Follow the EXCELerate conference signs to the foyer for check-in to receive your name badge and fill your bag with goodies! You only need to do this once to get your badge, then you are free to come and go from the conference as you please.

The front desk will also be available to help with setting up our EVENTMOBI app, which will provide the conference program, lists of speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors, as well as fellow delegates and live updates.

Make sure you join us at 5:00 pm for the “Meet, Mingle and be Inspired” with other entrepreneurs from around the globe and our Opening Plenary: “Collaborating on the Future We Want!” Sponsored and Hosted by Fasken Martineau LLP.  Refreshments and appetizers to follow.

OPEN to all women business owners who want to learn more about the tremendous opportunities to open doors and to access more business with “Big Brands”.  This session offers an opportunity to connect with corporations and engage with those championing inclusive procurement and supplier diversity. Learn more about the organizations that certify businesses as diverse suppliers, including:

WBE Canada / CAMSC / CGLCC  / WBENC  / NWBOC  /  WEConnect International

Moderator: Betty Wood, Founder/Principal, W. Consulting

PANEL 1: The Advocates – Tools, Techniques, and Avenues to grow your business

Learn from experts how they support sellers’ efforts to increase their business opportunities

• What is supplier diversity and the Supplier Diversity Advisory Council, Canada
• How to find your business ‘fit’ in the supply chain
• How supplier diversity can assist businesses to target and prepare to pitch major corporate buyers
• Hear from a successful entrepreneur how she has used supplier diversity as the cornerstone to grow her business

Panelists: 

• Mary Anderson, CEO, WBE Canada
• Daphne Shih, CAMSC, Director of Sponsorship & Marketing
• Marla Kott, CEO, Imprint Plus

PANEL 2: The Buyers – Is your company a ‘fit’ as a supplier for your target?

Hear from the buyers about how they advocate for sellers and what they look for

• How they work within their companies/organization
• Their role to pre-qualify suppliers for opportunities
• Overview of what you need to do to be an attractive supplier
• How to connect with their company/organization to position your business for opportunities

Panelists: 

• Catherine Grosz, BMO Financial Group, Manager, Supplier Diversity & Procurement
• Madeleine Baker, Manager, Technology Strategy, Procurement & Supply Chain, TELUS
• Sheri Spinks, Data Communications Management, Director of Strategic Procurement Services
• Tara Hartley, OSME, Regional Director, Pacific Region, Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Public Services and Procurement Canada / Government of Canada

Q&A’s are followed by…

2:45 – 4:00 Business Opportunity Roundtables

This segment of the workshop is an ideal opportunity for business owners to meet in small roundtable groups with buyers of ‘Big Brands’, and supporting experts.

Each round table host who was not part of the panel, will provide:

• An overview of their company/organization
• Their commitment to supply chain diversity, and
• How to do business with their company/organization.

Round Table Hosts:

BMO, TELUS, WBE Canada, Data Communications Management, OSME, Enterprise Holdings, Imprint Plus, CAMSC, and other corporations invited (TBD). 

Catherine Grosz

Madeleine Baker

Marla Kott

Mary Anderson

Sheri Spinks

Tara Hartley

Speakers:  Marg Hachey & Barbara Mowat

Barbara Mowat

Marg Hachey

Sponsored and Hosted by Fasken Martinueau DuMoulin, LLP

Open to the business community. For additional reception tickets, click here.

“An Evening with Entrepreneurs from around the Globe: Meet, Mingle, and be Inspired!”

Welcome Remarks by Barbara Mowat, President & Founder of GroYourBiz /Impact Communications and EXCELerate Conferences

National Anthems by Seven & Aisha from Sarah MacLachlan School of Music

MC: Pamela Martin, BC Liberals’ Director of Engagement and Liaison to B.C. Premier Christy Clark, former TV News anchor and reporter

Welcome Remarks by:  Michael E. Bonner, Senior Vice President and Regional Head, BC & Yukon Division

Welcome Remarks by Amy Carruthers, Partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Plenary Session: “Collaborating on the Future We Want!”

We all want a better future. But there is still a chasm between how the world is and how we want it to be – between how we want to be and how we, in our day-to-day ‘business as usual’, actually are.

There was exciting movement toward closing that chasm in 2015. Internationally, the world’s governments came together under the UN umbrella to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the landmark Paris climate agreement. In Canada, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report and recommendations, and the Canadian Government declared its intention to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Moving into 2016, we see growing commitments from governments and the private sector alike to enfranchise all people both socially and economically to build the future we want.

