and is a member of the Barreau du Québec.

In 2016, Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano received the Business Achievement Award from the Quebec General Counsel Awards, presented by ZSA Legal Recruitment. He was rewarded for his achievement in developing and implementing the business strategy that has led to VIA Rail’s success since his appointment as President and CEO. His customer-focused vision has persuaded more travellers to come onboard, expanding the company’s client base and boosting its revenue for the first time in several years. He was also honoured by Women and Board in the CEO category for his outstanding contributions to advancing the role of women in corporate governance as the President and CEO of VIA Rail.

Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano was appointed Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the Régiment de Maisonneuve in November 2016.

Biography

Jay is COO of The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute (ARM).
Founded at Carnegie Mellon University in January 2017 and now operating as an independent non-profit, ARM won an $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to become the leading catalyst of robotics innovation and expertise to accelerate growth in US-based manufacturing and the high value careers. ARM operates as part of the Manufacturing USA network, and is supported by an additional $173 million in commitments from more than 100 members and partners in industry, academia, technology, government and economic development groups. By creating a collaborative ecosystem of like-minded organizations, ARM is speeding the movement of industrial robots into commercial use, while preparing a labor force to operate and manage these technologies.

Previously Jay worked at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.  His focus was on developing business opportunities for technology development and technology transfer with commercial organizations.  He most recently managed the SEI’s business in Europe.  Jay has worked with a wide variety of software development and quality technologies.

Jay's educational background includes a BS in Business Administration from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Biography

Bart W. Édes has served as the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Representative in North America since October 2017. In this capacity, he mobilizes financing for ADB’s developing member countries; shares development knowledge and experience; establishes and deepens partnerships with public, private and nonprofit organizations in North America; and raises public awareness of ADB in Canada and the United States.

His earlier ADB experience includes leading teams responsible for knowledge management, social development, gender equity, the social sectors, civil society engagement, ICT for Development, inclusive business, governance, and public sector management. He guided the formulation of ADB’s Public Communications Policy, which set a new global benchmark for transparency and information sharing among the international financial institutions. Mr. Édes has also served as Alternate Chairperson of ADB’s Appeals Committee, and Member of the ADB Integrity Oversight Committee.

Between 1994 and 2000, Mr. Édes managed communications at SIGMA, a joint initiative of the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development providing support to public governance reform in Central and Eastern European countries. Mr. Édes has also worked as a journalist, researcher, policy analyst, and specialist on international trade and foreign direct investment.

He has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government (cum laude) from Georgetown University. Mr. Édes is a dual national of Canada and the United States.

Biography

Steve Edwards is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Black & Veatch. Edwards assumed this position in November 2013 and has overall responsibility for the company’s engineering, consulting, construction and related infrastructure businesses in the energy, water, telecommunications, and security markets worldwide. With revenues of $3.5 billion, Black & Veatch is consistently ranked in the top ten categories for power generation, power delivery, water infrastructure development and telecommunications in Engineering News-Record magazine and is ranked in the Top 150 of the Forbes list of Largest Private Companies. The company is the 10^th largest Employee-Owned Corporation in the United States according to the National Center for Employee Ownership.

Since joining Black & Veatch in 1978 Edwards has been responsible for a variety of global projects and business lines. He was named Chief Operating Officer in March 2013 in a transition role before becoming Chairman and CEO. He was appointed to the Black & Veatch Board of Directors in 2012. Edwards is a registered professional engineer and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri.

Biography

Al is Co-Founder & CEO of IntelinAir. He is a serial entrepreneur and tech industry executive who has founded and led four innovative companies in the last couple of decades with three successful exits. Al’s passion has always centered on transforming data into valuable insights.

Prior to IntelinAir he was Co-Foudner & CEO of IconApps, a contextual mobile data analytics company acquired by Science Inc. in 2014. Al was Co-Founder & CEO and later Executive Chairman of Integrien Corporation, a performance management analytics company that was acquired by VMWare in 2010 for $103 million. Prior to Integrien, Al was Co-Founder & CEO of CreationPoint Systems, a systems management company that was merged with Integrien Corporation. Al was also the SVP & GM of LowerMyBills which was acquired by Experian for $400M. Al also led a $150M+ global business unit of Minebea, a large Japanese conglomerate.

He holds a BSEE from Oklahoma State University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Biography

Ed Elfmann serves as Senior Vice President of Agricultural and Rural Banking Policy for the American Bankers Association in Washington, D.C.  ABA is the voice of the nation’s banking industry, and nearly 5,000 banks – 83 percent of all banks nationwide – have agricultural loans within their portfolio.

Elfmann has been with ABA since June 2012, and is ABA’s head of policy on agricultural and rural credit and lending issues.  In addition to agricultural policy, Elfmann works on swaps and derivatives policy, financial services, and appropriations for ABA.

Elfmann currently serves on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Agricultural Markets Advisory Committee and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Agricultural Advisory Committee.  In 2015, he was selected to participate in ABA’s Leaders at all Levels leadership program.

A central Minnesota native, Elfmann grew up on a dairy farm where his family still farms corn, soybeans, and steers, in addition to their grain trucking business.  Prior to joining ABA, Elfmann was an agriculture and transportation policy advisor for a Congressman on the House Agriculture Committee.  Additionally, he has worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the National Corn Growers Association.

Elfmann is currently President of the Graduate School of Political Management Alumni Association at George Washington University, where he earned his Master’s degree.  He earned his B.A. from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.  Elfmann is also the Treasurer/Secretary of the D.C. Agribusiness club.  In his free time, Elfmann enjoys coaching football at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, VA, coaching the Fort Hunt Warriors boy’s rugby team, playing softball on his college alumni team, and spending time with his wife Christine.

Biography

Jon Erlichman anchors BNN Bloomberg’s morning program, The Open, which airs between 8:30-11 a.m. ET on weekdays. Erlichman is also a correspondent and fill-in anchor for CTV National News, as well as a fill-in anchor for Bloomberg's global program "Bloomberg Markets" and a contributor to CTV's "Your Morning.” Additionally, he hosts “Sidelines” on BNN Bloomberg and CTV. Erlichman can also be heard on iHeartRadio’s BNN Bloomberg Radio and Montreal’s No. 1 morning show, The Andrew Carter Morning Show, as well as Newstalk’s 1010 Moore in the Morning.

Erlichman has a background as a scoop-oriented reporter, an accomplished interviewer of top global CEOs and a digital innovator. He rejoined BNN in March 2016.  He previously spent nearly a decade with the channel, including helping with its launch in 1999, when it was known as ROBTV.

Since his return, he has helped to break multiple stories for BNN Bloomberg and CTV. In February 2017, Erlichman was first to report exclusive details of the planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and leading women executives at the White House. He also authored an in-depth piece on the fast growing artificial intelligence industry, called “Better than humans: Vanguards of the AI arms race.”

On BNN Bloomberg’s Sidelines, which also airs on CTV, Erlichman has interviewed athletes such as Robert DeNiro, Tony Parker, Danica Patrick and Georges St-Pierre, along with entertainers such as Gene Simmons and Charli XCX.

Erlichman previously served as a correspondent for ABC News in Los Angeles.  Beginning in September 2014, he covered high-profile stories for the network, such as the cyber-attack at Sony Pictures, Harrison Ford’s plane crash, and the Ebola crisis in Dallas.

Erlichman also spent more than six years working for Bloomberg Television.  He joined the U.S. network in June 2008, as a New York-based anchor and reporter, covering the financial markets. During the financial crisis, he routinely reported from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Erlichman also helped spearhead Bloomberg Television’s coverage of General Motors’ bankruptcy, the Bernie Madoff fraud case, and the SEC’s case against Goldman Sachs. He interviewed leading investors, such as David Einhorn, Tom Barrack, Tom Marsico Alec Gores, Michael Burry and Barry Rosenstein and provided daily commentary on Bloomberg Radio. Stories Jon broke included Mark Cuban’s planned sale of Landmark Cinemas and Lions Gate’s attempts to reduce Carl Icahn’s stake in the company.

In November 2011, Erlichman relocated to San Francisco to help lead Bloomberg Television’s Silicon Valley coverage and join the the daily program, “Bloomberg Technology.” In that role, he interviewed many media and tech leaders, including Barry Diller, Jimmy Iovine, Daniel Ek, Brian Roberts, Tim Westergren, John Donahoe, Ev Williams, Dennis Crowley, Jonah Peretti, Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull and Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman. He reported live from the launch of numerous Apple product events, Facebook headquarters on the day of the company’s initial public offering and from Twitter headquarters during its IPO. In coordination with Bloomberg News, Jon broke stories like Twitter’s internal goal of reaching $1 billion in revenue, Zynga’s planned secondary offering, Motorola’s planned edge to edge phone, Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer’s departure from Apple. In 2013, Erlichman helped create Bloomberg’s first West Coast technology conference, the “Next Big Thing Summit.”

Erlichman relocated to Los Angeles in July 2013 to further establish Bloomberg Television’s West Coast presence. In that role, he routinely broke news and interviewed top entertainment industry players, including Brian Grazer, Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Eisner, Ron Howard, David Zaslav, Jon Favreau, Vince Gilligan, Bob Odenkirk, Frozen Directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, Fox’s Jim Gianopulos, will.i.am, Kobe Brant, Robert Rodriguez, Maleficent Producer Joe Roth, Jim Dolan, Irving Azoff, Mike Medavoy, Ryan Kavanaugh, Haim Saban, and BlackBerry CEO John Chen. Erlichman reported extensively on the future of film and television and hosted Bloomberg’s “Business of Entertainment” events, featuring guests like Disney’s Alan Horn and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos. The events were sponsored by Bloomberg and the Tribeca Film Festival. He also appeared daily on the Bloomberg Radio show “Taking Stock.”

Along with breaking news on Microsoft’s hiring of Satya Nadella as CEO, he was first to report on AMC’s interest in acquiring BBC America, Time Warner’s interest in Fullscreen, CBS’s interest in CNN, Twitter’s hiring of a head of commerce, Xbox Studios slate of original shows, Buzzfeed’s expected 2014 sales of $120 million, Vice Media’s consideration of an IPO, Roku’s consideration of an IPO, Guggenheim’s investment in ‘House of Cards’ creator Media Rights Capital, Jeff Gaspin and Jon Klein’s launch of the digital platform ‘TAPP,’ and the launch of the ‘New Form’ digital studio by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Discovery Communications.

Erlichman has also written columns and articles for Fortune Magazine and The Wrap, and worked as a tech correspondent for the U.S. cable channel HLN (Headline News).

Beyond his traditional news experience, Erlichman is passionate about digital media.  He served as a news advisor to Disney-owned Maker Studios, helping to launch news partnerships with ABC News. In August 2015, Erlichman helped launch Parachute TV, the first live streaming TV channel on Twitter’s Periscope app.  Parachute won Digital Entertainment World's 2016 startup award, after reaching more than one million live viewers and launching more than 50 shows a week, with more than 100 top Periscope creators.  Erlichman, who has more than 100,000 followers across all social media platforms, was profiled by AdWeek in its September 2015 cover story “Meet The Newest Live-streaming Stars Every Brand Should Know About.”  Business Insider also named him one of the “100 Tech People You Have To Follow On Twitter.”

Erlichman frequently serves as a moderator and MC at events such as the Top 40 Under 40, CEO of The Year, Tribeca Film Festival, The Wrap’s TheGrill conference, and NATPE Miami gatherings.

Erlichman majored in Economics at Huron College at the University of Western Ontario, graduating summa cum laude. He was the gold medalist for his outstanding academic performance.

Erlichman is based in Toronto, where he lives with his two daughters and his wife, actor and entrepreneur, Caroline Lesley.

Biography

Glynn Fletcher, President of EOS North America, leads business development and strategy for the company in North America. He joined EOS in 2015, bringing with him over 30 years of experience in the CNC machine tool industry. Glynn has worked closely with Dr. Hans Langer, EOS’s founder, to leverage his machine tool background and significantly advance the adoption of additive manufacturing worldwide.

Previously, Glynn worked for the Swiss conglomerate Georg Fischer Corp., beginning in 1996 as managing director of a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Glynn went on to become managing director of the company’s operations in the UK. In 2002 Glynn accepted a strategic role for the GF Machining Solutions division based in North America, ultimately responsible for all GF Machining Solutions operations in North and South America. Over the next 13 years, Glynn oversaw operations in Chicago, Ill. and Sao Paulo, Brazil, growing them significantly to combined revenues approaching $200 million.

Glynn began his career in 1974 by serving an engineering apprenticeship at Fodens Ltd. and earned a Mechanical Engineering Certificate from Mid Cheshire College in the United Kingdom.  After completing his technical training he travelled extensively in the Middle East and Africa in the role of Service Technician. In 1984 he entered the machine tool industry as a Sales Engineer with Cincinnati Milacron Ltd. He quickly advanced to become National Sales Manager, increasing unit sales by over 900 percent between 1989 and 1996.

Glynn has completed management development courses at Warwick University in Warwick, UK, the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill.

Biography

Mr. Sidney Florey is the North American Director of Business Development for Vinci Concessions Managing the P3 Development Activities throughout North America.  A significant part of his career was spent in construction, managing and working on some of the most difficult and significant heavy civil projects in the United States. Some of these recognizable projects include the I-35 West Bridge Reconstruction in Minnesota, The Chicago Tunnel and Reservoir Project(s), The Boston Central Artery Tunnel Project(s), and the Washington DC Metro.  As the Director of Business Development for Vinci Concessions North America he is providing guidance and leadership in representing VINCI lead teams in pursuit of numerous P3 projects throughout North America including but not limited to the recently opened East End Crossing.

Biography

Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario. He was also elected as the MPP for Etobicoke-North in 2018.

Previously, Doug Ford served as Toronto city councillor from 2010-2014, and was vice-chair of the Budget Committee, where he delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in savings for taxpayers. While on city council, Ford served on the board of Build Toronto, and was a director of the Canadian National Exhibition. He also served on the Civic Appointments Committee and the Government Management Committee at Council.

A dedicated community leader, successful businessman with Deco Labels and passionate advocate for the people, Doug’s commitment to public service runs in the family. Three generations of Fords have served the people of Ontario in elected office.

Doug is a life-long resident of the community of Etobicoke, and lives there with his wife Karla and four daughters. His commitment to public service includes over 20 years of dedicated work with the Toronto West Rotary Club and serving as a proud member of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Biography

Ms. Freeland was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre in a by-election in November 2013 and then re-elected in October 2015 as the Member of Parliament for University–Rosedale. Between November 2015 and January 2017, she served as Canada’s 18th Minister of International Trade.

An esteemed journalist and author, Ms. Freeland was born in Peace River, Alberta. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University before continuing her studies on a Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford.

After cutting her journalistic teeth as a Ukraine-based stringer for the Financial Times, The Washington Post and The Economist, Ms. Freeland went on to wear many hats at the Financial Times, including U.K. news editor, Moscow bureau chief, Eastern Europe correspondent, editor of the FT Weekend Magazine and editor of FT.com. She served as deputy editor of The Globe and Mail between 1999 and 2001 before becoming deputy editor and then U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times.

In 2010, Ms. Freeland joined Canadian-owned Thomson Reuters. She was a managing director of the company and editor of Consumer News when she decided to return home and enter politics.

She has written two books: Sale of the Century: The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution (2000) and Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else (2012).‎ Plutocrats is an international best-seller and won the Lionel Gelber Prize and National Business Book Award. In 2013, Ms. Freeland gave a TED Talk about global income inequality, based on the issues dealt with in Plutocrats. It has been viewed almost two million times.

Ms. Freeland speaks English, French, Ukrainian, Russian and Italian.

Ms. Freeland is married and has three children. She and her family live in University–Rosedale.

