Speakers

Peggy is employed with the Ontario First Nation Economic Developers Association (OFNEDA) and the Director of Marketing & Training. She has a positive "can do" attitude, strong belief in collaboration and commitment. Her integrity, honesty, flexibility, empathy, leadership, stability, and reliability assist to create positive change for our First Nation communities. She is keen to continue her pursuit of higher education in the economic development realm.

Peggy is also a proud Indigenous woman, wife of 38 years, mother of two adult men, has two beautiful daughter-in-laws and is a grandmother of 7 beautiful grandchildren ranging in age from 21 to newborn. She is a member of the Chapleau Cree First Nation. Peggy has lived and worked in her community since 1992 and has had a significant impact in the wellness and economic growth throughout the years. Throughout the years, she has always believed strongly and practices in a healthy work-life balance.

Rebecca is Regional Advisor for the Atlantic region at Invest in Canada. In this role, Rebecca develops and promotes the region’s value proposition for investment and facilitates investment attraction efforts between Invest in Canada and local partners. Rebecca leads partnerships in Atlantic Canada on behalf of the organization, working collaboratively with provinces and municipalities.

Prior to joining Invest in Canada, Rebecca held two roles at Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), the province’s economic development agency. In her role as International Marketing Advisor, she developed and implemented marketing strategies in support of the province’s investment attraction efforts. In her role as Sector Strategist, Rebecca was responsible for arming the organization with the intelligence required to drive growth within the Ocean Technology and Aerospace & Defense sectors. She was responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating domestic and international sector intelligence, ensuring NSBI’s strategies and initiatives were evidence-based and targeted.

Rebecca received her Bachelor of Business Administration from Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax, NS) and graduated as valedictorian of her class. In 2019, she earned her Master of Business Administration from Saint Mary’s University (Halifax, NS) and was awarded the Harold G. Beazley Medal - the oldest graduate-level University Gold medal, recognizing highest academic achievement for graduates of the Master of Business Administration.

Rebecca resides in Halifax with her husband and young son.

For the past 14 years, Hendrik Taulin has been working as the Senior Investment Officer at the Canadian Embassy in Berlin, Germany. In this function, he is focussed on providing project-based foreign direct investment (FDI) and site selection counselling to German and European companies on their projects in Canada, as well as giving strategic advice to Canadian public organisations and companies, that would like to position themselves in Europe.

Mr. Taulin holds a British and German degree in Business Administration from Lancaster University and ESB Reutlingen, Germany. Prior to joining the Embassy, he worked in private sector management consulting with a special focus on Corporate Finance, M&A, restructuring and market entry strategies, mainly in Eastern European countries.

As a result of his career so far, he possesses an in-depth experience in several industries crucial to the Canadian and German economy such as aerospace & defence, energy, oil & gas, commodities, manufacturing

In addition to his work for the Canadian government, Mr. Taulin has been a guest lecturer for several years at universities in his hometown Berlin, focussing on business affairs. In his leisure time he travels all over the world and acts as the CFO of a soccer club.

Brock Dickinson is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Waterloo, and the Director of the University’s Economic Development Program. He currently works in private equity, and advises communities, companies and organizations around the world on geopolitics, economic development and sustainability.

Bernard heads the team that support Global Affair’s Canada’s participation in the Government of Canada’s review of foreign investments on national security grounds under the Investment Canada Act.  His team is also responsible for advising Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service and posts abroad toward better aligning their FDI promotion efforts with key national security considerations.  Increasingly, his team has been engaging with investment promotion agencies and economic development offices from across the country to support their work in this regard.

Bernard is a foreign service officer who has served abroad in the APEC Secretariat in Singapore, Canada’s Embassy in Washington DC and Canada’s Mission to the European Union in Brussels.  In Ottawa, Bernard has worked on various free trade negotiating teams and at the Privy Council Office.  He is a lawyer by training, with degrees from the universities of Geneva, Dalhousie and Toronto.     