How do we as individuals and businesses harness and advance these high-level, multi stakeholder commitments to sustainable, inclusive growth, stability and prosperity?

Women increasingly play a powerful role in driving global changes. We believe that collaboration will drive unprecedented positive change. Our conference vision is to provide a unique platform to connect you to powerful new solutions and opportunities.

Our keynote panelists are prominent leaders who will share their views reflecting on the four major conference themes: Leadership, Global Competitiveness, Business Growth and Megatrends: 

Moderator: Emily Ohler, CEO of Broadleap Solutions Ltd

Speakers:

• Amanda Ellis, Special Advisor for International Programs & Partnerships, Office of the President, East West Center 
• Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior VP for the SDGs and UN Relations and Partnerships, World Bank Group
• Keith Tuffley, Managing Partner & CEO of Richard Branson’s B Team 
• Alyse Nelson, President & CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership
• Honourable Minister Carolyn Bennett, Ministry of Indigenous & Northern Affairs (invited)

Mahmoud Mohieldin

Amanda Ellis

Alyse Nelson

Keith Tuffley

“Dare to Be Feminine for Guts Sake!”

Led by Dr. Kaouthar Darmoni, Founder & Director, Feminine Capital and Goddess Belly Dance, Assistant Professor in Gender & Media at the University of Amsterdam

Reception includes refreshments and appies!

Sponsored and Hosted by Deloitte

Open to the business community. For additional breakfast tickets, click here.

MC: Belle Puri, Broadcast Journalist, CBC

Traditional Prayer for Squamish Nation:  Shamantsut (Amanda) Nahanee

Welcoming Remarks: Vancouver Deputy Mayor Geoff Meggs

Welcome Greetings by BMO Bank of Montreal: Lisa Milburn, Chief Operating Officer, BMO Insurance & Executive Sponsor BMO for Women, BMO Financial Group

Plenary Session:

Business & Innovation in First Nations: “When Enlightened Leaders transform poverty into prosperity”

Moderator: Lisa Ethans, Financial Advisory Partner at Deloitte and Founder of Deloitte’s National Aboriginal Client Service Practice.

Panelists:

• Sophie Pierre, OBC, OOC, and Ktunaxa Hereditary Chief
• Ray Gerow, President, Eagle Spirit Community Solutions 
• Shelly Vermillion, BMgt, CAFM, PAED, CEO of Naoka Incorporated, & Founding Principal Partner of In Synch Consulting Inc.
• Chastity Davis, Owner of Chastity Davis Consulting

Sophie Pierre

Ray Gerow

Shelly Vermillion

Chastity Davis

Chastity Davis

Follow the EXCELerate conference signs to the foyer for check-in to receive your name badge and fill your bag with goodies! You only need to do this once to get your badge, then you are free to come and go from the conference as you please.

The front desk will also be available to help with setting up our EVENTMOBI app, which will provide the conference program, lists of speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors, as well as fellow delegates and live updates.

Make sure you visit each of the exhibits with your “Global Passport” and receive the EXCELerate 2017 stamp from each exhibitor.  Answer the question on the back of each passport and hand in your completed form to the staff at the registration desk before 2:00 pm on Friday May 5th, and you will be automatically entered into our raffle for great prizes. Winners will be announced at our “Closing Session” and you must be present to win.

Please choose one of the following concurrent sessions from the four major conference themes: Leadership Power for the “BEST YOU”, Global Competitiveness, Business Growth and Megatrends.

Moderator: Teri Cavanagh, International Business Consultant

Speaker: Roger Haskett, Owner & Artistic Director of Engagement Unlimited

Bored of boring meetings? Tired of tired employees? Learn fascinating new ways to turbocharge learning, relationships, and happiness.

New studies in Neuroscience have identified the Power of Play as one of the best methods to create engagement, increase performance and supercharge creativity and innovation. In a word, play is MAGIC.

Roger demonstrates innovative techniques that incorporate elements of play into education, meeting, and team programming. As an advocate for active, participant-driven sessions, Roger will showcase how to weave together learning, networking, and fun using interaction, theatrics and friendly competition.

The session not only talks the talk but walks the walk; participants will experience first hand some of Roger’s recommended activities resulting in a wildly entertaining and a surprisingly profound experience. This session is ideal for your opening keynote: it puts participants into the best headspace for learning and networking for the rest of the conference.

