SPEAKERS 

Mayor Marianne Alto

Mayor Victoria City Council

Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto is a facilitator by trade with university degrees in law and science.  A businesswoman active in community causes for decades, Marianne was first elected to Victoria City Council in 2010, and elected as Mayor in 2022.

Mayor Alto is currently co-chair of the Victoria/Esquimalt Police Board, in addition to many other committees and organizational bodies in Victoria, the capital region, and beyond. Mayor Alto is matriarch of the City Family (a unique collaboration among the City, the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations) having nurtured a long, rich relationship with those Nations. 

A zealous advocate for increased housing supply and affordability, Mayor Alto actively facilitates civil discourse toward the realization of an intentionally transformed city.  Mayor Alto convened the city’s first collaboration with Island Health and service providers working in the various fields of harm reduction, addictions and mental health, and initiated the city’s first open data portal, driving the city’s commitment to open government.  She continues to be committed to expanding the city’s efforts at smart city technology, in particular as it enables Victoria’s capacity for climate adaptation, disaster planning and response, optimizing citizen engagement and inclusion, public transportation and the lifecycles of infrastructure assets.  

Married and a mom of two boys, Marianne is a lifelong activist who vigorously advocates for equity, inclusion and fairness for everyone.  She owns and operates Azimuth Research & Consulting, a firm specializing in problem solving, change management and facilitation. 

 

Dr. Mike Ananny

Associate Professor Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, University of Southern California

 

Mike Ananny is an Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism and Affiliated Faculty of Science, Technology, and Society at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

He studies how people build the digital news infrastructures, algorithmic systems, and artificial intelligences that create public life — and tries to show how these cultures and systems can better serve public interests.

He co-directs the interdisciplinary USC collective MASTS (Media As SocioTechnical Systems), the Sloan Foundation project Knowing Machines (with Kate Crawford and Jason Schultz), and the USC Center on Generative AI and Society, and is on the Steering Committee of USC’s Center on Science, Technology and Public Life.

He was a 2022 Visiting Professor at the University of Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities, a 2018-19 Berggruen Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and has held fellowships and scholarships with USC’s Society of Fellows in the Humanities, Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Harvard’s Berkman-Klein Center on Internet and Society, Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, LEGO, and Interval Research.  He was a founding member of Media Lab Europe, a postdoc with Microsoft Research’s Social Media Collective, and has consulted for LEGO, Mattel, and Nortel Networks.

He is the author of Networked Press Freedom (MIT Press, 2018), co-editor (with Laura Forlano and Molly Wright Steenson) of Bauhaus Futures (MIT Press, 2019), and is preparing a manuscript on the public power of silence (under contract with Yale University Press). He publishes in various interdisciplinary academic venues including Journalism & Media Studies, Science & Technology Studies, and Critical Internet Studies, and regularly gives expert commentary to national and international media on contemporary events and controversies.

He holds a PhD from Stanford University (Communication), a Masters from the MIT Media Laboratory, a Bachelors (Computer Science & Human Biology) from the University of Toronto, and writes for popular press publications including The Atlantic, WIRED, Harvard’s Nieman Lab, and the Columbia Journalism Review.

Anjali Appadurai

Director Climate Emergency Unit

Honourable Janet Austen

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

Honourable Lloyd Axworthy

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada

Dr. Cindy Blackstock

Professor School of Social Work, McGill University

A member of the Gitksan First Nation with 25 years of social work experience in child protection and indigenous children’s rights, Dr. Cindy Blackstock is currently Executive Director of First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada, Associate Professor & Director of FNCARES (First Nations Children’s Action Research and Education Service) at University of Alberta and Professor in McGill’s School of Social Work. Dr. Blackstock’s research interests are indigenous theory and the identification & remediation of structural inequalities affecting First Nations children, youth & families.

An author of over 50 publications & a widely sought after public speaker, Dr. Blackstock has collaborated with other Indigenous leaders to assist the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in the development and adoption of a General Comment on the Rights of Indigenous children. Recently, she also worked with Indigenous young people, UNICEF & the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to produce a youth friendly version of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child. Her promotion of culturally based & evidence informed solutions has been recognized by the Nobel Women’s Initiative, the Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Frontline Defenders and many others.

Senator Andrew Cardozo

Senator for Ontario

Senator Andrew Cardozo is a recognized expert on public policy, a columnist, and an artist. His policy areas of expertise span Canadian government and politics, broadcasting and cultural policy, skills development especially the future of work, multiculturalism and diversity.