Biography

Christoph Frei became WEC’s youngest Secretary General in April 2009. During this time, he has lead the further development of the world-renowned London-based organisation through a number of initiatives, including the initiation of WEC’s on-going Global Energy Scenarios and Energy & Climate Policy Assessment flagship projects or, the facilitation of high-level World Energy Leaders’ Summits to enhance the relevance and impact of the 90 years old organisation.

Prior to joining WEC, Christoph was a member of the Executive Council of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its Senior Director in charge of Energy (2001-2009). He is also an Adjunct Professor at EPFL (since 2006) and a member of WEF’s Global Agenda Council on Energy Security (since 2009).

Christoph received his PhD es sc. from EPFL (1997-2000). He holds a diploma in electrical engineering (ETHZ, 1989-1995) and masters in energy economics & management (EPFL, 1995-1997), econometrics (University of Geneva, 1997-2000), and applied ethics (Ethics Centre, University of Zurich, 2001-2002).

Christoph has initiated projects including EPFL’s Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, the South Africa based Energy Access Partnership, or the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative, which in 2008 lead Ethisphere to rank him among the 100 most influential people in business ethics.

Biography

Suzanne Fry is Director of the Strategic Futures Group at the National Intelligence Council (NIC), where she is responsible for over-the-horizon and global issues analysis as well as Global Trends, the NIC’s flagship unclassified assessment of the future strategic landscape.  Prior to joining the NIC, Ms. Fry worked a range of governance, instability, and strategic warning issues worldwide and led the US Intelligence Community’s Political Instability Task Force.  Ms. Fry received her PhD in Politics from New York University and BA in Government and International Studies from the University of Notre Dame. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Biography

Rohit Ghai most recently served as president of Dell EMC’s Enterprise Content Division (ECD), where he was instrumental in setting a compelling vision, transforming go-to-market and revitalizing the portfolio for the digital era through strategic partnerships and acquisitions.  Ghai was responsible for all aspects of the ECD business, including setting strategic vision, sales and services, channel strategy, product development, marketing, finance, support and customer success.

Previously, Ghai was chief operating officer of ECD, and responsible for the division's strategy, development and marketing of all products and solutions. He joined EMC in December 2009 to run product development.

He has more than 20 years of experience in IT in both startup and big company settings, with expertise in digital transformation in highly regulated markets, and knowledge across software, and systems and security.  Ghai joined Dell EMC from Symantec, where he held a variety of senior engineering and general management roles. Previously, he was at Computer Associates in a number of senior management roles in the BrightStor and eTrust business units, and led the CA India operations as chief technology officer. Ghai joined CA through the acquisition of Cheyenne Software – a startup in the backup and data protection space.

Ghai holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee.

Biography

Shuman Ghosemajumder is Chief Technology Officer at Shape Security.

Shape’s artificial intelligence-based global defense platform protects the world's largest banks, airlines, retailers, and government agencies against cybercriminal fraud. Shape is one of the largest processors of login traffic and protects over 20% of all in-store mobile payments. It secures the online accounts of more than 500 million users and prevented over $1 billion in fraud last year. It was named by CNBC as one of the 50 most disruptive companies in the world.

Shuman previously led global product management for click fraud protection at Google, where his team protected and enabled the world’s largest advertising system ($23 billion in annual pay-per-click revenue). He joined Google in 2003 as one of the early product managers for AdSense, held key product management roles in growing that business to $2 billion in annual revenue, and helped launch Gmail.

Shuman is co-founder and chairman of TeachAIDS, an educational technology nonprofit spun out of Stanford, which creates research-based health software. Backed by Barclays, Microsoft, UNICEF, and others, it was named a technology that would “change the world” by MIT Technology Review , and its software is used in 82 countries.

Shuman is co-author CGI Programming Unleashed , a contributing author to Crimeware , and a regular guest lecturer at Stanford. He holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was named by the Boston Globe to their MIT150 list of the top innovators in the history of MIT.

Biography

Dan currently serves as the Vice President of Strategic Groups at Persado. His career has focused on delighting customers, and he has extensive experience spanning social media, customer service, marketing, and digital customer experience. He is the author of the book, “Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media", listed as a Forbes Top Ten Business Book for 2017. He co-hosts the "Experience This!" podcast on improving CX, and has also hosted the "Focus on Customer Service" podcast.

Prior to joining Persado, Dan worked at multiple Fortune 300 companies, including as Senior Director of Global Social Media at McDonald's, Head of Digital Marketing at Humana and Head of Digital Customer Experience & Social Media at Discover Card.

Biography

Al Goldstein is the Chairman, CEO at Avant Holding Co., CEO at Amount. Al co-founded Avant in 2013 with the goal of building a digital bank for middle income consumers in the US.  Amount was formed as part of Avant in 2016 to provide financial institutions with a range of products and services designed to deliver a seamless digital and mobile customer experience.  With Amount, banks now have access to a fully customizable platform that includes tools for credit decisioning, fraud prevention, account verifications, risk assessment, marketing and customer acquisition and more. Avant has raised over $600 million of equity capital and originated over $5 billion of loans on the platform and has over 500,000 active customers. Amount has announced and launched partnerships with some of the largest banks in the world including HSBC, TD Bank and Regions Bank.

Goldstein is a serial entrepreneur who has built multiple companies throughout his professional career, creating over 2,500 jobs and over $4 billion of enterprise value.  Prior to Avant, Al co-founded and is Chairman of Pangea Properties, a leading vertically-integrated real estate platform that utilizes its combination of operational strength, technology, data analytics and investment capability to institutionalize previously inaccessible real estate assets.  Since 2009, Pangea has expanded to 15,000+ apartment units in multiple markets, launched a commercial real estate lending and credit business, Pangea Mortgage Capital (“PMC”) and provides 3^rd party services including property and construction management to partners.

Al is a founding Board Member of Spring Labs which is building a decentralized global network for identity and credit to serve as the foundation for a more transparent, secure, and efficient delivery of financial services.  He’s also Chairman of Eligo Energy, a leading retail electricity supplier based in Chicago.

Goldstein is actively involved in various charitable and civic organizations focused on entrepreneurship, urban community improvement and global peace including AIPAC, iVenture at the University of Illinois and Pangea Cares.  He is a member of YPO’s Intercontinental Chapter and is happily married with three beautiful children.

Biography

Brendan Greeley is the U.S. Editor for FT Alphaville. Most recently he was at Bloomberg, where he served as economics correspondent for Bloomberg Television, and co-host of Surveillance, the network's morning markets program.
Before that, he was a staff writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, covering economics and technology.
In 2012, he received a New York Press Club award for special events reporting for a Bloomberg Businessweek cover story, “Why Bin Laden Lost.” He has written cover features on the Pentagon’s response to the Ebola epidemic, how to sell soccer cleats, the reinsurance industry since Sept. 11 and Paul Krugman’s Twitter fight with the President of Estonia.
Previously, Greeley was technology and policy correspondent at The Economist.
His freelance print work has appeared in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal Europe. Brendan lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife, four children and two dogs.

Biography

Rebeca Grynspan is the Secretary General of the Ibero American Conference an international multilateral institution which brings together the 19 Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Latin America plus Spain, Andorra and Portugal.
She was unanimously elected in an Extraordinary Meeting of 22 Foreign Ministers held on February 24, 2014 in Mexico City and took office as Ibero-American Secretary General on April 1, 2014.

Rebeca Grynspan was born in Costa Rica, on December 14, 1955, and prior to this appointment she held the post of Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) since February 2010. As a recognized leader in promoting human development, she has greatly helped to focus the attention of the world and Latin America on critical issues such as the reduction of inequality and poverty, gender equity, South-South cooperation as tool for development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, among others. Previously, from 2006 to 2010, she was Deputy Secretary General of the UN and UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Before joining the United Nations, she served as Vice President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. She was Minister of Housing, Minister Coordinator of Economic and Social Affairs of her country and Deputy Minister of Finance; also, she was a member of the High Level Panel on Financing for Development convened by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2001.

Grynspan is a member of Global Council on Poverty and Sustainable Development at the World Economic Forum.

She has contributed to key UN initiatives such as the Millennium Project on Poverty and Economic Development, and the High-Level Panel on Financing for Development. She was also delegate to the United Nations Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti, a group composed of representatives of the Haitian government, the U.S. President Bill Clinton and other relevant international members.

In June 2014 Rebeca Grynspan was elected Chairman of the Board of the International Institute for Environment and Development, an influential policy research organization working at the interface between development and the environment.
In 2014 and 2015 she was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America.

Biography

Gil Rémillard holds degrees in Philosophy (1965), Politics and Economics (1968) and has a doctoral degree in Law (1972). He has worked in the fields of teaching, private law and politics.

Career

Upon returning from Europe in 1973, where he completed his Ph.D., Mr. Rémillard began teaching constitutional and administrative law at Laval University’s Faculty of Law and practiced law at the Chouinard, Rémillard, Bussière & Robinson law firm. During this time, he also acted as advisor to the Québec and Ottawa governments on reforming administrative bodies. In 1983, he became a special constitutional advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada and an advisor to the United Nations Canadian delegation in New York. He has appeared before all levels of the Canadian court system, including the Supreme Court of Canada. From 1981 to 1985, he chaired the Québec Constitutional Conferences, which numbered Prime Ministers Trudeau and Mulroney, as well as Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (former Secretary-General of the United Nations).

On December 2, 1985, Mr. Rémillard was elected as the member for the Québec City riding of Jean-Talon; 10 days later, he was sworn in as a Member of Premier Robert Bourassa’s Liberal government. Within that government, he held several positions, being successively Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of International Relations, Minister of Public Security, and Minister of Justice. As Québec’s Minister of Justice for nearly six years, Mr. Rémillard was responsible for the implementation of the new Civil Code of Québec, which came into effect January 1, 1994. In 1990, he presided over the creation of the Human Rights Tribunal of Québec and, in 1992, convened a major Justice Summit, which resulted in the creation of the Prix de la justice Award that, each year, recognizes the outstanding achievements of individuals who have worked to ensure and promote the quality, universality and accessibility of justice.

As Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Rémillard headed the negotiations which led to the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords, in 1987 and 1992 respectively. While not officially part of the Canadian Constitution, these two agreements had a considerable impact on Canadian federalism, primarily because the Parliament of Canada recognized the “Quebec nation” and the Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged the principles of cooperative federalism.

In January 1994, Mr. Rémillard left the political arena. Starting on February 1, 1994 and for the next 22 years, he taught at the École Nationale d’Administration Publique (ÉNAP), where he lectured on administrative and international law and gave a course on the principles and issues involved in public administration (February 1994 – April 2016). He also served as counsel to the law firm Dentons Canada LLP. In 1995, along with his wife Marie DuPont and his son Nicholas Rémillard, he founded the International Economic Forum of the Americas which annually presents the Conference of Montreal in June, the Toronto Global Forum in September and the World Strategic Forum in April in Miami. These forums are intended to promote understanding of the major issues involved in economic globalization.

From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Rémillard was an advisor to the governments of the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria concerning the reform of their Civil Codes, as part of the preparation for their entry into the European Union.

From 2008 to 2012, he acted as a negotiator for the Québec Government and Secretary General of the Québec-France Mutual Recognition Agreement that establishes equivalency of professional qualifications for many trades and professions on both sides of the Atlantic.

Publications

Mr. Rémillard is the President and publisher of the economic magazine FORCES. He is also the author of several books and articles, among them Le fédéralisme canadien, Volumes I and II, and has edited a number of collections, including Global Economy: The Foundation for the Next Era of Growth, published in 2014.

Honours

In 1992, he was made Doctor Honoris Causa by the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Aix-Marseille University, France. In 1994, he was awarded the Mérite du Barreau by the Québec Bar for his assistance in creating the new Civil Code of Québec. In 2001, he was appointed to the Order of Canada and, in 2002, was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 2004, he received the Ordre national du Québec and, that same year, was made a Knight of France’s Légion d’honneur by French President Jacques Chirac. In May 2007, he was granted the honorary title of Advocatus Emeritus by the Québec Bar. In 2013, he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the France-Canada Institute’s Samuel de Champlain prize. That same year, Ottawa’s Saint Paul University named him Alumnus of the Year and established a fund in his name, and that of his wife, Marie DuPont, to help children with learning disabilities. In January 2014, Mr. Rémillard was elected President of the Légion d’honneur Members’ Association, Montréal chapter. In October 2016, he was made an Officer of France's Légion d'honneur by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

Social Involvement

A dyslexic himself, Mr. Rémillard devotes his philanthropic efforts to a variety of organizations that help children with learning disabilities. He serves on a number of Boards of Directors, among them that of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, co-chaired by Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor General of Canada, and John Ralston Saul, that helps welcome new citizens and integrate them into Canadian life.

Biography

Marie Haga joined the Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust) as Executive Director in March 2013.  She had previously been member and Deputy Chair of the Crop Trust Executive Board.

Ms. Haga has a background from Foreign Service as a career diplomat from politics and private sector.

She has held various positions in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affaires, including to the Norwegian Mission to the United Nations in New York and the Embassy in New Delhi. She was politically appointed and held the position as State Secretary/Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1997-1999.

Ms. Haga has wide experience from politics and served as a Member of Parliament in Norway from 2001-2009. She was political advisor to the Minister for Development Cooperation from 1997-1998. She was Chairperson of the Centre Party from 2003-2008. Ms. Haga has held three Ministerial positions: Minister of Cultural Affairs (1999–2000), Minister of Local Government and Regional Development (2005–2007) and Minister of Petroleum and Energy (2007–2008).

Marie Haga has held the position of Director for Renewable Energy in the Federation of Norwegian Industries (2009–2011) and of Secretary General of the Norwegian Air Ambulance (2011-2013) - the biggest voluntary organization in Norway.

Ms. Haga has been on several boards, including as Chair of the Governing Board of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) (2009–2013) and Chair of the Governing Board of the Industrial Development Corporation of Norway (2010–2013).

She was elected Chair of the Norwegian Peace Research Institute in 2015 and is still holding this position.

Marie Haga has also published three books - one novel and two on Norwegian politics.

Biography

Jacqueline Hansen is a Senior Business Reporter for CBC News. Based in Toronto, she files stories for CBC's national TV and radio programs, including The National, World Report, and World at Six, and writes for CBC.ca. Jacqueline is also a professor in the journalism program at Seneca College in Toronto, where she teaches cross-platform reporting.

Biography

Based in Dubai since 2014, Beth Hirshfeld is the Executive Director of the Canadian Business Council of Dubai and the Northern Emirates, one of the largest and most active business councils in the Middle East.  In this role, Beth assists 500+ Canadian companies and business leaders develop commercial and governmental networks and strategic alliances, understand local practices/regulations, and grow their businesses successfully in the region.

As a strategy consultant and founder of Thrive By Design, Beth is also a globally recognized expert in operational implementation, and strategic design and communications in sectors relating to the aging demographic as well as family offices / wealth management.

Previously, Beth practiced commercial and securities law at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, one of Canada’s largest law firms, before becoming the Chief of Staff to Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, as well as the Minister of Finance.  In these roles, she was responsible for implementing several critical government initiatives, including overseeing multi-billion-dollar ministerial budgets and developing and managing the services transformation process to ensure the sustainability of public services during the 2008 global financial crisis and beyond.

