Jeff Arsenio is the Head of Product at SkipTheDishes, where he expertly navigates and directs the company’s product vision and strategy. Guiding a team of skilled product professionals, Jeff has led and overseen the development of innovative customer and merchant products across the Skip platform, including Skip Express Lane, Skip’s grocery and convenience delivery service, and SkipGo, the organization’s white-label fulfillment service. Prior to his tenure at Skip, Jeff gained invaluable experience working in various roles at CIBC and top healthcare organizations, including the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital and Toronto’s University Health Network. His extensive background in technology, healthcare, financial services, and food delivery provides a unique perspective, enabling him to balance strategic planning, program execution, organizational design, and employee development to enhance business outcomes in a variety of industry domains. Jeff holds a B.Sc M.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 2008.

Prior to joining Xero in late 2021, Michael was the Senior Director of the Scale-Up Institute Toronto at the Toronto Region Board of Trade. He led the launch of the the small business accelerator, and ran a number of high impact programs focused on small business growth and digitization. In his time leading the organization, the Scale-Up Institute Toronto supported over 2,000 small businesses across Ontario, securing significant private and public sector investment, and winning the 2020 Ontario Chamber of Commerce Chair’s Award for Innovative Programming. Michael also has over ten years of experience in both the federal and provincial governments, focusing on innovation and scale-up policy, trade agreement negotiation, and the automotive sector. He actively participates in the small business research community as well, acting as an expert advisor on a number of research councils. He has recently taken on the position of Vice Chair for the Scugog Township Economic Development Advisory Committee.

Robert Price is a founder and the CEO of Bōde, an online real estate marketplace that launched in Alberta in 2019 and rapidly expanded to British Columbia and Ontario selling almost 1000 homes from homeowners and over 50 builders across Canada. He has brought together an award-winning all-star team that is turning the traditional real estate industry upside down, as one of Calgary’s Top 15 most innovative companies in 2020 and top 50 most promising businesses by Alberta Innovates. Bōde directly connects buyers and sellers to work out a deal with ease while saving 10s of thousands fully online. Previously, Robert was a senior executive at telecom leader and disruptor Axia, which provided next-generation fibre-based networks to customers in Canada, the US, France, and Singapore. Robert is also an Advisor to one of Canada’s fastest-growing tech companies Symend and has a land development partnership building high-tech, sustainable communities. As an Avenue Magazine Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40, Robert has a passion for transformational businesses that empower customers with choice through exceptional experiences.

Kiara is Marlow’s co-founder and CMO, leading the company’s social mission, content creation, marketing initiatives, and website development. Kiara is passionate about community building, social impact, travelling, and exploring the outdoors. Her previous work experience includes creative positions as a photographer and Editor in Chief in Volta Magazine. She has also worked in Strategy, Impact Assessment, and Data Analytics roles. She is excited to break down the stigma surrounding menstrual and sexual health and strive for a better standard for menstruators.

As the Managing Director for AltaML, Heather partners with clients to enable AI-driven innovation in business processes and to get more from their data.

Big law corporate lawyer turned Goodlawyer co-founder.

Chloe is the CEO and Co-founder of Mercator AI, an industry intelligence tool for business developers in construction. Prior to starting Mercator, Chloe developed market intelligence tools for business developers in the marketing and advertising space, helping reduce time spent on gap analyses. Today, Mercator analyzes millions of construction activities to recommend tailored, early project opportunities in real-time, help companies stay ahead of their competitors, and support faster growth in new markets.

Cheri is a Senior Partner in BDC’s $400M Climate Tech Fund, investing in early-stage climate technology ventures with the ability to scale rapidly and make a significant impact on our environment at the same time. Investments range from early stage to growth (late seed+), with each investment ranging from CAD$2M – $25M+.

Clark Lai is the founder and CEO of Motiv Innovation Group—an internationally recognized, award-winning digital innovation and venture-building company. Since 2013, Clark has led the strategic vision, execution, and expansion of various business units within Motiv. Under his leadership, Motiv has helped its clients and partners increase shareholder value by over $2 billion.

Ana is an experienced coach and Jr. Startup Advisor at Platform Calgary. With personal development and business strategy expertise, Ana empowers startups and individuals to achieve their highest potential.