Learning Objectives

• Tangible strategies to incorporate play into the most important aspects of work and life
• Design your work environment, training sessions, and meetings to encourage knowledge retention and create a safe

environment to share new ideas

• How to reverse society’s concept of play so that you can use play to create power

Roger Haskett

Moderator: Angelica Mirza, MIRZA Global Search
Speaker: Kelly Lovell, Youth Mobilizer & CEO of Lovell Corporation

Engaging youth is no longer optional. In less than 2 years they will have the most spending power of any generation and are set to make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025. The key to effectively engaging the youth market is simple: bring one of them into your boardroom.

WHY CARE?

• The recession made youth skeptical of you.
• Only 1% of them say that a compelling ad would make them trust a brand more.
• 91% of them expect to stay in a job for less than three years.

INSIGHT FROM THE SOURCE

• Born of the cusp of the Millennial and Generation Z shift, Kelly Lovell resonates with both demographics.
• With 98% of millennials valuing the opinion of their peer over a company, Kelly’s peer perspective is crucial.

ACCLAIMED YOUTH MOBILIZER

• Kelly holds 14 awards for her expertise in bridging the gap to youth markets.
• Honoured by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II in 2016 for international recognition.

Kelly Lovell

Moderator: Leann Hackman-Carty, CEO of Economic Developers Alberta, and Managing Director of GroYourBiz Alberta

Take part in this journey to discover sales and marketing strategies from 3 experts:

• Chala Dincoy, CEO & Founder of The Repositioning Expert“Be The Obvious Choice: Your Secret Weapon to Opening the Decision Marker’s Door and to Closing More Sales” 
  • Discover the single reason why most marketing investments don’t work
  • Top 5 mistakes you might be making in your marketing…that keeps you losing at least 1/2 of what you could be earning on the table
  • Why despite following formulas and steps, most marketing efforts still don’t strike a chord with the decision maker
  • 4 steps that you can take right now to make these shifts in your business

• Laural Carr, Owner & Creative Director of Impagination Inc“How to Find Your Next Best Client, 10 Tips to Save Time, Money and Grow Your Business Fast”
  • Learn 10 tried and true techniques to assess your target clients’ risk and reward profile so you can position your offer and get to market quicker
  • Be clear, focused and confident about why your best clients love working with you and how to target your next best client
  • know what you need to build a targeted marketing strategy

• Marte Belisle, President of SommEvents“Build Your Business with Client Retention and Referral Strategies for “Good” Profits”
  • Differentiate your business from your competitor
  • Know your WOW factor
  • Always ask the Ultimate Question in your surveys
  • Track and monitor responses to the Ultimate Question
  • Utilize your promoters as part of your sales strategy

Chala Dincoy-Flajnik

Laural Carr

Marte Belisle

Moderator: Sherri Munro, President of Munro Consulting Services and Chair of GroYourBiz Toronto #3
Speaker: Ann Gomez, Founder & President of Clear Concept Inc.

As a business owner, you likely have multiple ideas and opportunities to grow your business. The challenge is that your time is limited. Your clients, team, suppliers and growth initiatives all deserve more time than you have available. You also need time to think.

This session is dedicated to maximizing your most precious resource: your time. You will learn best practices to stay focused on top priorities, manage commitments, balance interruptions and protect personal boundaries for critical renewal.

This session will help you establish a highly effective priority management system and priority-driven routine. You will learn how to balance the time required for focus and accessibility. You will learn three practical techniques for getting more done that do not involve working longer hours. You will learn how to tackle your most overwhelming projects and better manage any temptation to procrastinate. You will also learn how to take control of email and keep your inbox clear.

This interactive, fast-paced and lively session will leave you feeling inspired and optimistic. You can fit your top priorities into your day. You can also protect more personal time while continuing to grow your business. This session will show you how.

Ann Gomez

Moderator: Marg Hachey, Owner of Operation Evergreen Business Group, Managing Director of GroYourBiz Ontario & Eastern Canada
Speaker: Camilita Nuttall, Founder, Event of Champions®, Executive Business Mentor & 7 Times Award Winning Sales Trainer.

At this workshop, Camilita will be helping successful entrepreneurs raise their game, focus on a global plan and take action to succeed. She will be sharing the level of commitment, the work ethic and perseverance it takes to build a global brand, why most business fail to reach their desired level of success, the difference between having a customer plan versus a business plan and a proven sales formula that any business can implement to launch or relaunch correctly. The end goal is that you would leave with tangible business tips you can immediately put into action to MAKE MORE MONEY in business by serving more people.

