Speakers

Sasha Bogdanovic is the CEO and co-founder of CityViz, an award-winning provider of the CityViz economic development data platform, used by communities and organizations across Canada to attract investment and boost economic growth. With over 23 years of experience as a data specialist, Sasha has delivered data products for provincial and local governments as well as the private sector.

He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and was recognized as a top performer in the inaugural class of the Data Science Specialization by Johns Hopkins University and Coursera. Sasha was also a winner of the BC Housing Market Data Visualization Challenge by BC Stats and Innovate BC.

As the Director of Venture Services and Partnerships at WEtech Alliance, Adam has dedicated the past seven years of his career to fostering growth in the Ontario startup sector. His role as coach, program designer, and connector has allowed him to develop and deliver several internationally recognized entrepreneurial development programs. In addition to being honored as one of United Way's 40 under 40 leaders and the 2021 BizX Powerhouse Professional of the Year, Adam has also been named to The Peak's 2024 Emerging Leaders' List, highlighting his significant contributions to the field.

Chris Steele is the CEO and President of EBP-US, based in Boston.  His over 30 years of experience in location consulting, site selection, and economic development have resulted in a unique perspective on how the concept of place impacts business and community success around the globe. 

Past clients include The Boeing Company, BlueCross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Lenovo, Morgan Stanley, Club Med, Becton Dickinson, the US Transportation Research Board (of the National Science Foundation), Olympus, and Biogen IDEC.  He also frequently advises governments and public sector agencies on business attraction and economic development efforts.

Chris has written on location strategy and real estate topics for Area Development, Business Expansion Journal, Site Selection Online Insider, and the Journal of Corporate Real Estate, served as an editor for Ernst & Young's United States Investment Monitor, and is a frequent presenter at forums around the world.

Mark Perna is the founder and CEO of TFS Results, a full-service strategic consulting firm at the forefront of the national paradigm shift in education and workforce development. As an international generational expert, Mark has devoted his career to empowering educators and employers to unleash the tremendous potential of today’s young people.

Mark founded the Education with Purpose & Employment with Passion movement to help communities connect the pipelines between education, business, and economic development. Mark serves on the Advisory Council for the Coalition for Career Development and is a member of the International Economic Development Council, both in Washington, DC. His work has helped countless parents, educators, employers, and national organizations across North America to engage with the younger generations more effectively.

Mark today delivers over 70 in-person and virtual keynote speeches annually at national and statewide events, where he frequently brings audiences to their feet. He’s also spoken at Harvard University by special invitation. At TFS Results, Mark’s team of talented professionals share his vision of helping organizations of all sizes experience significant gains in recruitment, engagement, retention, and performance.

Mark is a weekly contributor at Forbes.com, where his work reaches an audience of over 4 million. He interviews frequently on radio shows, television, and podcasts, and his library of episodes on The Perna Syndicate podcast reaches listeners in more than 70 countries. His multi-award-winning bestseller, Answering Why: Unleashing Passion, Purpose, and Performance in Younger Generations, was written to help educators, employers, and parents understand and motivate the millennial and Z generations. Find out more at MarkCPerna.com.

Steve Patterson is an award-winning comedian with over two decades of international performance experience. Best known as host of the long-running hit radio show and podcast The Debaters and theatre show The Debaters Live, Patterson’s brand of comedy is best described as honest and erudite, combining well-crafted writing with unparalleled off-the-cuff wit.

Twice named Canada’s Best Male Stand-Up at the Canadian Comedy Awards, Patterson has also taken his award-winning humour to the literary world with The Book of Letters I Didn’t Know Where to Send and his newest release Dad Up! available wherever books are sold.

Vito has over 10 years of experience in government administration with the Corporation of the City of Windsor. Currently serving as the Senior Economic Development Officer for the municipality, Vito is dedicated to fostering economic growth and development. In 2021, Vito played a crucial role as part of a six-person project team to develop the implementation plan for Windsor Works, the city's comprehensive economic development strategy. Vito and his team are responsible for implementing Windsor Works and its related projects, as well as investment attraction, business retention, talent attraction, and downtown revitalization.

With over 25 years of experience in marketing places, April founded Violet PR in 2010. Her passion is working with clients dedicated to improving their communities. She has managed PR campaigns for destinations including Canada, Morocco, Switzerland, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Savannah and New Jersey, and has arranged hundreds of media interviews for governors, mayors, CEOs and industry experts – promoting cities, states and regions across the world. April holds an M.A. in journalism/marketing communications from the University of Kansas.

Lee Anderson is the Vice President of Customer Success at Localintel. In his role, Lee engages daily with economic development professionals, gaining insights into their initiatives, challenges, and aspirations. Prior to joining Localintel, Lee was a researcher and site selector at the Walton Group of Companies, a multinational land development firm. There, he played a key role in researching strategic growth corridors across the U.S. and Canada. He collaborated with various municipalities, economic development professionals, and supporting organizations to monitor and analyze socio-economic conditions and development initiatives throughout North America, with a focus on uncovering commercial, industrial, and residential development opportunities.

Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree from the University of Calgary, graduating in 2007.

Sean McCormick is an expert in consumer spending data. Sean joined Moneris in 2015 and is the Head of Growth Strategy for Moneris Data Services which enables private and public sector organizations to use payment data to improve their economic forecasting capabilities and inform your economic development strategy.

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.

As Trade Commissioner and Senior Investment Counsellor at the Embassy of Canada to Germany, Mr. Engler looks back at 25 years of advising German investment prospects on all aspects of site selection in Canada, from providing value propositions, cost analyses, to counselling on financing options and incentive packages.

An award-winning Canadian Trade Commissioner, Mr. Engler is a well-known strategist combining theoretical concepts of foreign direct investment attraction with the experience of counselling senior executives of thousands of German investors. Global Affairs Canada has been using him as a mentor, coaching trade commissioners around the globe and economic developers in Canada on how to convince senior company executives to locate and expand their investments in Canada.

Since 2009, Mr. Engler has held various university teaching assignments in international business, foreign direct investment attraction and site selection management, most notably at the Berlin University of Technology and Business Administration (HTW Berlin).

Mr. Engler was born in Germany and went to Canada in 1988. He graduated in Canadian Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. He then obtained post-grad degrees in political science, economic history, public law and EU business administration in Freiburg and Frankfurt, Germany.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Engler held executive positions at private-sector consulting institutions, focusing on regional economic development.

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.”