Caroline Codsi is the Founder & Chief Equality Officer of Women in Governance, a non-profit created in 2010 with a mission to help women access decision-making bodies and male dominated fields through advocacy, major events, mentoring programs and governance training. In 2017 Women in Governance developed the first North American Parity Certification with the probono support of McKinsey & Company to close the gender gap in the workplace with an emphasis on intersectionality, recognizing added obstacles for under-represented groups (BIPOC, LGBTQ, etc). The organization is also well known for the important role men are given as allies of the cause.

A Citizen of the world having lived on three continents, Caroline was born in Beirut and grew up through the civil war. A highly sought-after speaker, Caroline has addressed audiences across the globe, including two TEDx. Widely quoted in national and international media, she is the recipient of numerous awards from prestigious organizations such as the United Nations’ Women’s Committee, the Quebec Business Women Network, The Federation of Chambers of Commerce to name a few.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated Caroline to Canada’s National Gender Equality Committee and Mayor Valérie Plante to the City of Montreal’s Business Committee.  She was also recognized as a Top 20 Diversity Leading Figure in Quebec, Top 75 Canadian Immigrant, Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada and Top 100 Entrepreneurs changing the world.

With a master’s degree in economics from Laval University, Clément Gignac has a wealth of experience spanning 30 years in both the private and public sectors and was until very recently a minister in the Quebec government.

Since December 12, 2012, Clément has been Senior Vice-President, Investments and Chief Economist at iA Financial Group. In addition to being the Group’s spokesperson on economic matters, he is also the chair of the asset allocation committee and responsible for managing the company’s diversified funds, with assets exceeding $5 billion.

Before joining iA Financial Group, Clément Gignac was economic a well- known economist and strategist for major financial institutions, including National Bank Financial, where he was vice-president and chief economist from 2000 to 2008. During this time, he was recognized as one of the best economic strategists in the country and is frequently contacted by the media, business leaders and governments for his expertise. Thereafter, he began his career in politics.

Clément Gignac is an well- regarded speaker and is often sought after by the media. In 2012, he was asked to chair the prestigious World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Competitiveness and in 2016, was asked to become a standing member of the Washington, D.C.-based Conference of Business Economists, a global group of distinguished economists.

After a successful corporate career in finance, operations and sales (HP, Cisco) Brett decided to pursue his passion of helping finance professionals and teams develop their leadership skills by co-founding B Inspired.  B Inspired is a leadership coaching and consulting organization that is uniquely focused on helping finance professionals excel in this challenging profession.

Combining the NASA 4-D approach with practical experience has allowed Brett to have an impact on organizations that range from mid-size to global in nature.  Brett believes that building leadership skills at all levels of a finance organization is the key to creating strong value-added finance business partners that elevate their value by driving profitable growth.

Brett holds an Economics BA from The University of Western Ontario, a CMA/CPA designation, a Registered Corporate Coaching Designation from WABC and is a Certified 4-D Consultant.  Brett always welcomes a connection on LinkedIn and also can be reached directly at Brett@BInspiredFinance.com.

Solution Consultant, Ricoh Canada, Inc

As a Solution Consultant with a specialty in content management and workflow, Jonathan thrives on having unique business challenges to tackle each day.

Jonathan uses his 10+ years’ experience to consult and design solutions alongside his clients to drive organizational efficiency, accuracy, accountability and cost-savings. Having worked with Finance leaders from organizations of all sizes and industries to digitally transform their business, Jonathan’s unwavering commitment to his clients ensures the success of each project.

When he isn’t helping clients, Jonathan can be found on the links or in his backyard, spending time with his wife, their son and the dogs.

Scott D. Calver has been Chief Financial Officer of Trimac Transportation group of companies since December 1, 2008.  Trimac is one of the largest providers of bulk trucking services in North American and also provides complementary logistics services, including transload facility operations, distribution management, and freight brokerage.

Prior to joining Trimac, from December 2004 until November 2008, Scott was employed by ICS Courier as Vice President, Finance.  Prior to ICS Courier, he was Controller with the Nutech Group of Companies.