Jonathon has over 14 years of experience in International Business Development and Investment Promotion as a Trade Commissioner at Global Affairs Canada (GAC). Responsible for Investment Promotion, Jonathon works directly with Canadian Provinces, Territories, and Municipalities to attract foreign investment into Canada.

Prior to his role as Director, Jonathon served as Deputy Director of Partnerships and Governance, where he worked to expand GACs partnerships with Canadian Municipalities. Previously, he served as head of investment and Vice-Consul at the Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai, and Second Secretary Commercial at the Embassy of Canada to the Republic of Korea, working with Korean companies to set up their operations in Canada.

 Jonathon holds a Bachelors of Social Science from the University of Ottawa.

Jason Aspin co-­founded Aspin Kemp & Asso­ciates (AKA) in 1996. Since gra­duating in ma­rine enginee­ring from the Cana­dian Coast Guard College in 1987, he has specia­lized in power engi­neering and sys­tems integ­ration and built over 30 years of prog­ressive expe­rience in sys­tems enginee­ring in the Industrial, Marine, and Offshore environ­ments. As an inno­vator, he dedi­cates his time to desi­gning solu­tions which are both socia­lly and environ­mentally respon­sible with a fo­cus on impro­ving relia­bility for mission cri­tical sys­tems while redu­cing the carbon emmi­sions asso­ciated with opera­tions.

Jeff is a lawyer with Key Murray Law in Prince Edward Island.  Jeff is regu­larly sought out for his exper­tise on legal inno­vation, and he’s never too busy to work through prob­lems and cons­truct crea­tive solu­tions. For many clients, Jeff is the first stop for all legal ma­tters, pro­viding unfilte­red strate­gic advice on busi­ness matters of all kinds. In all matters, Jeff’s emphasis is squa­rely on the ongoing suc­cess of his client’s business. His approach is always to find the right answer to the busi­ness prob­lem at hand.

David is a reti­red internet/­digital serial entrep­reneur, tur­ned angel inves­tor with a glo­bal health, food and tech port­folio. David has 25 years of expe­rience buil­ding compa­nies and mana­gement teams from scratch and ta­king them to inter­national suc­cess, and 15 years as an inves­tor in early stage ven­tures, hel­ping them to enter glo­bal mar­kets, raise capi­tal and grow. As the founder of Entrep­reneurship Founda­tion Hun­gary, David is the crea­tive mind be­hind the Hun­garian govern­ment's INPUT Prog­ram, which is recog­nized by the United Nations as a ‘Global Best Prac­tice Program’ for foste­ring the inno­vation eco­system.

Ron Sege is an Opera­ting Part­ner at BGV. Ron has more than 37 years of opera­ting expe­rience with disrup­tive offerings in the Enter­prise IT market, in estab­lished public compa­nies and venture­backed start-ups. He has extensive cross-border mana­gement expe­rience, mana­ging opera­tions in China, UK, Conti­nental Europe and Israel. Ron also specia­lizes in go-to-market stra­tegy and tactics, having star­ted his career in Field Opera­tions at ROLM Corpo­ration and 3Com.

Michael Thususka is a certi­fied Econo­mic Deve­lopment Practi­tioner and is Dire­ctor of Econo­mic Develo­pment for the City of Summer­side, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Mike has been working in the field of Eco­nomic Develo­pment for the past 26 years, 20 of which have been with the City of Summer­side. Mike curre­ntly sits on the Natio­nal Economic Developers Associ­ation Board of Direc­tors and is Past Presi­dent of the Associa­tion.

An advisor to federal and provincial policymakers, Dr. Herb Emery focuses his research on the development of the Canadian economy and the persistence of long-standing regional disparities. Aside from understanding the economic fundamentals of growth in a small open economy, Dr. Emery’s work incorporates political, historical, cultural and other institutional factors that have shaped Canadian development processes.

Dr. Emery began as the Vaughan Chair in July, 2016. He holds an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of British Columbia. His academic career began at the University of Calgary where, from 1993 to 2016, he assembled a track record of demonstrated excellence in research, teaching and leadership.

