Speakers

Nathanaël Larochette, Master of Ceremonies

Nathanael Larochette is an Ottawa based spoken word poet, musician, and youth educator who will be the official Master of Ceremonies for the National Summit. Nathanaël lives to create, hope, and dream because he believes these are the keys to the meaning of our being.

 

 

 

  

Governor-General David Johnston

David Johnston began his professional career as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University in 1966, moving to the Law Faculty at the University of Toronto in 1968. He became Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario in 1974. In 1979 he was named Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University, and in July 1994, he returned to the McGill Faculty of Law as a full-time professor. In June 1999, he became the fifth President of the University of Waterloo.

Mr. Johnston has served on many provincial and federal task forces and committees, and currently serves on the boards of a number of companies, including Arise, CGI, Fairfax, and Masco. He was President of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and of the Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec. He was the founding Chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, chaired the federal government’s Information Highway Advisory Council and served as the first non-American Chair of the Board of Overseers at Harvard University. He is the author or co-author of two dozen books, holds honorary doctorates from over a dozen universities, and has been awarded the Order of Canada (Companion).

Mr. Johnston holds an LL.B. from Queen’s University, Canada (1966), an LL.B. from Cambridge, United Kingdom (1965), and an A.B. from Harvard (1963). While at Harvard he was twice elected to the All-American Hockey Team and is a member of Harvard’s Athletic Hall of Fame. His academic specializations include securities regulation, corporation and information technology and law.

Mr. Johnston was born in Sudbury, Ontario, and is married to Mrs. Sharon Johnston. They have five adult daughters and seven grandchildren.

Social commentator Allan Gregg

Allan Gregg is one of Canada’s most recognized and respected senior research professionals and social commentators. From 1979 through 1993 Gregg was known as the official pollster of the Progressive Conservative Party and participated in over 50 central election campaigns on three continents. In 1995, he co-founded The Strategic Counsel. In 2007 he set out on his own to form Allan Gregg Strategies, offering high-end, value added, research-based consulting and communications advice to private and public sector clients. At the same time, he returned to his roots and assumed the position of Chairman of Harris/Decima, a company he founded almost 30 years earlier that has recently merged with the fastest growing research firm in the world.

Allan is a pioneer in the integration of consulting, public-opinion research, public affairs and communications. He not only has an intimate knowledge of the dynamics of policy-making but also a deep understanding of cultural change and the communications processes necessary to forge a public consensus around government and business initiatives. He was a regular participant on CBC’s “At Issue” panel on Thursday nights and hosts the popular and respected TVO talk show “Allan Gregg In Conversation With”.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi

Naheed Nenshi was sworn in as Calgary’s 36th mayor on October 25, 2010. He is a passionate Calgarian, accomplished business professional, and community leader. Mayor Nenshi spent many years at the international business consulting firm McKinsey and Co. where he advised companies in corporate strategy. After leaving McKinsey, he formed his own business, the Ascend Group, to help public, private, and nonprofit organizations grow.

Mayor Nenshi was Canada’s first tenured professor in the field of nonprofit management, at Mount Royal University’s Bissett School of Business. His real passion is to make cities work better. He’s the lead author of Building Up: Making Canada’s Cities Magnets for Talent and Engines of Development and has lent his expertise to nonprofits across Calgary, including the Calgary Foundation, United Way, Coral Springs Community Association, and Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids. He also served on the leadership team of imagineCalgary, co-authoring Calgary’s 100-year vision, and is a co-founder of the Better Calgary Campaign and of CivicCamp. He holds a B Comm. from the University of Calgary, where he was President of the Students’ Union, and a Masters in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo

National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo is a Hereditary Chief from the Ahousaht First Nation. In July 2009, A-in-chut was elected to a three-year mandate as National Chief to the Assembly of First Nations.

A-in-chut served two terms as Regional Chief of the BC AFN. In this time, he committed to the principles of working together through inclusion and respect. In March 2005, a historic Leadership Accord was signed, overcoming decades of discord among First Nations leadership in BC.

A-in-chut graduated in 2003 with a Masters of Education in Adult Learning and Global Change from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia (in partnership with University of British Columbia, University of the Western Cape South Africa, and University of Linkoping Sweden). In 2008, A-in-chut’s commitment to education was recognized in his appointment as Chancellor of Vancouver Island University, becoming BC’s first Indigenous Chancellor. He received an honourary doctorate of laws degree in Education from Ontario’s Nipissing University June 2010.