Biography

Josh Hundt is the Chief Business Development Officer & Executive Vice President with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Hundt is committed to the MEDC’s goals of more jobs, more investment and customer service. In this role Mr. Hundt leads the organization’s business retention and attraction activities, entrepreneurship and innovation efforts, automotive and mobility initiatives through the PlanetM program, international trade development, Pure Michigan Business Connect program, business financing and incentives, and defense industry programs. Mr. Hundt has twelve years of experience in economic development and has extensive knowledge of statewide economic development program and policy development, including playing a pivotal role in the development and implementation of the Michigan Business Development Program and the Good Jobs for Michigan Program. Mr. Hundt holds a Masters of Public Administration from Western Michigan University and is a graduate of Hope College. Josh lives in Okemos, Michigan with his wife and four sons.

Biography

David A. Hunt is President and Chief Executive Officer of PGIM, the investment business of Prudential, Inc. PGIM is a leading global asset manager with more than $1 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2016. PGIM has 31 offices in 16 countries and provides a wide range of asset classes including public and private fixed income, fundamental and quantitative equities and real estate.

In addition to his PGIM role, David serves on the Operating Committee for Prudential’s U.S. businesses. Before joining Prudential, David was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and co-leader of its North American Asset Management practice.

David earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Princeton University and an MBA in finance and multinational management from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. David is a member of the Board of Directors for the Toigo Foundation, an organization devoted to diversity in the investment management business.

Biography

Goldy Hyder was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Business Council of Canada, effective October 15, 2018. Founded in 1976, the Council is a non-profit, non-partisan organization composed of the chief executives and entrepreneurs of 150 leading Canadian companies, representing every major industry and every region of the country.

From July 2014 to October 2018, Mr. Hyder was President & CEO of Hill+Knowlton Strategies, providing strategic communications counsel to the firm’s extensive and diverse client base. Prior to joining Hill+Knowlton in 2001, he served as director of policy and chief of staff to The Right Honourable Joe Clark, former prime minister and former leader of the then federal Progressive Conservative Party.

In addition to his achievements in business and public policy, Mr. Hyder has an extensive record of service on behalf of the charitable and non-profit sectors, including as chair of the Ottawa Senators Foundation and as an Executive Committee member of Century Initiative. He is a past co-chair of the United Way of Ottawa Campaign Cabinet and a former member of the Board of Governors at Carleton University.

Mr. Hyder is a regular commentator in the Canadian media on business, politics and public policy. From 2011 to 2018 he appeared weekly as a panelist on CBC Television’s On the Money. He received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013 in recognition of his contributions to Canada. He holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Calgary in public policy, with a specialization in policy-making during times of crisis.

Biography

Josu Jon Imaz San Miguel was born in Zumárraga (Gipuzkoa) on 6 September 1963. He is married and has three children.

Doctorate in Chemical Sciences from the University of the Basque Country. He graduated from the Faculty of Chemical Sciences in San Sebastián. He received the End of Degree Extraordinary Prize.

In 2008, Josu Jon Imaz joined the Repsol Group as Chairman of its Petronor unit, where he successfully managed the challenges surrounding modernization, sustainability and community relations.

In 2012 he joined Repsol’s Management Committee and, as General Director of the Industrial and New Energy unit, completed two of the company’s most important projects in recent years: The modernization of the Cartagena refinery--Spain’s largest-ever industrial investment at over 3.1 billion euros-- and the construction of a new fuel-oil coking plant at Petronor’s Muskiz refinery, with an investment of over 1 billion euros.

These two projects have had a significant effect on employment in the areas where they have been developed. The increases in production and efficiency resulting from these projects have placed both facilities amongst the most efficient in Europe and ensured their viability in an especially difficult European refining environment. These projects also generate significant resources to finance the expansion of the Group’s other businesses, especially oil and gas exploration.

Under his stewardship, Repsol has increased its activity in new types of energy and energy sustainability, identifying new business opportunities, developing projects and initiatives in advanced technology, including bioenergy, renewable power and sustainable mobility. These pioneering projects are key to meet challenges that the energy industry faces in the 21st century.

Before joining Repsol, Imaz San Miguel undertook an intense professional career from technological investigation- he was sent by the INASMET Technology Centre to the French CETIM Centre in Nantes-to the development of industrial projects (Grupo Mondragón) related to the energy industry. He was also a visiting fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School in the United States.

As well as his industrial activity, Josu Jon Imaz also held political posts, including Regional Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of the Regional Government of the Basque Country in 1999 and Chairman of the executive committee of EAJ-PNV party between 2004 and 2007.

His professional activities outside Repsol include his post as Chairman of the Spanish Association of Petroleum Products Operators (AOP) which he has held since 2011.

In 2014 he was named Chief Executive Officer of the company and member of the Delegate Committee.

Biography

Following his longstanding participation on the Energy Council of Canada’s Board of Directors, Jacob Irving became the organization’s President in January of 2018. His nearly twenty-year career in the Canadian energy industry has been divided almost evenly between the petroleum and electricity sectors. He has spent more than half of this time successfully leading important associations, including the Oil Sands Developers Group and the Canadian Hydropower Association.
Originally from the Huron and Franco-Ontarian community of Penetanguishene, Mr. Irving attended primary and secondary school entirely in French which led him to pursue his post-secondary studies at the University of Ottawa. His education and work experience have taken him from South Africa, to Calgary, to Fort McMurray with a return to Ottawa.
Mr. Irving has significant knowledge of Canadian energy systems but also a specialization in the areas of government policy, regulation, communications and stakeholder engagement. As the President of the Energy Council of Canada, he strongly believes that better energy conversations yield better energy decisions, especially in a sophisticated democracy like Canada.

Biography

With a long and innovative involvement in commerce and entrepreneurial activities, Mark has honed his business skills across a broad spectrum of grass roots start up’s to Boardroom debates in larger corporations.

For several years Mark was a prominent global adventurer which allowed him to promote philanthropic programs while at the same time attempting to set Guinness World records.

He successfully led a world record breaking paramotor expedition in Australia before attempting to fly a paraglider from the summit of Mount Kilimnajaro, the tallest free standing mountain in the world.

Mark is also more than familiar with the rigours of global transportation and the inability to often guarantee an arrival at your destination. PAL-V is a partial solution to that problem.

In the past four years he turned his attention to flying cars and became pivotal in rolling out the PAL-V in to a brand new transportation market in The Americas.

Mark has a clear focus and understanding of what separates innovation from invention.

Biography

Tyson has worked in both the public and private sectors over the course of his career.  Starting in the Federal civil service, Tyson developed hands-on experience across the entire spectrum of issues facing Canada’s foreign and domestic threats.  He worked closely with government agencies in Canada and abroad to collaborate and achieve successful outcomes.

After departing the Government of Canada, Tyson spent the next number of years building and supporting enterprise risk management programs for multinational organizations in both financial services and electronics manufacturing.  During this time, Tyson worked globally to understand and integrate regional nuances into a corporate framework to support business success.  It was during this period that Tyson obtained his Global Masters of Arts Program designation from The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University.   His thesis explored the contributing decision support factors for comparative country selection by corporations.

Most recently, Tyson led BrightPlanet, a US-based ‘big data’ pioneer, as its VP Business Development & Strategy.  In this role, Tyson helped shape BrightPlanet into a successful member of the data & analytics ecosystem to support risk management across government and industry.  This included a key focus on threat identification and cybersecurity initiatives.

Biography

Robert ("RJ") Johnston became chief executive officer in 2013 after seven years as head of the firm's Global Energy and Natural Resources Strategy Group. RJ is responsible for directing firm strategy and leads oversight of research, sales, and operations teams across five offices.

As the founder of the energy and natural resources practice, RJ works closely with corporate and institutional investor clients involved in the commodity and energy sector. Services range from board presentations to strategic planning, drawing upon his experience and analytical expertise in energy geopolitics, including the North American unconventional energy revolution, resource nationalism, energy infrastructure, and industry-civil society relations. RJ also works closely with leading metals and mining firms and investors, assessing key trends involving country risk, supply and demand, and socioeconomic impact on the sector.

Prior to joining Eurasia Group, RJ served as managing director of equity research at Medley Global Advisors, where he was responsible for providing political and strategic insights to clients in the institutional investment community and served as the lead analyst for global energy equities. RJ, in addition, was a research director at UBS Warburg Energy, working directly in support of energy trading. And he previously directed internal research teams supporting oil, LNG, metals, and FX trading at Enron Global Markets. Earlier, at ArmorGroup, RJ directed political risk research for corporate clients in a variety of markets including China, Russia, Colombia, and Indonesia.

Recent notable achievements include published contributions to the World Economic Forum, the World Energy Council, the National Petroleum Council, the International Gas Union, and the Canadian Energy Research Institute, as well participation in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Oil Sands Dialogue, the Brookings Institution Task Forces on US Crude Oil and LNG Exports, and PwC Energy Visions, among numerous other endeavors. RJ holds a doctorate in international relations from American University, a master's degree in political science from McMaster University, and a bachelor's degree in political studies from Bishop's University.

Biography

Pradnya Joshi, or P.J. Joshi, as most people know her, is the Trade & Agriculture editor. She previously worked for The New York Times for 10 years, in positions including assistant business editor for digital news; news editor for DealBook, a vertical focused on Wall Street and mergers; and deputy night editor during the 2008 financial crisis and ensuing recession.

Before turning to editing, P.J. was a reporter for 12 years, starting out at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/The Milwaukee Journal. Her beats there included manufacturing, retail and technology, where she covered the dairy industry and the early days of the commercial internet.

She later joined Newsday, where she was a reporter for nine years on various metro and business beats including economic development/real estate, Wall Street, corporate fraud, New York state politics and telecommunications.

She graduated with a master’s in journalism and a bachelor’s in journalism and international studies from Northwestern University. While at college, she worked for the Medill News Service in Washington, D.C., and covered the political negotiations and dealings that went into the passage of NAFTA in 1993 for client outlets like the English-language Mexico City News and Huntsville, Ala., paper, The Huntsville Times.

She was born in India and has lived in Hong Kong, Brazil, the Philippines, York, Pa., Stuart, Fla., Texas and Washington State.

Biography

Damian Joy joined Ernst & Young Transaction Advisory Services as a Partner in the Infrastructure Advisory practice in 2016, based in Toronto.  He was formerly President of Colliers Development Solutions, a capital projects consultancy, CEO of Bilfinger Project Investments North America, a P3 development, investment and asset management business, and has served as a Director for seven infrastructure project companies.

Damian has 30-years’ international experience of infrastructure strategy, development, investment, financing and delivery.  He has led transactions in the transportation, transit, utilities, healthcare and education sectors, and has acted as a commercial advisor and turnaround specialist resolving complex challenges on major high-profile projects.

Damian is a UK registered Chartered Engineer and holds Institute of Corporate Directors designation.

Biography

Prior to joining HyperScience, Tim was a VP of Corporate Strategy at BlackRock where he worked with the executive team on enterprise-wide technology strategy. Tim joined BlackRock after being the technical co-founder of Roundview, a recruiting start-up that helped assess job candidates using non-traditional data. Tim began his career at McKinsey & Company in New York where he led work with executives in wealth management and retail banking and holds a degree in Economics from Harvard College.

Biography

Scott Kelly oversees the global daily operation of Hitachi Vantara. Kelly’s responsibility is to keep the company's strategy aligned to its goals and vision, and to ensure ongoing loyalty to its customers. He also leads the company’s enterprise-wide initiatives to drive its global growth strategy.

Earlier, as chief human resources officer, Kelly was responsible for all aspects of human resources at Hitachi Vantara, including HR information systems, workforce planning and staffing, total compensation, performance management, management development, leadership succession planning, diversity and advocacy, HR legal compliance, organization development and management support consulting. Before this role, he had a number of assignments with Hitachi Data Systems, which integrated with several other Hitachi companies to form Hitachi Vantara. Immediately prior, Kelly was senior vice president of client-facing operations, and before that, global head of talent management. He has also supported EMEA and APAC regions.

Kelly has worked for Nestlé, Scottish Power, Motorola and Dun & Bradstreet. He has been involved in change processes and in business partnering in the international environment for most of his career. As a result, he is very familiar with what is needed to make business relationships successful, including the challenges of working in a global model.

Kelly has degrees in human resource management and biology and biotechnology, and attended executive education with Tuck School of Business and IMD. Kelly is a native of Scotland and is a keen sports follower.

Biography

As Head of Latin America, Canada and Caribbean World Wide Public Sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Jeffrey Kratz is the executive responsible for government, education & non-profit business in these key regions. His experience building & managing complex international teams has accelerated the regional customer engagement, specifically in social media, Internet-of-Things, big data, workflow, security, storage/archiving & web hosting arenas. Given a strong sales, licensing, international development & cloud services background, Jeff has been frequently asked to speak on international technology trends, start-up channel sales dynamics & public sector growth strategies.

Prior to joining Amazon, Jeff had a long career at Microsoft since 1992 holding a variety of executive positions both within the Microsoft field sales & marketing organization as well as at the corporate headquarters. His last role at Microsoft was leading the world-wide Public Sector partner channel, driving channel migration efforts to cloud services. He came to Microsoft from Data Trek, Inc., a software start-up firm specializing in automation & information retrieval systems for corporate & public libraries.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science & Mathematics from Prinicipia College, located outside of St. Louis, Missouri with graduate work at the Pepperdine University Graziado School of Business & Management. A former elected official for the Seattle Queen Anne Community Council, Jeff represented his borough in the city’s community efforts. He is an active member of the Aircraft Owner’s & Pilot’s Association, as well as Seaplane Pilot’s Association. When not in an airplane exploring the Pacific Northwest backcountry as a FAA commercial pilot, Jeff can probably be found kayaking within the waters of the greater Seattle Washington area.

Biography

Zornitsa Kutlina-Dimitrova is a senior economist in the Chief Trade Economist Unit of the European Commission working on economics of government procurement, trade and employment, economic assessment of free trade agreements and quantitative modelling. She has authored more than 20 publications on the economic impact of international trade policies, international public procurement, trade in services, regional trade agreements, EU tax policy and others. Zornitsa Kutlina-Dimitrova obtained a PhD from the European Institute for International Economic Relations and a master in European Economy from the University of Aachen, Germany. She is also the author of ‘Financial Markets Development and Economic growth in the Central and Eastern European EU Member States (dissertation, Peter Lang, 2009).

Biography

Award-winning business journalist Amanda Lang has been covering business in North America for 20 years. Lang is the host of Bloomberg Markets for BNN Bloomberg, a global program airing daily from Toronto and New York. Previously, Lang was CBC’s senior business correspondent, reporting for its flagship nightly news program, The National, and host of The Exchange with Amanda Lang, a daily business program airing on CBC News Network. For five years before that Lang hosted The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, with Kevin O’Leary. And prior to that the pair co-hosted SqueezePlay, on BNN, for 6 years.

Lang studied Architecture at the University of Manitoba, before becoming a journalist. Her first job in journalism was for the Globe and Mail, and subsequently Lang joined the Financial Post newspaper, where she became the paper’s New York correspondent. In New York she made the leap to television, where she first was part of the team that launched BNN and before long wound up at CNN as a reporter and anchor. Lang is also a best-selling author. “The Power of Why,” (HarperCollins, October 2012) explores the connection between curiosity and success. “The Beauty of Discomfort” (HarperCollins, April 2017) examines how difficult change can be, and set out strategies for how to achieve it.

Biography

President, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Jean Lebel is one of Canada’s strongest voices on the interface between research, development and foreign policy and on agriculture, health, inclusive economies and technology and innovation.  As president of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), an institution that invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve lives and livelihoods in the developing world, Jean Lebel leads IDRC’s contributions to Canada’s international priorities. He is responsible for significant funding partnerships with foreign governments, philanthropic organisations, and the private sector.

Prior to assuming the presidency of IDRC, Lebel served as vice-president of the Program and Partnership Branch, overseeing all IDRC programming. Before joining IDRC, he worked in both the academic and private sectors. Lebel has worked in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, where he conducted ground-breaking work in agriculture and in ecosystem approaches to human-health.