He was appointed to the Senate on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in November 2022, before which he was the President and co-founder of the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy.  Over the past decade he worked to elevate open public policy dialogue by bringing together thought leaders from all political backgrounds, from business, labour, NGOs and the broader public to address the major challenges facing Canadian society.  Prior to that he has been Executive Director of the Alliance of Sector Councils working on skills development across some 30 economic sectors, and Executive Director of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council, where he worked on policies and legislation in employment equity, immigration, multiculturalism and the Canadian constitution.

Senator Cardozo has been a columnist for the Toronto Star and Broadcast Dialogue, and since 2014, a regular contributor to the Hill Times.  He was also an Adjunct Professor and Lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University.

He has served as a Commissioner of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) where he championed Canadian content, diversity in broadcasting, and played a key role in the licensing of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN).  Since then, he has volunteered as an adjudicator for the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.

Senator Cardozo was a stay-at-home dad when his children were young. An immigrant from South Asia, with origins in Goa, India and Karachi, Pakistan, he has worked on the successful integration of diversity issues in the mainstream of Canadian public policy.  He was a board member of the Catholic Centre for Immigrants (Ottawa), the YMCA-YWCA of the National Capital Region, Media Awareness Network, the Institute of Media Arts, Policy and Civil Society (Vancouver) and has been active with Big Brothers Big Sisters (Ottawa).

He has been the recipient of several awards: the 2023 DreamKeepers Citation for Outstanding Leadership award commemorating the historic role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, the Reelworld Film Festival Guardian Angel Award (Toronto), le Prix annuel du Centre de recherche-action sur les relations sociales, CRARR (Montreal), and Big Brother of the Year (Ottawa).

Senator Cardozo holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science from York University and a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Carleton University.  He has also studied art at the Ottawa School of Art and is an accomplished artist, generally of abstract landscapes and has been featured in several art shows in the Ottawa area, while his art hangs in many countries. He has two adult children who live and work in Ottawa.

Dr. Liz Carlson-Manathara

Associate Professor School of Social Work at Laurentian University

 

Dr. Elizabeth Carlson-Manathara is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Laurentian University and a non-Indigenous scholar whose work focuses on the roles of non-Indigenous peoples in decolonization and Treaty relationships, and on anti-colonial methodologies and decolonial change through public education and film. She is a co-author of the book Living in Indigenous Sovereignty and a filmmaker with the Stories of Decolonization Film Project.

Ralph Chami

CEO & Co-Founder Blue Green Future, LLC

Dan Ciuriak

Senior Fellow Centre for International Governance Innovation

Christina Clarke

Executive Director Indigenous Prosperity Centre

Dean Wanda Costen

Dean Smith School of Business at Queen's University

Gregor Craigie

Author

Jeff Cyr

Managing Partner & Co-Founder Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds

Senator Donna Dasko

Senator for Ontario

Donna Dasko was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on June 6, 2018.

She is a respected national pollster, media commentator, and private sector business leader with considerable public policy experience. She holds a Ph.D. and MA from the University of Toronto and a BA (Hons) from the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Dasko was formerly Senior Vice-President of Environics Research Group Ltd, and built the firm from a small consultancy into one of Canada’s leading research firms. During her career, she led major research studies for federal and provincial departments and agencies, private sector clients, and NGOs, in areas including the economy, budget priorities, tobacco control, health promotion, national unity, and many others. She was a leader in developing media-sponsored polling including the Globe-Environics Poll and election and special feature polling for the CBC.

As a community volunteer, she served in many roles including President of St. Stephen’s Community House, Director of the United Way of Greater Toronto, Governor of the Canadian Unity Council (devoted to Canadian unity and federalism), Chair of the National CEO Roundtable for the Alzheimer Society, and Advisor to GreenPac (which promotes environmental leadership).

Dr. Dasko’s passion for the promotion of women in politics has guided much of her advocacy. She is a Co-Founder and former National Chair of Equal Voice, a non-partisan organization aimed at electing more women in Canada. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), which promotes equality rights for women. In 2015, she co-founded the Campaign for an Equal Senate for Canada, an initiative to promote a gender-equal Senate. She works with National Democratic Institute on issues related to women in politics internationally.

