Merissa has over 15 years’ experience assisting persons with barriers enter into employment, mainly in the construction sector through apprenticeship. Merissa started her career with JobStart in 1999 as a summer student and held various positions from frontline staff to management. In 2010 Merissa became the Coordinator of the Hammer Heads Program that supports youth…
Claudia is a leader in strategy development and planning, both as a former consultant and in industry, currently leading strategic planning for TELUS’s $7B+ Consumer and Small Business team. She works across large stakeholder groups, directly supporting executive leadership as well as collaboratively working across teams to advance long-term strategic direction and projects. Along with…
Eme is Vice President, Global Government Affairs (Canada) at Xerox Corporation. Eme is passionate about the art and science of inclusive, technological and social innovation and attracting foreign direct investment to Canada. He earned an honours BA in international relations from McMaster, an MBA from Queen’s and a postgraduate diploma in strategy and innovation from…
Angela is Head of Newsroom Development at The Globe and Mail. She is responsible for the professional development of journalists and the fortification of newsroom culture. She oversees training, hiring and talent acquisition. Previously, Angela was the Executive Producer for the newsroom video operations. Her prior posts were with The Canadian Press, where she held…
Blair is Director of Social Innovation at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), where he is responsible for policy development as well as outreach and engagement related to the Government of Canada’s commitment to develop a federal Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy. He also helped to launch an Innovation Lab at ESDC that is…
David is Infrastructure Ontario’s senior management team member responsible for strategy and communications. He also aims to build partnerships between business, government and community leaders as a board member with the Ontario Construction Secretariat and Skills Ontario. He has contributed to infrastructure and economic development initiatives with the Toronto Region Board of Trade, CivicAction and…
Derik has been an active member of the labour movement for 20 years and has held various positions, including Canadian Director of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and International Vice President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). Derik sits on the Board of Directors for a food bank and is…
Kelly is Manager, Legislative Information and Standards in the City Clerk’s Office at the City of Toronto. She manages business standards and the development of innovative information systems that support the City’s legislative process and enable better public access to decision-making in real time. In her previous role, Kelly led an overhaul of the City’s…
John began his career with General Motors of Canada and since then has played an active role in his community, in Ontario and across Canada. John has provided support in major organizing drives for Unifor Canada and has also held various roles in Unifor Local 222. He is currently the President of the Durham Region…