Scott is currently a Board member and Finance Committee member of the Mount Royal University Foundation.  He is also a Trustee and Finance Committee chair of All Children Trust, Calgary.  Scott is a member of Financial Executive International – Committee on Corporate Reporting.  In the past, Scott has been involved with the London Health Sciences Foundation as a Board and Finance Committee member; on the Education Committee of the Certified General Accountants Association (CGA) and has been a part-time lecturer with the University of Western Ontario, Fanshawe College and the CGA.

Scott is married to Tina Rossi and has a son Branden Calver, 25 years old who currently plays CFL football for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Scott is a very active athlete participating in annual ironman triathlons and marathons.

Ross is co-founder of The MBO Group, an advisory firm specializing in Management Buyouts. Ross’ previous positions include co-founder of Norvest Capital (an SME focused subordinated debt fund), Managing Director of McCarville Mezzanine Capital (subordinated debt fund), Partner of Penfund Management Ltd. (a merchant bank) and Vice President Bank of Boston (an asset- based lender). Ross is past Director of Canadian Australia Chamber of Commerce (CVCA), Co-Chair CVCA Canada and Chair, CVCA SME Committee. 

Ross has been a member of FEI since 2011 and was Chair, Private Company Finance Committee (2011-2013), a member of FEI Australia (2013-2017) and is currently a national Board Director, FEI Canada.

Ross has spent his entire career lending to, investing in and advising private companies on growth, acquisitions and successions. He has sat on numerous private company Advisory Boards and, along with his fellow FEI Private Company volunteers, has a passion in helping CFO’s and entrepreneurs to succeed and grow.

Ross is also one of four members of FEI’s Private Company Steering Committee and is Chairing Entrepreneur Successions

Kumbi is a finance and accounting professional who possesses a multi-cultural fluency having worked in Canada, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Kumbi is currently based in Toronto where he operates as an Associate as part of the team at Canada’s leading Private Debt provider, Bridging Finance. He operates alongside the CIO, CRO and President of the firm to provide working and growth-related capital to mid-size Canadian companies seeking alternative financing options to those offered by traditional lenders.

Prior to his current position, Kumbi gained invaluable experience at a top tier real estate owner/operator, Amica Senior Lifestyles. Based in their Toronto office, he spent his time in various finance and accounting roles leading to the successful completion of his Chartered Professional Accountant Designation.

In addition to his Designation, Kumbi holds a Bachelor of Accounting Degree from Nelson Mandela University and a Diploma in Management Accounting from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Andy is a member of the board of directors of the Royal Bank of Canada. He spent most of his career at Goldman Sachs & Co, in New York. Mr. Chisholm served as head and co-head of the Global Financial Institutions Group, in London and New York, and globally as senior strategy officer of the firm. He also served as co-chair of the Firmwide Commitments Committee, primarily overseeing the firm’s equity underwriting activities. He serves as the chair of the advisory board of the Ivey Business School; a board member of Evergreen Brick Works, in Toronto; and he sits on the advisory board of ArcTern Ventures, an early-stage clean-technology venture-capital firm. Andy was a member of the Canadian Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance.

Dr. Sean Cleary is the BMO Professor of Finance, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University. He is the Executive Director of the newly-established Institute for Sustainable Finance based at Smith, as well as the founder and Director of the Master of Finance program. He holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Toronto, an MBA, and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) designation. He is a CFA charter holder, is a current member of the CFA Society Toronto Advisory Council, and is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Toronto CFA Society and the Atlantic Canada CFA Society (where he served as President).

Dr. Cleary has authored 14 finance textbooks and has published more than 30 research articles, including several in top tier finance journals. His publications have been cited over 3,400 times and he has received several major research grants. His most recent research and educational interests focus on the field of sustainable finance. He is an Associate Editor for two finance journals and frequently serves as a reviewer for many of the top finance journals. Dr. Cleary regularly serves as an expert witness on cost of capital and capital markets.