At the University of Calgary, he served as Full Professor in Economics and Research Director for The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary as well as the Svare Professor in Health Economics, a joint position in the Department of Community Health Science in the Faculty of Medicine and the Department of Economics. From 2010 to 2015, he served as Managing Editor of Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de politiques, Canada's foremost journal examining economic and social policy.

Starting in 2019, Herb has led a major initiative, the JDI Roundtable on Manufacturing Competitiveness in New Brunswick, aimed at exploring policies and strategies for invigorating the province’s longstanding economic engine of manufacturing exports. In a post-Coronavirus global economy, manufacturing is expected to be a critical sector in all advanced economies for economic recovery and growth. The Roundtable is a research program and forum through which we can explore how the province and region can benefit from re-regionalization of manufacturing supply chains with a policy focus on the competitiveness of our exporters.

 Robert Bell heads research, analysis and content development activities and directs the analytics that ICF uses to assess the potential and progress of communities, which also selects honorees for the annual Intelligent Community Awards program. Robert developed and leads the Intelligent Community Accelerator and Certification programs. Serving as the content lead for ICF's Global Summit, he is also the author or editor of ICF's research reports, and lead co-author of Brain Gain, Seizing Our Destiny and Broadband Economies.  

Robert has contributed articles to IEDC Journal, Mayors & Cities, Global Urbanist, and Daily Yonder; and has appeared in segments of ABC World News and The Discovery Channel. A frequent keynote speaker and moderator at municipal and telecom industry events, he has also led economic development missions and study tours to cities in Asia and the US.

Jonas Peterson currently serves as CEO of Southwest Michigan First (SMF). In that role, he leads a talented team focused on strengthening the regional economy and positioning SMF as a national leader in economic and community development.

Prior to joining SMF, Peterson served as President and CEO of Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA). During his tenure, LVGEA quickly become one of the largest and most influential nonprofit business associations in Nevada. His team helped over 250 companies create more than 26,000 high-wage jobs and deliver $30 billion in economic impact throughout Southern Nevada. Some of the more notable projects include Virgin Hyperloop One, Barclays, Amazon, Tesla/Solar City, Boring Co., Switch, Google, and many others.

Jonas received a M.P.S. in Community and Economic Development from Pennsylvania State University and a M.B.A. from North Dakota State University. He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma (OUEDI), and a Certified Business Retention and Expansion Consultant. Additionally, he has completed Stanford University’s Executive Program, Oxford’s Executive Leadership Programme at the Saïd Business School, and the Nonprofit Leadership Series at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Peterson currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the International Economic Development Council and has been recognized as an innovative economic development leader with expertise in talent management, policy, and advanced economic development systems. In 2019, he was recognized as Nevada’s Economic Developer of the Year. In 2013, he was named among an international group of “40 under 40” by Development Counsellors International, a New-York-based firm recognizing rising talent in economic development. In 2010, the Arizona Association for Economic Development recognized him as Economic Developer of the Year. And, in 2010, Peterson was recognized as the New Economic Development Practitioner of the Year by the International Economic Development Council.

Peterson resides in Richland, MI with his wife, Leah, and sons, Ethan and Lincoln.

Patrick Ledwell is a Canadian stand-up comedian, best known as a frequent guest on the CBC Radio comedy series The Debaters. The brother of musician and artist Daniel Ledwell, he is from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. In 2012, Ledwell published the humour book I Am an Islander.

Jason Dias leads Magnet's labour market and skills information tools and applications development. Jason has over ten years of experience working in economic development and workforce development. Before joining Magnet, Jason was a Senior Consultant with MDB Insight, where he worked on several economic development strategies, workforce development strategies, and cultural plans for municipalities across North America. At Magnet, Jason has been pioneering a movement to improve access to practical labour market and skills information through the use of relatable tools and applications. Jason has been critical in working with governments, industry associations and career practitioners, in understanding what data and needs these institutions require to better understand labour markets, skill gaps and training environments. Jason believes strongly that Canada has no shortage of labour market information, but rather that the data is fragmented, often hard to access, and has many gaps in being able to mobilize the knowledge the data contains. His goal is to improve that knowledge mobilization.