TOPICS:

1. Discover the New Way of doing business that gives you maximum profit regardless of what industry you are in or what your products or services are.
2. How to COMMIT to the BIG Dream and have your teams run with it.
3. If It’s Not Making Money, It’s Not Making Sense……. Period! Learn how to see a deal from a mile.
4. Discover the difference between having a clear Customer Plan v Business Plan and how that translates into profit.
5. Learn how to create a winning Sales Formula that can quadruple your business in 2017.
6. Tips on how to build a global brand with the exit strategy in place as you create multiple streams of income.
7. Get the SINGLE most important tip for massive business growth and success that will save you time and money.

Camilita Nuttall

“Business & Innovation in Health: Breath-taking Breakthroughs in Invention and Implementation”

Sponsored and Hosted by TELUS

Open to the business community! For additional lunch tickets, click here.

MC: Belle Puri, Broadcast Journalist, CBC

Moderator: Carolyn Cross, CEO of Ondine Biomedical Inc.

This section of the 2017 conference will showcase entrepreneurs and professionals whose innovative ideas and approaches in a variety of health care fields are making tremendous breakthroughs.  They’ll demonstrate how innovation in implementation as well as invention provides effective new ways to save lives.

Speakers:

• Immuontherapy: Aladar A. Slazay, PhD. Founder, Chairman, CEO & CSO of StemImmune Inc., Professor, Department of Biochemistry University of Würzburg , Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego
• Stem Cell Therapies: Claudia Mitchell, CEO of Universal Cells
• Medicinal Marijuana: Dan Sutton, Founder & Managing Director of Tantalus Labs
• Transforming Healthcare: Juggy Sihota-Chahil, VP- Consumer Health, TELUS

Claudia Mitchell Ph.D, MBA

Dan Sutton

Dr. Aladar A. Szalay, PhD

Juggy Sihota-Chahil

Moderator: Barbara Mowat, Founder & President of GroYourBiz

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Kaouthar Darmoni (Tunisia), Founder & Director, Feminine Capital and Goddess Belly Dance, Assistant Professor in Gender & Media at the University of Amsterdam

Kaouthar combines her academic knowledge from the field of Gender, with her experience in the corporate world and her coaching skills with bodywork & Goddesses Dance. This unique combination of knowledge, skills, and experience allows her to introduce new perspectives and open up our thinking and acting in the area of Leadership.

Barbara Mowat

Dr. Kaouthar Darmoni

Make sure you visit each of the exhibits with your “Global Passport” and receive the EXCELerate 2017 stamp from each exhibitor.  Answer the question on the back of each passport and hand in your completed form to the staff at the registration desk before 2:00 pm on Friday, May 5th, and you will be automatically entered into our raffle for great prizes. Winners will be announced at our “Closing Session” and you must be present to win.

Please choose one of the following concurrent sessions from the four major conference themes: Leadership Power for the “BEST YOU”, Global Competitiveness, Business Growth and Megatrends.

Moderator: Isabel Banerjee, CEO of Encore Catalyst, and Managing Director of GroYourBiz Arizona

Speaker: Adrian Davis, President of Whetstone Inc.

In this riveting session, Adrian takes the audience through his personal journey from a life of domestic turmoil, followed by homelessness, to a life of empowerment and entrepreneurship.

Adrian’s personal journey will inspire and energize you to face change head on!

His approach to arriving at the places we need to go have been described as electrifying, provocative and transformational.

Prepare yourself, and learn how to prepare your team for the changes you desire by letting Adrian capture your imagination and stretching your thinking.

Adrian Davis

Moderator: Sandra Horton, Co-Founder Tri-Cities Women’s Collaborative Hub, GroYourBiz Tri-Cities Chair
Panelists:

• Athena Taddei, President & CEO of Little Fish Big Pond Inc.“Grow or Die—Finding and Applying Suitable Growth Strategies”
  • Gain knowledge and understanding of well-respected business practices, and the confidence needed to navigate business wisely through sustained and increased business growth.
• Marla Kott, CEO of Imprint Plus “Implementing a Strategic Plan”

• Sarah Scott, Publisher of Barlow Books “Can a Book Grow Your Business?”
  • A book can potentially get you into the media and increase your sales, but only if you know how to write one effectively. It starts with strategy. This presentation will start by showing you what you have to do before you start writing a book. I will review the five key questions of publishing: What is your book about? What are you saying? Why you? Who is your target market? Why are you doing this? Once you answer these questions, you will be in a stronger position to write a book that will increase your sales. You will also be able to create a cover that sells your book, instead of confusing the reader. Finally, this presentation will show you what your options are when it comes time to publish – and the pros and cons of each one.