She is a Senior Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and taught in its Master’s program before her Senate appointment. She is a member of Statistics Canada’s Advisory Committee on Social Conditions.

Dr. Dasko was born and raised in Winnipeg. She has two children, a daughter and son.

Senator Colin Deacon

Senator for Nova Scotia

The Honourable Colin Deacon’s entrepreneurial background brings a unique perspective to Canada’s Upper Chamber. Before his June 2018 appointment to the Senate as an Independent Senator representing Nova Scotia, Senator Deacon spent much of his career turning ideas into organizations, products and services that improve lives.

In 2009, he founded BlueLight Analytics, a company in the restorative dentistry field. The company has successfully commercialized new technologies that improve the longevity of dental fillings. Their products were sold in dozens of countries, and they worked with most dental multinationals. Until 2006, he served as CEO of SpellRead, which improved reading skills among children and adults, and was regularly cited as one of Atlantic Canada’s fastest-growing companies. Senator Deacon has also contributed to the charitable sector, where he has been an active member on the board of several organizations, including those dedicated to children’s health and well-being, mentorship, and celebrating social innovators.

His career has focused on enabling collaboration between research and business, and Senator Deacon continues to be a strong advocate for knowledge mobilization.

As part of the Senate, he has been a strong advocate for entrepreneurs, harnessing the digital economy, updating Canada’s privacy legislation, ensuring global competitiveness of Canadian firms, and promoting Canadian leadership on climate change.

Senator Deacon is staunchly independent and believes in collaborative work amongst senators of all groups, and all parliamentarians. He supports efforts that enable the Senate to become a less partisan, more independent-minded, modern and transparent institution.

When appointed to the Senate, he was tasked with one request: to hold the government to account and challenge it to be better. He intends to continue disrupting the status quo and challenging the federal government to improve for the benefit of all Canadians.

Since 2018, Senator Deacon has been an active and highly engaged member of the Standing Senate Committees on Banking, Trade and Commerce as well as Agriculture and Forestry.

President Patrick Deane

Principal and Vice-Chancellor Queen’s University

Janis Dubno

Managing Director Sorenson Impact Center, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah

Supriya Dwivedi

Senior Counsel Enterprise Canada

Kristi Fairholm Mader

Managing Director Thrive Impact Fund

Dallas Gislason

Interim CEO, South Island Prosperity Partnership

President Kevin Hall

President University of Victoria

Ava Hill

Chief Six Nations of the Grand River

Ava Hill, Mohawk, Wolf Clan, was elected Chief of the 56th Elected Council of the Six Nations of the Grand River on November 16th, 2013. She was elected to a second term as the Chief on November 19th, 2016. Prior to her election as Chief, Ava served three terms as a Councillor.

Chief Hill was Six Nations representative as one of the Host First Nations for the 2015 Pan Am Games which were held in Toronto in July 2015, as well as the North American Indigenous Games, which were also held in Toronto in July 2017. She has also been active on international files attending the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the past few years.

Ava has extensive experience working with many First Nations and Aboriginal organizations locally, regionally and nationally. She served as the Executive Director of the Chiefs of Ontario Office, the Executive Assistant to a former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and the Executive Assistant to the Co-Chair of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

Chief Hill currently represents the Chiefs of Ontario on the Ontario Provincial Government’s Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion.

She has also dedicated many years as a member and volunteer for several agencies and committees both in major cities and in her home community.

Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon

Executive Director Cascade Institute

 

Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon is one of Canada’s foremost public intellectuals and a bestselling author. He is considered among the world’s leading experts on the intricate links between nature, technology, and society, with his current research focusing on threats to global security in the 21st century. Tackling subjects such as economic instability and climate change as well as how people, organizations, and societies can better solve complex problems, Homer-Dixon shows audience how to adapt and prosper in a world of ever-increasing complexity.

Homer-Dixon is currently the founder and executive director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. Previously, he directed the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto for nearly two decades. In 2008, Homer-Dixon joined the faculty at the University of Waterloo where he founded the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation. He retired from his faculty position as a University Research Chair in 2021.

A bestselling author, Homer-Dixon has written multiple award-winning books, including The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization; The Ingenuity Gap: Can We Solve the Problems of the Future?; and Environment, Scarcity, and Violence. His latest book, Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril, was published in 2020. Homer-Dixon also writes regularly for the Globe and Mail and has been published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Scientific American, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Financial Times. He’s been called “one of the best-informed and most brilliant writers on global affairs today,” by The Guardian.

