Steven Maynard is a senior partner and Canadian Managing Partner for Government & Public Sector at EY, based in Halifax, with over 25 years of experience leading large-scale transformation programs across the public and private sectors globally. He has advised governments and major organizations on modernizing operations, strengthening supply chains, and unlocking significant economic value through technology-enabled change, including multi-billion-dollar infrastructure, procurement, and shared services initiatives. His work has helped drive sustainable cost savings, improve service delivery, and build more resilient, future-ready institutions, supporting long-term economic growth and competitiveness across regions like Atlantic Canada.

Scott Moore became Executive Vice-President, Finance and Chief Operating Officer in June 2025. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

Scott brings to EDC leadership qualities of accountability, communication, and decision-making. In his dual role, Scott leads a diverse team that includes accounting, treasury, analytics, economics, operations, corporate services, strategy, marketing and technology.

Prior to joining EDC, Scott held various leadership roles with Wells Fargo, including acting CFO for Commercial Banking and Regional CFO for Canada. Before that, he spent 13 years with GE, where he held increasingly senior roles, eventually becoming the CFO of GE Capital Canada.

Scott represents EDC at various external events and is a member of C.D. Howe’s Financial Services Research Initiative. He also serves on the board of directors of Canada’s Development Financial Institution (FinDev Canada).

A graduate of McMaster University with a Bachelor of Engineering and Management, Scott is fluently bilingual and based in Montreal.

Rachel Mendleson is a deputy national editor at The Globe and Mail. Before becoming an editor at The Globe, Rachel was a reporter at the Toronto Star, where she started as a general assignment reporter in 2012 and spent eight years as an investigative reporter. Her body of work includes stories that exposed unreliable drug and alcohol testing at the Hospital for Sick Children’s former Motherisk laboratory; stories that revealed police across Canada are not often told when judges find they violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and stories that illustrated the alt-right siege of Pickering city council. Rachel started her career in Halifax. After graduating from journalism school at the University of King's College, she worked at the (dearly departed) Halifax Daily News and its successor, Metro Halifax, and later worked for Maclean's, Canadian Business and Huffington Post Canada. She also has a bachelor’s degree in English from McGill University and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of King's College.

Andy Fillmore is Mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality and a city-builder by training and practice, elected in 2024 following nearly a decade as the Member of Parliament for Halifax.

With a background in architecture, urban design, and planning - including work on major infrastructure projects like Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project (“Big Dig”) - he has worked across local, academic, and federal systems to shape how cities grow and function. In Halifax, he served as the municipality’s first Manager of Urban Design, leading the “HRM by Design” Downtown Plan, and later held senior roles in academia and waterfront development.

Today, as Mayor, his focus is on aligning housing, infrastructure, and core services delivery to ensure Halifax remains affordable and is ready for the opportunities and pressures of rapid growth.

Mohammed Hashim is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, and has worked as a human rights advocate in Canada for the past two decades.

He has dedicated his career to supporting equity, inclusion, and community empowerment, and has contributed to various legislative and policy agendas to prevent and address racism and hate in Canada.

As CEO of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Mohammed leads the national Hate Crimes Taskforce with the RCMP to better understand the systemic challenges and gaps in addressing hate crimes and incidents in Canada, to support communities, and to equip policing services to prevent, investigate and support prosecutions related to hate crimes.

Paul was appointed as President & Chief Executive Officer in December 2023. Previous to that he served as the Company's Chief Financial Officer, since February 2014.

Prior to joining High Liner Foods in 2014, Paul was CFO with Sobeys Inc., a leading Canadian grocery and food distributor. He is a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA) and began his career with Ernst & Young LLP providing audit, tax, valuation and business advisory services for a variety of clients in various business sectors. Prior to joining Sobeys Inc. in 2003, he held a number of progressively senior finance positions in the technology sector.

Paul graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Acadia University. In 1997 he received his Chartered Accountant's designation. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

He is currently Treasurer of the Groundfish Forum, a member of the executive of the National Fisheries Institute, a board member of Norcod, and a board advisor to Andfjord Salmon.

Paul is also Chair of Sport Nova Scotia and a member of the Advisory Board of FM Global Canada.

Paul is an Honorary Governor of the Board of Governors of Acadia University, having completed a seven-year term as Chair of the Board. Paul is also past Chair of the Board of Governors of the Halifax Grammar School.

Patrick Brethour has written on economics, business and politics and business across the country for nearly three decades, including, most recently, his award-winning coverage of tax and fiscal policy.

Patrick has covered the rise and fall of the dot-coms, Alberta’s oil boom and the spectacle of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He was deputy editor of Report on Business, and then senior news editor, before heading to New Brunswick in 2014.