Athena Taddei

Marla Kott

Sarah Scott

Moderator: Nicole Pereira, GM, Cambridge Centre Honda, & Chair, GroYourBiz, Cambridge, ON

Speaker: Sharon Gilmour-Glover, Founder of Light-Core Inc.

Since 2008, many business leaders have been using the acronym VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous – to describe the global economy.

This workshop will frame your business within the context of VUCA, helping you to become aware of unconscious mental models that are no longer serving you and are, indeed, barriers to growth.

Leave this session with business models, a learning framework and a methodology that will enable you to run into the heart of “crazy” and create new solutions, over and over again, creating a sustained innovative advantage that is unique to each business leader and each business. Working this way ensures you and your business evolve as the world around you evolves. And that drives sustained, profitable growth under any conditions.

Sharon Gilmour-Glover

Speaker: Kindi Dulai-Gill, CEO of Spark Expansion Ltd.

Moderator: TBA

In history we continuously invent or create something that accommodates our changing needs. Right now a new form of leadership is needed to displace old paradigms- which are leading to unfulfilled leaders and executives. This new leadership based out of matriarchal origins, heart centered principles of unity, compassion, integrity, and honesty wants to come to the forefront and break through established barriers and glass ceilings.

The real wholeness and peace we seek both internally and externally can only be achieved, if patriarchal ideas are balanced with feminine energy in a proactive way. Heightened social and emotional intelligence has to be encouraged in each of us, embodied through greater self-awareness and mindfulness. The only form of leadership that will bring true solutions to challenges that we face in modern times involves us taking responsibility to dissolve judgments, and criticism/divisions in a practical way, so that unconscious behavior patterns that tend to separate can finally take a back seat. Being positive to displace negativity of overstress, overwork and exhaustion is not enough. We need to understand why and how negativity has been formed for it to truly fall away and be transformed.

Kindi will guide you through a 20 minute simple and revolutionary process, so that you walk away, with an experiential change for your own greater good, as you begin to embody real and lasting transformation for peace and fulfillment.

Kindi Dulai-Gill

Moderator: Shannon Tobin, Dare to be You Foundation and GroYourBiz Chair, Burlington & Kitchener-Waterloo, ON

Speaker: Rone de Beauvoir, Founder & CEO of Livestreaming World Summit LLC

Learning to use Live streaming platforms to build your brand, and your business and connect to a global audience.

Roné de Beauvoir

Sponsored and Hosted by Export Development Canada (EDC)

Open to the business community. For additional breakfast tickets, click here.

“Let’s Talk Exports” 

Introduction by:  Mark Livingston, Regional Vice President, Western Canada, EDC

Keynote Speaker: Peter Hall, Vice President & Chief Economist, EDC

Peter G. Hall will share his insights on a range of global economic trends – including the impact of the shifts in US trade policy, the political uncertainty in the developed world, the key risks facing the world economy and the impact on Canadian exporters.

Panelists:

• Lisa Will, CEO and Founder, Stonz
• Kristi Miller, National Managing Director, First West Capital
• Angela Hofmann, President, World Strategies, LLC
• Mary Jane Devine, President, MIO Global 
• Ailish Campbell, Chief Trade Commissioner, and Assistant Deputy Minister,  International Business Development, Global Affairs Canada 

Ailish Campbell

Angela Hofmann

Kristi Miller

Lisa Will

Mary Jane Devine

Make sure you visit each of the exhibits with your “Global Passport” and receive the EXCELerate 2017 stamp from each exhibitor.  Answer the question on the back of each passport and hand in your completed form to the staff at the registration desk before 2:00 on Friday May 5th, and you will be automatically entered into our raffle for great prizes. Winners will be announced at our “Closing Session” and you must be present to win.n.

Please choose one of the following concurrent sessions from the four major conference themes: Leadership Power for the “BEST YOU”, Global Competitiveness, Business Growth and Megatrends.

Moderator: Betty Wood, Founder/Principal, W Consulting

Speaker: Adrian Davis, President of Whetstone Inc.

