From 2003 to 2023, Daniel was the driving force in building Argyle Communications (now Changemakers) into Canada’s largest management-owned engagement, communication and reputation advisory firm growing to $40M in revenue, 175 employees and ten North American offices by 2023. Earlier in his career, Daniel held senior communications roles in the Canadian government, including serving as Senior Policy Advisor and Acting Chief of Staff to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the latter role, he was a member of the Canadian delegation to the G7 Economic Summit

Daniel has spoken to business audiences on every continent, lectured at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business since 1996, and contributed to leading public relations and marketing textbooks. He appears regularly in print and broadcast media, including weekly commentary on CBC Radio and Global News during the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections. In 2021, Daniel was named one of the world’s “top 100” social media influencers on public relations.

Born in Spain to a Latin American family and raised in Toronto, Daniel speaks English, French and Spanish. He holds two degrees from Queen’s University — a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies and a Master of Business Administration. He is also a certified corporate director, with an ICD.D designation in corporate governance from the University of Toronto. Daniel has served as vice chair of the Queen’s University Board of Trustees, a leader in the international Scouting movement and a board member of Social Venture Partners International.

In 2025, Daniel was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his contributions to his community, the province and the country.

Professor Christopher Yip has served as Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering since July 2, 2019, after serving two years as the inaugural Associate Vice-President, International Partnerships in the University’s Office of the Vice-President, International. Under Dean Yip’s direction and leadership, U of T Engineering continues to build on its reputation as a top-ranked engineering school globally. The Faculty’s strong focus on the impact of engineering solutions in building equitable and sustainable communities worldwide — whether through experiential learning opportunities for students or collaborative research initiatives with partners in industry — has been key to its success on the world stage.

Dean Yip is a faculty member with the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and holds cross-appointments to the Donnelly Centre and the Department of Biochemistry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Joannah and Brian share a passion for pragmatic solutions to address climate change and the prevention of chronic disease by promoting healthy dietary patterns. To that end, they have made climate change and food systems the primary focus of their family foundation. 

Brian Lawson is a Vice Chair and a Director of Brookfield Corporation.  Brian joined Brookfield in 1988 and has held senior management positions in Brookfield’s investment and finance operations, including serving as CFO of Brookfield from 2002 to 2020. In 2013, he was selected as Canada’s CFO of the Year, and he has served as co-chair of the Canadian CFO Chapter of the Prince of Wales Accounting for Sustainability.  He is the current Chancellor of Trinity College at the University of Toronto and is serving as co-chair of the Defy Gravity Campaign for the university. 

As co-founder and president of their family foundation, Joannah collaborates with other philanthropic foundations, not-for-profits, universities and think tanks to move Canada and the world toward nutrient dense food systems that are produced sustainably. Before becoming certified as a nutritionist, Joannah led a successful career in organization change management in the high-tech sector and was recognized with the Nortel President’s Award of Excellence for Innovation.  She is a current member of the Board of Governors at Upper Canada College and serves on UCC’s executive campaign cabinet.

Brian and Joannah are proud recipients of the University of Toronto’s Arbor Award for volunteer service, Doctor of Sacred Letters (honoris causa) from Trinity College, Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of Toronto, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal. 

Joannah and Brian share a passion for pragmatic solutions to address climate change and the prevention of chronic disease by promoting healthy dietary patterns. To that end, they have made climate change and food systems the primary focus of their family foundation. 

Brian Lawson is a Vice Chair and a Director of Brookfield Corporation.  Brian joined Brookfield in 1988 and has held senior management positions in Brookfield’s investment and finance operations, including serving as CFO of Brookfield from 2002 to 2020. In 2013, he was selected as Canada’s CFO of the Year, and he has served as co-chair of the Canadian CFO Chapter of the Prince of Wales Accounting for Sustainability.  He is the current Chancellor of Trinity College at the University of Toronto and is serving as co-chair of the Defy Gravity Campaign for the university. 

As co-founder and president of their family foundation, Joannah collaborates with other philanthropic foundations, not-for-profits, universities and think tanks to move Canada and the world toward nutrient dense food systems that are produced sustainably. Before becoming certified as a nutritionist, Joannah led a successful career in organization change management in the high-tech sector and was recognized with the Nortel President’s Award of Excellence for Innovation.  She is a current member of the Board of Governors at Upper Canada College and serves on UCC’s executive campaign cabinet.

Brian and Joannah are proud recipients of the University of Toronto’s Arbor Award for volunteer service, Doctor of Sacred Letters (honoris causa) from Trinity College, Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of Toronto, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal. 

Erika Potrz is an operations executive driving innovation at the intersection of infrastructure and startups. As President of Hoverlink Ontario Inc., she is supporting a cross-disciplinary team to bring North America’s first high-speed passenger hovercraft service to life—connecting the two largest tourism regions of Toronto and Niagara in just 30 minutes.

With a background spanning healthcare, consumer industries, and Lean Six Sigma process improvement, Erika has built her career on scaling complex operations and aligning diverse stakeholders. At Hoverlink, she works hand-in-hand with business stakeholders, regulators, and government partners to turn a bold vision for sustainable mobility, tourism acceleration into a reality.

