Thomas Homer-Dixon

Canadian Political Scientist and Author

I am Executive Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University. From 2019 until January 2020, I held a University Research Chair in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Canada; and from 2008 to 2018, I was the CIGI Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo. Between 2009 and 2014, I was founding Director of the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation and prior to that the founding Director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto, where I held the George Ignatieff Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies.

Scott Janzwood

Research Director at the Cascade Institute.

Dr. Scott Janzwood is the Research Director at the Cascade Institute. He leads the development and management of the Cascade Institute's research programs and projects. Scott's own research focuses on how scientists and policymakers collaborate to address global catastrophic risks such as climate change, pandemics, and other emerging threats. He also studies strategies and tools that we can use to make better decisions under deep uncertainty.

Duane Elverum

Executive Director and Co-Founder of CityStudio Vancouver,

Duane Elverum is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of CityStudio Vancouver, as well as a designer and educator. He has taught at university for 20 years, first at the UBC School of Architecture where he created the Hornby Island design/build program, and subsequently at SFU’s Centre for Dialogue as an associate and visiting professor. He has also held positions at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design: Assistant Dean for Foundation, Academic Advisor and Assistant Professor in Design.

Alix Linaker

Development lead at CityStudio

Alix Linaker (she/her) is the business development lead at CityStudio Global, where she works at the intersection of higher education, civic government and social innovation to support meaningful collaboration between municipalities and their academic institutions. Alix has several years of experience consulting for social-purpose organizations, as well as co-ordinating collective impact and network-based initiatives.

James Stauch

Complex Systems Strategist at ATCO

James Stauch is the Director of the Institute for Community Prosperity at Mount Royal University where he has developed or co-created social innovation, leadership, and systems-focused learning programs for both undergraduates and the broader community. A former foundation executive and philanthropy and social change consultant, James currently serves as a Director on the Board of Alberta Ecotrust, as an Advisor to the Metcalf Foundation and Nonprofit Resilience Lab, and on the Editorial Advisory Board of The Philanthropist. He is the lead author of an annual scan of trends and emerging issues, produced in partnership with Calgary Foundation.

Alex Hannant

Co-Director, Professor of Practice, The Yunus Centre, Griffith University

Alex is Professor of Practice and Co- Director of the Yunus Centre at Griffith University. He also serves on the Boards of B Lab Australia and New Zealand. Up until the end of 2017, Alex was CEO of the Akina Foundation – New Zealand’s primary support organisation for social enterprise, and the New Zealand Government’s strategic partner on sector development. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Advisory Board for Impact Investment. Before that, based in the UK, Alex was director of programs at LEAD – a global network focused on leadership and sustainable development.

Coro Strandberg

President of Strandberg Consulting

Coro Strandberg, President of Strandberg Consulting, is an influential social purpose and sustainability / ESG strategist and thought leader. Coro is a Canadian trailblazer and visionary in marketplace innovation to advance social, environmental, and financial progress and has contributed to the evolving field of social purpose and sustainability for more than 35 years. She works with boards, businesses, governments, and industry associations to create strategies and pursue business models to solve society’s problems and address social and environmental risks and opportunities that propel society towards a sustainable future.

Amanuel Melles

Executive Director of the Network for Advancement of Black Communities (NABC)

Amanuel melles (aman) is the Executive Director of the Network for Advancement of Black Communities (NABC) at York University and Principal of Aman Consulting. He brings more than 25 years of senior management experience and expertise in settlement and immigration, community health, community development, community peacebuilding, funding and philanthropy. aman held various senior roles with OCASI, Lawrence Heights Community Health Centre, Family Service Toronto and United Way Toronto (UWT). He was on the Senior Management Team at UWT and the Director of Programs and Capacity Building where he led the development of the Organizational Capacity Building

Mark Abbott

Director, Tech Stewardship, MaRS Discovery District

Mark Abbott, P.Eng., MBA, is an Ashoka Fellow who currently serves as the Director of Tech Stewardship at MaRS Discovery District and the Director of the Engineering Change Lab Canada. Previously, Mark served as a member of the Executive Team at Engineers Without Borders Canada for several years. And before that, Mark spent fourteen years working for a heavy industrial consulting engineering firm.

