Ken Steele

Higher Ed Futurist, President and Chief Futurist, Eduvation

Ken Steele is Canada’s best-known higher ed futurist, speaker, facilitator, and consultant in branding, marketing and innovation. His unique perspective has been shaped by award-winning careers as a Shakespeare scholar and instructor, technology consultant, brand strategist, market researcher, serial entrepreneur, and de facto journalist. Ken delivers keynotes and workshops to a broad range of audiences hundreds of times a year, from boards and senior administration to student groups, concerned parents, and Canada’s most powerful CEOs. He sits on eCampus Ontario’s Virtual Learning Advisory Committee, and has consulted with hundreds of colleges and universities – from New England to New Zealand.

Some 30,000 viewers and readers have come to know Ken as a definitive source of breaking news, bright ideas, strategic foresight and thoughtful insight, through several newsletters and his podcast Ten with Ken. Last Fall, Ken launched a new, forward-looking virtual community, Eduvation Circles, to provide real-time news, resources, livestreams and more – and to keep us engaged in an ongoing conversation.

Michael Parent

Professor & Academic Director, Directors Education Program, Simon Fraser University

Michael Parent is a recognized expert on Corporate Governance in Canada, with a focus on cybersecurity, data privacy, and IT governance. He is a Professor at the Segal Graduate School, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, since 2002. From 2015-2017 he was a Professor and Vice-Dean at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business from 1996-2002. He was also a Senior Special Advisor to the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada, Government of Canada, in 2018-2019. Michael received his MBA and PhD degrees from Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, and qualified for the Institute of Corporate Directors’ ICD.D designation. Before becoming an academic, he spent over a decade in the high technology industry in new product development, marketing, and management. Michael is an active researcher and executive educator. He has taught programs for the federal and provincial governments in Canada, Crown Corporations, as well as a number of public and private companies and Boards. He has advised over 100 Boards on cybersecurity and governance issues.

He is the Academic Director for the Vancouver cohort of the Directors’ Education Programs for Canada’s Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), Founding Academic Director of the Ottawa cohort, and teaches the IT and Cybersecurity Risk module nationally. He is also the Academic Director for the ‘Oversight of Cybersecurity in an Era of Digital Acceleration’ program, delivered nationally by the ICD.

Sami Khoury

CEO of Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity

Sami Khoury is the Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre). The Cyber Centre is the single unified source of expert advice, guidance, services and support on cyber security for government, critical infrastructure owners and operations, the private sector and the Canadian public. Sami began his career at the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) in 1992 as a research engineer exploring the impact of emerging multimedia communications technologies. He held various management positions and leadership roles at CSE, including Director General Capabilities Development and more recently as Deputy Chief (ADM) for Enterprise Technologies and Solutions. In this role, he was CSE’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) and responsible for IT and Information Security, as well as leading CSE’s overall Research program and 24/7 Operations Centre.

Sami holds a Bachelor of Computer Engineering (1988) and a Masters of Applied Science (1991) from Concordia University in Montreal. He completed a certificate program in Public Sector Leadership at the University of Ottawa in 2016. Sami received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and the APEX Award of Excellence for Innovation in 2020.

Waneek Horn-Miller

indigenous Sport Hero Activist. Athlete. Entrepreneur.

Waneek Horn-Miller has always lived for what she believes. From fighting for Indigenous rights to her iconic cover in TIME magazine as the first Mohawk woman to compete in the Olympics, she’s persevered through it all with resilience and strength. After a near-fatal stabbing by a Canadian soldier during the Oka Crisis, she almost gave up her dreams in sports. But for Waneek, “being someone’s victim was not an option.” Ten years to the day of the stabbing, she led her team into the Olympics as co-captain. She took control of her story—and now inspires others to do the same. An incredible storyteller, Waneek shares her hopeful insight on reconciliation, community, mental health, and social harmony to spark a drive in every listener. 

Throughout her life, Waneek Horn-Miller has always stood up for what was right—as a mother, an activist, an athlete, and an entrepreneur. This has entailed hard choices, pain, and sacrifice. But this commitment has also made her one of Canada’s most inspiring figures. Previously, she assumed the role of Director of Community Engagement for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. By connecting the commission to victims’ families, as well as the public, she provided a recognizable and trusted face to an incredibly important initiative: one that seeks justice, raises awareness of violence against Indigenous women, and furthers the dual tasks of healing and reconciliation.