Ron Samson leads Magnet's Insight Team of data analysts and researchers. Ron has over ten years of experience working in workforce development and social service research and delivery. Before joining Magnet, he was a manager in WoodGreen Community Services' Innovation Lab, where he worked on a variety of research, evaluation, and participatory design projects in a range of areas including employment services, sectoral training, affordable housing, newcomer and youth services. He has written and contributed to numerous research papers which have influenced the field of workforce development. Ron believes strongly that those with lived expertise know best how to solve the issues that impact them, and that we have a moral and ethical responsibility to challenge inequity and discrimination. His areas of expertise include quantitative and qualitative data analysis, program design, process and outcome evaluation, participatory action research, and service delivery.

Chief workforce & labour market researcher and a member of the college’s newly formed Business Intelligence and Research Services team. Jason advises Fleming on emerging career opportunities and labour market trends to support program development and program mix analysis. Since 2014, Jason has been involved in numerous initiatives related to the transformation of Ontario’s employment and training & education sectors - with particular emphasis on reconfiguring labour market information collection, analysis, dissemination, and usage. Jason lives in Buckhorn, Ontario with his two favourite people, Betty and Casey

Liz Stone, Niimin Mshiikehn Kwe, Mshiikehn Dodem, Aamjiwnaang nDoonjibaa miinwaa Nogojiwanong megwaa dodaa.

Indigenous Knowledge leader and Acting Academic Chair, Indigenous Perspectives at Fleming College, currently serving 4th term on the Indigenous Women Circle - Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Previous Associate Professor, Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria. Liz is honoured to be a member of Colleges and Institutes Canada, National Planning Committee for Campus Green Buildings and Indigenous Land Management Approaches & moderator for the Global Affinity Group – Sustainability Development Goals and Intersections with Indigenous Knowledge. Her most important accomplishment & responsibility has been that as a mother to her son, Mkons Stone-Debassige.

The Valley Regional Enterprise Network is a publicly funded organization dedicated to supporting the local economic development of six municipalities and one First Nation in the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia. As the Senior Economic Development Officer Richelle works one on one with businesses and leads regional industry sector development projects. She was the team lead when with Valley’s Regional Workforce Strategy was being developed.

Richelle was educated in the Annapolis Valley, completing her BA at Acadia University, an Advanced Diploma at NSCC and has also completed several job development training programs as well an entrepreneurship program. She is currently working on her EDAC certification.

When Richelle isn’t working with the Valley REN, you can find her at community events, volunteering, or enjoying trails and beaches. She is dedicated to helping others and creating welcoming and inclusive communities.

Strac Ivanov is the President and Founder of Vicinity Jobs. He is a technology entrepreneur and labour market research innovator. For more than 20 years, he has been building and deploying AI-based natural language processing algorithms to solve real world problems. Strac remains the chief technology architect guiding the evolution of Vicinity Jobs’ leading edge data collection and analytics technologies.
Strac is a recognized expert in the field of Canadian Labour Market Information (LMI), and has been a guest speaker at various Canadian Workforce and Economic Development forums, including the annual Economic Developers Alberta conference, annual BC Economic Developers Association conference, the CACEE West Fall Professional Development conference, and annual CANNEXUS conference.

Strac is an accomplished business leader and a veteran of the online and big data analytics services industry. Beyond Vicinity Jobs, he has led numerous enterprise software, data warehouse, and e-commerce implementation projects, involving integration between various enterprise systems and the implementation and deployment of various Application Programming Interfaces (also called APIs, used to integrate and synchronize data and processes between independent software systems).

Strac holds a Master`s degree in Business Administration from Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (in Vienna, Austria). He wrote his Master’s thesis on the topic of using AI-based Natural Language Processing algorithms to collect and classify unstructured information from online sources. He is also a PMI-certified Project Management Professional. Strac lives in Vancouver with his wife and two children.