Norm Ferguson is the Managing Director at Oglivie LLP, a 100 year old law firm located in Edmonton, Alberta.  Norm is also an active member of the CPA profession and Edmonton’s business community.  In 2020 Norm received CPA Alberta’s distinguished service award, recognizing members of the profession who have demonstrated a significant achievement within the last five years and brought honour to the profession.

Prior to joining Ogilvie LLP, Norm was Chief Administrative Office and Chief Financial Officer at Alberta Pensions, and a Director at TELUS Corporation. Norm brings over 30 years experience in business operations, corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, pensions, marketing and strategy to his role as Chair, FEI Canada’s Policy Forum.

John is CFO of DBG Canada Limited (a supplier to the Truck, Automotive, Military, Agriculture sectors as a Tier One and Tier Two provider). John’s previous positions include CFO of Nucap Industries (a supplier of brake technologies and components to OEMs) and Director Corporate Planning, Director Finance, and Treasurer / Controller for Nissan Canada.

John has been a member of FEI Canada for over 10 years, most recently as Chair of the Treasury and Capital markets committee.

John has extensive international experience in financing, capital markets, M&A, growing & restructuring businesses as well as HR, IT and change management. As an FEI member John’s desire is to share his experience as well as learn from the experience of others to allow members to maximize success in their respective endeavours.

John is also one of four members of FEI’s Private Company Steering Committee and is Chairing Private Company Finance

Martin has been with the Robert Walers Group for 15 years including working in their Dublin, Ireland and London, UK offices before returning home to his native Toronto to establish the Group’s first Canadian office in 2016. As Country Manager, Martin is responsible for leading and growing a team of specialized recruitment consultants that focus on placing mid-senior level accounting & finance and legal & compliance professionals into a client base that ranges from small-medium sized private businesses to multinational public companies. Martin graduated from McGill University with a BA in Political Science in 2006, is Co-Chair of St. Joseph Hospital’s Young Professional Network (SJYP) and is on the Toronto Chapter Board of the Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services (ACSESS).

As Managing Principal of the Toronto Cresa office for the last 10+ years, Jamie has grown the company to become one of Canada’s largest occupier-focused commercial real estate companies. Under Jamie’s leadership, Cresa’s Toronto office has grown by 81% percent, providing fully integrated services including strategy, transaction management, interior design, and project management services to office, industrial and retail occupiers.

In addition to providing leadership and strategic direction, Jamie also works alongside his team to service clients, many with whom have been clients for decades. The key to his success has been to understand his client’s business needs, growth strategy and culture, to truly be a strategic partner.

Margaret Gunawan, Managing Director, is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for BlackRock’s Canadian business. BlackRock is a global investment management and technology solutions firm that, as of December 31, 2019, manages over US$7.43 trillion in assets on behalf of investors worldwide.

In her current role leading as Head of Canada L&C and Chief Compliance Officer for the Canadian business, Margaret leads a team of legal and compliance professionals in providing day-to-day advice and support on a wide variety of legal and regulatory issues and strategic projects. Margaret brings over 15 years of experience across investment management and investment funds work, including both public and private funds, securities, pension, general corporate and tax issues affecting registered firms in Canada. As a key member of the Canadian senior management team, she sits on the Canada Executive Committee.

Margaret earned a BA degree from the University of Western Ontario and her law degree from the Osgoode Hall Law School. She is also a board member of several non-profit organizations, including The Learning Partnership.

Chiel has worked in a number of different roles at Google during his 15 years there. He currently works as a Trusted Advisor and Thought Leader to large global enterprises that are looking to modernize their IT and tap into the power of the Cloud, Machine Learning, Big Data and Analytics.

Chiel is a passionate technology advocate who has developed expertise in translating how technology can be applied to specific challenges, while benefiting all stakeholders involved.

Chiel was born and raised in the Netherlands and holds an International Business Degree from Maastricht University as well as a Schulich MBA. Chiel has lived in 6 different countries and currently calls Toronto home, where he lives with his wife and 2 sons.