Lebel has served on boards of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research, the Centre for Global Pluralism,‎ the International Economic Forum of the Americas, and the World Economic Forum’s Stewardship Board on Economic Progress. He was also a mentor with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation (2016-2017).

Lebel holds a PhD in environmental sciences from l’Université du Québec à Montréal and an MScA in occupational health sciences from McGill University.

Biography

Grace leads EY’s Canadian Customer practice, helping to drive the growth agenda for clients across all sectors through marketing, experience, sales and service, and product innovation strategy, rooted in practical solutions that build healthy and sustained business value.  Her primary focus is serving financial services companies, regularly advising top North American and global banks on the practical implications of convergence and digitization, their effect on consumer behaviour, and the necessary evolution of core business and operating models.  Whether it’s branding, physical distribution and sales effectiveness, or product and offer design, Grace helps clients stay focused on what matters most – the customer – with a grounding in facts and data, and a respect for their humanity.

Biography

Dr. Tom Leighton co-founded Akamai Technologies in 1998 and served as Akamai’s Chief Scientist until he became CEO in 2013. Under Dr. Leighton’s leadership, Akamai has evolved from its origins as a Content Delivery Network (CDN) into one of the most essential and trusted cloud delivery and cybersecurity platforms, upon which many of the world’s best brands and enterprises build and secure their digital experiences. During his initial four years as CEO, Akamai’s revenue and profit grew by 70%, and annual revenue from Akamai’s security business grew 15-fold to more than $400 million per year.

As one of the world's preeminent authorities on algorithms for network applications and cybersecurity, Dr. Leighton discovered a solution to freeing up web congestion using applied mathematics and distributed computing. Akamai used this technology to create the world's largest distributed computing platform, which today delivers and secures tens of millions of requests per second to billions of users around the world.

Dr. Leighton holds more than 50 patents involving content delivery, Internet protocols, algorithms for networks, cryptography and digital rights management. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2017 for his inventions in content delivery.

Dr. Leighton has served on numerous government, industry and academic advisory panels. He is one of nine CEOs who make up the Technology CEO Council, the information technology industry's leading CEO advocacy organization. And he was one of 18 CEOs invited to the White House in 2017 for the launch of the American Technology Council to develop solutions to modernize and secure the U.S. government’s IT systems. From 2003 to 2005, he served on the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee and chaired its Subcommittee on Cybersecurity.

Dr. Leighton has been personally committed to increasing the pipeline of students pursuing STEM careers for over thirty years, first as a mathematics professor at MIT and now through his leadership at Akamai. He is a strong supporter of the Akamai Foundation, which promotes mathematics education, and he oversaw the creation of the Akamai Technical Academy, an innovative program developed in-house and aimed at training diverse non-technical professionals for technical careers. He also supports numerous charitable organizations dedicated to improving STEM education and opportunities for K-12 students, including The Center for Excellence in Education, the Society for Science and the Public (sponsor of the Intel Science Search), The Mathematical Association of America (sponsor of the Math Olympiad), the Math Competition for Girls, and Girls Who Code.

Dr. Leighton graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from MIT.

Biography

Josh is an entrepreneur with a focus on building innovative solutions that drive efficiency and increase quality throughout the food supply chain.  His current venture, Root AI, is dedicated to building robots and AI systems capable of caring for plants and harvesting their fruits.  Previously, Josh was the Director of Research and Development at Soft Robotics Inc. and holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Materials Science and Robotics at Harvard University.

Biography

As CTV News’ Chief Financial Commentator, Pattie Lovett-Reid coaches viewers on how to save money, stretch their income, and get the biggest bang for their hard-earned bucks. Lovett-Reid provides weekday financial updates for CTV News Channel, CP24, and regional CTV MORNING LIVE broadcasts across the country.

A highly respected Canadian financial guru, Lovett-Reid also contributes analysis on market-moving business stories to CTV NATIONAL NEWS, and is a regular guest commentator on BNN Bloomberg and other Bell Media channels.

Lovett-Reid was the host of THE PATTIE LOVETT-REID SHOW on CTV News Channel and CTV, and served as a weekly guest commentator on CANADA AM. A sought-after speaker and commentator on wealth management, she took on the role of Senior Financial Commentator with CTV News in early 2012. Lovett-Reid joined CTV News from TD Waterhouse Canada Inc., where she served as Senior Vice-President.

Lovett-Reid is a Certified Financial Planner, co-author of several national best-selling books, and was awarded with an honorary degree in Applied Studies from Humber College in June 2010. The Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) recognized Lovett-Reid with the 2009 Donald J. Johnston Award for her outstanding contribution to the profession of financial planning in Canada. Lovett-Reid also received the 2007 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100™ Award in the Trailblazers and Trendsetters Category.

Biography

Sophie Lu is Head of Metals and Mining for Bloomberg NEF, leading a global team covering technology impact on the future of mining and emerging investment, demand and production trends in minerals and metals including lithium, cobalt, aluminum, copper, rare earths, etc. Previously, she was the Head of China Research, leading a team of 10 analysts covering financing, innovation, and transformation of energy, commodities, transport, and technology in China. She is also currently co-executive director of the Beijing Energy Network. Previously, she has worked as a consultant on clean tech financing with Azure International and natural gas risk management in Asia with Regester Larkin. She has also worked in finance and regulatory issues with Merrill Lynch and Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Ms. Lu was previously a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, and holds a BA in Economics and a MA in International Finance and Energy Resources and Environment from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Biography

Stephen Lund is a dynamic leader with over 30 years’ experience in corporate banking, venture capital, economic development and international finance.

Since 2015, Stephen has been the CEO of Opportunities NB (ONB) the provincial crown corporation where he leads a team of experienced professionals to deliver a broad mandate to grow the economy.   With Stephen’s leadership, ONB has consistently exceeded results, is outperforming every other Canadian economic development agency jurisdiction on a per capita basis and has been named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top Employer’s for two years in a row.

Stephen has a track record of success.   As CEO of Nova Scotia Business Inc. for over a decade, he consistently surpassed targets, assisted in the revitalization of Halifax’s downtown core, and played a key role in the province being dubbed the best-performing region in North America in attracting inward investment.

Stephen’s hard work and commitment to excellence has not gone unnoticed.  Stephen has been recognized by Atlantic Business Magazine as one of the Top 50 CEOs in Atlantic Canada five times in a row, was added to the list of the top 500 most influential people in Financial Centre worldwide, and has been inducted into Atlantic Business Magazine’s CEO Hall of Fame.

When he’s not working to close deals, you’ll likely find Stephen supporting his community or on the ice. He is currently on the Board for the Conference Board of Canada and has served on boards for the IWK Health Centre and the QE2 Hospital Foundation, champions Junior Achievement, and was the inaugural Chair of the Heart & Stroke Hockey Heroes Fundraiser.   Stephen has also participated in the World Triathlon Championships, the Boston Marathon, and the Canadian University Hockey Championships.

Stephen earned a prestigious X ring from St. Francis Xavier University, holds an MBA from Queen’s University, obtained an ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors, and completed executive level studies at Harvard.

Biography

Valarie J. McCall is the Chief of Communications, Government & International Affairs for the City of Cleveland and Mayor Frank G. Jackson. McCall serves as the Jackson administration’s primary liaison to local and state government, federal agencies and international organizations. She also oversees the administration’s appointments to internal and external boards and commissions, and helps implement the Mayor’s policies to promote regional growth and cooperation. McCall also oversees the City of Cleveland’s communications strategy, media relations and brand identity.

McCall is the Mayor’s primary representative to several national organizations, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities and the National Black Caucus of Local and Elected Officials. She is also past chair of the American Public Transit Association’s Executive Committee (board member emeritus).

McCall serves on the board of several Cleveland-based organizations including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Destination Cleveland, The Downtown Cleveland Improvement District, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, Global Cleveland, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and was the City lead for the 2016 Republican National Convention Host Committee. She is also on the board of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and served as the first African American female president –with a second term as chair in 2019. She was also a member of the 2014 Gay Games Cleveland host committee.

McCall serves as the Jackson administration’s representative to the Ohio Municipal League, Cuyahoga County Mayor’s & Managers Association and the Northeast Ohio Mayors & Managers Association. She is also a member of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs Visiting Committee, a former member of the Cleveland State University Center for Nonprofit Policy & Practice advisory board and is a current member of the Cleveland State University (CSU) Center for Population Dynamics

In addition to her domestic responsibilities, McCall represents the Jackson administration and the City of Cleveland overseas, including many of Cleveland’s sister cities. She is as a former panel member at the United Nations International Development Organization’s Conference on Urban Agglomerations and a former member of the Rouen Business School International Panel. McCall has traveled to Europe, meeting with leaders in the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Belgium, and Italy. She has also represented Cleveland in China and Japan. She is an American Council of Young Political Leaders Fellow and an American Marshall Fellow.

Prior to her roles in the Jackson administration, McCall served as Cleveland City Council’s youngest City Clerk and Clerk of Council. As its chief administrative officer, she streamlined the legislation process, installed a strong management team and increased the efficiency of office operations.

McCall is also the City’s former Director of the Empowerment Zone, overseeing a more than $200 million budget. She successfully supervised the distribution of funds for job training and placement programs, as well as direct lending programs to assist neighborhood businesses.

McCall is a recipient of numerous accolades including the prestigious Cleveland State University  Alumni Emerging Leadership Award, Ebony Magazine Young Leader of the Future award, Crain's Cleveland Business 40 under 40 award, Kaleidoscope Magazines 40/40 Club, Rotary Club of Cleveland International Service award, Lifetime Achievement award from the Liberia Economic Development Initiative, U.S. Secret Service Appreciation award,  Cleveland State University Young Public Administrator of the Year award, Smart Business Magazine  Progressive Woman award, the Sales & Marketing Executives Distinguished Marketing and Sales award, and the Conference of Minority Transportation ‘Women Who Move the Nation’ award.  She is also a member of the ‘Best Leadership Cleveland Class Ever’ and is the Woman of Color Foundation’s “STAR” Professional Woman of the Year.

McCall is the former host of “Government Affairs: A Closer Look” a public affairs television show about local community issues. She served as chairwoman of Mayor Jackson’s 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 inaugural committees, overseeing all planning aspects of the inaugural activities and ceremonies.

McCall held several jobs early in her career which helped prepare her for future positions.  Her first was at McDonald’s where she learned the value of customer service, leadership, punctuality and preparedness.

McCall is a native Clevelander and a graduate of Martin Luther King Law & Public Services Magnet High School. She holds a bachelor's degree in social work and a master's degree in public administration from Cleveland State University. The university awarded her with an honorary doctor of public service degree honoris causa (with all rights, privileges and honors).

McCall resides in the beautiful city of Cleveland, Ohio, USA with her dogs Kapono and Barack.

Biography

Lee McIntire joined TerraPower as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in August 2015, serving in that role until October 31, 2018. He currently is Senior Advisor to TerraPower and serves on the Board.

Previously, McIntire served as Chairman, CEO and President of CH2M HILL variously from 2006 to 2014. CH2M HILL is a Fortune 500, employee-owned company and a recognized leader in consulting, engineering and program management. During his tenure, CH2M HILL enjoyed growth and stability, increasing the number of employees to more than 30,000, expanding its international presence to more than 100 countries and doubling revenues.

Prior to joining CH2M HILL, McIntire was a Partner and Executive Vice President, and served on the Board of Directors of the Bechtel Corporation from 1989 to 2004. McIntire served on the Chairman’s Leadership Council and was President of several of Bechtel’s multibillion-dollar companies.

McIntire currently serves on the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Board of Directors, and the Boards of TerraPower and the Encana Corporation. He also lends his leadership to a number of organizations around the world as an advisor to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (Presidents’ Circle); National

Academy of Construction; and Denver Art Museum. He has served on the Business Roundtable; World Economic Forum (Governor of Infrastructure and Urban Development Industries); World Business Council on Sustainable Development; National Petroleum Council; Council on Competitiveness; Aspen Institute’s Commission on Arctic Climate Change; and BAE Systems (British Aerospace) PLC Board of Directors. McIntire is a presidential appointee to the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum, and a recipient of both the Woodrow Wilson Award and the Korbel Award for International Business.

McIntire holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nebraska College of Civil Engineering, and a Master’s degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. He also attended the Executive Management Program at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and served as Executive-in-Residence at the University of California, Davis, Graduate School of Management.

Biography

Dave McKay is President and CEO of RBC, Canada’s biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization. Dave is credited with helping transform the bank’s retail division and introduce new technology that has enabled RBC to adapt and evolve to rapidly-changing consumer demands. Appointed President and CEO in 2014, the following year he led the acquisition of City National Corporation, creating a platform for growth with institutional, corporate and high net worth clients in the U.S. Dave started his career at RBC in 1988 as a computer programmer before moving to the organization’s retail banking arm. He then held progressively senior roles in Canada and Japan in retail and business banking, group risk management, and corporate banking, ultimately becoming Group Head, Personal & Commercial Banking in 2012. Dave was named ‘Retail Banker of the Year’ in 2012 and 2015 by Retail Banker International. An unwavering champion for Canada’s innovation ecosystem, Dave is leading RBC’s support for and partnerships with universities, start-ups and accelerators, particularly in transformational technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. He is also a passionate advocate for youth, promoting the benefits of work-integrated learning and supporting the development of RBC Future Launch, a 10-year, $500 million commitment to help young people build the skills and capabilities required to succeed in a changing world. Dave holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Ryerson University. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and is a member of the U.S. Financial Services Roundtable Board, the Business Higher Education Roundtable, the Business Council of Canada, and the Catalyst Canada Advisory Board. In 2016, Dave chaired the United Way Toronto and York Region’s record-breaking fundraising campaign.

Biography

Ian McKay was appointed the inaugural CEO of Invest in Canada on March 12, 2018. He is responsible for the agency’s start-up as well as the delivery of its mandate to position Canada as a premier destination for foreign direct investment, while making it simpler and more attractive to build innovative and global businesses in Canada.

A native of British Columbia, Mr. McKay has led a distinguished career in the international financial markets in London, Tokyo and New York and as a political advisor. Most recently as CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission, he worked tirelessly to accelerate the diversification of Vancouver’s economy and to place it on the global investment map. Mr. McKay also served as Chair of the Consider Canada City Alliance, a network of Canada’s thirteen largest economic development agencies collaborating to promote Canada as an ideal destination for global trade and investment. 

In January 2018, the Prime Minister appointed Mr. McKay as Special Envoy to assist with the ongoing negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Tokyo, Japan, resulting in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) being signed in March 2018.

With significant executive leadership experience in both the private and public sectors enhanced by a strong understanding of economic development, Ian brings notable expertise to enhance foreign investment into Canada, offering far-reaching economic benefits for Canadians.

Fluent in Japanese, Mr. McKay studied Political Science and Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia and holds a Master of Business Administration from Queen’s University.

Biography

Jesse Moore is CEO and Co-Founder of M-KOPA Solar, the world leader of "pay-as-you-go" energy services for off-grid customers. M-KOPA Solar saves off-grid customers money by replacing kerosene with affordable renewable energy.

In under 5 years since launch, M-KOPA has connected a half a million East African homes to solar power and is adding over 500 more homes daily.  Based on this growth M-KOPA was awarded the prestigious Zayed Future Energy Prize, made the coveted MIT Technology Review 50 Smartest Companies list, and was ranked by Fortune Magazine as one of the Top 50 Companies Changing the World. Investors in M-KOPA include Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, AOL founder Steve Case, and Generation Investment Management – a global investment firm chaired by Al Gore. Jesse moved to Kenya in 2010 to start M-KOPA and has overseen the company’s growth to over 2500 employees and sales agents.