A sought-after speaker, Homer-Dixon has spoken at leading universities, to government agencies, and to major industry associations throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. He has also provided briefings to the Privy Council Office, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of Defence in Canada; the Foreign Office in the United Kingdom; and to the White House, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, and the State Department in the United States.

Homer-Dixon received a Bachelor or Arts in political science from Carleton University and a PhD from MIT in international relations, defense policy, and conflict theory.

 

Dr. Emily Huddart Kennedy

Associate Professor The University of British Columbia

Cordell Jacks

CEO Regenerative Capital Group

Raj Kalia

Co-lead Dark Matter Labs Capital

Tiara Letourneau

CEO Rewrite Capital Advisors

Honourable John Manley

Former Minister of Finance of Canada

Professor Thomas Marois

Professor of Political Science McMaster University

Senator Marilou McPhedran

Senator for Manitoba

Born and raised in rural Manitoba, Canada, called to the Bar of Ontario (1978-2007), named a Member of the Order of Canada (1985) in recognition of her co-leadership in the successful campaign for stronger gender equality protections in the Canadian constitution and appointed to the Senate of Canada by Governor General David Johnston on the recommendation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016, Marilou McPhedran is a legally trained advocate and educator who specialized in teaching and developing systemic and sustainable change mechanisms to promote equality and diversity, having co-founded several internationally recognized non-profit Canadian organizations, such as LEAF – the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, which has conducted constitutional equality test cases and interventions for 30-plus years, METRAC – the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children, and the Gerstein Crisis Centre for homeless discharged psychiatric patients.

She founded the International Women’s Rights Project in 1998 and the Institute for International Women’s Rights at Global College in 2009 – based on her intergenerational models “evidence-based advocacy” and “lived rights”. When Chief Executive Officer of a Federal Centre of Excellence based at York University, Canada, she directed staff and programs that included a cyber research network on women’s health and rights.

She has developed human rights courses online and in the classroom and has chaired three independent inquiries into the sexual abuse of patients (1991-2015), co-investigated and co-authored applied research, including: the first international study to assess impact of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women in ten countries (1998-2000); What about accountability to the patient? (2001), the National Study on Rural, Remote and Northern Women’s Health in Canada (2001-2003); the textbook, Preventing Sexual Abuse: a Legal Guide for Health Care Professionals (2004); a strategy paper for Canada’s ambassador to the UN, Engendering the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ Doctrine (2005); Women’s Constitutional Activism in South Africa and Canada (2009 International Review of Constitutionalism); 28-Helluva Lot to Lose in 27 Days: The Ad Hoc Committee and Women’s Constitutional Activism in the Era of Patriation (2015).

Her authorship includes: the 2006 National Journal of Constitutional Law article, Impact of S.15 equality rights on Canadian society: beacon or laser?; the 2007 Supreme Court Law Review article A Truer Story: Constitutional Trialogue; and the 2014 Michigan State Law Review article, Complements of CEDAW – U.S. foreign policy coherence on women’s human rights and human security.

A pioneer in research and advocacy to promote human rights through systemic reform in law, medicine, education, governance, she chaired the 2006 international Forum on Women’s Activism in Constitutional Reform, held the Ariel F. Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law, was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission in 2007, and was Principal (Dean) of The University of Winnipeg Global College in Manitoba from June 2008 to July 2012, then served as the Human Rights Fellow in the UNFPA Geneva Liaison Office and taught as a Visiting Professor at the UN-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica in 2012-13.

From 2008 to 2019, she was a tenured full professor at the University of Winnipeg. She was the founding director of the Institute for International Women’s Rights at Global College from 2009 to 2016 and the creator / director of the annual ‘Human Rights UniverCity’ summer institute based at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights from 2011 to 2018.

Senator Marie-Françoise Mégie

Senator for Québec

Senator Marie-Françoise Mégie was appointed to the Senate on November 25, 2016, by the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau. Senator Mégie represents the province of Québec and the Senatorial Division of Rougemont.

Senator Mégie’s professional career encompasses over 35 years as a family physician and nearly 30 years as a university professor. Born in Haiti, she arrived in Quebec in 1976, and rose through the ranks of the medical profession while also pursuing university teaching, becoming a clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Montréal.

