Dr. Rumeet Billan is an award-winning, internationally recognized entrepreneur, learning architect, speaker, author and humanitarian. Her mission is to transform workplace cultures through research, training, and experiences that enable trust, foster belonging, and build resilience. Dr. Billan is the CEO and owner of Women of Influence+ and President and CEO of Viewpoint Leadership. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto and has designed and facilitated programs, courses, and training sessions across industries and sectors. She led the groundbreaking international research study on Tall Poppy Syndrome which reveals the impact of the silent systemic syndrome on women in the workplace. In 2020, she co-led the Canadian Happiness at Work study, in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association. Dr. Billan was named Canada’s Top 10 Power Women in 2020 and serves on the Board of Directors of First Book Canada. For details, visit www.rumeet.com

Andrea Gunraj is Vice President of Public Engagement at Canadian Women's Foundation. She has 20 years of experience in community-based program development and communications and a passion for innovative public education and non-profit leadership for social change. She has worked with several organizations in the areas of equity, inclusion, systemic anti-racism practice, human rights policy and practice, gender-based violence prevention and intervention, housing and homelessness, and sexual and reproductive health. She is a trainer, public speaker, published author, and holds a Masters in Criminology from the University of Toronto.

Linda Dougherty is Executive Vice-President, Chief Strategy and Enablement Officer at Sun Life. Linda is responsible for developing and executing the company’s growth strategy, our programmatic mergers and acquisitions, investments in our global partnerships, and finding new ways to serve Clients and deliver on our purpose and strategic priorities..
Linda joined Sun Life in 2015, bringing with her a unique blend of expertise in strategy, corporate development, client experience and analytics, investment banking, and private equity, along with experience in Canada and abroad. Before joining Sun Life, Linda spent over 20 years with TD Bank Group, where she held senior roles responsible for strategy, corporate development, analytics, client experience and transformation in the banking and wealth management businesses. Prior to that, she worked in mergers and acquisitions and private equity in the bank’s capital markets division. Before joining TD, she worked as an equity analyst in Singapore and as a management consultant in New York and London, England.
Linda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Erin Griffiths is the Senior Vice President, Client Solutions & Direct Investing at Scotiabank. In this role, she is responsible for Scotia Wealth Management’s Financial Planning, Insurance and Investment Advisory Solutions groups, as well as the Scotiatrust and Scotia iTRADE businesses. Prior to this, Erin was the Vice President of Total Wealth Strategy for Scotia Wealth Management, leading a number of strategic transformational initiatives, including the evolution of Scotia Wealth Management's client engagement model, technology roadmap, advisory development programs, and analytics capabilities. With her 20+ years of industry experience, Erin is recognized for her ability to build and lead high-performance teams and to drive strong business results in complex, rapidly changing environments. She sits on a number of boards and is a frequent speaker at industry events. She is also the Chair of Global Wealth Management’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council and a Co-Chair for The Scotiabank Women Initiative.
Erin has a BA in Sociology from Queen's University and an MBA from York University's Schulich School of Business.

Priti leads our global Capital Markets and Factor Investing department, which is comprised of External Portfolio Management, Systematic Strategies Group, Investment Engineering & Analytics and Strategy, Risk & Operations groups. She is the Chair of the Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council. Before this appointment she was Managing Director and Head of External Portfolio Management, responsible for managing a global portfolio of externally managed funds that complement and enhance our internal public market investment programs. Prior to joining CPP Investments in 2008, Priti worked for over eight years in the financial services and telecommunication industries. Priti holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto and an MS in Physics from the University of Waterloo. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Standards Board for Alternative Investments.

Asha Bakshani was promoted to the position of Chief Financial Officer in April of 2022 reporting directly to the CEO, JP Chauvet. Previous to that she was Lightspeed’s Executive VP of Finance.

Ms Bakshani leads all finance-related functions including financial reporting, core accounting, internal audit, financial planning & analysis, tax, internal systems and investor relations. She started her career at Lightspeed in November 2014. She has over 15 years of experience as a finance leader in the technology/media space.