“World class!”, “A Pioneer in Leadership”, “A Genius” – is how leaders report on Gerald’s impressive expertise in the area of behavioural economics and ‘Human-Leadership-Experience’. He is one of the world’s leading leadership educators, and plays among the highest league of global experts, at eye level with Simon Sinek and others. Gerald has numerous awards for his positive contribution to leadership. He is a member of the Club of Diplomats: Internationaler Club Im Auswärtigen Amt e.V., among other business clubs around the world and has an established network of trustworthy business leaders around the world.

Gerald commissioned himself to develop a One-Stop-Leadership-System for executives that is clear, concise and comprehensive, plus intercultural. His LEAD21-System offers twenty-one impressively effective leadership methods and mechanics, including how NASA Builds High Performance Teams. “With 7 of these 21 Methods & Mechanics you are equipped to lead TATA, TESLA, MERCEDES, SIEMENS – even a country! Plus, you can measure your team’s performance against NASA’s superior standards and develop them systematically and significantly”

Meet and Connect with Gerald: GeraldHuesch@global-leadership-school.com

Cory is co-founder and CEO of AltaML Inc., a developer of machine learning applications. He co-founded Investopedia, a financial education site that provided content and tools to help educate individual investors. From its founding in 1999, Investopedia became one of the most popular financial sites on the Web and was sold to Forbes Media in 2007. Cory is past-President of the Edmonton chapter for Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) and active in the Edmonton entrepreneurial community.

Howard is a Managing Director and Canada Market Leader at Duff & Phelps (one of the world’s largest independent valuation and corporate finance firms). He advises business owners and executives on acquisitions, divestitures, financing and shareholder value matters.  Howard’s previous positions include Chairman of M&A International Inc (an investment banking alliance that provides financial advisory services), Managing Director of Veracap International Inc. (a mid-market investment bank) and Managing Director of Campbell Valuation Partners.( Canada’s longest established and largest independent consultancy specializing in business valuation).  He has also held senior positions in industry and has served on the board of public, private and not-for-profit organizations.

Howard is the author of several books on the subjects of business valuation, M&A and corporate finance primarily published by CPA Canada. 

Howard has been a member of FEI Canada since 2002.  He is the past President of the Southern Golden Horseshoe Chapter and was a member of the inaugural Board of Directors for CFERF.  Howard was the recipient of the Frank S. Capon award in 2019.

Howard is also one of four members of FEI’s Private Company Steering Committee and is Chairing Private Company M&A 

Alyssa Lefaivre is the Senior Business Development Manager for AltaML. AltaML is an Edmonton based artificial intelligence and machine learning company that builds applied ML solutions and products to amplify and transform organizations.  With over 10 years of experience in business and partnership development, Alyssa is passionate about connecting people and organizations with nascent and disruptive technologies that elevate human potential.

In her spare time, Alyssa sits on the board for Global Woman of Vision. She always strives to be a conscious connector of people who are pursuing their purpose with passion, authenticity and gratitude.

Andrew Lemke is IBM’s North America cyber resilience executive for North America. In his two decades of experience, he has worked with every security discipline as an engineer and architect and from a business perspective he has held roles in product management, strategy and consulting. With five issued patents, he has also been involved with innovation and is continually thinking about ways to help IBM’s clients.

As Chief Financial Officer, Winnie Leung is responsible for the overall financial strategy, reporting and Treasury operations of Moneris including making investment and borrowing decisions, providing financial analysis to support business goals, and assessing acquisition targets.

Winnie is a strategic, results-oriented leader with over 20 years of experience. Over the course of her career, she has led the development for improved reporting, corporate governance, operations, administration, and internal controls.

Prior to Moneris, Winnie was a KPMG Audit Partner, servicing the technology sector. Winnie worked closely with both public and early-stage companies to help build and manage their businesses.

Winnie graduated from the University of Waterloo with a B.A. in Accountancy Studies and a Masters of Accounting. She holds the Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant designation from the Province of Ontario and Certified Public Accountant designation from the State of Illinois. Winnie also founded the Inclusive Workplace Council and the Executive Sponsor of Wellness@Moneris.