She helped establish the Maison de soins palliatifs de Laval in 2009, where she served as medical director until December 31, 2016.

Her medical practice focused on providing health care services for seniors, persons with severe disabilities and end-of-life patients.

Senator Mégie served as President of the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad (AMHE) for five years, and chaired the organization Médecins francophones du Canada from 2014 to 2016.

She was also the editor-in-chief of the Médecins francophones du Canada’s newsletter.

Dr. Mégie has received numerous awards for her professional, volunteer and personal contributions.

Senator Julie Miville-Dechene

Senator for Québec

Since her appointment to the Senate in 2018, Julie Miville-Dechêne has presented two senatorial initiative bills: the new law Bill S-211, against forced labour and child labour in supply chains, effective January 1, 2024; and Bill S-210 which would make it mandatory to implement age verification mechanisms to protect minors from exposure to online pornography. This latest bill was adopted in April 2023 by the Senate and is currently under study in the House of Commons.

She is vice-chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications.

Julie Miville-Dechêne has had a long career in the public service where she stood out for her talent as a communicator.

Very early on, she devoted herself to journalism, a career that would take her across Quebec, Canada, and the United States for more than 25 years, and through which she would meet people from every culture and background. Julie Miville-Dechêne was a correspondent for CBC-Radio-Canada television in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Washington. She covered the constitutional talks, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the US intervention in Haiti to name a few.

In 2007, she became the first woman ombudsman of Radio-Canada, an experience that helped her gain solid expertise in ethics. These public decisions took a good hard look at the mechanics of journalism and exposed mistakes or bias.

In 2011, Julie Miville-Dechêne was named Chair of the Quebec government’s Conseil du statut de la femme. For five years, she modernized the institution by making it relevant for young women. She also used her independence to raise the profile of the institution and to speak publicly on the major issues affecting women, including sexual violence, and by taking part in field research. Under her leadership, the Conseil published noteworthy papers on prostitution, honour-based violence, and surrogate mothers. She expressed serious concerns about the government’s secularism charter in 2013.

In 2016, she made the jump to diplomacy, successively serving as the Quebec representative as part of the Permanent Delegation of Canada to UNESCO, then as the Quebec government envoy for human rights and freedoms.

In 2008, she was the recipient of the Reconnaissance UQAM Award for her exceptional contribution to the development of her profession. In 2005, she received the Raymond-Charette Award for exceptional quality of French in broadcast journalism. In 2002, she won the New York Festivals International Advertising Award for her report on children and terrorism, Les enfants et le terrorisme.

Ms. Miville-Dechêne holds a graduate degree in conflict prevention and resolution from the Université de Sherbrooke, a Master’s Degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York, and a Bachelor’s Degree in political science from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Senator Miville-Dechêne is Co-Chair of the All-Party Group to Combat Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

In addition to her senatorial activities, Julie Miville-Dechêne is a volunteer administrator of a non-profit organization (NPO): Share the Warmth

Senator Lucie Moncion

Senator for Ontario

After a distinguished career of more than 38 years in the co-operative financial institutions sector, the last 16 as President and CEO, Lucie Moncion was appointed to the Senate in November 2016. As a representative of Ontario’s francophone community and as part of her parliamentary duties, she works in official languages and the cooperative sector. She is the Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.

A native of Ottawa, Senator Moncion holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a specialization in Cooperative Administration from Laurentian University, a Master of Business Administration from the Université de Moncton, and a Corporate Director designation from Laval and McMaster Universities.

She has extensive knowledge of Ontario’s Francophone minority communities, as well as an in-depth understanding of the economy, business climate and Francophone communities in Ontario. She has recognized expertise in the areas of cooperatives and social entrepreneurship.

In addition, she has served on numerous boards of directors. She has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Cooperatives and Mutuals Canada, Chair of the Audit and Governance Committees of TFO Media Group, Chair of the Circuit Champlain Working Group and Chair of the Coalition of Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires. She has also served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors of Nipissing University, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Collège Boréal.

She is the mother of three children and grandmother of four grandchildren and lives with her husband Yvon in North Bay, Northern Ontario.

Andrea Nemtin

Chief Executive Officer Social Innovation Canada

Dr. Isaac Odame

Professor Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Dr. Odame is the Hematology Section Head and Director of the Hemoglobinopathy Program, Division of Hematology/Oncology, the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto. He is the Medical Director of the Global Sickle Cell Disease Network based at the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health that is building enduring collaborations between clinicians/scientists worldwide to further research and advance care of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that shoulder the heaviest disease burden.