Kelsey Hahn is the CEO and Co-Founder of Monark, an AI-enabled leadership development platform helping turn new and middle managers into super leaders. As a former college athlete, Kelsey is incredibly passionate about human behaviour and leadership and has spent the past ten years successfully studying, hiring, assessing and advising leaders. Prior to Monark, Kelsey spent over seven years in a Canadian single-family office as Managing Director of Research (Viewpoint Group), leading a non-profit research centre and a boutique consulting practice. Kelsey continues acting as a trusted advisor for various companies in energy and investment, holds an MSc in Organizational Behaviour from Queen’s University, and sits on the Calgary Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Throughout her career, April has been a fierce advocate for women in her workplace, community, and social circles. Whether it’s through mentoring and elevating women in Calgary or dedicating all of her working time to building a community of talented women in tech, April consistently shows up for the women in her life. With over 15 years of experience in leadership, mentoring, and strategic team development with career experience from PwC to Westjet to ATB, she is now the co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Toast, a talent partner that increases gender diversity within the tech industry. As a Certified Change Practitioner and social innovation enthusiast, she brings expertise in business process improvement, digital transformation, and change management to Toast and its community of diverse and passionate women. Her core value and mission is to make a difference by disrupting the status quo and inspiring people to think outside the box, reimagine the possible, and act like owners. She is a serial relationship builder, a savvy problem-solver, and an exclamation mark personality. She lives by the adage, “Work Hard and Be Nice to People,” and is passionate about people and impact. April actively seeks to disrupt the hiring dynamic for women in the tech industry. Alongside her team, she is making waves in a traditionally male-dominated space and changing the game’s rules by refusing to abide by the status quo.

Ross began his career as a mechanical engineer in Oil and Gas and spent his spare time enjoying Calgary’s nightlife and making moonshine in his backyard with friends. In 2018, he transitioned from engineering to distilling full-time by opening Confluence Distilling Ltd. with his partner Pheelan Mah. Confluence now sells award-winning spirits inspired by global traditions and focused on practicality in cocktailing.

Michael moved from Osler’s Toronto office to the Calgary office to better support his Prairie client base and to lead Osler’s Emerging and High Growth Companies Group practice in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Michael’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and securities law in the technology sector. As a partner in Osler’s Emerging and High Growth Companies group, Michael advises both technology companies and a wide range of investors in connection with a variety of transactions, including acquisitions and divestitures, venture capital, growth equity and private equity financings, recapitalizations, joint ventures and strategic alliances, all in addition to supporting the day-to-day corporate needs of the companies that he acts for. Michael plays a central role in Osler’s relationship with the League of Innovators. This national Canadian charity offers accessible programs, education and events for young entrepreneurs, from discovery to acceleration.

Rob is the Director of Community, Programming, and Operations at the League of Innovators and a Social Entrepreneur. Rob has been involved with the leadership and co-founding team of 4 organizations in Alberta, including a B-corp, a charity, and a social enterprise. In his current role with the League of Innovators, he is responsible for the entrepreneurship and community programming for hundreds of youth-led businesses per year. He is committed to building services and organizations of value for other people, especially those who need it most.

Rick Bird is a General Partner and CEO at Thin Air Labs. He is a multi-time venture operator with over 15 years of experience developing tech organizations from early stage to exit. Rick has been a part of two Canadian exits ($110M and $540M), where he built and scaled operations, customer success, sales, and risk management teams. Rick is also an advisor to multiple early-stage companies, helping to raise capital and develop product market fit, business models, metrics and leadership teams.

Former President and co-founder of Robotics Startup, A100 member, Senior Investment Manager, Board member, Board observer, active adviser, and influencer for early-stage venture capital into tech companies with five portfolio company exits. Jacques has led / co-led over $43 M of investments into early-stage tech companies. He spent 16+ years launching and managing innovative technology products in global markets (Managing Product Management, Marketing, Business Development, Operations and Technical experience in mobile software, telecommunications, robotics and engineering consulting). Completed numerous product launches, 4 issued patents, completed an acquisition, executed a disposition and built numerous industry partnerships/initiatives.

Al-Karim Khimji is the CEO and Co-founder of Propra. He brings his years of entrepreneurial and real estate experience, combined with his background in management consulting at McKinsey & Company and private equity. Al-Karim’s real estate perspective spans over two decades, including development, operations and asset management of a mid-scale hotel portfolio and managing his portfolio of rental properties. Propra’s mission is to use technology to remove the administrative burden of managing real estate so owners can focus on growth.