You will experience a unique, creative process that boosts performance and trains you to connect values, purpose and achievement to business growth. This powerful workshop will help you start the journey of goal setting and accountability as well as introduce how to achieve business goals in a systematic and organic manner.

This exclusive workshop will be lead by global MBI coach Adrian Davis, a motivational keynote speaker and executive sales strategist to Fortune 500 companies. Adrian will lead an engaging discussion that is a brutally honest peek into the rollercoaster world of business leadership and strategic goal setting.

This discussion will be followed by an interactive workshop where Adrian will share the techniques he has used to become personally and professionally successful. Adrian will also explain how the MBI process will help you design your vision of success.

Adrian Davis

Speaker: Shayna Rattler, CEO of Corporate Attraction

Moderator: Tasneem Virani, President of Claris Coaching, and Managing Director of GroYourBiz UK

Have you thought that your programs, tour or event was perfect for the likes of American Express, Verizon, or Coca Cola, but have no idea how to attract sponsorship money?  In this content-rich session Shayna will teach you how to get access to the most overlooked source of cash flow – CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS.  Leave this session knowing how to get your brand placed in the most optimal position to get your piece of the sponsorship pie.

Shayna Rattler

Sponsored and Hosted by Export Development Canada (EDC)

Introduced by: Brittany Webber, GroYourBiz 

Moderator: Heather Gray, Trade Specialist, Export Development Canada 

Panel Speakers:

• Marla Kott, CEO, Imprint Plus
• Kari Yuers, CEO, Kryton International Inc.
• Lisa Will, CEO & Founder, Stonz  
• Ashley Wray, CEO & Founder, Mala Collective

“As an entrepreneur I’ve come to realize that success is all about timing”. A panel of  successful entrepreneurs will share their inspiring stories, lessons learned, and practical tips for success.
Learn how you can increase your company’s profitability, productivity and innovation through exporting. As a key sponsor for EXCELerate 2017, Export Development Canada is proud to present this session highlighting the benefits for your company of exporting. The session will explore strategies and tips on how to overcome common barriers such as finding new customers, accessing market intelligence and getting the working capital you need to finance your export business.

Ashley Wray

Kari Yuers

Lisa Will

Marla Kott

Sponsored and Hosted by SAVE-ON-FOODS

Open to the business community. Click HERE to purchase an additional ticket.

We are what we eat, right?  So we rely heavily on those who produce, distribute and retail our food to do their utmost to ensure we can buy the best at whatever price-point. Not every company is up to that challenge, but some even surpass our expectations and become beacons of what is possible, even essential going forward.  Innovation in the agri-food business is a growing concern. Food packaging, food waste, and food nutrition at the retail market level is an area where agrifood entrepreneurs are seeking new eco-solutions from zero-waste apps, to flash-freezing healthy foods, to new biodegradable products and unique processes, the food chain is changing to provide both financial and environmental solutions.

The Agrifood section of EXCELerate2017 examines how suppliers, wholesalers, retailers and sector entrepreneurs are leading the way in producing superior quality produce as well as systemic improvements in marketing and distribution, all designed to be both more friendly to the environment and more beneficial to consumers. A billion dollar growing industry for innovative entrepreneurs wanting to make a difference.

Introduction by: Corina Walsh, Shift People Development, and Chair of GroYoruBiz St. John’s, NFLD

Moderator: James Donaldson, CEO of BC Food Processors Association

Panel Speakers:

• Jessica Pautsch, Founder & Visionary, MESHX
• Eva Sun, CEO, The Rice People 
• Ratana Stephens, Co-Founder, Nature’s Path 

Moderator: Hanne Madsen, Business Consultant and Chair of GroYourBiz White Rock/Surrey, BC
Speaker: Anne C. Graham, Best-Selling Author, Speaker, and Accelerator

What would be possible in your business if you doubled your profits within the next year? Would you reinvest them tire better people, purchase new equipment or technology, invest in market expansion, finally tackle a growth initiative that you’ve been putting on hold forever with 7 of the scariest words in business (“we don’t have the budget for that”), or finally reward yourself at a higher level for all the hard work you’ve invested in your business?

Whether you provide products or services, whether you are an entrepreneur owner or an employee, YOU have the opportunity to hold your head high and be a credit to your community by creating a more profitable company that can thrive in any economy, so that you never have to downsize good people or keep putting growth on hold. Best of all, the actions you’ll take have nothing to do with penny-pinching on your income statement or balance sheet, and everything to do with putting all the fun back in your business! Let me show you how in this takeaway-packed session.