Odame is Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. He was the Division Director and Alexandra Yeo Chair of Hematology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto from 2013- 2024.

Odame is playing a lead role in the World Coalition on Sickle Cell Disease (WCSCD), a unique multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral, international public-private partnership that aspires to be the global focal point for efforts to address SCD in LMICs. Odame is the Principal Investigator on implementation studies to integrate early SCD diagnosis and care in primary health care facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. As a member of Steering Committees, Data Safety Monitoring Boards, and site Principal Investigator, he is actively involved in several clinical studies aimed at developing novel disease-modifying and curative therapies for sickle cell disease. Odame is currently Associate Editor of Pediatric Blood & Cancer journal and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

Senator Ratna Omidvar

Senator for Ontario

Senator Flordeliz (Gigi) Osler

Senator for Manitoba

Dr. Ato Sekyi Otu

Orthopaedic Surgeon William Osler Health System

Professor Taylor Owen

Beaverbrook Chair in Media Ethics and Communications, Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University

Dr. Andrew Parkin

Executive Director Environics Institute

 

Andrew Parkin is the Executive Director of the Environics Institute for Survey Research, a not-for-profit agency created in 2006 to conduct in-depth public opinion and social research on the issues shaping Canada’s future. 

Prior to joining the Institute, Andrew served as the Director of the Mowat Centre and Associate Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (2017-19), Director General of the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) (2010-14), Associate Executive Director and Director of Research and Program Development at the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation (2004-10), and Co-Director of the Centre for Research and Information on Canada (2000-04).  He has also worked as an independent public policy analyst and consultant, providing strategic advice, issue analysis, and policy research to a variety of national and international clients in the areas of education and skills development, social and economic policy, and public opinion research. 

Andrew has convened, informed, and led national and international discussions on a wide range of public policy issues and acted as an authoritative public spokesperson on education, federalism, and the Canadian political community in both official languages.

A political sociologist by background, he completed his post-doctorate at Dalhousie University, his Ph.D. at the University of Bradford (U.K.), and his B.A. (Honours) at Queen’s University. He has received several academic honours, including a Commonwealth Scholarship and a Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship, and has authored or co-authored numerous publications on Canadian public policy.

Senator Kim Pate

Senator for Ontario

Kim Pate was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016. First and foremost, the mother of Michael and Madison, she is also a nationally renowned advocate who has spent the last 45+ years working in and around the legal and penal systems of Canada, with and on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized and institutionalized — particularly imprisoned youth, men and women.

Senator Pate graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1984 with honours in the Clinical Law Programme and has completed post graduate work in the area of forensic mental health. She was the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) from January 1992 until her appointment to the Senate in November 2016. CAEFS is a federation of local societies who provide services and work in coalition with Aboriginal women, women with mental health issues and other disabling conditions, young women, visible minority and immigrant women, poor women and those isolated and otherwise deprived of potential sources of support. Prior to her work with CAEFS, she worked with youth and men in a number of capacities with the local John Howard Society in Calgary, as well as the national office. She has developed and taught Prison Law, Human Rights and Social Justice and Defending Battered Women on Trial courses at the Faculties of Law at the University of Ottawa, Dalhousie University and the University of Saskatchewan. She also occupied the Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 2014 and 2015.

Kim Pate is widely credited as the driving force behind the Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston, headed by Justice Louise Arbour. During the Inquiry, she supported women as they aired their experiences and was a critical resource and witness in the Inquiry itself. She also persuaded the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to initiate the Self-Defence Review and appoint the Honourable Madam Justice Lynn Ratushny to review the convictions and sentences of women jailed for using lethal force to defend themselves and/or their children against abusive men. She then worked tirelessly in pursuit of the implementation of the many positive recommendations from both. Senator Pate has been instrumental in building coalitions across the country with other equality-seeking women’s, anti-racism, anti-poverty and human rights groups and organizations; and, in this capacity, has worked with feminist legal scholars, lawyers, other professionals and front-line advocates and activists — from Indigenous communities to transition house and rape crisis centre workers.