As the President and Broker of Record at Right at Home Realty Inc., John has 34+ years’ experience in the industry and a background that includes an award-winning commercial real estate sales career, management of corporate offices for one of Canada’s iconic real estate brands as well as ownership of a major residential real estate franchise.

John is an active participant in organized real estate having served as Director on the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) for six years and previously as Chair, Government Relations Committee and Chair, Finance Committee. John also served as Commercial Director on the 2018 OREA Board of Directors.

With more than 25 years of progressive experience in all areas of human capital solutions, Stephen Mill brings an unrivaled depth of expertise to his role as Canadian President of Executive Search. Under Stephen’s collaborative, resourceful, and solution-oriented leadership, Toronto-based Robert Half Executive Search is a Canadian market leader in the field of Clevel retained search.

Stephen began his career in the human capital industry at Robert Half. He rose to the rank of Senior Regional Vice President, growing multiple lines of business across Canada and the North Eastern US. As the Canadian President of Futurestep, a division of Korn/Ferry, specializing in executive retained search, Stephen successfully launched and staffed offices in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver and Calgary, increasing the Canadian team from two to 60 staff. As a member of the Canadian Korn/Ferry executive team, Stephen was responsible for the integration of multiple business lines as well as being a member of the global strategic account team.

Throughout his lengthy career in the industry, he has completed multiple leadership, communication and competency modelling courses with Harvard Business School, the Richard Ivey School of Business, and Decker Communications. Stephen is actively involved in a number of professional associations, and is often called upon to speak on hiring, recruiting, and retaining senior leadership teams.

For the past four years, Stephen has led the nomination committee and is an advisor to the selection committee for Canada’s CFO of the Year.

Colin Mooney is the Chief Digital Officer for Robert Half. Born in Ireland, Colin has a broad background in banking, venture capital, technology startups, and business transformation.

Before coming to Robert Half, Colin consulted with Amazon, Starbucks, Intel, Nike, T-Mobile, Toyota, Whole Foods, Walmart, Paramount Studios and many more in his role as an Innovation Director with Salesforce. He now lives in Seattle with his wife Katie and 2 daughters.

Marty Murray is a Director in the Business Performance Improvement practice of Protiviti.  Marty leads the Business Performance Improvement practice in Canada.  Marty’s work focuses on helping CFOs and Finance executives to transform their finance function into a value added business partner.  Marty’s project experience encompasses assisting clients with a wide range of finance transformation engagements with strong experience leading engagements from targeted process reviews to large, transformative projects including ERP enablement, shared services and outsourcing.  More recently, Marty has been working with clients to explore how they can leverage the latest digital technologies such as robotics process automation and machine learning to continue on their finance transformation journey.

Gord is the chief financial officer (CFO) of Cineplex Entertainment. He joined the company’s predecessor, Cineplex Odeon Corporation, in 1988 and has held various successive financial roles since that time. In 2004, he was appointed CFO and continued in this role following the company’s conversion to Cineplex Entertainment in 2011. Gord oversees the finance, purchasing, communications, risk management and business development areas of the corporation, in addition to overseeing World Gaming. He is also a member of the Finance and Audit Committee of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care.

He graduated from the University of Toronto with an MBA and holds a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation. Most recently, Gord was named Canada’s CFO of the Year for 2016.

• Professionally trained MC and Host across Canada. He is a graduate of Humber Radio, Carleton University Communications, Toastmasters International and Second City Comedy Improv
• He has hosted game shows, conferences, corporate seminars, product launches, music festivals, sporting events and weddings for the past 20 years.
• Justin has represented some of the most iconic brands in front of audiences including, Air Canada, Samsung, Nike, Coke, Cineplex, NFL Canada and the Toronto Maple Leafs where he consistently performed in front of 20,000 fans!
• He is a master in engaging with his audiences and uses his outgoing demnor to fire up the crowd with his trademark humor and upbeat tone.
• Follow him on Instagram @manonthemic or through his website: justinorfus.com

Sanjeev has over 15 years of combined professional experience. He’s trained and articled as a CPA, CA at KPMG and has held management positions in various industries in both private and public companies, including financial services, manufacturing, distribution and technology.