There, as editor in chief of Brunswick News, he led the organization to multiple national and regional journalism awards, including a Michener nomination for coverage of the deficiencies of New Brunswick's child-care system.

He returned to The Globe in 2017 as a senior news editor, moving to the tax and fiscal policy beat in 2019. As editorials editor, he is responsible for The Globe’s daily editorials – a key voice in the national debate.

Karen Hutt is Executive Vice President, Corporate Development at Emera Inc. She plays a key role in shaping Emera’s ambitious, purpose-driven growth agenda, leading the team focused on new growth opportunities to expand Emera’s current portfolio, including adjacent energy infrastructure development opportunities, strategic partnerships, and M&A.

Since joining Emera in 2001, she has held progressively senior roles and led a range of customer, strategy, business growth, and regulatory initiatives across markets, including Canada, New England, New Mexico, and Florida. Karen’s prior roles include Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Emera Inc. and President & CEO of Nova Scotia Power Inc. Previously, as Emera’s Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions, Karen was part of the team that executed the TECO Energy transaction, a transformational deal that doubled Emera's size. Prior to that, she served as Emera Energy’s Executive Vice President, Commercial, and President, Northeast Wind. In all her roles, Karen has demonstrated a strong focus on building strategic relationships, driving results through teamwork, fostering growth, and applying innovative thinking to meet customer needs.

An active supporter of the local community, Karen currently serves on the Acadia Board of Governors. Karen is a former Chair of the IWK Health Centre in Halifax and a former Trustee of the IWK Foundation Board. She is Past-Chair of the Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia Board of Directors. Karen holds degrees from Acadia University and Mount Saint Vincent University and has an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Joyce Carter is President & CEO of Halifax International Airport Authority, overseeing the management, development and operation of Halifax Stanfield International Airport. She holds leadership roles in various aviation organizations, including being the first female Past Chair of the Canadian Airports Council. A strong advocate for women in leadership, she mentors others and participates in programs like the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Mentorship Program. Joyce has received numerous accolades, including being named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs (2017-2020) and one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women (2023). In 2024, she was appointed by the RCAF as Honorary Colonel of 12 Wing Shearwater, and in 2025, she was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for her contributions to transportation and commerce, and received a Doctor of Commerce, honoris causa, from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, NS.

Ian Bailey is a reporter with The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa Bureau. This is his latest assignment in a journalism career that has taken him across Canada, from a posting as the St. John’s correspondent for The Canadian Press, through CP assignment’s in Toronto and Vancouver. Also in Vancouver, he reported for The National Post and the Province, where he covered federal and provincial politics.

Ian joined The Globe and Mail in 2007, covering politics, crime, the B.C. film and TV production sector, and a range of other stories while based in the Vancouver Bureau. His West Coast reporting included the Surrey Six murders, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the 2011 Stanley Cup Riot.

Born in the U.K. and raised in the Toronto area, Ian graduated from York University and Toronto Metropolitan University.

In November 2016, Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard became the first African Nova Scotian woman to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. She proudly holds her position in the Red Chamber representing the province of Nova Scotia, championing issues impacting African Canadians nationally in her work. Senator Bernard is a proud resident of East Preston, where she lives with her daughter Candace, son-in-law David and grandsons Damon and Gavin.

Throughout her social work career, Senator Bernard has maintained a deep dedication to social justice and racial justice. Based on this work and perseverance she was awarded the Order of Canada in 2005, and the Order of Nova Scotia in 2014. After practicing frontline social work in Nova Scotia and founding the Association of Black Social Workers in 1979, Senator Bernard became a professor at the Dalhousie School of Social Work in 1990 where she subsequently held the position of Director for 10 years. During her time at Dalhousie, Senator Bernard developed a curriculum for the ‘Africentric Social Work’ course. In 2016, she was appointed Special Advisor on Diversity and Inclusiveness at Dalhousie University and is the first African Nova Scotian to hold a tenure track position. In 2017, Senator Bernard was the first African Canadian to be appointed Professor Emeritus in the School of Social Work (SSW) at Dalhousie University; the first woman within the SSW to achieve this appointment. In recognition of her work to advance diversity and inclusion through leadership, activism, research and community efforts, Senator Bernard was awarded the Frank McKenna Award for Leadership in Public Policy in 2021.

Senator Bernard has continued to enact social justice and fight for racial justice in the Senate. She is proud to be a member of the Progressive Senate Group, and a founding member of the African Canadian Senate Group.