Austin Hracs is a seasoned analyst, author, and dealmaker. He is the Senior Vice President of Research and Partnerships at Vicinity Jobs. His mandate is to serve Vicinity’s partners as they continue to find new insight and value from their Vicinity data. He spearheads new research projects and collaborations with partners across Canada.

Austin’s entire professional life has focused on understanding and improving Canada’s labour market. Prior to joining Vicinity Jobs, he was the Director of Research and Implementation at Magnet (a division of Toronto Metropolitan University). There he led Magnet’s Training, Research and Insight, Industry Engagement and Employment Teams to support users and partners across Canada. These included job seekers, employers, employment support organizations, educators, and each level of government.

Before Magnet, Austin was a Senior Consultant with MDB Insight (acquired by Deloitte Canada), Canada’s largest economic development consultancy. In this role Austin contributed extensive research, data analysis and strategy advice to projects in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Newfoundland. Most notably, Austin was the lead author for a series of regional and community labour market strategies and research studies.

Austin completed his Master’s degree in Economic Geography at Queen’s University. His work focused on understanding the causal factors associated with attraction and retention of talent to smaller urban centres.

Austin has an Honours Degree in both Political Science and Geography from Brock University.

Austin was born and raised in the City of Richmond Hill, Ontario. He lives in Toronto with his lovely wife Natalie.

As Vice President, Workforce Strategies, Kim plays a lead role in designing and implementing OTEC’s workforce development consulting solutions. Kim works closely with OTEC’s senior consulting team, network of associates, clients and partners to transition projects from concept to execution. She also leads OTEC’s research and data strategy ensuring OTEC’s workforce solutions are anchored in meaningful insights and evidence. Kim’s passion for workforce innovation and collaborative delivery models has resulted in impactful projects and partnerships that enhance workforce capacity and drive positive social and economic outcomes for people, businesses and destinations.

With over 10 years of leading pan-provincial and national workforce development strategies, Kim is driven to bridge theory to practice through OTEC’s dynamic tourism workforce development portfolio. She has led initiatives related to sector-specific employment and skills training, sectoral responses to labour market shifts and disruptions, diversity and inclusion strategies that leverage workforce technology and cutting-edge approaches to evidence generation and use within sector-based strategies.

In 2019, Kim was recognized as an Aspen Institute Economic Opportunity Fellow after completing the Toronto Sector Skills Academy. Kim holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University as well as a Master of Environmental Studies degree in Tourism Policy and Planning from the University of Waterloo.

Michael Burt leads several knowledge areas at The Conference Board of Canada, including economic forecasting, economic innovation and education and skills. In his role, Mr. Burt oversees the convening and research activities that these knowledge areas undertake, and The Conference Board's contributions to the Future Skills Centre. He provides presentations on a variety of topics to clients and the public and is often cited in the media. Mr. Burt joined the Conference Board in 2004 and has moved progressively into more senior positions since. Before joining the Board, he worked with an economic consulting firm in the United States. Mr. Burt has more than 20 years of experience conducting and leading research activities and has a master’s degree in economics from the University of Toronto, an MBA from the University of Windsor, and has also completed the Chartered Financial Analyst program.

Dr. Alissa Sklar is a recognized expert in economic development communication, marketing, and social media. She is the vice president of marketing for the fDi Intelligence, which includes the GIS Planning online GIS site selection tools, fDi Markets, fDi Benchmark, Investment Flow, Incentives Flow, fDi Strategies and fDi Institute. Dr. Sklar works directly with clients to develop and fine-tune marketing campaigns to promote their use of online GIS data tools. Using a customized, collaborative approach, Dr. Sklar works to expand the reach of location brands in the highly competitive field of economic development.

With a Ph.D. and M.A. in Communication and Cultural Studies from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dr. Sklar has worked extensively in both private and academic sectors, serving as a social media consultant for economic development agencies, full time faculty member at Concordia University’s Department of Communication Studies, research faculty at McGill University, blogger, and multiple award-winning journalist.