Sanjeev has overseen a broad range of Finance functions, including financial reporting, business planning and analysis, treasury, taxation and risk management.

In 1983, Charlie became NASA’s Director, Astrophysics. He led this multi-billion- dollar program for a decade building and launching 12 satellites. NASA awarded him the Creative Management Award, then an Outstanding Leadership Medal for excellence.

In 1990, Charlie’s team sent Hubble Space Telescope into space with a flawed mirror. He then mounted the space repair mission that fixed the telescope. For this NASA awarded him a very unusual 2nd Outstanding Leadership Medal. Nominated by NASA’s Chief of Staff, NASA awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal, “when the contribution is so extraordinary that other forms of recognition would be inadequate” for leadership of the Astrophysics Program. Charlie received a “Presidential Rank” award from Ronald Regan and from Bill Clinton for “sustained superior accomplishment.”

In 1993, Charlie joined the University of Colorado’s Business School as a professor of Leadership. Charlie earned an “Executive MBA” at the Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development.

In 1995, Charlie founded “4-D Systems” with sales of $50 Million during 2002 to 2012. His team won the International Coach Federation’s 2007 Prism Award for “enhanced excellence and business achievement with quantitative measurements…” His book, How NASA Builds Teams (Wiley, 2009) outlines how “4-D Systems” have boosted team performance in hundreds of NASA project teams, engineering teams, and management teams, including the people responsible for NASA’s most complex systems — the Space Shuttle, space telescopes, robots on Mars, and the mission back to the moon.

Charlie’s current passion is supporting human-developers worldwide in using his “4-D processes” to manage team Social Contexts, enhancing business performance and peoples’ lives.

Mr. Ross is a business executive with Vercerta, a firm that specializes in risk management services, with particular focus on business economics and environmental issues.  In prior roles, Mr. Ross held executive management positions, specializing in Finance and Information Technology, with Enbridge Inc., a leading energy infrastructure manager; W.W. Grainger, a pre-eminent industrial distributor; and, Unilever, a global provider of consumer products.  Mr. Ross is a Chartered Professional Accountant, holds an MBA (with distinction) from the Richard Ivey School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Stirling in Scotland.  He is also a Chartered Director, Chair of the Board of Nature Canada, Dillon Consulting and Green centre Canada. Bill is also past Chair of the Board for Financial Executives Canada.  Mr. Ross is the past Chair of the Energy and Environment Committee for the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, whose mandate is to advocate economic and environment policies to promote sustainable development in the region.  As a keen participant in outdoor activities, Bill has a passion for the preservation of wildlife and their natural habitat.

Michael Rousseau was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in October, 2007. In this role, he is responsible for Air Canada’s overall financial strategic direction, including all aspects of financial reporting and planning, investor relations, treasury and controller’s operations, taxation, pension administration and internal audit, as well as procurement and corporate real estate.

Michael brings to Air Canada extensive senior executive experience from the consumer business sector. He most recently held executive positions including those of President, and before that Executive Vice-President and CFO with Canada’s largest diversified general merchandise retailer, Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). While at HBC, he developed a comprehensive investor relations program, introduced an enhanced external and internal financial reporting process and improved the cost-effectiveness of the organization.

Prior to Joining HBC in 2001, he held senior executive financial positions at other large, international corporations, including Moore Corporation in Chicago, Silcorp Limited and the UCS Group (a division of Imasco Limited).

Michael holds a BBA degree from York University and has been a member of the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants since 1983.  He was named Canada’s CFO of the Year™ for 2017 by Financial Executives International Canada (FEI Canada), PwC Canada and Robert Half.

Scott Settersten is the Chief Financial Officer of Ulta Beauty, one of North America’s largest beauty retailers and premier destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin and hair care products and salon services. Ulta Beauty, with 2019 revenues of $7.4 Billion, operates more than 1,250 stores and a thriving ecommerce business in the U.S.