Her skills in process optimization, market strategy, and stakeholder alignment have been instrumental in rallying government, tourism, and transit partners behind Hoverlink’s mission.

Leslie Woo, CRE® is an award-winning city-builder with 25+ years of experience shaping sustainable communities in the Greater Toronto Region. A tri-sector leader, Leslie has worked across public, private, and non-profit sectors, blending her expertise as an urban planner, architect, and civic innovator. As CEO of CivicAction, she empowers emerging leaders to tackle urban challenges through cross-sector collaboration.

Previously, Leslie led strategic planning for a $60B transit expansion at Metrolinx. She serves on the boards of Waterfront Toronto and Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care, and is the founder of shebuildscities.org, amplifying the voices of women city-builders.

A Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto and advisor at the University of Toronto’s Infrastructure Institute, Leslie holds degrees in Planning, Architecture, and Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo. Born in Trinidad, she’s a proud Toronto east-ender and mum of two.

As the Chief Investment Officer at Infrastructure Ontario (IO), Heather Grey-Wolf provides strategic leadership over the organization’s Development and Asset Management business lines. In this capacity, she directs IO’s delivery of transit-oriented communities, landmark developments, and social-purpose infrastructure projects, while also overseeing the stewardship and optimization of the provincial government’s extensive building and land portfolio. Her role encompasses both shaping transformative development initiatives and ensuring the effective management of assets that serve Ontario’s long-term economic and social objectives.

Heather brings a rare and valuable combination of experience from both the public and private sectors, with over two decades of leadership in real estate, development, and construction across Canada. Throughout her career, she has consistently driven complex, high-value

programs from conception to completion, navigating multifaceted stakeholder environments and achieving measurable results for government and communities. She is recognized for her ability to lead large-scale initiatives, cultivate high-performance team cultures, and deliver projects that balance innovation, fiscal responsibility, and public benefit.

Heather holds a Master of Business Administration from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, as well as a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science (Architecture) from McGill University. She is also a licensed architect with the Ontario Association of Architects.

Karen Mazurkewich, vice-president of stakeholder relations and communications joined Toronto Pearson in July 2022. She has worked to build an in-house media team able to report and respond in real-time to operational issues, undertook corporate and employee rebrands, and created a new government relations and corporate initiatives team to support the 10-year Pearson LIFT (long-term investment in facilities and terminals) program which was announced in April 2024.

 Prior to joining Toronto Pearson, she was vice-president of strategic communications at MaRS, the largest innovation hub in North America. At MaRS, she also built a unique in-house agency and content studio supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs and founded a new type of think tank that produces data-driven insights about the Canadian ecosystem.

Karen spent a decade as a senior journalist at the Wall Street Journal in Asia and the Financial Post in Toronto, covering a wide variety of topics ranging from business innovation to international art markets. After leaving journalism, she co-founded a tech start-up, and managed her own consulting practice to help traditional media companies tackle digital transformation.

She has authored reports on innovation for the Canadian International Council and the University of Waterloo, programmed events for various creative agencies such as Interactive Ontario and directed documentaries for the Discovery Channel. Karen began her career as a communications officer for the National Film Board of Canada. She is the author of books on Canadian animation and Chinese antique furniture.

Claudia Krywiak is the President and CEO at the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI), a not-for-profit organization that accelerates the development, commercialization, and adoption of new technologies. 

As a champion of innovation in Ontario and across Canada, Claudia has been with OCI since 2011. She has actively promoted innovation as a key driver of competitiveness, productivity, and economic growth. Her leadership covers a broad range of initiatives, including those in artificial intelligence, autonomous and electric vehicles, 5G and next-generation networks, cybersecurity, and clean technologies. 

Previously, Dr. Krywiak was the Vice-President of Business Development at Mitacs. She started her career at Bruker Corporation enabling scientists to make breakthrough discoveries. 

Claudia serves on the Boards of Directors for the Conference Board of Canada and Waterloo’s Accelerator Centre. 

David Sinton is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. He is the Academic Director of the Climate Positive Energy Initiative. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Dr. Sinton was an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Victoria, and a Visiting Associate Professor at Cornell University. He received a BASc from the University of Toronto, MEng from McGill University and his PhD from the University of Toronto. The Sinton group develops fluid systems for applications in energy. The group is application-driven and is currently developing fluid systems for CO2 capture and conversion and to develop energy efficient industrial working fluids. The group previously developed a library of industrial fluid testing systems to improve the environmental and economic performance of energy operations, now commercialized through the startup Interface Fluidics Ltd. Dr. Sinton was selected to be an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellow in 2016. He is also a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Engineering Institute of Canada, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Canadian Academy of Engineering, and Royal Society of Canada.

Mohammad Qureshi is the Corporate Chief Information Officer and Associate Deputy Minister within the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement (MPBSDP), leading the Government Information Technology Ontario (GovTechON) organization. 

