As Coast Capital’s Vice President, Social Purpose, Maureen plays a key role in defining the credit union’s social purpose vision: Building Better Futures Together by Unlocking Financial Opportunities that Positively Impact People and Communities. Maureen leads the development and implementation of Coast Capital’s long-term social purpose impact plan and the integration of social purpose across company operations. Maureen also oversees Coast Capital’s sustainability initiatives, including its net zero commitments, B Corp certification and annual disclosures, and leads Coast Capital’s philanthropic and purpose investments, which see 10% of Coast Capital’s budgeted bottom line reinvested into the community.

Maureen is Chair of the Youth Futures Education Fund, an initiative she helped found, focused on ensuring youth from the foster care system have the opportunity to achieve their post-secondary education, and she also serves on the Board of the BC Co-op Association. Prior to joining the credit union, Maureen held senior positions with the Fraser Basin Council, Nelson & District Economic Development Commission, and Tourism Action Society in the Kootenays. Maureen lives in Victoria, BC within the traditional territories of the Lekwungen people (Songhees and Esquimalt) peoples.

Coro Strandberg is a nationally recognized leader in Sustainable and Social Purpose Business, advising companies, industry associations and governments on strategies to accelerate sustainable and social purpose business models for over 30 years. Coro is a faculty member for Governance Professionals of Canada and The Directors College, training governance professionals and directors respectively on ESG, purpose and stakeholder governance. Coro has over 20 years as a corporate director and is currently on the board of the BC Lottery Corporation.

She is the co-founder of the United Way BC Social Purpose Institute which helps businesses adopt a social purpose as the reason they exist and currently chairs the Canadian Purpose Economy Project which has a vision to propel the Purpose Economy towards a goal that all Canadian businesses have a social purpose, where they harness all their assets, resources and influence for good. Coro was recently appointed as Advisor to the Federal Office of the Auditor General Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. Coro regularly publishes blogs, articles, research, tools and guides on sustainability and social purpose leadership on her website at www.corostrandberg.com

Liz McBeth is the second-generation President in the 50+ year old family business, Armour Valve. A strong proponent of corporate social and environmental responsibility her entire career, Liz’s purpose journey began when she attended an event sponsored by Chandos Construction half a decade ago. This journey kicked into high gear when she attended a United Way BC Social Purpose Institute (SPI) webinar hosted by Family Enterprise Canada (FEC). In her current role, Liz is driving Armour Valve’s pivot to purpose: “Transforming infrastructure for a healthy, thriving planet” . This purpose driven repositioning of the business focuses on supporting clients through the global Energy Transition sustainably and equitably. A founding member and current Chair of FEC’s Family Business for Sustainable Development (FBSD) committee, Liz also serves on the Advisory Committees for the UW BC SPI and the Canadian Purpose Economy Project’s (CPEP’s) association initiative.

Irene Galea is a business reporter for The Globe and Mail's Report on Business, based in Toronto. Since joining The Globe in 2021, her coverage has included the telecommunications and cannabis industries, personal finance and real estate.

Her enterprise reporting has resulted in an immediate impact to Canadians' access to public information as part of the Rogers-Shaw takeover. As well, it has has highlighted inequality in telecommunications service in Iqaluit; held companies to account for unfulfilled corporate commitments to hire Ukrainian refugees; and shed light on the lasting impact of century-old real estate policies. Irene is part of a team of four Globe journalists reporting on the Black North Initiative CEO Pledge, a five-year commitment made by 400 Canadian CEOs to hire and promote more Black employees. She is a frequent contributor to The Globe's Amplify newsletter, which highlights female voices.

Prior to joining The Globe, Irene reported on business and real estate for the National Post and Financial Post, and wrote for the National Trust for Canada and the Canadian Museums Association. Her short documentary, Balance, was broadcast nationally by CBC as part of the Absolutely Canadian series. Irene has appeared as a guest on news broadcasts and The Globe's podcast to provide analysis of business stories, and as a moderator of live panel discussions.

Irene holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University, where she received the University Medal for her class. She is currently completing a Masters of Building History from the University of Cambridge, with a focus on medieval buildings and the evolution of Toronto's nineteenth-century bank architecture.

Christelle Francois is a bilingual corporate executive and entrepreneur. She possesses extensive experience as a Strategy Consultant where she develops and implements strategic solutions for various companies and organizations through her company, Untold & Co Agency. In 2022, Christelle was listed among the Top 100 Most Influential Black Canadians. In 2021, she was appointed as President of the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce, where she led a strategy that successfully secured over $5M in funding in less than six months. Christelle is the Co-Founder of the Afro-Canadian Cultural Center. She is also the Board Chair of Boann Social Impact and the Board Chair of the Table of Impact Investment Practioners. She most recently joined as a founding member of The Canadian Purpose Economy Project.

David Redfern is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Canada’s Eastern Canada division. His leadership in the building materials industry has been both Canadian and global, with 25 years of experience, working across Canada and with over 20 countries.

Since 2019, David Redfern has led Lafarge's Eastern Canada division and its world-class team of 2,600 persons to record performance in profitability, industry-leading ESG ratings and has accelerated the innovation, digitalization and diversity agenda of the Group and the industry.

David is an early champion of building better cities and communities, focusing on low carbon and circular solutions to decarbonize building across its life cycle.

From 2014 to 2019, as Senior Vice President for the Greater Vancouver Area, David established Lafarge as a sustainability champion; during his tenure, Lafarge built an industry-leading position in the circular economy, grew regulatory influence through his work as a board director at the National Zero Waste Council, and launched Lafarge and Holcim’s first carbon capture pilot in North America.

David Redfern was the first CEO in the building materials industry to become a signatory to the United Nation's Women Empowerment Principles (WEP) in Canada in 2021. He also participated in the first cohort of the United Way’s Social Purpose Institute's Social Purpose Innovators Program.

Today, more than ever, his purpose as a leader is to build progress for people and the planet by decarbonizing cities.