Before joining Lightspeed, Ms Bakshani was the Senior Vice President of Finance at Cineflix, a media production and distribution company. Prior to that, she spent almost 10 years working in public accounting at Deloitte and Arthur Andersen and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Canada and a CFA charterholder. She holds a B. Comm and Graduate Diploma in Accounting from McGill University. Asha also sits on the board of a non profit organization, Spread the Joy.

Karla Schlieper is president of Mondelēz Canada. She was named to the top role here in January 2021, following her success leading the Mondelēz business in Latin America's Southern Cone region (Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay). In that position, which she held since May 2019, Schlieper led a substantial turnaround of the business, against a challenging backdrop of the pandemic and in a volatile economy and demanding business climate.

Schlieper joined Mondelēz International in 2013, bringing with her strong experience in the consumer-packaged goods industry, including senior strategy roles with Unilever and J&F Group in both Latin America and Europe.

Within Mondelēz, she has advanced through several different roles, including Director, Powdered Beverages, Brazil, Category Director, Biscuits, Brazil, Equity Director for Latin America Biscuits and Vice President, Biscuits for Latin America. In her role as VP, Biscuits, she helped drive strong category growth while building a high-performing leadership team. Schlieper played an important role in the implementation of a new operating model in Latin America, establishing new ways of working and integrating and enhancing key business processes.

Schlieper is celebrated for her passion for developing people, paired with strong end-to-end business acumen. Over recent years, the Mondelez Canada has made meaningful strides in advancing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and was recognized as a top employer and Great Place to Work for 2022.

Karen Scott is responsible for leading organizational development and employee engagement at Softchoice, overseeing talent management, recruitment and retention, performance initiatives, and compensation programs, and is executive sponsor of Softchoice Cares, our company’s employee-led social impact board. Karen combines a deep understanding of service-based organizations with a drive to develop people. Her passion for inclusivity and collective success means her leadership is centered on creating safe, equitable, and inspiring high-performance environments, where ambition and compassion are the norm.​

Previously, Karen was the Vice President, HR for Mosaic (North America) where she spent 13 years helping to lead their exponential growth. During her time at Mosaic, Karen pioneered Mosaic University and Mosaic Cares, launched career development programming, led their Great Places to Work engagement survey, and continued the development of their culture. She holds a BA from the University of Western Ontario in Administrative and Commercial Studies with a specialization in Human Relations and Social Organizations.

Dawn is the editor of Report on Business magazine, handling long-form features, packages and oversight of the publication. She also writes the magazine's back-page column, "Last Word," along with the occasional feature.

Dayo Kefentse is a content strategist with Globe Content Studio. She uses her journalism expertise, communications savvy and her creative flair to ideate, engage and execute on editorial campaigns. Having started her career as a journalist on CBC’s ‘Metro Morning’ and ‘Here and Now’ radio programs, she founded DAYO Media & Communications to support the creation of compelling, "news ready" content for businesses, brands, advocacy groups and artists across public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Some clients she's worked with include: the Toronto District School Board, Windsor Law, the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, and SKETCH Working Arts. Dayo recently completed her Master of Arts in Communications and Culture at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson University). Her Master's work is scheduled to be part of an exhibit with Mississauga Museums in 2023.

Karen Scott is responsible for leading organizational development and employee engagement at Softchoice, overseeing talent management, recruitment and retention, performance initiatives, and compensation programs, and is executive sponsor of Softchoice Cares, our company’s employee-led social impact board. Karen combines a deep understanding of service-based organizations with a drive to develop people. Her passion for inclusivity and collective success means her leadership is centered on creating safe, equitable, and inspiring high-performance environments, where ambition and compassion are the norm.​

Dr. Hadiya Roderique is a researcher, journalist, speaker, consultant, and recovering Bay Street lawyer. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, where her research focuses on racist discourse in how journalists write about race in Canadian media. She is an award winning writer, probably best known for her piece Black on Bay Street, which set Corporate Canada ablaze, and earned her recognition as one of Canada’s Top 25 most influential lawyers by Canadian Lawyer’s magazine in 2018. She is the Vice Chair of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, and a passionate champion of diverse talent, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

Susan covers the retail industry for Report on Business. Before joining The Globe and Mail in 2009, Susan worked as a freelance reporter contributing to the Ottawa Citizen, the Montreal Gazette and other publications, as well as CBC Radio's Dispatches and Search Engine. She has a Masters degree in journalism from Carleton University. In 2008 she worked at a radio station in Kigali, Rwanda as part of a media development project through Carleton. She has also lived in Osaka, Japan.