GovTechON is home to professionals who work in partnership with ministries across the Government of Ontario to develop, deploy and maintain technology to deliver enhanced services and business outcomes for Ontarians.  

GovTechON maintains a large portfolio of complex, enterprise-grade technologies, at a scale reflecting Ontario’s position as Canada's largest province, serving a population of 15 million and a public service of 60,000+.

With more than 20 years in public service, Mohammad’s mission has remained the same: enable the public sector to harness the benefits of transformative technology and deliver better outcomes for people. 

Before Mohammad’s appointment as CCIO in 2021, he was named Ontario’s first Chief Information Security Officer, later moving to Chief Information Officer of the Infrastructure Technology Services division. In 2022, Mohammad was recognized as the CIO of the Year within the public sector category, by IT World Canada.

Shatha is a strategic leader who brings over a decade of experience working in the clean technology, sustainability, and innovation eco-systems. She has experience managing large scale projects including an $85 million government grant program to drive innovative climate change related technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She has led multidisciplinary teams and executed many commercialization plans and technology development strategies. She is also a mentor at various start-up incubators and accelerators including Cherie Blair Foundation, and Futurepreneur. She is an active panelist and speaker at industry events. Shatha is fluent in English, French and Arabic and has a PhD in Chemistry.

Dr. John Kelly was appointed Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) in August 2020.

John brings more than 25 years of leadership in the agricultural, food and life sciences industries, spanning private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to joining OMAFRA, John was Chief Innovation Officer at Bioenterprise Corporation, where he was responsible for leading the acceleration of agri-tech business ventures. He has a wealth of experience and has held various executive positions with start-ups, venture capital, multinational companies and not-for-profits, including KeliRo Company Inc., Bioenterprise Capital, DNAstack, KiKi Maple Water, Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association, MaRS Landing, Land O’Lakes, Rhone-Poulenc Canada Inc. and Aventis CropSciences Inc.

An extensive publisher, he has authored hundreds of research and extension publications throughout his career, attracted investment and been a serial entrepreneur and investor himself.

He has also served on numerous boards of directors including Life Sciences Ontario, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Genomics, Ontario Hazelnut Association, Ontario Lavender Association and others.

Deputy Minister Kelly holds a B.Sc. (Agr). and Ph.D. from the University of Guelph and a Master of Science from the University of Alberta. He has also held Adjunct Professorships in the Department of Animal Biosciences and the Department of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph.

Cathy Lennon is the general manager of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Ontario’s largest general farm organization, representing more than 38,000 farm family business members across the province.
An early career position with the Agricultural Adaptation Council ignited her passion for working for and with farmers. Over the last two decades, she has held senior positions with Ontario Sheep Farmers, Agricorp, Farm Credit Canada and Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers before joining the OFA in 2019.

In 2024, Lennon was recognized with a King Charles III Coronation Medal for her contributions to the agriculture industry and this year was named as one of 2025’s Influential Women in Agriculture by Annex Business Media. She is treasurer of the Poultry Industry Council and chair of the Curriculum Advisory Committee for the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program.

Lennon is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program.

Dr. Ian J. Potter FCAE is President & Chief Executive Officer of Vineland, and until recently also President and Chief Executive Officer of Vineland’s subsidiary, Platform Genetics, Inc. Prior to Vineland, Ian served as Vice President, Engineering and Vice President, Business Management with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and before NRC as the Chief Operating Officer at Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures (AITF). During his 10 years at AITF and its predecessor, the Alberta Research Council (ARC), he held several leadership and management positions in energy, environment, greenhouse gas technology and human resources. Dr. Potter has a successful track record in innovation and strong experience of developing and collaborating with a broad network of stakeholders. He holds a BEng (Hons) in Marine Engineering from the Royal Naval Engineering College Manadon, Plymouth, UK and an MSc and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary. He is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Marine Engineer in the UK, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Greg Ogiba is a Toronto-based leader in healthy foods and global supply chains, with deep experience working with international food producers and North American retailers. He is currently CEO of Windmill Farms, a top mushroom grower producing over 1 million pounds weekly at cutting-edge facilities in Canada and the U.S.

Previously, Greg served as President of Mike and Mike’s Inc., a major distributor of organic produce and snacks, and as COO of AM Fresh, where he led citrus and grape imports across North America. He has also advised multiple startups, helping them innovate and launch new products.

Greg is passionate about the future of food and building efficient supply chains. He teaches Supply Chain Management and B2B Marketing as a visiting faculty member at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Business.

He holds a B.A. in International Business from the University of Rhode Island, an MBA from Queen’s University, and is a CPA.

Fate joined Mackenzie in 2017. She oversees the Sustainability, Marketing and Client Experience teams. With more than 15 years of experience in the financial sector, she has championed sustainable investment practices and capabilities to position Mackenzie and its investment boutiques as leaders in the space. In mid-2023, Fate took on an additional role as head of marketing and client experience. Since then, she has focused on elevating the voice of the client in marketing through research, insights and innovation, enabling fact-based and client-centric decision-making across the organization.

Fate earned a BComm from the University of Windsor and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).