Prior to M-KOPA, he was the Director at the GSM Association in London, where he worked with mobile network operators in Africa and Asia to adopt new business models that drive business growth and benefit low-income consumers, such as mobile money.  Early in his career Jesse worked with the international development charity CARE and as a strategy consultant for Monitor Group.

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Jesse holds an MBA from Oxford University (Skoll Scholar) and a BA from the University of North Carolina (Morehead Scholar).  He was selected by the World Economic Forum as one of 100 Young Global Leaders in 2017.

Biography

Luis Alberto Moreno assumed the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in October 2005. As President of the Bank, Moreno also chairs the Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the Donors’ Committee of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).

Among the principal achievements under President Moreno’s leadership of the IDB is the Ninth General Capital Increase in 2010, which represented an expansion of financing and technical assistance to the region, and allowed for a historical financial program to Haiti of more than US$2 billion. This higher level of contribution to Latin American and the Caribbean economies was accompanied by an improved framework for the monitoring and evaluation of development effectiveness, the establishment of the first Environmental Safeguards Unit in a multilateral development bank, and the implementation of an operational policy for gender equality.

During his tenure, the IDB has undergone a profound transformation of its organization, a significant generational change, and a record increase of women in leadership positions at the institution, along with a reinforcement of its transparency and accountability systems.

The changes promoted by Moreno have also strengthened the multi-sectoral work of the Bank through the launching of platforms, programs, and cross-cutting thematic initiatives of global recognition, including the initiatives of Sustainable Energy and Climate Change, of Emerging and Sustainable Cities, the Opportunities for the Majority and ConnectAmericas. He has also led the organization of more than 30 international summits, including the CEO Summits of the Americas in 2012 and 2015.

His concern for the improvement of the quality of life of the citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean was evidenced by his leadership in the process of debt relief for five vulnerable countries in the region.

The recent approval of the consolidation of the windows of the IDB Group’s non-sovereign guaranteed financial activities materialized his vision of the role that a multilateral institution must comply in promoting inclusive and sustainable development through the private sector.

Before joining the Bank, Moreno served as Colombia’s Ambassador to the United States for seven years. Diplomatic relations between Washington, D.C. and Bogotá strengthened notably during his tenure, leading to substantial bilateral assistance programs that supported a major transformation in security and economic development in Colombia.

His major achievements, among others, include his work in the design and approval of the Plan Colombia, an ambitious program for the fight against drugs and for the social and economic revival of the country, the renewal and extension of tariff preferences of the ATPA (Andean Trade Preference Act,) and his performance as one of the main drivers of the negotiations for the Treaty on free trade between Colombia and the United States. Additionally, during his time, several treaties were signed, such as the agreement for the alternative development program, and the agreement for customs cooperation with the United States for the fight against smuggling and the strengthening of trade. He had a key role in coordinating with the Agency for the promotion of exports and investments in Colombia, Proexport, the promotion of commercial exchange and international tourism.

In his country, Moreno had a distinguished career in the public and private sectors. He served as Minister of Economic Development, from which he prompted a prominent agenda to improve efficiency and competitiveness. Moreno was President of the Instituto de Fomento Industrial, and manager of social investment policies, including the housing strategy for low-income families. In the private sector, he advised major Colombian companies and foreign investors, and was executive producer of a leading television news program.

Moreno has received numerous distinctions awarded by governments and private entities, including Colombia's highest honor, the Grand Cross of the Order of Boyacá, the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain), The Order of Jaguar (Guatemala), the Award “Eagle of the Americas” of the Associations of Latin American Chambers of Commerce, the Gold Medal of the Societies of the Americas, the Honorary Distinction Juscelino Kubistechek (Brazil), the Order of Jose Cecilio del Valle of the Grand Cross of Gold Plate (Honduras), Bravo Business Award for Outstanding Service, the Clinton Global Citizen Award for Leadership in Public Service, and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service.

Moreno holds a degree in Business Administration and Economics from Florida Atlantic University in 1975 and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 1977. For his achievements in the field of journalism, in 1990 Harvard University awarded him a Neiman Fellowship to pursue specialized studies and research at that institution. Moreno also holds the honorary degrees of Humaniorum Litterarum Doctorem, and Doctorem in Letters from Georgetown University and Baruch College, respectively, and a Honoris Causa in Business Administration from Icesi University.

Moreno writes regularly in recognized international and regional media, and participates in various public and private forums, some of which belong to the system of international and intraregional coordination and cooperation.

Moreno was reelected on September 14, 2015 for a third term as President of the IDB. He is married to Maria Gabriela Sigala.

Biography

The Honourable Mary Ng was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Markham—Thornhill in April 2017 and was appointed Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion in July 2018.

Throughout her 20 years of public service, Minister Ng has been a passionate community leader and advocate with a proven track record of results in the areas of education, women’s leadership, job-creation, and entrepreneurship.

As Member of Parliament for Markham—Thornhill, Minister Ng helped to facilitate the Government’s commitment to invest in Canadian ideas and innovators in her riding by advocating for the inclusion of Markham’s tech-innovation hub, VentureLabs, in the Southern Ontario Supercluster. The Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster is expected to have a GDP impact of more than $13.5 billion in the next ten years and create more than 13,500 good, middle class jobs in the region.

As part of her work on the Standing Committee of Industry, Science, and Technology, Minister Ng worked alongside her committee colleagues on intellectual property best practices. This work guided the Government’s launch of Canada’s first comprehensive intellectual property strategy, providing tools to support the growth of Canadian businesses domestically while ensuring their ideas are protected in the global marketplace.

Prior to serving as a Member of Parliament, Minister Ng worked as Director of Appointments in the Prime Minister’s Office. She also served as the Director of Policy in provincial education where she built relationships, negotiated with teachers’ unions, and served students while helping to improve Ontario’s education system.

Minister Ng also served in the President’s Office at Ryerson University, helping to shape new initiatives that connected students and their innovative ideas with businesses, creating quality jobs for young Canadians. She has been a speaker and panelist on topics ranging from business, innovation, women in leadership and Canada-China relations.

Biography

Susan Nickey is a Managing Director at Hannon Armstrong (NYSE:HASI), a leading investor in the sustainable infrastructure markets, including energy efficiency and renewable energy.  

Ms. Nickey has over 25 years of executive leadership in the energy and finance sectors. She has focused her efforts on proving that creative solutions and innovation can make the production of clean energy more profitable, competitive, affordable and mainstream.  Most recently, she founded and served as CEO of Threshold Power. Prior to working at Threshold, she served as CFO at ACCIONA Energy North America from 2007-2010 and before that as Managing Director of Investment Banking in the Project Finance Group of Mesirow Financial.

Ms. Nickey currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Wind Energy Association and its Finance Committee and the Board of Directors of the American Council of Renewable Energy and its Executive Committee.  She has previously served on the Governor of Nevada’s Renewable Energy Development Program Task. She was named one of Women’s eNews’ 21 Leaders for the 21st Century for her leadership in sustainable development.   Ms. Nickey holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Biography

He received his BSc. degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Bogazici University (formerly Robert's College), Istanbul, Turkey, in 1988, then his MSc. degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire, NH, USA, in 1990. He also attended the Executive MBA program at the Koc University, in Istanbul in 1994.

In 1990, he started working for Digital Equipment Corp., Istanbul Office, as a Field Service Engineer, later promoted to Services Planning Manager. He then joined Kale Group, in 1994, and worked as the Deputy General Manager of Kalekalip, then General Manager of Kalekalip. Today, he serves as the Vice Chairman of Kale Group and the Vice Chairman and President of Technical Division at Kale Group.

Osman took the initiative to diversify Kale Group into high-tech fields and international partnerships. Robotics & Automation, Industrial Energy Equipment, Software Simulation, Defense & Aerospace are to name a few.

Kale’s partnerships with Pratt & Whitney and Rolls Royce were also led by Osman. Kale has also become a direct supplier to worlds leading defense & aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus, Northrop Grumman.

Osman serves as the Chairman of Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Canakkale province. He is the Chairman of Turkish-Canadian Business Council and Board Member of Turkish-USA Business Council and Vice Chairman of Turkish-UK Business Council, under DEIK (Foreign Economic Relations Board) of Turkey, the Chairman of Aerospace Cluster Association (HUKD) headquartered in Izmir. He served as the 2nd term Chairman of the Turkish-American Business Council formed under the Framework for Strategic, Economic and Commercial Cooperation (FSECC). Osman is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Eisenhower Fellowships. He is also a member of the General Assembly of OYAK Holding. Osman also serves on the Board of Directors of Bogazici University and Fatih Sultan Mehmet  University and Gebze Technical University Foundations.

Osman lives in Istanbul with his wife Zeynep and his son Ibrahim.

Biography

Michael is one of the founders and the CEO of Eos Energy Storage, the lowest cost battery and energy storage system technology company.  His prior experience includes renewable energy asset development, finance and venture capital investment, real estate finance and development, emerging markets and technology development and investment.  Michael began his career in the late 80s in strategy and business planning for IBM.  He later joined the international management consulting firm of A. T. Kearney. In 1991, Michael moved to Russia as privatization was starting and built what was one of the largest real estate investment and development companies in Moscow and St Petersburg.  In 1994, Michael established the first and then largest institutional real estate investment fund in the former Soviet Union in partnership with the AT&T pension fund, and developed numerous successful projects in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and elsewhere in the region.  In 1998, Michael formed and capitalized an early stage technology venture capital firm in New York City as the internet was growing.  In 2000, he was one of the original partners to launch the global energy systems firm Aspect Enterprise where he populated the board and investor group with OPEC oil ministers, US cabinet members and other energy industry leaders – the company was subsequently acquired.  In 2004, Michael created the solar power asset development company Clean Energy Holdings and developed a large portion of the region’s solar power capacity in partnership with a major European utility.  Michael received his MBA in finance from New York University where he won an award for best thesis for his work on evaluating risk.  He received his BA in economics from Brandeis University.

Biography

M.Sc. in Agricultural Development from the University of London, a Masters in Animal Production from the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), headquartered in Costa Rica, and is also a qualified Veterinarian from the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). He began his career at IICA in 1988 at its Headquarters. He has worked as an Advisor to the Director General, Director of Programming and Evaluation, Director of the Andean Regional Centre, Representative to Uruguay and Representative to Brazil, a position he has held on two occasions. He has authored several technical documents on international trade, sectoral policies and agricultural modernization. Previously, he served in Washington D.C. as an Agricultural Attaché, attached to the Ministry of Agriculture of Argentina and was also Vice-President of Argentina’s Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria – INTA (The National Institute of Agricultural Technology). He was elected in 2017 as Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) for the 2018-2022 period. In his first few months in office, Dr. Otero focused on laying the foundation for the transformation of the Institute, the primary mission of which is to promote the agricultural and rural development of its 34 Member States through technical cooperation of excellence. With this objective in mind, he has succeeded in implementing an innovative policy on partnerships, by developing work agendas with multilateral, bilateral, national and local entities and with the private sector, with a view to strengthening agriculture, rural well-being in the Americas and the fulfillment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), based on new models of cooperation.

Biography

Behgjet Pacolli is a politician and entrepreneur from Kosovo, who has served as the third President of the Republic of Kosovo, and has been First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo from 2011 to 2014.

Mr. Pacolli has been elected three times as Member of Parliament, and is one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Kosovo. From 2017 he serves as the country’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

His Party, New Kosovo Alliance (AKR), is part of the ruling coalition since 2017, and leads 4 vital ministries in the Government of Kosovo; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, respectively.

Endowed by the greatest human values of his nation, Behgjet Pacolli is characterized continuously throughout his activity as a remarkable human spirit, worldly evaluated. From building hospitals, orphanages, universities, hostage rescue in Afghanistan and elsewhere, Mr. Pacolli has institutionalized mercy, solidarity and commitment at the highest level towards poor in his country and the world.

He is regarded as a pioneer in using information technology in textile production, using of 3D technology for architecture projects, etc. Construction was his primary activity, which is worldly known for, magnifying Kosovo’s name in the world. He has chaired MABETEX, which he established himself, a big international company, seated in Switzerland but very proactive all over the world. In recent years he considered fit to resign the position due to evading the conflict of interest with his public duties.

Behgjet Pacolli was born on August 30, 1951, in Marec, Pristina, Kosovo (then-Yugoslavia). He has finished his primary education in Marec, his secondary education in Pristina, whereas his higher education in the Institute of International Trade in Hamburg, Germany. Later he specialized in Marketing and Management in Mösinger Institute, Zurich (1980-1982).

Behgjet Pacolli speaks several languages despite his native Albanian, including English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Serbo-Croatian.

He is father to three girls and three boys (Arbëresha, Selena, Hana, Isa, Diar and Arman).

Biography

Recognized as a results-driven figure, the Honourable Christian Paradis was Member of the Parliament of Canada for the Mégantic-L’Érable from 2006 to 2015, and Cabinet Minister between 2007 and 2015, of Public Works and Government Services, Natural Resources, Industry and International Development and  La Francophonie. During his years in office, he led very important files in Canada and at the global stage, he played a leadership role with his involvement in developing and pushing on blended finance for international development.

The Honourable Christian Paradis did not seek a fourth mandate and he joined GardaWorld in January 2016 as Senior Vice President, Strategic Development, Protective Services. His mission is primarily to promote the benefits of public-private partnerships of security services in Canada. When implemented with rigor and common sense, outsourcing is equally capable of making a significant contribution to public services. Over the last years, the Honourable Christian Paradis could indeed see and appreciate the importance of the protection services of the population, both in Canada and around the world.

Mr. Paradis graduated from the University of Sherbrooke in civil law and holds a graduate degree in corporate law from Université Laval. He has been member of Quebec Bar since 1997.

The Honourable Christian Paradis is member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada since 2007. He is recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).

He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Canada, Canada World Youth and Canadian Wildlife Foundation. He also co-founded Global Development Solutions (GDS) Canada inc., an organisation facilitating social impact investments in frontier and emerging markets.

Biography

Stefani Pashman became the CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliated organizations – the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylvania Economy League of Greater Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance – on October 2, 2017.
Before joining the Conference, Stefani served as CEO of Partner4Work and its predecessor, the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, for seven years. She transformed the organization from a $1.5 million research-based group to a $20 million public-private system that educates the region on labor market dynamics, funds public and private workforce programs and connects local employers with qualified talent. Prior to Partner4Work, Stefani served in Governor Rendell’s Administration for nearly seven years at the PA Department of Human Services as Director of Policy and as Special Assistant to the Secretary. She also worked in private consulting at Avalere Health and Navigant and as an analyst in the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Stefani holds an M.B.A. and a Masters in Health Administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. She is active in national and local organizations and is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh. She resides in Squirrel Hill with her husband and three children.

Biography

The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew is Executive Advisor, International at Deloitte Canada. He is also the Government of Canada Special Envoy for the Canada-European Union Trade Agreement (CETA).

Pierre has had success in both the public and private sectors. While a consultant at the Deloitte Montreal office from 1985-1995, he emerged as a strong voice for business on international trade issues and unity matters that brought him an appointment to the Federal cabinet in 1996.

Pierre served as a Minister for 10 years, most notably as Minister of Human Resources Development, as Minister for International Trade and Foreign Minister. He represented in Parliament the Montreal district of Papineau now represented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Pierre is on the advisory board of Forbes Manhattan, a Toronto-based private merchant bank specialized in commodities. He sits on a number of profit and non-profit boards. He is the only Canadian on the board of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.

Pierre regularly arbitrates international trade disputes between countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.