Deanne Gage is a reporter for Globe Advisor at The Globe and Mail. She has specialized in issues pertaining to financial advisors for more than two decades.

She is the former editor of FORUM and Advisor’s Edge magazines and has been the recipient of several business journalism awards during her tenure.

She was the Toronto Star's Money Makeover columnist for five years. Her articles have also appeared in Morningstar.ca, Chatelaine, MoneySense, and Today’s Parent.

A fascination with cities drew Nancy to the world of planning. She loves the way they change, grow, and fit together, combining diverse people and places to make something greater than the sum of their parts. As our Urban Places and Smart Cities director, Nancy is heavily engaged in creating equitable and livable communities—grounded in strong planning principles—and marrying technology to community needs..

Experience has taught Nancy that urban planning works a bit like cities. With the right mix of people and disciplines, there’s no limit to what a great planning team can achieve for communities and clients. She’s seen this play out in the public and private sectors, on infill housing projects and brand-new neighborhoods, on university campuses and community master plans, in meticulously detailed plans for a single building, and in projects that imagine the transformation of whole city districts. Nancy co-led Stantec’s team working with Sidewalk Labs on infrastructure design services for its proposed Quayside development in Toronto.

As she explores how technology is evolving our cities, Nancy is excited about future-proofing our communities and building infrastructure that will serve current needs while also planning for the changing future.

Sandra has been a journalist for more than 20 years and was most recently the editor-in-chief of MoneySense magazine. As Head of Newsroom Development at The Globe and Mail, her key responsibilities include training initiatives to support editorial plans and goals as well as partnering with managers to meet current and future needs. She also drives diversity, equity and inclusion across the newsroom, and leads the management of existing and future scholarships, internships, and The Globe's summer staff program.

During Sandra's previous tenure as Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Living, the magazine won numerous accolades, and maintained its place as the most-read paid women’s lifestyle publication in print and online. Sandra also helmed the highly successful launch of Walmart Live Better/Vivre mieux Walmart, and served in senior editorial capacities at Today’s Parent. Her byline has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Cottage Life and the National Post, among others. She is a two-time National Magazine Awards finalist, a repeat NMA judge, and a two-time NMA host. She sits on the board of directors of Canada’s History Society (publishers of Canada’s History and Kayak magazines), and SABEW Canada.​

Prior to joining GFL as Executive Vice-President and General Counsel in October 2018, Mindy served as a lawyer and partner at Davies Ward Philips and Vineberg LLP for over 16 years. Her practice focused on corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets. She brings a wealth of legal and business experience, advising clients in areas such as domestic and international public and private offerings of debt and equity, loan financings, and private equity-related transactions. Named as one of the 2013 Lexpert® Rising Stars Leading Lawyers Under 40, Mindy is a former member of the Toronto Stock Exchange Listings Advisory Committee and the Ontario Securities Commission Securities Advisory Committee. As Executive Vice-President and General Counsel, Mindy is responsible for overseeing all legal matters impacting GFL, including corporate governance, financings, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation. Mindy holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School.

Vanessa Lewerentz is Chief Inclusion Officer for BMO Financial Group. In this role, Vanessa is responsible for driving the enterprise-wide strategy, zero barriers to inclusion to advance the organization’s mission and business objectives.

Prior to her current role, Vanessa held various roles in human resources, executive/employee compensation and total rewards, strategic workforce management, and people analytics in the financial services and the music entertainment industries.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma in Business from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Certificate in Human Resources Management from Seneca College and Certificate in Human Capital Management from the Human Capital Management Institute. She is a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) with the Human Resources Professionals Association and is a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and Certified Benefits Professional (CBP) with World at Work.

In addition to her professional and academic endeavors Vanessa has also worked to serve her community through board activities. Vanessa is former President of the Greater Toronto Area Rewards Association, Board member with Durham Mental Health Services and Hearth Place Cancer Support Agency. Vanessa is also a member of the Standards Council of Canada.

With a growth mindset, she is committed to making a difference across our community and is a champion for long-term strategic change.

SPEAKER BIO TO COME...