The focus of Dr. Sklar’s research and writing has been on information and communication technologies and community cultures. She believes that using these technologies thoughtfully and effectively requires a skillful combination of knowledge, critique and creativity. Dr. Sklar has provided strategic teaching, consultation and training in educational, cultural and business settings for a variety of audiences across North America and Europe, synthesizing and presenting complex information in engaging and practical ways.

Described as one of the most sought-after, engaging, thought-provoking, and truly transformative international speakers and scholars in her field, Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe is a multi-award-winning education and psychology instructor. She specializes in resiliency, navigating stress and change, wellness in the workplace, and optimal performance, both at home and work. Hanley-Dafoe’s keynotes offer accessible and practical strategies, grounded in global research, that help foster resiliency and wellness within ourselves and others.

Hanley-Dafoe’s work is inspired by personal experience. She learned resiliency from the ground up as someone who has experienced significant obstacles throughout her life. This, combined with more than 18 years of university teaching and research experience, makes Hanley-Dafoe’s work both accessible and relatable while providing realistic and sustainable strategies for understanding and practicing resiliency and wellness.

Hanley-Dafoe is the author of the award-winning and bestselling book, Calm Within the Storm, which outlines a powerful and achievable path to everyday resiliency. She joined a group of highly esteemed authors from around the globe when her book won a 2022 Silver Nautilus Award.

Dave is CEO of Localintel Economic Development. His professional background includes senior roles in consulting and local government where he specialized in economic development and strategic planning.  Dave's career also includes roles with Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and the Australian military. He holds a Master of Public Administration, Master of Environmental Planning and Bachelor of Commerce.

Ron joined GIS WebTech in 2016 and has helped the company become the GIS technology leader in the economic development market. GIS WebTech is the fastest-growing provider of technology to the economic development sector, with a compound annual growth rate of 119% over the last five years.

Ron has served in CEO roles since 2001, primarily in energy and technology businesses, ranging from startups to $300 million divisions of Fortune 150 companies. During this period Ron simultaneously worked as an operating partner with two private equity firms and has served on seven company boards as both a company CEO and as an independent director. Ron worked as a management consultant early in his career.

Ron holds an MBA from Dartmouth, MS from UCLA, and BA from Colgate, and was a summer student fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He and his wife have three grown children.

Rob has 13 years of government relations experience at the federal, provincial and municipal levels in Canada. Provincial work brought him to Ottawa in 2011 where he led government relations efforts for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA). During that time, he advanced human resources and skills development policy, led intellectual property reforms, and built a strong network in Ottawa’s political community.

Rob earned his Master’s Degree from the Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management at Carleton University. He followed that experience by working with some of Canada’s best lobbyists at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities where he worked on housing and public safety.

He went on to work at a national public affairs firm where he became Vice President. There he delivered billions of dollars in investments to client sectors, significant provincial and national legislative victories, and major regulatory reforms in sectors as diverse as health, construction, retail and supply chains, and skills development.

Jason McFarlane has spent his career working with entrepreneurs, communities, government agencies and investors to deliver transformative economic development projects and initiatives for local benefit. His work focuses on balancing evidence-based analytics with practical strategy to realise real-world outcomes.  Jason has a Masters of Business Administration (California State University East Bay) and a Bachelor of Science (UWA), and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jason is founder and Managing Director of FAR Lane and serves as a Director with Economic Development Australia (Chair) and Pollinators. He also sits on the Advisory Board for the WA AustCyber Innovation hub.

Chris is an informative, entertaining, and insightful strategic humorist with a serious message: dare to be different and reach highest aspiration or join the burgeoning ranks of the unnoticed. Chris’ 30 years of award-winning community economic development experience in 90 communities has been dedicated to reconnecting people to the power of community-building. His dry sense of humour and no nonsense, cut-through-clutter style challenges conventions and leaves people with inspiration to “make community-building personal.”