Biography

Alexandra Posadzki is a financial services reporter at the Globe and Mail, where she writes about capital markets, securities regulation and cryptocurrencies. She joined the Globe in August 2017 after spending nearly three years covering banking and real estate, among other topics, for the Canadian Press newswire.

She has a Master of Journalism degree from Ryerson University, an honours B.A. in psychology and English literature from York University and has completed the Canadian Securities Course. She is also a member of the committee that oversees the Canadian chapter of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW).

Biography

Tim Puko reports on energy policy for the business team at The Wall Street Journal’s Washington bureau. He arrived there in August, as the Trump administration was reshaping several federal agencies, rolling back climate policy and trying to fulfill promises to boost the fossil-fuel industry. Tim’s coverage follows all those developments, and tracks the administration’s brewing conflicts as it tries to help coal miners and automakers often at the expense of free markets and free trade.

Tim started his career in energy when he unexpectedly ended up in the middle of a boom town. The Marcellus Shale brought billions of dollars of new investment and a host of new environmental risks to the Pittsburgh region where Tim happened to grow up. He became the energy reporter at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and won regional and national awards for his coverage. By the time he joined The Journal in 2014, the country’s oil and gas boom had become a world changer. He spent three years on the Journal’s markets team in New York writing about the crash in commodity prices, opportunist investors riding coal’s ups and downs, and the poker-star gas trader known as one of the market’s last cowboys.

Tim now lives in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington. He graduated with journalism degrees from both Northwestern and Columbia universities.

Biography

Gary has led CFEE since 1981 in efforts to improve economic, financial, and enterprising capability. Gary has developed school curriculum for a number of provinces and written a wide variety of resources including “Money and Youth” which has over 500,000 copies in circulation, “Canada’s Economy: What Path, What Future” for the Department of Finance, and “Money and Monetary Policy in Canada” with the Bank of Canada. He has served as a Director/Advisor to a variety of Canadian national organizations and government departments including the Canadian Bankers Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Federal Department of Finance, and the Bank of Canada. Gary was a member of the initial federal government National Steering Committee working with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to develop the National Financial Literacy Strategy for Canada. He has created a number of major financial literacy projects and programs including the “Building Futures” and “Talk With Our Kids About Money Day” programs. Gary is a member of financial literacy and education committees for the OECD (Paris) and CYFI (Amsterdam), and was a contributing author to the Guide to Developing an Excellent Financial Education Program that was circulated by the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC) to nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Biography

Chris Rawley founded Harvest Returns in the fall of 2016 with the intention of bringing together agriculture producers and investors using the process of equity crowdfunding. His passion for bringing more people closer to the producers of their food is reflected in the company’s motto of “Democratizing Investments in Agriculture.”

Rawley is a native of Dallas, Texas and currently resides in Fort Worth.  After several years as an active duty naval officer, his interest in real asset investing began as a property manager with Jones Lang LaSalle, running a $100 million commercial portfolio in Dallas. Subsequent to that position, he held corporate management roles in Electronic Data Systems and L-3 Communications and served as a defense consultant at United States Special Operations Command with Blackbird Technologies. He has invested in residential and commercial real estate, including income-producing agriculture, for more than twenty years.

Rawley is a Captain in the United States Navy Reserve having served in Afghanistan, Iraq, throughout Africa, the Persian Gulf, and Western Pacific.

Mr. Rawley earned an MBA from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University. He is a graduate of the Naval War College and Joint Forces Staff College. He has published numerous articles in professional journals and authored a book on unconventional warfare, which serves as a text for U.S. and Canadian special forces training courses.

Biography

Mr. Rawlings is Chief Executive Officer for JPMorgan Chase in Canada. He is based in Toronto and has responsibility for the Corporate and Investment Bank, Asset Management, the Commercial Bank, Chase Card Services and Merchant Services business locally.  He leads the regulatory agenda in Canada as CEO, J.P. Morgan Bank Canada; CEO, J.P. Morgan Securities Canada Inc; and Principal Officer, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., Toronto Branch.  Mr. Rawlings also runs the JPMorgan Chase Foundation for Canada, which focuses on philanthropic investments in community development and education across the country.

Beyond the firm, he is a strong advocate for Canada and promoting its continued growth and prosperity.  Mr. Rawlings is a member of the Business Council of Canada and the Young Presidents’ Organization.  He also sits on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Bankers Association and has previously served on the Cabinet of the United Way Toronto and York Region.

Previously, Mr. Rawlings led J.P. Morgan’s relationships with several global asset management, pension and hedge fund clients from New York.  Prior to that, he ran the global relationship management group at Bear Stearns and was co-head of the Canadian Division. Mr. Rawlings has prior experience at Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Canada.

Mr. Rawlings graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He and his wife, Tasha, have two daughters.

Biography

Sheila Redzepi is Vice President for External and Corporate Relations at the World Bank Group.

Sheila leads the Bank Group’s efforts to build strategic relationships with foundations, philanthropists, parliamentarians, civil society and other key partners in support of World Bank Group’s mission to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In this role Sheila oversees advocacy and corporate communications as well as government relations and legislative affairs in key donor countries.

Her responsibilities include management of the Bank Group’s regional offices and strategic presence in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Europe and Japan as well as engagement with the G7, G20 and the OECD.

Sheila serves on the World Bank Group’s senior leadership group and advises the President and CEOs on strategic communications and stakeholder engagement decisions.

She is a Board Member and Treasurer for the World Bank Community Connections Fund, the nonprofit that oversees the World Bank Group's workplace giving and matching program. Over the past 15 years the program generated over $39 million for charitable organizations in the Washington D.C. metropolitan region and around the world.

In 2017 Sheila was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (YGL).

Sheila joined the World Bank Group from Unilever, where she was Global Vice President for Sustainability Policy and Advocacy. She worked alongside Unilever's CEO managing engagement with industry platforms, international organizations, multilaterals and CSOs. She also oversaw Unilever’s external affairs offices in Brussels and Washington D.C. as well as the implementation of the Sustainable Living Plan in Unilever’s Europe region.

Before joining Unilever in 2013, Sheila worked for Weber Shandwick, the global public relations agency, initially in government affairs in the U.K. and in Brussels as head of international affairs. As part of a wider effort to expand the company’s engagement strategies for purpose-driven brands and non-profit organizations Sheila was appointed head of Weber Shandwick’s Social Impact practice in the EMEA Region. She began her career working at the United Nations and in gender advocacy.

A Danish national born in the former Yugoslavia, Sheila earned her Masters of Philosophy in Media Studies from the University of Bergen, Norway, as well as a Master of Arts in International Political Economy and a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History and Politics from the University of Sheffield, U.K.

Biography

Nicholas Rémillard, President and Chief Executive Officer, International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA), is responsible for the direction and strategy of the IEFA’s four major economic events: the Conference of Montreal, the Toronto Global Forum, the World Strategic Forum and the Conference of Paris.
Since the organisation’s inception over 20 years ago, Nicholas Rémillard has held a variety of management roles, ultimately serving as President and CEO from 2010. His contribution led to the rapid expansion of the organization where he launched the Toronto Global Forum and the Palm Beach Strategic Forum in 2007 and 2011, respectively. The latter event is now held in Miami under its new appellation: the World Strategic Forum. In addition to these North American conferences, the IEFA has announced its shift towards Europe and will be hosting its first edition of the Conference of Paris in December 2017.
Beyond his role at the IEFA, Nicholas Rémillard also serves as Honorary Consul General of Iceland in Montreal and President of RDÉE Canada’s working group, the Economic Corridor of La Francophonie.
Nicholas Rémillard holds a law degree from the University of Ottawa.

Biography

Agneta Rising became Director General of the World Nuclear Association on 1 January 2013, having previously held the position of Vice President Environment at Vattenfall AB. In this post Ms. Rising headed a pan-European department focused on energy, environment and sustainability. Previously, Ms. Rising was Director for Nuclear Business Development at Vattenfall Generation.

Ms. Rising joined Vattenfall AB (then Swedish State Power Board) in 1980. Her career there was centred on radiological protection. Within the Vattenfall Group, Rising was the leading specialist on nuclear energy and the environment.

Agneta Rising became chairman of the Uranium Institute in May 2000, and presided over its transformation into the World Nuclear Association in 2001.

Ms. Rising is co-founder and former president of Women in Nuclear (WIN). During her WIN presidency, the organization quadrupled in size. Ms. Rising has also been president of the European Nuclear Society and president of the Swedish Nuclear Society.

Over the past two decades, Agneta Rising has been appointed by the Swedish government, the EU Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency to several significant expert and advisory positions relevant to the safety and future development of nuclear power. Among these, Ms. Rising served for four years on the IAEA’s International Nuclear Safety Group. She was awarded the Atoms for Peace Prize in 2013; WiN Spain Special Award in 2015; and Swedish Nuclear Society Honorary Prize in 2016.

Biography

Luc Robitaille – a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, the highest scoring left wing in NHL history and the all-time Kings leader in goals scored – is in his second season as Kings President, in which he directs and oversees all hockey and business operations, and his 12^th season overall in the Kings front office after working the previous 10 years as President, Business Operations.  He played 19 seasons in the NHL – including 14 with the Kings – and won a Stanley Cup in 2002.

Since retiring as a player Robitaille has had a tremendous impact on the Kings in the front office in an executive role.  On April 10, 2017, Robitaille was promoted to President on the same day Rob Blake, who directs all day-to-day hockey operations for the organization under Robitaille, was promoted to Vice President and General Manager.  Robitaille also serves as an Alternate Governor with the Kings.

For the Kings Business Operations department, Robitaille has especially been effective in the areas of Sponsorship Sales and Renewal, Fan and Customer Relations, Game Entertainment, Communications and Broadcasting as revenue has doubled and the Kings won their first two Stanley Cups.  Since 2007-08, the Kings have increased their number of sellouts at STAPLES Center each full season, and the team concluded the 2017-18 season with a club record sellout streak of 289 consecutive games including 254 straight regular season contests.  Under Robitaille the Kings were named the Sports Team of the Year at the Sports Business Journal’s Sports Business Awards event in 2015.

He has been a driving force behind unique events including the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at STAPLES Center and the Kings hosted the 2017 NHL All-Star Game at STAPLES Center as part of the club’s 50^th Anniversary Celebration.  In 2014 the Kings hosted the Anaheim Ducks in a regular-season outdoor NHL game at Dodger Stadium in front of 54,099 fans and the Kings also played outdoor hockey again in 2015 in front of 70,205 fans at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

In addition to being the highest scoring left wing in NHL history, a mark he set in a Kings uniform with his 1,370^th point in 2004, Robitaille holds the NHL record for left wingers for most goals (668).  He is also 12^th in overall NHL goal scoring with 668 goals, 22^nd in overall NHL scoring with 1,394 points and he is the only left wing in NHL history to record eight consecutive 40-goal seasons (all with the Kings).

With the Kings, Robitaille ranks second all-time in games played (1,077), second in points (1,154) and fourth in assists (597).  In 2006, Robitaille set the Kings all-time record for goals when his 551^st goal as a King surpassed Marcel Dionne.  In 1,077 total regular season games as a King, Robitaille had 557 goals.

Robitaille, 52 (2/17/66), was selected by the Kings in the ninth round (171^st overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft.  As a rookie, the Montreal native became the first (and only) King to win the Calder Memorial Trophy and he was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team in 1987.  Later he helped lead the Kings to the club’s first trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 1993 and that season Robitaille set NHL records for the most goals (63) by a left wing and for the most points (125) by a left wing.

Robitaille would go on to reach other milestones in a Kings uniform, including his 500^th career goal in 1999 and his 1,000^th game as a King in 2004.  When Robitaille had his jersey retired by the Kings, he became just the fifth player to be so honored.  In 2009, Robitaille – an eight-time All-Star (all with the Kings) – was selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame.  In 2014 he was named a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee and in 2017 he was announced as one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players of all-time.

Robitaille has also immersed himself into the Southern California community.  He is on the Board of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Ronald McDonald House, and he and his wife Stacia are the co-founders of a non-profit organization, Echoes of Hope.

Luc and Stacia have two sons, Steven and Jesse.  They reside in Santa Monica.

Biography

Ellen Roseman has been a popular newspaper columnist since 1977, first at the Globe and Mail and then at the Toronto Star.

She’s become a champion at helping consumers fight back against injustices. People praise her direct, down to earth and common-sense writing style.

Ellen’s consumer columns appear in the Toronto Star’s Life section each Tuesday. She was the Star’s business editor from 1997 to 1999.

She is the author of seven books, including Money 101, Money 201 and Fight Back: 81 Ways to Help You Save Money and Protect Yourself from Corporate Trickery.

She teaches investing and personal finance at the University of Toronto’s continuing studies department since 2004. She also created a Financial Basics course in co-operation with two government agencies and does a workshop each year at Ryerson University.

Ellen is on the board of directors of a non-profit group that fights for investor rights, FAIR Canada.

She also co-hosts a monthly podcast, called The Moneysaver Podcast, with Canadian Moneysaver magazine.

Biography

David Rosenberg     co-founded    and      leads AeroFarms, a clean-technology company that builds and operates advanced vertical farms in urban environments.

AeroFarms has been recognized as a Circular Economy 100 company, was listed on Fast Company’s 2018 global list of Most Innovative Companies and Inc. Magazine’s list of the 25 Most Disruptive Companies.  AeroFarms also received the New Jersey Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence and was voted as the Best Growth Company to invest in at the Wall

Street Journal’s ECO:nomics conference in addition to being a finalist for The Circular Awards at The World Economic Forum. David is also the founder of a nanotechnology company.

David is a member of the World Economic Forum where he co-chairs the Young Global Leaders Circular Economy Taskforce.  David is also a member of the B20 Sustainable Food System Taskforce, which advises the G20. In addition, David serves as a Managing Trustee of New Jersey’s Liberty Science Center – a prominent US interactive science museum. David was also privileged to co-chair New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s Agriculture Transition Committee. In 2018, David was honored as Ernst & Young’s (NJ) Entrepreneur of the Year (Food and Beverage).

David received his BA from UNC Chapel Hill and holds an MBA from Columbia University.  He competed for the U.S. in Fencing where he was a finalist at a world cup and represented the NYAC, winning three U.S. National Team Fencing Championships and two individual silver medals.

Biography

Mateo Salomon is a Principal Executive of the Sustainability, Inclusion and Climate Change Division of CAF - development bank of Latin America.

Mateo is a climate and environmental finance expert with a deep understanding of the Latin America and Caribbean region and a comprehensive experience in assisting a wide range of actors from the private and public sector to access, blend and sequence different sources of funding and financial instruments. His work focuses on supporting Latin American countries in accessing climate finance resources to transform their economies into green, low carbon and climate resilient economies.

Before joining CAF, Mateo worked as a climate finance consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank and as a Regional Technical Analyst for the United Nations Development Programme, where he coordinated the LAC Regional Climate Change Programme.

Mateo holds a M.A in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva, Switzerland.

Biography

Pete Santora joined SoftWear Automation in 2015 during the Research and Development phase. Today he helps support customers globally in home good manufacturing and has begun the commercialization of the SEWBOT® apparel automation, starting with the Digital T-Shirt Workline. Pete brings 10 years experience in growing high tech teams and commercializing IP. He was an Entrepreneur in Residence and research faculty member at the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech, a Forbes "Top 10 Technology Incubator", where he mentored startup CEOs including SoftWear Automation. He is a former professional soccer player and serial entrepreneur.

Biography

Diane Scott brings over 20 years of global experience in the C-suite of enterprises in emerging industries to her role of CEO with JMCC. Most recently, she served as Chair and CEO of Panther Payments Group, which provides innovative payment solutions for North America's leading financial institutions. From 2006 to 2010, she was President, Emerging Business with New York-based Viewpointe LLC, and Global Director and Vice President with Tenemos AG, a Swiss-based financial services solutions provider. Previously, she served as Global Director of Marketing, Communications & Solutions Development with Perot Systems in London. She began her career in the insurance industry, with roles including Communications Director of CGU Canada (now Aviva Canada).

