Founder/Moderator

Sharon Zohar

Sharon Zohar is a serial entrepreneur and investor with more than twenty-five years experience founding, investing, advising, and operating technology, internet, and digital media companies.  She is driven by her passion to identify new innovative technologies and business models that have the potential to disrupt traditional markets and are designed to improve the human condition. Sharon has designed a number of mobile software applications for health, education, and media markets. In 2017, Sharon founded The Big Push, a business accelerator for women entrepreneurs that won the 2020 National Canie Awards for Woman Entrepreneur of the Year and 2019 Diversity Initiative of the Year from Women in Finance for her leadership and vision in the startup ecosystem. Sharon sits on the board of the Banff Spark Accelerator for Women in Media and was appointed Member of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Strategy Expert Panel by the Honorable Mary Ng. Roundtable Resolutions is Sharon’s next big project.

Facilitator

Stephen Shedletzky

Stephen Shedletzky–or “Shed” to his friends–is a sought-after speaker, coach, and leadership advisor. He has led hundreds of keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development programs globally. As a thought leader on psychological safety in the workplace and creating speak-up cultures where people and organizations thrive, he supports humble leaders and serves clients in all industries where human beings work. He is the author of "Speak-Up Culture: When Leaders Truly Listen, People Step Up" (October 2023). For more than a decade, Shed has contributed to Simon Sinek’s organization, where as Chief of Staff and Head of Brand Experience, Training & Development, he headed a global team of speakers and facilitators. Shed continues to speak and facilitate with Simon Sinek helping to create a more inspired, safe, and fulfilled world.

Erica Ehm 

Erica Ehm is a media personality, entrepreneur, and force for positive change. After a decade hosting live television on MuchMusic, Erica has harnessed the three decades in front of audiences on camera and in person to become a powerful keynote speaker focused on leadership and innovation. Known for conducting extraordinary interviews, Erica is an in-demand event host and facilitator. Erica is also considered a pioneer in content marketing, social media and community building.  Under her leadership as founder of the digital agency Ehm & Co, and the YMC.ca platform, her companies have earned over a dozen prestigious marketing and leadership awards, including a Governor General’s Innovation nomination. Since her company’s acquisition, she remains on the leadership team as Chief Innovation Officer. Erica is a storyteller at heart. Her multimedia portfolio includes author, journalist, playwright, award-winning songwriter, and podcaster. Her remarkable ability to reinvent, influence, create and lead with relentless positivity is what lights Erica up.

Kirsten Chapman

Kirsten Chapman is a Toronto based strategy consultant, retail executive and entrepreneur who has been involved with several startups.  Kirsten was on the founding Executive team of Indigo - Canada’s leading retailer of books and lifestyle products. In addition to her founding role; Kirsten was responsible for the marketing and digital growth of the company from 2016 onward before taking on the role of President and Chief Customer Officer in 2019. Early in her career Ms. Chapman led marketing services at Cott Beverages launching private label programs for grocers across North America and Europe including the successful launch of Virgin Cola for Branson’s team in the UK; and went on to work with Roots on their Asian franchise business followed by consulting with Jackman. Kirsten is currently a mentor for female founders working in the fields of sustainability and wellness, and recently joined Women’s Equity Lab. She lives in Hockley Valley with her husband and three children.

Kelly Kornet Weber

Kelly Kornet Weber is a Senior Strategic Foresight Specialist at Autodesk. As a member of the Strategic Foresight team, she builds capacity for our organization and our customers to navigate change, seize opportunities, and mitigate risk. Prior to joining Autodesk, Kelly designed and led strategic foresight engagements for Fortune 500 companies and professional associations as a consultant at Coeuraj and Kalypso. In these roles, she helped organizations transform their operating models and de-risk innovation by anticipating forces of change. From helping a global mining company chart a path to achieving its net zero goals, to supporting an automotive OEM to transform their CAD data exchange approaches by embracing new collaboration models and emerging technologies (5-10 years out). Kelly has had the privilege of bringing foresight tools to diverse individuals to help them successfully navigate uncertainty and complexity.

Allan Fisch

Allan Fisch is a tech entrepreneur, business operator and finance/legal professional with over 20 years experience in San Francisco, New York and Toronto, driving growth at, building, scaling companies and raising capital for companies with four exits.  He is CEO and co-founder of Moonshot Brands, a 2023 Y Combinator Top Company which has raised over $100M USD that is building a global, digital brand house by leveraging technology and data to procure, optimize, and scale e-commerce brands. Previously, Allan was founder & CEO of Mavencare, a data driven on-demand healthcare site acquired by Bayada Health; LeapPay an online lender acquired by Funding Circle, and HomeSav an e-commerce site acquired by American Capital; Operant.AI a debt collection intelligence platform. In addition Allan rolled-up Canada’s largest co-working space company acquired by Regus Group PLC.  As a native of Toronto, Allan has always had a passion for technology & international business. 

Roy Pereira

Roy Pereira is an entrepreneur and technology innovator known for founding several successful startups in Canada as well as his role as a senior executive in publicly traded companies across North America. He is the visionary behind CalendarHero, an AI-powered scheduling assistant that helps businesses streamline appointment scheduling. He also initiated his entrepreneurial journey with the creation of Shiny Ads, a platform that empowers publishers to manage and monetize their ad inventory. Today, Roy is building Unified.to — a developer tool that enables software teams to build B2B SaaS integrations at scale through a unified API. Roy is recognized for his contributions to the technology industry and is driven by a deep-seated passion for leveraging technology to tackle real-world challenges.

Dr. Deanne Simms

Dr. Deanne Simms is a seasoned Clinical Health Psychologist and Healthcare Executive who has worked in public and private health spheres across Canada, designing, implementing, and evaluating novel healthcare strategies and initiatives at the provincial and national level. Dr. Simms has a strong research background, and, in addition to peer-reviewed publications, she has co-authored and co-designed evidence-based clinical and program manuals that have been used in public provincial health services in 2 provinces in Canada. Currently, Dr. Simms’ work with the Mental Health Commission of Canada helping to consult on the development of a National Mental Health Strategy for Canada, and devising and implementing National Accreditation Standards for Digital Mental Health Applications (Apps). Dr.Simms is also a highly sought after clinician. She and her colleagues at ThriveSpace focus their services on enabling executive leaders to understand and harness their unique psychology to optimize their success. 

Ben Baldwin

Ben Baldwin is the founder of Upteaming, a peer networking platform that builds personalized peer networks for leaders of venture-backed companies. Ben is a four-time founder and board member at the Drucker Institute in Claremont California; a former Wall Street Journal Startup Guru and Inc Magazine Columnist. Ben holds multiple patents for work performance systems, including the US business method patent for matching people with jobs using a personality assessment.