Welcome to the P.R.O.F.I+T Roadmap, which will take you to what one executive called “the Holy Grail of Profitability”.  It this fast paced session you will learn:

1. P: 3 Powerful Insights including the “CPR” for your business that focuses every person on your team to behave like owners
2. R: The 5Rs of proactively managing profits… and where to start to see BIG impact
3. O: The easiest way to obliterate operational sludge and put that money right back on your bottom line
4. F: How to fearlessly price for value and one action you can take tomorrow to add 16-38% to your bottom line
5. I: How to unleash the infinite ROI of innovation that your competitors can’t copy
6. +T: Take Action and see results in less time than you’re spending on email.

Anne C. Graham

Open to the business community. For additional lunch tickets, click here.

MC: Angela Hofmann, President, World Strategies LLP

Business & Innovation in Technology: Global Game Changers Disrupting the Norm

In this section, EXCELerate 2017 will explore ground-breaking people and companies who have lead technological innovations — ones that are disrupting old norms and ushering in bold new ways of doing business with global implications.

Each panelist brings a tremendous expertise and offers insights gleaned from their global knowledge and unique life experiences.  They are all “GLOBAL GAME CHANGERS”

This Plenary Session goal is to provide delegates with innovative, dynamic, and thoughtful ideas to inspire a leadership growth for women and men and young entrepreneurs, through the bringing together of global game changers in the digital revolution.

Moderator: Lisa Ridgedale, Founding Partner, Hakemi & Ridgedale LLP 

Speakers:

• Michael Litt, Co-Founder & CEO of Vidyard 
• Christian Cotichini, Co-Founder & CEO of HeroX
• Aliya Amershi, CEO & Founder of Askatechie
• Ajung Moon, Founder & Director of Open Roboethics Institute (ORi)
• Maryam Sadeghi, Director of Digital Health Hub and CEO at MetaOptima Technology Inc

Ajung Moon

Aliya Amershi

Christian Cotichini

Maryam Sadeghi

Michael Litt

GLOBAL PASSPORT winners will be announced!

Please choose one of the following concurrent sessions from the four major conference themes: Leadership Power for the “BEST YOU”, Global Competitiveness, Business Growth and Megatrends.

Moderator: Ted James, International Business Consultant, and Chair of GroYourBiz Burnaby

In this interactive session, experts share best practices in communication:

• Liz Radzick, President of Manifest Consulting “Lessons Learned From Pitching The Dragons”
  • Whether you’re pitching your ideas to Dragons or Directors, entrepreneurs need to sound confident, clear, and calm when the pressure is on in the boardroom, interview, podcast, video, or conference call. Liz provides an interactive approach to help you polish your ability to communicate with confidence, feel more powerful, and engage with others in an authentic way.

• Christina Adams, CEO of Antenna Social “Customer Service Excellence in the Age of Social Media”
  • Are you keeping up with your customers on social  media? Christina shares why you need to use social media to listen, not just push out content, and will show you how to leverage social media to ensure that you and your team are providing customer service excellence.

• Corina Walsh, GroYourBiz St. John’s Chair & CEO of Shift People Development “Harnessing Emotional Intelligence to Lead and Grow Your Business”
  • Success as an entrepreneur requires more than a detailed business plan. Entrepreneurs must have the right mind-set, self-management skills, interpersonal skills, and the ability to deal with stress. Corina Walsh will help you understand the behaviour success factors required for entrepreneurship and how using your emotions intelligently can lead to more energy, improved motivation and discipline, and better relationships with employees and clients.

Christina Adams

Corina Walsh

Liz Radzick

Moderator: Patricia Ross, Councillor, City of Abbotsford & Chair of GroYourBiz Abbotsford, BC

Speaker: Vanessa Shaw, CEO of Simply Zest! LLC

• Discover 3 top business mistakes guaranteed to keep you struggling if you don’t change them.
• Learn a proven 4-step system to double and triple your revenue in 90 days.
• Gain insider secrets to confidently charge more for your services.

Vanessa Shaw

Moderator: Jane Schnurr, President of Awesome Coaching Enterprises, and Chair of GroYourBiz Barrie, ON

Speaker: Dr. Kouthar Darmoni, Founder & Director, Feminine Capital and Goddess Belly Dance, Assistant Professor in Gender & Media at the University of Amsterdam

• Why do we value masculine qualities and neglect feminine ones?
• Why do we want to masculinize women?
• Why do we associate masculine with strong and feminine with weak?
• Why do we prize the power of the brain and mock the power of the guts?

