Jess Khouri is a feminist marketer, professor, and best-selling author whose work focuses on feminist entrepreneurship and questions the norms and narratives that directly impact millennial women in business.

She has a graduate degree in women’s studies and uses it to teach people about intersectional feminism. She helps organizations, small businesses, and millennial women entrepreneurs use feminism to create anti-oppressive, inclusive, and change-making communities and businesses. She is a thought leadership partner at With Chela Inc, where she brings feminist theories and principles into the firm’s development work.

Have your Questions Answered

Kanchan Prinsloo has worked in various senior positions for over twenty five years, Kanchan has experienced first-hand the unique pressures associated with being at the intersectionality of race and gender in a leadership role.  It is these experiences along with ongoing work, that shape Kanchan’s approach to coaching and built her practice in supporting culturally diverse leaders and organizations.

Kanchan holds a Master of Arts in Leadership, Certification in Executive Coaching and Professional Certified Coach designation with International Coaching Federation.  As the founder of KaPri Consulting Inc., she is a commitment to women of color leading from their personal power.  She has extensive diversity program training experiences internationally along with Executive Coaching practices in UK and Canada.

Her personal commitment to giving back, is steeped in ten year plus Executive Board work in UK and Canadian with organizations empowering women and children in India.  Currently she is active coaching with the Humanitarian Coaches Network supporting frontline United Nations leaders internationally.

Elisabeth Zimmermann has worked for over twenty-five years in the non-profit human services sector, the last 15 years, as Executive Director of the YWCA Niagara Region, a non-profit organization working with homeless women and their families providing emergency shelter, transitional supported housing, ongoing support services and advocacy.

Elisabeth has a deep understanding of the importance of addressing poverty and the need for quality support systems to minimize the long-term impact of systemic inequalities. She has positioned the YWCA Niagara Region as a leader in addressing barriers with a women’s focussed-lens among community and government agencies.

Shelly Skinner (She/Her) is an activist, social entrepreneur, educator and community builder. With her lived experience of homelessness, racism, domestic and sexual violence and Black Queer homophobia and discrimination, she carries a story of inspirational perseverance, resiliency and dedication to the betterment of her community.

In 2020, amid a global pandemic, Shelly founded UPlift Black (http://upliftblack.org) a social service agency dedicated to increasing the visibility and socio-economic development of local black communities. To combat homophobia among the Black community and to challenge misogynoir, UPlift Black is anchored in 2SLGBTQ+ inclusivity, with hopes of leading the change in what it means to be a diverse and inclusive social impact agency.

Michèle Newton is a renowned communicator turned speaker, advocate and educational consultant, driving inclusion and belonging. Building inclusion from a bi-racial perspective, Michèle’s bold, forward-thinking approach provides audiences with a new lens on inclusion and diversity. Spreading inspiration far beyond her local community, Michèle remains a social entrepreneur passionate about empowering equitable leadership and fostering dynamic conversations through her various social enterprises.

Christelle Francois is a bilingual executive leader and businesswoman who has the pulse on entrepreneurship leaders, innovation and advocacy. She was recently appointed as the President of the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce. Christelle possesses extensive experience as a Strategy Consultant where she specialized in developing revenue models and implementing growth metric systems for various organizations and companies.

She is the Founder of a consulting firm named Untold & Co Agency. She and her team service various clients in securing brand and government partnerships, curating digital strategies and executing 360 integrated digital campaigns. She most recently assisted in leading the 2020 Lobby Day initiative with our current Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau. Christelle has volunteered and sat on the board of numerous organizations, such as Apathy is Boring and Head & Hands.

Garry Oker is leading the cultural programming central to implementing Doig River First Nation Community Comprehensive Plan and Community Health Plan in cooperation with the band manager and administrative team.

As a First Nations master designer, facilitator, community leader, elder and descendant of a long line of prophet's dreamers, I seek to include indigenous world views in all my projects, from cultural performances to safety training for industry. Garry works to integrate traditional knowledge within the contemporary context, honour the past's wisdom, and apply it to enrich the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. I have been marketing and promoting Dane-zaa philosophies as a multi-disciplinary artist in Canada and internationally for over 30 years.