Diane serves as a member of the Board of Directors for organizations such as Site Hawk Canada, a subsidiary of the leading global provider of web-based chemical data management software and services for the environmental, health and safety industry, and RIBO, a regulatory body for insurance brokers in Ontario. Diane is also Chair of the Corporate Program, Royal Patrons Circle of the Royal Museum of Ontario, one of Canada’s largest and most distinguished cultural institutions.

Diane’s educational accomplishments include completing the Finance program at Harvard Business School, the Business Administration & Management program at France’s INSEAD graduate school of business, and the Strategic Business Management program at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. Earlier, she earned her B.A. in International Relations and Affairs from York University.

Biography

Vimlendra Sharan, an Indian citizen, joined FAO as Director of the FAO Liaison Office for North America on 1 December, 2016. Mr. Sharan brings with him more than two decades of national and international government leadership experience focusing on rural development, agriculture and food security issues.

Mr. Sharan has worked with the Indian Government extensively in rural and tribal areas of Maharashtra and has also been actively involved in agriculture & food policy formulation working with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in New Delhi.  He comes to Washington from his previous posting as Permanent Representative of India to the Rome based UN Agencies where he was Vice President of the WFP Executive Board, Chairman of IFAD Evaluation Committee and Asia Group representative on FAO Programme Committee and a member of the FAO Council.

Mr. Sharan holds a degree in Economics from University of Delhi, India and a MBA in Public Policy from University of Birmingham, UK.

Biography

Dr. Richard Shinn is the CEO and Founder of AIBrain, Inc. headquartered in Menlo Park, CA with offices in Berlin, Seoul, and Shenzhen. Dr. Shinn is one of the thought leaders in artificial intelligence by building a true AI in unifying cognitive, social and emotional intelligence. His vision is to augment human intelligence with artificial intelligence to advance AI for society in Arts, Music, and Culture. Dr. Shinn is also the Founder and CEO of CrossCert, a publicly listed company in South Korea, one of the most trusted brand company in Online Certificate Authentication, Security, and Cryptography solutions. Recently, Dr. Shinn has established Turing AI Berlin to build an AI cultural center for Arts, Music, and Robotics which will be opened to the public in late 2018.

Biography

As the President of Danone Canada, Pedro Silveira oversees a dynamic organization where over 500 dedicated employees work to carry out the mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible.

Mr. Silveira has been with Danone for almost 10 years. Prior to moving to Canada, he held the positions of VP Sales in Brazil and General Manager in Colombia. Prior to joining Danone, he enjoyed a successful 15-year career with Unilever, where he held a number of positions in Supply Chain and Operations in Brazil, his home country, as well as in the UK and Switzerland.

Danone Canada is a revolutionary food company, committed to positively changing the world by nourishing people and communities, one better food choice at a time. The company’s vision, One Planet. One Health, reflects its belief that the health of people and the planet are connected and interdependent. Danone Canada’s portfolio includes many of the country’s best-selling yogurt brands, namely Activia, OIKOS and DanActive, along with a variety of leading plant-based products, including Silk and So Delicious. In April 2018, Danone Canada became the country’s largest consumer-facing certified B Corp^TM. Danone Canada’s B Corp^TM certification was awarded by third-party non-profit organization B Lab^® following a rigorous B Impact Assessment that evaluated the company according to the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

Biography

How does an investment banker on Wall Street become the one of the world’s best liquor distillers? For Melanie Asher—the Embassy of Peru’s 2013 “Peruvian Woman of the Year in the U.S. in Business” and founder of Macchu Pisco—it comes down to family: collaboration with and encouragement from her sister, Lizzie, the company’s president; the support of her mother and late father; and the mantra of her 101-year-old grandmother that a nip of pisco every night is what has kept her young. “My grandmother still tastes every blend of our ultra-premium line, La Diablada, before we officially bottle it,” says Melanie, who founded Macchu Pisco in 2004. “Our pisco is so smooth that it makes you happy. ‘All the highs without the lows’: That’s our company tagline, and it’s always been our ethos. It’s infused into every bottle.”

Known as the Johnnie Walker of Peru, Melanie had her first taste of her homeland’s national spirit at the age of 12 when she topped her ice cream with a few sprinkles of her family’s pisco. These early tastes inspired her dream to start a pisco company – recently named Best Peruvian Company Abroad by Premio Orgullo 2016.

 Prior to 2006, when Melanie first introduced Macchu Pisco to the North American market, the pisco category was small and little-known to the American consumer. Armed with an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and experience working with large spirits firms, Melanie recognized that the country’s rapidly growing interest in cocktails and the wide world of artisanal spirits set the stage for introducing a pisco that would exemplify her homeland’s national spirit and help launch the category in the U.S. Uniquely qualified for the job, Melanie was able to combine her business acumen with knowledge of winemaking that she had garnered while living in France, where she spent time in Bordeaux at both the Mouton Rothschild and Lafite Rothschild wineries – essential knowledge as the first step in pisco production is to create a superior young wine that is then distilled. In addition, Melanie spent two years in a pilot program overseen by the government of Peru to promote and incubate pisco producers.

Melanie intuitively recognized that success in her endeavor would be linked to not only creating a delicious product, but doing so authentically and responsibly. She proceeded to design a vertically integrated company from start to finish, ensuring she had control over taste, quality, and value at each step of the production process. Right from the beginning, Melanie insisted on paying fair wages to the women who harvested the grape crops, which set a precedent for progress in farm-work standards in Peru. “We were definitely met with resistance from other companies that purchased the grapes—they were trying to keep costs down by paying little to laborers,” Melanie says. “We simply wanted to make sure we were creating jobs that allowed people a real quality of life—and producing a pisco that we are all proud of.

Recognized as an authority in her field, the Smithsonian just in 2017 named her a member of their Kitchen Cabinet of the Museum of American History.  As a Peruvian-America, in acknowledgement of her impact in promoting Peruvian culture, Melanie has been appointed by Peru’s Foreign Ministry to their Global Council on Gastronomic Diplomacy, a particular point of distinction as she is the sole representative of a Pisco company.  Melanie received top recognition as the Tumi USA award winner in 2010, an annual event celebrating U.S. Peruvian entrepreneurs. She is actively involved in organizations promoting fair trade in her home country and Latin American women in business, including Peru’s Ministry of Commerce and Tourism CEPROBA committee; Kiva and Pro Mujer, micro-lenders enabling financial opportunities and empowering women; Coprodeli, a nonprofit providing aid to Peruvian families in need; and the Esperanza Education Fund in Washington, D.C

Due to all this ground-breaking work and commitment, Melanie was named the Pioneer of the Year in 2015 and inducted into the Dame Hall of Fame by Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.  In 2016 she was selected as one of the top 10 female distillers in the world by The Spirits Business journal.

Melanie has pubished twice while at Duke University and Harvard University.  As a comparative area studies major at Duke in Durham, NC, graduating magna cum laude with her thesis on a comparative study on the prohibition and temperance movements in France as compared to Peru in contrast to Protestant countries like the United States where these movements began.  While her masters study at Harvard Business School, Melanie published a study on the commercial viability of launching the world’s first premium pisco brand from Peru in a global context of tough competition, tighter margins and consolidation of distribution channels.

Melanie lives and works in Lima, Peru, overseeing harvest and production at the distillery.

Biography

Giada Vercelli is the founder of Fitzroy Consultant, advising on the organisation of conferences on cross-border investment and capital markets. Fitzroy Consultant’s events focus both on developed and emerging markets, servicing financial institutions as well as Sovereign, Supranational and Agencies. Giada has worked on several conferences for the development of emerging sectors within the capital markets, such as Sustainable and Responsible Investment and Islamic Finance. She has organised and moderated Foreign Direct Investment conferences for the governments of several countries in Europe, Middle East and Asia, working closely with regional administrations of Greater China. A passionate promoter of Financial Literacy, Giada has extensively worked with the OECD and GLEC to deepen the knowledge and understanding of accessible opportunities within the financial markets.  She is the award-winning author of a book on the 2008 financial crisis and has more than 15 years of financial news writing and broadcasting experience with major international TV networks, with seven years as the first Italian correspondent from the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ for Bloomberg TV and SKY TV. She has reported live from major international events, including two US presidential elections, G7, IMF, World Bank, and Federal Reserve meetings, broadcasting in English and Italian and reporting occasionally in French and Spanish. Most recently, Giada has worked as Director of Content at Euromoney Conferences. She had previously developed a multimedia platform for Standard & Poor’s and co-chaired WINS, McGraw-Hill’s global diversity network, organising events connecting 80 chapters around the world. Giada is a keen linguist: with previous studies in Latin and Ancient Greek, she is currently studying Mandarin at the School of African and Oriental Studies of the University of London.

Biography

Raviv Turner is the CEO & Co-Founder of CaliberMind, which helps business-to-business organizations derive strategic Insights from their data by using the latest AI technologies to accelerate business growth. A former military intelligence officer, C-level technology leader and entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience, Raviv has developed and led high-performing product teams for both global 2000 organizations and start-ups, specializing in building high growth software products. Since launching CaliberMind in 2016, Raviv has been a highly sought-after industry thought leader, selected as Inc Magazine's 'Top Tech Leaders to Watch' and quoted by Forbes, Inc., and Huffington Post.

Biography

Current Positions
▪ Founder and Managing Director of NewMark Group in the fields of market research, consulting and financial communication
▪ Managing Director of Frankfurt Main Finance e.V.
▪ Managing Director of NewMark Finanzkommunikation GmbH
Education and Professional Background
▪ Master in Economics at the University of Mainz
▪ Nearly 12 with Deutsche Bank, with stations in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Singapore, as Analyst, Asia Head of Communications, Chief economist Asia/Pacific and Global Head of Marketing for Wealth Management
Initiator of the German and European Structured Products Association
Occasional lecturer
Social activities
▪ Member of the Rotary Club
▪ Member of the Economic Council
▪ Member of the German Red Cross
▪ Co-Founder of the new Youth Training Centre of Eintracht Frankfurt in Riederwald

Biography

Councillor Michael Thompson is Chair of Toronto’s Economic Development Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. Now in his fifth term as Councillor, Michael has earned a reputation as one of Toronto’s hardest working and most effective political leaders.

In 2006, as Chair of the Scarborough Community Council, he led the campaign to create the first ever TTC transit strategy for Scarborough, a strategy designed to significantly expand and enhance public transit services for all Scarborough residents. Throughout his years on Council, Michael’s unrelenting drive for public safety in the face of increased gun violence ultimately led to the development of a city-wide Community Safety Plan, a GTA-wide police task force on guns and gangs, an increase in the numbers of police officers in the street, and a new young offender program designed to divert young people into jobs instead of jail.

Under the banner of “getting things done,” Michael is known to his constituents as a community builder committed to bring people together in a spirit of collaboration. He has led and assisted in the formation of local community associations, youth leadership initiatives and Business Improvement Areas, and holds regular public meetings to engage residents throughout his ward.

In addition to a strong focus on resolving local issues and serving his constituents, Michael’s commitment to developing Toronto’s city-wide economy is longstanding. In his first term in office, he spearheaded the creation of the Wexford Heights Business Improvement Area and established a Job Fair that annually brought thousands of job seekers together with dozens of employers.

He maintains a widespread network of business relationships that has helped the City to enhance business retention, promote growth and increase private sector employment. His active engagement with business has helped speed the launch of new business ventures, resolved business/residential conflicts and gained business participation in a wide range of community-building initiatives. In recent years, the international connections he has developed and nurtured have played a significant role in attracting billions of dollars in new investment to the City, contributing to a more robust economy and substantial job creation.

Recently, Michael was a key member of a Toronto project team that successfully lobbied executives of Collision, one of the world’s leading high technology conferences, to choose Toronto as the conference’s home for 2019 – 2021, bringing 25,000 technology executives and investors to the City and injecting tens of millions of dollars into Toronto’s economy.

Michael is a firm believer in the critical value of culture as a builder of strong communities. When he first took office, he co-founded the Taste of Lawrence Avenue East Festival, which brings together tens of thousands of people each year to experience local performing arts and cuisine. In 2013, he led the City’s efforts to create a new arts and culture plan that provided a bold, new roadmap for cultural vitality, strengthened arts spending and launched a new era of collaboration among arts and culture groups across the City. Michael was also the first Chair of Toronto’s Music Advisory Committee, and played a key role in efforts to attract international film and television productions and studio investments to Toronto.

Michael received his public school education in Scarborough, and his BA from Concordia University in Montreal. Prior to entering politics, he earned his business credentials as an entrepreneur in the business and financial services sector. In 2017, he successfully completed the ICD Directors Education Program offered by the Rotman School of Management and Institute of Corporate Directors.

He is the recipient of the African Achievement Award for Excellence in Politics, the York University International Award, the Jain Society of Toronto Community Award, the Bob Marley Award and the Bob Marley Lifetime Achievement Award.

He continues to work with a number of charitable organizations including participation in the LIUNA Local 506 scholarship fund.

Biography

Michèle Small is the Director, Head of the EBRD North American Representative Office, based in Washington DC. Michèle is an experienced international banker; with over 20 years in the fields of development finance and emerging markets.
Michèle joined the EBRD in 1998 and has structured and led the underwriting and implementation of a wide range of transactions (debt, mezzanine and equity) across the EBRD region. She has also served on various supervisory boards of companies in the real estate sector.
Between 2012 and her return to EBRD in 2016, Michèle ran a successful advisory consultancy focused on Eastern Europe and East Africa. She specialised in the real estate sector and its role as a key part of the necessary infrastructure in emerging markets.
Prior to joining EBRD, Michele worked as a senior risk officer at Bank of Boston (now part of the Bank of America Group).
As part of her current responsibilities, Michèle manages the EBRD’s key relationships with its North American shareholders (relevant agencies of the US, Canadian and Mexican governments), the private sector, and other stakeholders. She is responsible for corporate business development as well as mobilisation of private finance and impact investing initiatives in North America.
A UK national, Michèle holds an MSc in Real Estate Investment from the Cass Business School in London.

Biography

Doug Turnbull is Vice Chairman and Country Head, Canada at DBRS. In this role, Mr. Turnbull is responsible for overseeing all of DBRS’s day-to-day operations in Canada. As part of the executive team, Mr. Turnbull also focuses on the strategic development of DBRS’s global rating business and senior outreach activities for the company.
Mr. Turnbull has more than 35 years of experience in the investment banking industry, and is the retired Deputy Chairman, TD Securities Inc. Mr. Turnbull has worked in Toronto, Tokyo and New York, where he advised government, corporate, infrastructure and public sector clients on numerous public and private market transactions.
Mr. Turnbull is Chairman of the board of directors of The Canadian Ditchley Foundation, is a member of the Public Advisory Panel of the Canadian Electricity Association and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation. In addition, Mr. Turnbull has held a number of board positions with public sector and not-for-profit organizations, including, Metrolinx, the Ontario Financing Authority, George Brown College Foundation, the Toronto Financial Services Alliance and ORBIS Canada. In 2014, Mr. Turnbull was appointed by the Government of Canada as one of two Co-Chairs of the Canada-Assembly of First Nations, Joint Working Group on Resource Development, and delivered the final report in 2015.

Biography

Mark Thompson became president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company on November 12, 2012.  He is responsible for leading the Company's strategy, operations and business units, and working closely with the chairman to direct the vision of the company.