Kim Pate is a member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, the Canadian Bar Association’s Bertha Wilson Touchstone Award, and six honourary doctorates (Law Society of Upper Canada, University of Ottawa, Carleton University, St. Thomas University, Nipissing University and Wilfrid Laurier University) and numerous other awards. Her extensive list of publications, national and international speaking engagements and her strategic intervention and advocacy for substantive equality testify to her commitment to broader social, economic and cultural change. She continues to make significant contributions to public education around the issues of women’s inequality and discriminatory treatment within social, economic and criminal justice spheres.

Senator Pate strongly believes that the contributions of women who have experienced marginalization, discrimination and oppression should be recognized and respected and she seeks to credit and empower women. She maintains contact with women in prison through her numerous visits to Canada’s federal prisons and strongly encourages other advocates, scholars, service providers, judges and parliamentarians to ground their efforts in a similar way.

Senator Pate lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

Dr. Joss Reimer

President Canadian Medical Association

Miles Richardson

Executive Director, National Consortium for Indigenous Economic Development, University of Victoria

Dr. Gladys Rowe

Host Indigenous Insights

Dr. Gladys Rowe (MSW) is Swampy Cree from Fox Lake Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba and also holds relations with ancestors from Ireland, England, Norway, and Ukraine. She currently resides on the occupied lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples in Washington State with her family. Gladys’ research focuses on fostering decolonization and Indigenous resurgence at individual, organizational, community, and systems levels. This has included her work in social work, maternal child health, Indigenous full spectrum birth work, interdisciplinary arts practices, systems transformation, Indigenous innovation, and Indigenous evaluation.

Gladys is a Scholar, Filmmaker, Poet, Author, Facilitator, Researcher, and Evaluator. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to her work and loves to think inside the circle when it comes to transforming the futures we are living into. She is the host of Indigenous Insights: An Evaluation Podcast – where she sits in conversation with Indigenous leaders across Turtle Island and beyond. She has collaborated on many projects including the Stories of Decolonization Film Project and the book, Living in Indigenous Sovereignty. 

Mike Rowlands

Partner & CEO Junxion

Professor Bukola Salami

Full Professor Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Black and Racialized Peoples Health Department of Community Health Sciences

Professor Bukola Salami currently holds the rank of Full Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Black and Racialized Peoples’ Health in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. Professor Salami’s research program focuses on policies and practices shaping migrant, Black and racialized people’s health. She has been involved in over 90 funded studies totalling over $230 million. She founded and leads the African Child and Youth Migration Network, a network of 42 scholars from four continents. She led the establishment of the Institute for Intersectional Studies at the University of Alberta. In 

2020, she founded the Black Youth Mentorship and Leadership Program. Her work on Black youth mental health informed the creation of the first mental health clinic for Black Canadians in Western Canada. She has presented her work to policy makers (including to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health). Her work has contributed to policy change, including that related to Black people’s well-being. She is an Editor for the Canadian Journal of Nursing Research and Associate Editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). She is an advisory board member of the CIHR Institute for Human Development, Child and Youth Health and Scientific Advisory Committee on Global Health to the Government of Canada.

 

Dean Sanjay Sharma

Dean Grossman School of Business, University of Vermont

Senator Paula Simons

Senator for Alberta

Paula Simons was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2018, after a long and distinguished career as one of western Canada’s most acclaimed journalists.

She has been a radio documentary-maker, a playwright, and an author of popular history, but she is best known for her work as a political columnist and reporter with the Edmonton Journal.

Over the course of her 23 years at the paper, Senator Simons earned two National Newspaper Awards, one for investigative journalism and one for column writing. She earned a further six National Newspaper Award citations of merit for her columns and editorials on Alberta politics.

Her work has also been recognized with awards from the UNESCO Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom, Journalists for Human Rights, the Society for Features Journalism, the Alberta Centre for Civil Liberties Research, the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Edmonton Historical Board.

In 2021, she was nominated for her first National Magazine Award, for her regular column, On Second Thought, which appears in Alberta Views Magazine. She is also the host of her own political podcast, Alberta Unbound.

Senator Simons is the deputy chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, and a member of the Standing Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications. She has also served as a member of the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Senator Simons holds a B.A. Honours degree from the University of Alberta, and a Master’s degree from Stanford University.