Scott is responsible for the core accounting and finance-related functions as well as Real Estate, Loss Prevention and Procurement.  Prior to joining Ulta Beauty, Scott held various roles in the assurance and risk management practices of PwC LLP, including a two year rotation in its Munich, Germany office.  He is a registered certified public accountant and certified management accountant.

Jeff is Vice President, Finance and Technology at Amacon.  Amacon is a privately owned large Vancouver based real estate developer and investor with activity in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Denver.  Jeff is responsible for Treasury, Accounting, Tax, Estate Planning and Technology.

Jeff has been extensively involved with FEI Canada for many years and is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of FEI. He has held a variety of positions within FEI including Chair of the Audit& Finance Committee, President of the Vancouver Chapter, Vice Chair, Treasury & Capital Markets and the Whistler Conference 2017 Chair.

Jeff is also one of four members of FEI’s Private Company Steering Committee and is Chairing Multi-Generation Family Businesses

Brian has spent 13 years working with professional services organizations as they face the complexities of growth and expansion within their industry. His focus has been on the intersection of finance and project management to help teams deliver their projects on budget, increase profit, and drive operational efficiency for back-office tasks such as invoicing and reporting.

A 2019 recipient of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Craig Skauge is the President, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Olympia Trust Company and the Executive Vice President and a Director of Olympia Financial Group Inc. (TSX: OLY). In addition, Craig is a founder and the President of Exempt Edge Inc., a company providing cloud based regulatory compliance solutions for participants in the Private Capital Markets.  Craig is a founder, director, and Vice Chair of the Private Capital Market Association of Canada and is a member of the Alberta Securities Commission’s Exempt Market Dealer Advisory Committee. Craig was previously a member of both the Ontario Securities Commission Exempt Market Advisory Committee and Small and Medium Enterprises Committee.

As a senior manager for the human capital management (HCM) strategy consultant group for UKG Incorporated, Teresa Smith advises business leaders and their leadership teams on how to better maximize people-centric strategies to achieve long-term success. With deep expertise in change management process and business innovation, Smith is an advocate for the unmatched value of an empowered workforce, and helps organizations more effectively attract prospective employees, engage existing employees, and holistically develop and manage an exceptional employee experience.

Pamela Steer is the Chief Financial Officer at Payments Canada. As a member of the executive management team, Pamela has overall responsibility for overseeing the financial and corporate planning functions of the organization.

Pamela joined Payments Canada from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), one of the largest insurance organizations in North America, where she was the CFO and Head of Finance and Employer Services.

Pamela is also past chair of the CFA Society Toronto, a member of the City of Toronto’s Investment Board and sits on the Advisory Board of the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance. In addition, she was appointed to the global advisory council for the Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) under The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation, and is a founding member of the Canadian chapter of the A4S CFO Leadership Network.

Pamela holds a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Waterloo, is a CPA Fellow, is accredited as a Chartered Accountant and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Business Valuator designations. In 2019, Pamela was awarded Canada’s CFO of the Year.

Craig Stewart leads national work on disaster resilience and climate change at the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) – the industry association representing the property and casualty insurance industry in Canada. IBC’s members employ over 122,000 Canadians and paid out $9.8 billion in property claims in 2016, primarily due to severe weather and wildfire.

Previous to his work with IBC, Craig directed the Ottawa Bureau and Arctic program for WWF Canada, handled pandemic liaison, trade liaison and humanitarian donations for GlaxoSmithKline (Canada) Ltd., directed a $60 million federal/provincial/territorial program at Natural Resources Canada to elevate the Canadian geospatial industry and founded the Miistakis Institute at the University of Calgary.

Craig holds a master of science from the University of Calgary, and a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Toronto. He is the author of two atlases on the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, British Columbia and Montana.

Dhruva Suthar is the Director of Security, IBM Canada, responsible for IBM’s Security Software, Services and Delivery teams.  Dhruva leads a team that is passionate about delivering value to clients and helping organizations, large and small, use market leading technology to protect their business from cyber threats.