Mr. Thompson has been instrumental in accelerating the pace of The Times’s digital transformation. Under his leadership, The Times became the first news organization in the world to pass the one million digital-only subscription mark. The company has also introduced a new era of international growth, launched an industry leading branded content studio and invested in virtual reality, producing some of the most celebrated work in this emerging medium.

Before joining the Times Company, Mr. Thompson served as Director-General of the BBC from 2004, where he reshaped the organization to meet the challenge of the digital age, ensuring that it remained a leading innovator with the launch of services such as the BBC iPlayer. He also oversaw a transformation of the BBC itself, driving productivity and efficiency through the introduction of new technologies and bold organizational redesign.

Mr. Thompson joined the BBC in 1979 as a production trainee. He helped launch Watchdog and Breakfast Time, was an output editor on Newsnight, and was appointed editor of the Nine O'Clock News in 1988 and of Panorama in 1990. He became controller (programming and scheduling chief) for the TV network BBC2 and Director of Television for the BBC before leaving the BBC in 2002 to become CEO of Channel 4 Television Corporation in the United Kingdom.

In the autumn of 2012, he was a visiting professor of Rhetoric and the Art of Public Persuasion at the University of Oxford. His book “Enough Said: What’s Gone Wrong with the Language of Politics?” which is based on the lectures he gave at Oxford, was published in the UK and US in September 2016.

Mark Thompson was educated at Stonyhurst College and Merton College, Oxford.

Biography

Gregory J. Smith Gregory Smith is President and Chief Executive Officer of InstarAGF, and is widely recognized as a pioneer and authority in the infrastructure investment community, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the investment, operation, acquisition, and financing of public and private infrastructure, real estate, power, and utility businesses. Prior to founding the Instar Group of companies, Mr. Smith served as Managing Partner and head of Brookfield Financial’s Global Infrastructure Advisory Group; President of Macquarie Capital Funds Canada Ltd.; Managing Director and Co-Head of RBC Capital Partners–Mezzanine Fund; and Managing Director at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance. Mr. Smith is currently the Executive Chairman of Nieuport Aviation Infrastructure Partners, which owns the passenger terminal at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and sits on the advisory boards of Lighthouse Equity Partners, a private equity provider, and Avrio Ventures, an agriculture technology fund. Active in the private equity and venture capital sector since 1994, Mr. Smith served for a number of years on the Board of Directors of Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, including as Chair and President. He is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator.

Biography

Garth is an experienced global marketing professional and business strategist.

At TATA’s, he is responsible for developing insights to drive innovation, branding, business strategy and M&A for the tea, coffee and beverages businesses. In addition, he champions the groups’ “premiumisation” efforts through Masterclasses, workshops and consultative engagements.

Previously, he helped companies such as Kraft, MasterCard, SABMiller, Warner-Lambert (now part of Cadbury’s) and Purolator navigate competitive marketing, sales and pricing issues in markets across North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

He believes that insights plays a critical role in helping refine or execute innovative marketing strategies, thereby empowering organizations to develop new business models, build on their vision and drive organizational growth and change. He does this through a combination of deep insights, advanced analytics and emotive storytelling.

Garth also serves as a mentor in the Take Charge Program, helping young adults kick-start their careers. He is a running and automotive enthusiast. Currently based in Mumbai, he has lived in the US, Canada, UK and Singapore.

Biography

Emma is the CEO and a Co Founder of AgriDigital, one of Australia’s leading emerging agtech and fintech companies. Emma has had a diverse career as a lawyer, agribusiness executive and executive coach. She is mentor to several start ups and founders in Australia and overseas and was recently named one Australia’s Top 25 Fintech Influencers and was awarded Female Fintech Leader of the Year and Emerging Fintech Leader of the Year for 2017 by FinTech Australia as well as Female Fintech Leader of the Year at the 2017 Australian Fintech Awards.

In December 2016, AgriDigital achieved the world’s first settlement of a physical agri-commodity on a blockchain between a farmer and a buyer in New South Wales, Australia and this was recognised by Fintech Australia presenting AgriDigital the Excellence in Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology award for 2017. AgriDigital recently launched its digital supply chain platform for the agricultural sector and continues to work with blockchain and other novel enabling technologies to bring efficiency and transparency to global supply chains.

A sought after speaker on agtech, fintech, women in tech and blockchain, Emma holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management, a LLB (Hons) from the University of Melbourne, and a BA from the University of Melbourne. Emma is an active tech community member and advisor to start ups. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a non-executive director of the Australian Digital Commerce Association and Fintech Australia.

Biography

Candace Worley is Vice President and Chief Technical Strategist for McAfee. She manages a worldwide team of Technical Strategists responsible for driving thought leadership and advancing technical innovation in McAfee security solutions.

Prior to this role, Candace served as Vice President for Enterprise Solutions for the Intel Security Group at Intel Corporation. She had worldwide responsibility for all facets of product and vertical marketing for the complete corporate products solutions set.

Worley joined McAfee in 2000 and has held a number of technology leadership positions in her McAfee career including, five and a half years as the SVP and General Manager of the Enterprise Endpoint Security business.  Prior to joining McAfee in 2000, she spent seven years with Mentor Graphics, where she led a team of product managers responsible for electronic design automation and electronic component software.

Worley holds a bachelor's degree in management from Oregon State University and an MBA degree from Marylhurst University.

Biography

The Hon. Brian Tobin was named as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013 for his contribution to Canadian public policy as a federal and provincial politician, and for supporting economic development in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Brian served as the Federal Minister of Industry from October 2000-January 2002, prior to which he served as the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador from 1996-2000. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1980-1996, and as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in the federal cabinet from 1993-1996.

Brian is Vice Chair, BMO Financial Group. He serves as a director of Aecon Group Inc., chairman and director of New Flyer Group Inc., chairman and director of Element Fleet Management Corp. He previously served as Executive Chairman, President & CEO of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd. He led the negotiating team that sold CLM to Cliffs Natural Resources for $4.9 billion, which was one of the biggest global mining deals in 2011.

Brian is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and a graduate of the Directors Education Program. He has been awarded honorary degrees by both St. Francis Xavier University and Brock University.

Biography

Born in the Netherlands, mentored by one of the world’s best commodity traders, Andre Voskuil made a name for himself in Europe’s financial industry. He managed a portfolio of over half a billion dollars for celebrities and high profile clients before reaching the age of 30. His corporate professional career has spanned from institutional investments to senior executive positions in both public and private companies.

Andre is currently leading NTI Nanotechnology Corp, focusing on the commercialization of disruptive road construction technology. The company is active in North America, Australia and Africa. The vision is to build infrastructure for about half cost, allowing more rural and developing areas around the world to partake in economic activities, access schooling and medical care which will greatly improve many lives.

Biography

Geoffrey Wilson is an experienced leader with more than 25 years in the intermodal transportation, shipping, infrastructure, and aviation businesses. He has held senior executive roles throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific, with companies such as Triton Container International Inc., Budget Car and Truck Rental, and Kerr Steamship Agency Inc. A government business enterprise, PortsToronto owns and operates Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Canada’s ninth busiest airport, the Port of Toronto and the Outer Harbour Marina. Prior to his current role, Mr. Wilson served as Chief Operating Officer of Cartel Communications Systems Inc., Canada’s leading wireless equipment distributor and integrator. Mr. Wilson serves on the advisory board of the Toronto Global Forum, associated with the International Economic Forum of the Americas, and sits on the Board of Directors for Moorelands, an organization providing programs and support for low-income children residing in Toronto, and the Empire Club of Canada, the country’s oldest and largest speakers’ forum.

Biography

Mary Ann looks after the GTA West Area of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).  In this role, she leads a team of professionals dedicated to serving Canadian businesses through financing, venture capital and advisory services with a focus on small and medium sized enterprises.  She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Mississauga Board of Trade.

Before joining BDC, she spent a number of years working in commercial banking in the Windsor area.  A former director of St. Joe’s Hospital Foundation in London and Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital Foundation in Windsor, Mary Ann is in her second term on the board of Governors for Grand River Hospital Foundation.  She sat on various committees supporting entrepreneurship and automotive growth in Ontario & Canada.

Biography

Vanmala is a business reporter with the Financial Post, covering the cannabis industry. She was formerly at at VICE Canada, where she founded the VICE Money channel, covering the cannabis industry, the housing market and economic issues related to millennials and their spending habits. She speaks three languages and has experience in both the digital and broadcast media. Prior to her work at VICE, she travelled the world producing documentaries for the CBC’s the fifth estate, and spent some time working at BNN on a program about the housing market. She was a nominee for a Canadian Screen Award, and won a Gracie Award for her work on the documentary The Unmaking of Jian Ghomeshi.

Biography

As Senior Vice-President, Office of the CEO at RBC, John is responsible for interpreting trends for the executive leadership team and Board of Directors with insights on how these are affecting RBC, its clients and society at large. Prior to this, John was editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail (2009-14), editor of Report on Business, and from 1992-1999, a foreign correspondent based in New Delhi, India. He has authored three books: Out of Poverty, Timbit Nation, and Mass Disruption: Thirty Years on the Front Lines of a Media Revolution. John is a Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs, C.D. Howe Institute and on the boards of Saint Elizabeth Health Care and the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada.

Biography

Tyler Whale is President, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies - an organisation that ensures that the Ontario ag sector is at the forefront of agri-tech, to compete globally and to develop new market opportunities.   Tyler was raised on a 7th generation dairy farm in Wellington County.  After completing extensive post-secondary education culminating in a PhD in Immunology and a BioTechnology-focused MBA, Tyler has worked at a variety of scientific and technology oriented organizations including Johns Hopkins University, The Saskatoon Colostrum Company, the University of Guelph and has been an entrepreneur himself.  At OAFT, Tyler works with dozens of ag-tech companies each year to help them achieve viability on a global scale.  He is also responsible for enabling initiatives and teams that will pave the way for future innovation in the Canadian ag sector.

Biography

Deb is a leader and a learner with a lifelong interest in Canadian agriculture and the people who feed us.  A former public servant, she served in various senior leadership roles including Ontario's first Chief Veterinary Officer and Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

She is currently on the boards of the Canadian Agriculture Policy Institute, the University of Guelph, Genome Ontario, and the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame Association.

Deb is a graduate of the University of Guelph (DVM), and  Wilfrid Laurier University (MBA).

Biography

Economiste de formation et experte en stratégies internationales économiques et financières, Trycia VAN DEN BERG possède 10 ans d’expérience dans les secteurs de la diplomatie multilatérale, de la macroéconomie, du développement durable et de l’intelligence économique.

Sa bonne compréhension et sa maîtrise des concepts financiers, économiques et environnementaux lui ont permis de développer et de mettre en oeuvre plusieurs projets et stratégies, tant au niveau national qu’international. Tout au long de sa carrière, elle a démontré sa capacité à diriger des négociations complexes et difficiles ayant pour résultats la mise en place de standards améliorés et l’adoption d’accords bénéfiques pour toutes les parties prenantes.

Elle possède des compétences avérées et un leadership naturel qui lui ont permis de coordonner les représentants de 54 états et gouvernements de la Francophonie, d’entretenir des relations fructueuses avec des décideurs importants, ainsi que de développer et de gérer des plateformes collaboratives avec des institutions africaines clés dans un effort visant à atteindre des objectifs globaux.

Son solide attachement à la gestion axée sur les résultats, sa forte éthique professionnelle ainsi que ses qualités interpersonnelles, managériales et communicationnelles lui ont permis de maximiser son efficacité et sa sensibilité aux différents contextes politique, économique et multiculturel.

Pour Trycia, la recherche d'information sur les Pays en développement est une vieille histoire qui commence en 2003, à l'époque où d’aucuns se demandent si l'économie du numérique s'imposera en Afrique. Ses premières activités de veille datent de 2009 alors qu'elle est Conseillère Economique et Développement Durable près l'Ambassade de la République Démocratique du Congo en France. Depuis, la veille est une de ses activités endémiques.

En 2015, elle fonde le Forum Economique pour le développement durable (FEDD) qui est une initiative visant à relever les défis du développement en République Démocratique du Congo et à promouvoir un programme d’économie environnementale consensuel.

Elle travaille sur un projet de guerre d'information en 2016 et co-écrit un livre sur la « Globésité, la grande désinformation de l’industrie agroalimentaire ». Spécialiste en Intelligence Economique, un de ses projets a pour objectif de proposer des formations en IE et RSE, de réaliser des missions de veille et de développer des activités d'intelligence économique en Afrique.

Biography

Hennadiy Zubko has been the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of the Regional Development, Building and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine since December 2014. In April 2016, he was reappointed to the office of the newly formed Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as the efficient reforms manager.

Mr. Zubko is responsible for the coordination and implementation of the two key reforms of the Government, decentralization and energy efficiency. He chairs a number of the intergovernmental commissions for economic cooperation strengthening export potential of our country and promoting Ukrainian products on the foreign markets. His expertise covers but not limited to anti-crisis management, project management, investments and construction.

Hennadiy Zubko started his career as an IT-engineer. Later on he started the own business, managed a number of enterprises and implemented several projects. He headed “Zhytomyr Structural Steel Plant” for 10 years. Under his leadership, the enterprise fully modernized the technological processes, implemented innovative management practices and launched new production lines. “Zhytomyr Structural Steel Plant” became one of the leading companies in Ukraine and entered international markets.

In 2006 Mr. Zubko started his political career. He served as the member of Zhytomyr city and Zhytomyr region councils. In 2012 he was elected to the Parliament of Ukraine and served as the First Deputy Head of the Committee on Construction, Urban Development, Housing and Utilities and Regional Policy. From June to December 2014 he served as the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.

Mr. Zubko holds several academic degrees. In 1991 he graduated from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute on “Automatic Management Systems”.  In 2006 he undertook “Innovation management” program in Northwestern University (Chicago, Illinois, USA). In 2007-08 he obtained MBA and the degree on “Management of organizations” in National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. In 2012 he received Ph.D. in technical science and is the author of more than 10 academic publications.

Hennadiy Zubko is married and has a big family with children and grandchildren. He is fond of sports and arts.

Biography

Leslie Woo is Chief Planning and Development Officer at Metrolinx, the regional transportation authority for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, the fastest growing urban region in Canada. Leslie is the executive lead for transportation planning, a multi-billion dollar real estate portfolio and a $35B expansion in public transit infrastructure (approximately $4B capex). Leslie was named Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2017, Spacing Toronto's Transit Change-maker of 2016, and Canada's Women's Infrastructure Network's 2015 Outstanding Leader.
Leslie leads the strategic transportation planning for a full range of mobility services. She heads business areas in benefits management, business case evaluation, design excellence, strategic land development and corporate property management. Leslie manages key relationships with municipalities, not-for-profits and the private sector. She is also a champion for driving sustainability and Metrolinx’s network for women.
Prior to Metrolinx Leslie worked in the municipal, private and not-for-profit sectors. She was the key author of the original Greater Golden Horseshoe Growth Plan (2006), which by 2016 had resulted in urban intensification totalling over 18 per cent increase in multi-family residential development, a two-thirds reduction of greenfield lands consumption, and conserved about 800 square kilometres of agricultural and rural land.
Leslie is a member of the Americas Executive Committee and Governing Trustee with the Urban Land Institute, and a retired member of the Ontario Association of Architects. A 2011/12 Fellow of the International Women’s Forum, Leslie’s community leadership includes her current role as Board Director with Women’s’ College Hospital and former role on the board of YMCA for the Greater Toronto Area for eight years (2009 – 2017).
Leslie is the creator of the blog shebuildcities.org celebrating women city builders around the world. Leslie received a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Waterloo where she also studied Urban and Regional Planning. She is also the 2015 recipient of the Renison University College Distinguished Alumna Award. Born in Trinidad, Leslie is the mother of two.