Shauna Sylvester

Founder and Lead Convenor Urban Climate Leadership, a project of MakeWay Senior Fellow, Definity Foundation

Shauna Sylvester, believes that the best anecdote to increased polarization is authentic engagement, informed dialogue, and deep listening. With 35 years of experience as a dialogue practitioner and facilitator, Shauna seeks to build relationships among diverse groups to solve complex problems.  Shauna is Senior Fellow of the Definity Foundation, Founder and Lead Convenor for Urban Climate Leadership, a project of MakeWay, and the Lead Facilitator for Resilient Point Roberts: Going Solar a community-led initiative to bring solar to this small US exclave community. Shauna is the former Executive Director of the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, the Urban Sustainability Directors Network – US and Canada, and Co-Founder of five local and international dialogue initiatives: the SFU Public Square, Renewable Cities, Carbon Talks, Moving in a Livable Region. and the IMPACS – the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society.

Professor Rebecca Taylor

Pro Vice-Chancellor (ASEAN) and CEO (Malaysia) University of Southampton

 

Professor Rebecca Taylor is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (ASEAN) and CEO (Malaysia) at the University of Southampton. Her research interests lie in the field of International Economics and Developments in Economics Education. 

She has designed and directed a number of Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funded projects focussed on innovative approaches to the teaching and learning of mathematics and statistics in Economics. She has also worked with the Economic and Social Research Council and the Higher Education Academy on addressing the identified skills deficit in quantitative methods across the social sciences. 

Rebecca is the Vice President of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and the Chair of the LUISS Business School International Advisory Board. She also chairs the European Online Course Certification Board and regularly contributes to conferences and workshops related to developments and innovation in higher education.

Dr. Modupe Tunde-Byass

President Black Physicians of Canada (BPC)

Dr. Modupe Tunde-Byass is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of the UK and The Royal College of Surgeons of Canada. She is an active staff at North York General Hospital and an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto.

Dr. Tunde-Byass is the President of the Black Physicians of Canada (BPC) and her work focuses on advocacy, mentorship of Black learners, community building, leadership, and collaboration with key national organizations. 

She is passionate about maternal mortality, morbidity, and birthing experiences in the Black population. She has made many media appearances and recently she was featured in an episode of the CBC documentary series For the Culture with Amanda Parris exploring Black maternal deaths. She is the co-author of Achieving equity in reproductive care and birth outcomes for Black people. CMAJ 2024.

Dr. Tunde-Byass is involved in key quality initiatives in the province like Vagina Birth After Cesarean Section, Early Pregnancy Loss and low risk pregnancy QBP. She is co-founder of Women’s Health Education Made Simple (WHEMS) an on-line evidenced based educational tool for women. 

Adam Van Koeverden

Member House of Commons of Canada

Dr. Nel Wieman

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)

Dr. Nel Wieman is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) in British Columbia, where she has worked since 2018.  She is Anishinaabe (Mishi-Baawitigong First Nation, Treaty 5 Territory) and lives, works and plays on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. 

Dr. Wieman completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at McMaster University. Canada’s first female Indigenous psychiatrist, Dr. Wieman has more than 20 years’ clinical experience, working with Indigenous people in both rural/reserve and urban settings. Her previous activities include co-directing an Indigenous health research program in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and the National Network for Indigenous Mental Health Research, being Deputy Chair of Health Canada’s Research Ethics Board, and serving on CIHR’s Governing Council. She has also worked and taught in many academic settings, has chaired national advisory groups within First Nations Inuit Health Branch – Health Canada, and has served as a Director on many boards, including the Indspire Foundation and Pacific Blue Cross.  Dr. Wieman served as the President of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (IPAC) from 2016-2022. She was one of the 6 Indigenous physician founders of the National Consortium on Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME).  She was appointed to the BC Provincial Task Team charged with beginning implementation of the recommendations arising from the “In Plain Sight” report. 

 

Leslie Woo

CEO Civic Action

Maureen Young

Vice President Social Purpose at Coast Capital Savings

Dr. Jiaying Zhao

Associate Professor Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia

Dr. Jiaying Zhao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Zhao is also a faculty affiliate with the Center for Effective Global Action at University of California, Berkeley, and an invited researcher at J-PAL at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Zhao a Killam Research Prize recipient and the UBC Sauder Distinguished Scholar. She uses psychological principles to design behavioural solutions to address financial and environmental sustainability challenges. Specifically, she examines the cognitive consequences of poverty and designs interventions to alleviate the psychological burdens in low-income individuals. In addition, Dr. Zhao develops behavioural interventions to encourage climate actions, recycling, composting, and biodiversity conservation.