Have your Questions Answered

Sarah Cunningham brings over 20 years of experience working and advocating with and for women, children and youth. Sarah is Cree from Rama First Nation with roots from Brunswick House First Nation and belongs to the Bear Clan. Sarah has worked in various capacities across the County of Simcoe and Canada with many not-for-profit organizations, Artists, the Board of Directors, government and educational institutions. Throughout her learning journey, many leaders and trail-blazing women have mentored Sarah. Sarah is passionate about organizing, collaborating and creating events to bring communities together to improve life and knowledge to create equality for our future seven generations.

Sarah provides leadership and strategic communications through her collaboration on creating new research, policies, protocols, content creation, project management, and development. She is a liaison between councils and the community to identify overlaps and gaps to bring awareness to make change. She is responsible for planning, coordinating and delivering projects, research and events to the Women’s Advocacy Council initiatives.

An award-winning serial entrepreneur, Ben Hum is no stranger to the start-up world, having been involved in leadership roles with numerous early-stage companies in addition to being a community champion. Ben’s current roles include; Co-founder of oxiGEAR Corporation, Board Member at AR Medical Technologies, President of the York Region Chapter at Keiretsu Forum, Toronto Chapter President at the North American Association of Asian Professionals and Chairperson of the Youth Entrepreneur Group at the Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs.

Have your Questions Answered

Councillor Wong brings to West Vancouver Council his extensive background in the strategic leadership of high-profile organizations, board governance, public policy, and community leadership. As well as being someone who grew up in West Vancouver and who still lives here, he is a strong believer in the importance of vibrant, safe, and inclusive communities.

Councillor Wong's participation supports North Shore Multicultural Society, where he has previously served as a board member. This agency offers a specialized settlement, English language services, integration, family programs, and immigrant-focused employment services. Together with his board colleagues of the most comprehensive settlement organization on the North Shore, Councillor Wong oversaw the strategic delivery of programs and services to help over 4,500 immigrants and refugees a year successfully integrate into life in Canada.

Mark Wafer is a disability rights activist. Until recently, he was the owner of 14 successful Tim Hortons Restaurants in Toronto. During his 25 years in business, Mark employed over 200 workers with disabilities in all areas of the operation, including senior management. At any given time, approximately 17% of the workforce identified as having a disability.

Mark is an internationally recognized expert on the economics of inclusion. He is an advisor to the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario; he is responsible for Canada’s national disability employment strategy and the reform of basic income for Canada’s disabled. He is also an Honorary Canadian Citizenship judge.

Mark has received many awards and recognition for his work, most notably from her majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He was inducted into the Canadian Disability hall of fame in 2014.

A prolific connector of people, Mark has raised almost $60m in the disability and broader non-profit sector.

Have your Questions Answered

Bill Adair has spent decades bringing Canadians with disabilities together. He believes we all have lots to learn from each other. The more we work together, the better chance we have to make changes that will benefit us all.

When asked why he is working on the Canadian Disability Benefit Initiative, Bill replied: "This is a huge opportunity. The Government of Canada has said they want to create a disability benefit. Now it is our chance to say what this benefit is going to be."

Bill is the Executive Director of Spinal Cord Injury Canada. Before this role, he spent 23 years as the Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario branch. During those years, the organization served thousands of people with spinal cord injuries and related physical disabilities. He built up the annual budget to over $10 million to support this work.

Bill is also a member of:

• the Board of Directors of Accessibility Standards Canada

• the Ministers Disability Advisory Group for Minister Qualtrough

• The Advisory Group for the Canadian Human Rights Commission

"I'm involved in lots of different areas, but I want to work on the benefit," he says. "This effort will change people's lives. I'm excited to do my part to make this happen."

Bill found out about disability first-hand when he was a child. A horse threw him when he was 11 years old. His injury resulted in a three-day coma and a paralyzed arm. He recalls, "I was still the same person afterwards, but people were treating me differently because of my arm." It wasn't until Bill worked in the spinal cord injury world that he realized how close he had been to having a spinal cord injury. "I truly understand how life can change in an instant," he says.