Brenda Herchme

Executive Director, Campus for Communities of the Future

Brenda Herchmer is a passionate community builder who believes communities get better when their leaders do (both formal and informal). She is the CEO of Campus for Communities of the Future (a social enterprise) and Executive Director of a non-profit organization called Collaboration Station. A speaker, trainer, and consultant across Canada, and now internationally, she is a former professor and director at Niagara College, Director of Alberta's ACE Communities initiative, and worked for local government and a number of social profits and businesses

Andrea Nemtin

Chief Executive Officer, Social Innovation Canada

Andrea Nemtin is Chief Executive Officer of Social Innovation Canada, to which she brings 25 years of experience leading organizations and initiatives focused on advancing social and environmental progress through strategic philanthropy, media and arts, social innovation and impact investing. That has included serving as Executive Director of Rally Assets and as CEO and founding president of Inspirit Foundation, where she led the foundation’s journey towards a 100% impact investing portfolio.

Steve Waddell

Catalyst 2030 Working Group

Responding to the 21st century’s enormous global challenges and realizing its unsurpassed opportunities require transformation in ways of acting and organizing. For the past 35 years Steve has been supporting this through community organizing, consultations, education, research, and personal leadership. This has included leadership with the world’s largest community-based credit union and the Global Finance Initiative. He is currently Lead Steward of Bounce Beyond, a project in support of initiatives developing a new, emerging economic paradigm.

Imara Rolston

Community Climate Resilience Lab, University of Toronto

Dr. Imara Ajani Rolston is a social psychologist, policy maker, and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Dr. Rolston has contributed to research and publications in the areas of HIV/AIDS, health promotion and community development and has advanced racial justice and urban responses to climate change with the City of Toronto’s Resilient TO Office and the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit. He has over 15 years of experience working across Sub-Saharan Africa with organizations including the Stephen Lewis Foundation, Oxfam Canada, and Greenpeace Africa. Dr Rolston earned a BA in Political Science and a MA in Adult Education from the University of Toronto.

Louise Adongo

Inspiring Communities

Louise Adongo is a bold and grounded leader with 15+ years' experience in systems change, policy, evaluation, strategic planning and governance. She is founder of Caprivian Strip Inc (CSI) and a co-steward with the Transition Bridges Project* https://www.transitionbridges.net She brings care and intention to uncovering the roots of tangled problems; enabling shifts to greater resilience, sustainability and impact. She believes that co-creating more nimble, transparent and creative institutional spaces is key to the reinvention that we have learned through our most recent pandemic that we all need.

Cheralyn Chok

Executive Director and co-founder of Propel Impact.

Cheralyn Chok, based in California, United States, is currently a Executive Director at Social Innovation Academy, bringing experience from previous roles at Propel Impact. Cheralyn Chok holds a 2013 - 2018 Bachelor of Commerce - BCom in Operations & Logistics @ UBC Sauder School of Business. With a robust skill set that includes Teamwork, Leadership, Social Media, Time Management, Event Planning and more, Cheralyn Chok contributes valuable insights to the industry.

Judi Pearl

Associate Producer, Artistic Programming and Environmental Projects

A passionate environmentalist since her early teens, Judi is thrilled with her newly expanded role as Associate Producer, Artistic Programming and Environmental Projects for English Theatre. Judi is also a Co-founder and the former Operations Lead at SCALE (Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency), a non-profit network of artists, cultural practitioners, and arts organisations committed to addressing the climate emergency, founded in 2021.

John Hallward

Executive Director of GIV3

John Hallward is a Canadian entrepreneur, professional market researcher and president of Sector3Insights.com. He is a volunteer and has been on several charity and foundation boards. He is also the founder of GIV3, a charity to promote greater giving in Canada.

Thomas Teuwen

New Tomorrow

Thomas Teuwen spent 25 years in the manufacturing, mining, energy and technology sectors in Nova Scotia before he came west to Sidney, B.C. in 2000 and became a vegetarian, went car-free and began a new adventure building The Biggest Little House in Sidney. His "eco-building" project soon morphed into a lifestyle project in which he was dedicated to reducing his carbon footprint. With Laura Lynn Parker he has subsequently written a guide to conserving energy and reducing waste, Greening Your Home (Self-Counsel, 2015).