A-in-chut is supported by and gains strength from his partner of 25 years Nancy and their two adult children, Tyson and Tara. Traditional teachings have guided A-in-chut to serve First Nations as a leader, facilitator, mediator, planner and teacher.

Emmanuelle Hébert, co-Founder of MU in Montreal

In 2006, Emmanuelle Hébert co-founded MU, a charity whose goal is to transform the city of Montreal into an open-air art gallery. Its mission is to educate people on mural art by designing and creating murals within and for local communities. In the 5 years since its establishment, the organization has produced more than 30 murals. Emmanuelle received the ARISTA Award from the Jeune chambre de commerce de Montréal in 2011 in recognition of her outstanding leadership. MU’s social innovation has also been acknowledged by a number of awards, including TELUS’ Innovation Award, two provincial awards at the 10th Quebec Entrepreneurship Contest and the Grafika award.

Emmanuelle holds a master’s degree in political science from McGill University. Her thesis work focused on media coverage of female politicians. She has participated in numerous conferences, courses and videos about democratic institutions and the place of women in politics, especially in Rwanda. In 2002, she was appointed by the Government of Quebec to the Steering Committee for the Estates General on the Reform of Democratic Institutions. In 2006, Montreal’s city council appointed her as a member of the Conseil des Montréalaises, of which she is now vice president.

Dr. Roger Gibbins, Canada West Foundation

Roger Gibbins is President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, a public policy research group based in Calgary and operating across the four western provinces. Prior to assuming the leadership of the Canada West Foundation in 1998, Roger was a professor of political science at the University of Calgary, where he started his academic career in 1973 and served as department head from 1987 to 1996. Roger has authored, co-authored or edited 22 books and more than 140 articles and book chapters, most dealing with western Canadian themes and issues. In 1998 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and was the President of the Canadian Political Science Association from 1999 to 2000. In 2007, he was awarded the Alberta Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Exceptional Achievement, Distinctive Leadership and Outstanding Contribution to Public Administration. Roger was born in Prince George, British Columbia, and received his undergraduate degree from UBC and his doctorate in political science from Stanford University in California. In 2010 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Northern British Columbia.

Frances Lankin

The Hon. Frances Lankin was recently appointed by the Province of Ontario to co-lead a review of Ontario’s Social Assistance system as part of the province’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. From 2001 to February 2011, Frances held the position of President and CEO of United Way Toronto. Under her leadership, United Way has become a leading community builder that works to meet urgent needs and address the root causes of Toronto’s social problems.

Frances has been widely recognized for her contributions to community and most recently received Honorary Doctorates of Laws from Queen’s University and from Ryerson University.

She has served on several not-for-profit boards and is a graduate of the Rotman/ICD Director’s Education program. She is currently Chair of the Telus Toronto Community Board and was recently appointed as a member of the Ontario Press Council.

From 1990 to 2001, Frances was the MPP for Beaches-East York. She has served as Ontario’s Minister of Health, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Minister of Government Services and Chair of Management Board.

In 2009, Frances was sworn in to the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada and was appointed as a Member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Julie Payette, Canadian Astronaut

Julie Payette, born and raised in Montreal, is the second Canadian woman to have flown in space. Not only is she an astronaut, but she is also an accomplished musician who has sung with the Montreal Symphonic Orchestra Chamber Choir.

After becoming an electrical and computer engineer, Ms. Payette was selected in 1992 by the Canadian Space Agency to become an astronaut. She flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery in the spring of 1999, during which flight she became the first Canadian astronaut to visit the Space Station and she operated the Canadarm robotic arm. After returning to earth, she became the Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency.

Ms. Payette currently works in Houston, Texas as a CAPCOM (Spacecraft Communicator) for the Mission Control Centre, NASA. She was a crew member for the STS-127, ISS Assembly Mission 2J/A, and blasted off to the International Space Station on July 15, 2009. In January 2011, Ms. Payette undertook an eight-month fellowship as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, D.C. Her project while at the Center involved research in the area of capacity building in high performance organizations. At the end of October 2011, she was named a Scientific Delegate for the Quebec Government to the United States (based in Washington DC), as part of the Interchange Canada Program. She remains a member of the Canadian Astronaut Corps and is a volunteer board member of Own the Podium.