Kaouthar Darmoni believes that balance between feminine and masculine values, in each individual, is the key to innovation and prosperity. She trusts that the balance between male and female qualities is a ‘Golden Proportion’ (Fibonacci) that will take us in a completely New Leadership which embraces another ‘Golden Proportion’: the balance between brain, heart and belly.

Kaouthar’s passion is releasing the incredible potential of women, their ‘Feminine Capital’, not only via the ratio but especially via the body, the womb.

In this lecture, Kaouthar combines her academic knowledge from the field of Gender, with her experience in the corporate world and her coaching skills with bodywork & Goddesses Dance. This unique combination of knowledge, skills, and experience allows her to introduce new perspectives and open up our thinking and acting in the area of Leadership.

Through this playful and at times provocative intervention, dr. Darmoni argues for the necessity of both another type of knowing, leaving space for playfulness and more feminine attributes, qualities that are not always valued in corporate culture.

Kaouthar is a Feminine Capital polisher who loves teaching women to glow their feminine gold with the Goddesses Dance; to trade it for the highest good in education, relationships, economy, workforce, society and environment.

Dr. Kaouthar Darmoni

Moderator: Hilda Gan, Founder and Chief People Officer of People Bright Consulting and Chair of GroYourBiz Markham/Richmond Hill

Speaker: Kate Hodgson, Founder of 9 to 5 Narrative

Stories have a way to affect people emotionally. In business, a strong ‘Founders Story’ can move and inspire others in ways that numbers cannot. Learn how to structure you past experiences that have shaped who-you-are and what-you-do into a compelling story. Identify those pivotal moments in your life that have led you to where you are today.  Share the passion and drive behind your business in a way that inspires others, builds brand loyalty, and captures the attention of potential clients. When you convey the story of your own journey, you gain the confidence and clarity of direction from which you can build your social media strategy, website copy, and network pitches.

In this workshop, we’ll look at how to use narrative structure to connect different life experiences into a compelling ‘Founders Story’, the essential ingredients that go into creating a compelling story, and tips and techniques to becoming a master storyteller.

Kate Hodgson

One of the most demographic trends in the next decade will be the aging population.  This will impact the SME sector, as well as economic growth and standards of living.  Well thought out strategic goals for succession planning are key to your success. Most problems with business transition are that succession planning does not take place soon enough and happens too late or at crisis points. Working on an integrated approach with advisors from legal, bankers, financial advisors and accountants to help formulate strategic goals will help increase business exit value, as well as evaluate how much money or income you will need for your future.

Introduction of Paula Cruickshank by:  Angelica Mirza, Mirza Global Search

Moderator: Paula Cruickshank, Senior Vice President, BDC

Panelists

• Bob Lawrence, CPA, CA, CBV, CEPA, CEO of Veer Advisors Ltd.

(Why plan for transition? Who should be involved? Transaction Management, etc.)

• Diane McCurdy, CEO & Founder, McCurdy Financial Planning Inc.

(How Much is Enough?  Taking care of you!)

• Jennifer Archer, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

(Conducting legal audit, positioning sale, negotiating, disagreements, and closing sales)

Bob Lawrence, CPA, CA, CBV, CEPA

Diane McCurdy

Jennifer Archer

• MC: Pamela Martin, BC Liberals’ Director of Engagement and Liaison to B.C. Premier Christy Clark, former TV News anchor and reporter
• BMO Welcome: Lisa Milburn, Chief Operating Officer , BMO Insurance  & Executive Search, BMO for Women
• BMO Celebrating Women: Michael E. Bonner, Senior Vice President and Regional Head, BC & Yukon Division, BMO Bank of Montreal & Jennifer Muench, Vice President & Managing Director, BC, BMO Private Banking 
• Keynote: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield (book rights bought by Reese Witherspoon for upcoming movie production); and The Dressmaker of Khair Khana. “There is no greater multiplier in the fight against poverty than an educated female.”
• Finale Performance: Young Poet from Afghanistan, Sajedeh Zaki & Musical performance by Erica Dee

Erica Dee

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Jennifer Muench

Lisa Milburn

Michael E. Bonner

Pamela Martin

Sajedeh Zaki