Susan Rimmer leads CIBC’s Commercial Banking business, delivering relationship-driven advice and banking solutions to mid-market companies and entrepreneurs in Canada and the United States. She is also responsible for the Office of the CEO, which along with its Vice Chairs, focuses on building and deepening key client relationships, supporting business development, and reinforcing CIBC’s commitment to client success.

A seasoned financial services executive, Susan brings deep expertise developed through senior leadership roles across corporate banking, investment banking, wealth management, and debt capital markets. Most recently, she led CIBC’s Commercial Banking and Wealth Management business in Canada, and prior to that Global Corporate and Investment Banking for CIBC Capital Markets. She joined CIBC in 2009 after a 15-year career in global capital markets and investment banking in London and Toronto at a major U.S. financial institution.

Recognized for her contributions to the business community, Susan has been named one of WXN’s “Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.” She is actively committed to giving back and has served as Co-Chair of the CIBC Employee Giving Campaign. Susan currently serves on the board of the Michael Garron Hospital Foundation and contributes to advisory councils for Queen’s University Smith School of Business and Versafi/Women in Capital Markets. Susan holds an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.

David Walmsley is the Globe and Mail’s editor-in-chief. Under his editorship, The Globe and Mail has won the annual Canadian Michener Award for meritorious public service journalism three times as well as dominated the annual National Newspaper Awards.

Vicki Elliott is the Associate Deputy Minister with the Nova Scotia Department of Growth and Development, where she provides executive leadership on some of the province’s most complex housing challenges. Over her career in government, she has held a range of senior executive roles spanning housing, continuing care, early years, and labour and skills development, giving her a systems‑level perspective on how policy, regulation, and program delivery intersect to shape communities.

Vicki is widely recognized for driving innovation within government—leveraging regulatory reform, cross‑sector partnerships, and new delivery models to accelerate housing supply and enable community growth. She currently serves as Chair of the Executive Panel on Housing in the Halifax Regional Municipality, where she leads cross‑government work to remove barriers, streamline approvals, and enable large‑scale residential development in response to urgent housing needs. Her approach focuses on practical implementation, data‑informed decision‑making, and doing things differently to meet the evolving opportunities and challenges of a growing population and economy.

Vicki is also serving as the Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency (NSPHA), providing oversight of public housing operations and leading organizational changes to strengthen governance, accountability, and service delivery across the province. In addition to her public‑service leadership, Vicki serves on the Board of Directors of Research Nova Scotia, supporting the organization’s mandate to strengthen the province’s research, innovation, and commercialization ecosystem.

Vicki holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Acadia University and has pursued training and certifications in the areas of Change Management, Executive Leadership, Lean for the Public Sector, and Leading Complex Systems.

Dr. Ann Fitz-Gerald became the Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs in August 2019 and has led the School’s “Technology Governance Initiative” since 2023. She has degrees in both commerce and political science from Queen’s University, and was the first civilian female to graduate from the Royal Military College of Canada. Before completing a PhD in the UK, she worked at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, NATO headquarters, and the North Atlantic Assembly. She has worked at King’s College, London University and Cranfield University, where, before her move back to Canada, she was Director, Defence and Security Leadership at Cranfield’s Defence Academy of the United Kingdom campus. Ann is a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, a Fellow at McLaughlin College, York University and has served/still serves on a number of non-executive boards and in advisory roles for the British Government, the United Nations and the African Union. Ann is widely published on issues concerning the governance of national security and has helped facilitate national security policies and strategies in a number of conflict-affected countries including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Ukraine, Sierra Leone, Nepal, Serbia, Nigeria and others. She has also supported internationally-sponsored peace talks, including the Sudan-South Sudan peace talks led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki – efforts for which the Government of Canada awarded Ann with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In December 2024, Ann was recognized for her leadership of the Balsillie School of International Affairs and awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Bio coming soon...

Lindsay Jones is The Globe and Mail’s Atlantic reporter based in Halifax. Prior to joining The Globe in 2023, she was a freelance journalist who contributed award-winning feature stories to a number of publications in Canada and the U.S.

Her 2017 investigation What Happened to Lionel Desmond? An Afghanistan veteran whose war wouldn't end led to the launch of a provincial public inquiry and was nominated for a Canadian Association of Journalists Award.

Lindsay's human-interest narratives are often told through a feminist lens, and shine a light on police accountability and how people are impacted by systems and policies. Her Atavist story The Lives of Others, about two men who were switched at birth in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, was chosen by Longreads’ Best of 2021 features, reprinted in Reader’s Digest International, and nominated for a National Magazine Award. Her reporting has led to more switched-at-birth revelations, and she continues to chronicle the ripple effects of these healthcare mistakes among families in Canada.