Rob Adams

Rob Adams is a passionate and innovative leader who uses outside-the-box thinking to leverage success. He is a unique leader, having served as both a multi-term Mayor and Warden on the political side and as a Chief Administrative Officer leading some of Canada’s fastest-growing municipalities. Rob is also a proven business executive as he ran the operations of several technology software companies and inspired his team to achieve the Profit 100 Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies rankings 2 years in a row. Rob is the founder and CEO of a private consulting firm, specializing in strategic plans, service delivery reviews, council-staff relations and high-performance team training. 

Beth Janson

With a career spanning over two decades in the film, television, and cultural sectors in the US and Canada, Beth Janson has consistently driven innovation and development in the industry. A seasoned executive who has served as COO of the Toronto International Film Festival and CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, she now brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her own strategic consultancy, Penn Road Advisors.

A champion of inclusivity, Beth was the founding director of the Rent the Runway Foundation’s Project Entrepreneur program, a groundbreaking initiative launched in partnership with UBS, offering women the tools, training, and networks needed to build scalable and economically impactful companies.

Beginning in 2002, she worked for more than a decade to build the Tribeca Film Institute. Under her leadership, TFI became an important resource and support for filmmakers through programs such as Tribeca All Access (Bloomberg Philanthropies), the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, and the IWC Filmmaker Award. TFI’s work in the emerging sector of multi-platform, XR and VR storytelling was trailblazing and included launching the TFI New Media Fund, the first fund in the US for new media projects; TFI Interactive; and Tribeca Hacks.

Beth’s career journey has always had storytelling at its centre, whether as Programming Director of the Newport International Film Festival or through roles at the Public Theater (George C. Wolfe, Producer) and HBO Documentary Films under Sheila Nevins. Her contributions were recognized with an Emmy nomination in 2017 for her work as Co-Executive Producer on “Meet the Patels,” and in 2020, she received the Crystal Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business from Women in Film & TV Toronto.

Beth is a proud alumna of York University, where she earned her BFA Honors. In 2015, she was one of two non-profit leaders in the US to receive a Ford Foundation fellowship to attend the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School. Her commitment to transformative leadership and impactful contributions continues to shape the industry landscape.

Stephanie Tavitian-Guthrie

As Director of the Wealth Learning team for BMO Wealth Management, Stephanie Tavitian-Guthrie is responsible for leading learning that enables BMO’s wealth professionals to be successful in their new and existing roles. Guiding a team of design, development and delivery professionals with a focus on learner experience first is evident in her approach – consultative leadership, human centered design and a commitment to elevate learning. She has over 27 years’ experience in the financial industry in various functions and roles ranging from sales leadership through to client experience and for the last 15 years she has led learning delivery, design and development teams within the company. Her personal passion for coaching is deeply entrenched in how she lives, works and volunteers as a certified Co-Active coach.

When not working, you are certain to find her volunteering with her daughter’s swim club and cheering loudly so her daughter can hear her from the water!

Zachary Spicer

Zachary Spicer is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University in Toronto, Canada. At York University he is also serves as the Head of New College, as a fellow at McLaughlin College and a Faculty Affiliate with both the CITY Institute and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. Beyond York, he is a member of the Digital Mobilities Lab, an Associate at the University of Toronto’s Innovation Policy Lab, a member of the Laboratory on Local Elections, a member of the study team for the Electronic Elections Project and an affiliate member of the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University.

He previously served as the Director of Research and Outreach with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada and as a Senior Policy Advisor to Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. He began his career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University and completed post-doctoral fellowship at the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Institute of Municipal Finance and Governance at the University of Toronto. He received his PhD from the Department of Political Science at The University of Western Ontario.

Simone Harrington

Healthcare

Simone has dedicated her career to driving transformative changes in healthcare. Her unique blend of skills in strategy, project management, and policy change positions her as a driving force behind health system transformation, aiming to create a healthier future for communities and regions.

Simone is a critical member of the team that developed, designed and then implemented the largest voluntary hospital merger in Canada at Trillium Health Partners (THP) – a world-leading, full system of care in Mississauga and West Toronto serving over 1.7 million patients annually. She has progressed through several critical leadership roles including THP’s first Director of Strategy & Project Management, then Associate VP of People, Strategy & Volunteers. Currently, Simone is VP at the Institute for Better Health (IBH), a national leader in health services research and THP Solutions, which will drive innovation and create new revenue streams for THP to drive sustainability in health care and lead THP as an Edge partner within the $30M Federal innovation network CAN Health Network. In her role at the IBH, she has been instrumental in bridging research and innovation ambitions with sound business strategies from HR to Finance to Project Management to build success. This culminated last year with THP’s recognition for the first time as one of Canada’s Top 40 Research hospitals.

In 2022, Simone was honoured as one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women by The Women’s Executive Network and in 2023, as a Distinguished Alumni by the Faculty of Science at the University. She also serves as a board member at Sheridan College, in the role of Vice-Chair since 2023.

Simone holds a Bachelor of Science & Business from the University of Waterloo’s Coop Program and an MBA from The Schulich School of Business at York University.