Most recently Dhruva was the Chief of Staff to the General Manager of IBM Americas.  Gaining a broader view of the IBM business, our clients and the marketplace.

Dhruva has led teams across IBM in Canada, the United States and Latin America throughout her 20+ year career.  She has managed Sales Account Teams, Operations and Finance units.  In these roles, Dhruva has not only helped transform the IBM company, but she has leveraged those experiences to help our clients transform their businesses.

Dhruva holds a Finance degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University and completed a financial analysis and business management program at the Harvard Business School.

Nadeem Velani joined Canadian Pacific in March 2013 and served as Vice-President Investor Relations before becoming Chief Financial Officer in September 2016. Prior to CP, Nadeem spent 15 years at Canadian National (CN) where he worked in a variety of positions in Strategic and Financial Planning, Investor Relations, Sales and Marketing and the Office of the President and CEO.

As CP’s Executive Vice-President and CFO, Nadeem is a key member of the senior management team responsible for helping plan the long-term strategic direction of the company. Other responsibilities include financial planning, investor relations, reporting and accounting systems as well as pension, treasury and tax.

Nadeem holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Western University and an MBA in Finance/International Business from McGill.

In 2020 Nadeem was named Canada’s CFO Of The YearTM. He was also recognized by Institutional Investor magazine as a member of the All-Canada Executive Team and was ranked as the top CFO in the Capital Goods/Industrials sector.

Tracy Welsh has been with Prophix 17 years. Started as Consultant implementing over 75 customers in her first 5 years. This makes her an expert, allowing her to share her expertise on the challenges that face companies.  She has practical, hands on experience with how Prophix can help eliminate those challenges and more.  She now works with prospective customers, showing them how they too can move forward into the future with confidence & meet continuing challenges of these interesting times.

With 17 years at Prophix she has expertise in challenges that face companies. With practical experience, knowing Prophix can eliminate those challenges, she works with prospective customers showing them how to move forward into the future with confidence & meet challenges of these interesting times

Greg is the founder of SecureKey and brings more than 30 years of experience in fintech, security and mobile solutions to his role as Chief Executive Officer.

Greg is a serial entrepreneur whose earlier ventures include Footprint Software Inc., a financial software company he sold to IBM, and 724 Solutions Inc., a wireless infrastructure software provider he took public. He sits on several boards and has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Entrepreneur of the Year and one of the 100 Top Leaders in Identity.

Greg maintain a high-profile media presence and is frequently interviewed on digital economy, technology and data privacy.

Greg holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Life Sciences from the University of Toronto.

David Yager is semi-retired oil service executive and entrepreneur. Since 1970 he has worked in multiple oil service sector segments and from 1987 to 2012 was a founder, senior office and director of three successful publicly traded oil service companies.

Through Yager Management Ltd., he currently consults as an executive finance and management advisor to oil service companies as well as presenting upstream oil and gas industry overviews and trends to companies, boards, industry associations and other organizations. He was National Leader Oil Services for MNP LLP from 2012 to 2016. He is current acting CEO of a wellbore methane mitigation technology company.

David Yager has been active in business journalism and energy policy analysis since 1979. He has authored numerous energy policy position papers for oil service trade association. He is regular commentator about the industry in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio.

David Yager’s first book – “From Miracle to Menace – Alberta, A Carbon Story” – was released in April of 2019. The book analyzes how climate change, carbon politics and global energy demand have impacted the province and the future of Alberta’s – and Canada’s – most important resource industry.

Tanya Yakhnis, CPA, is the Chief Financial Officer for the Tandem Family of Companies (TFC). The full family of companies includes multiple entities across four industries including Tandem HR, the largest privately-held PEO in the Midwest. After implementation of Sage Intacct six years ago Tanya played an integral role in developing a shared services organization, designing new service offerings and improvements to staffing models. Her efforts resulted in Tandem’s growth to over $800M in gross revenue along with significant geographic expansion and improvement in overall health of the organization.