Speakers
Paul Barrett
Chief Communications Officer,
Davie Shipbuilding
As a purpose-driven global corporate affairs leader across multiple industries, I advise CEOs, help drive industry-shaping mergers and acquisitions, manage complex global issues, deliver policy priorities and champion purpose and culture agendas. I lead large, diverse international teams and have a passion for helping people reach their potential.
Darrell Beaulieu
CEO, Denendeh Investment Corporation, NWT
Darrell Beaulieu was born and raised in Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories and has served three terms as the Chief of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, whose traditional territory surrounds the capital area.
In October 2005, Darrell was appointed President and CEO of Denendeh Investments Incorporated by its Board of Directors. Prior to being appointed to DII, Mr. Beaulieu was the founding President of Deton’Cho Corporation and Deton’Cho Diamonds. Mr. Beaulieu has been employed or self-employed in various aspects of mineral exploration in the NWT for many years and has served on both the Mine Training Society and NWT Chamber of Mines Boards of Directors.
At present, Darrell is on the Board of Directors of the NWT Law Foundation, Northland Utilities (Yellowknife & NWT), and since 2005 was appointed the Chair of the Northwest Territories Business Development Corporation (BDIC) by the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Patricia Boeg-Jensen
Business Sweden, Swedish Trade Commission, Toronto
Patricia is a Project Manager and Mining Industry Advisor at Business Sweden – the Swedish Trade and Invest Council. She focuses on the mining sector in Canada and Sweden from a trade and investment perspective. Before joining Business Sweden, Patricia lived in Sweden’s northernmost city, Kiruna, for over ten years and worked at the state-owned iron ore mining company LKAB for eight years. She has experience from the operational and strategic side of the mining industry and has led several global R&D projects. In addition, she worked as a Project Manager at the urban transformation in Kiruna to facilitate the relocation process of people, homes, housing, and business premises to ensure the availability of land affected by mining operations.
Bill Braden
Braden Photography
Clear, fresh, exciting photographs and sharp, effective writing are among the most powerful tools we have to communicate and sell our stories, ideas and services. I believe the most effective images are the ones go beyond just documentation – they must really tell a story about what’s going on and why it’s important.
A collaborative approach, technical and creative excellence, and long-lasting value are what I strive to deliver.
Mark Brajer
Chief Executive Officer, Tłı̨chǫ Investment Corporation & Group of Companies
Mark joined Tłı̨ chǫ Investment Corporation & Group of Companies (TIC) in December 2017 as Chief Operating Officer. Mark was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in August 2019 and is responsible for overseeing all TIC’s operations, subsidiary companies, and joint ventures. TIC has over 24 wholly owned businesses and joint ventures, involved in construction, engineering & environmental, equipment leasing, retail & hotel operations, fuel delivery, site services & labour management, tourism and more.
Mark Brajer’s career has been largely in the operations, supply chain and engineering areas over a 30-year career, more than half at an executive level. He has worked across North America before starting his position with TIC in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Mark has worked for E.D. Smith, Alberto-Culver, Unilever, Epicure and now the Tłı̨ chǫ Investment Corporation. In his over five years at TIC, there has been a drive to improve the sustainability of the organization, grow the business organically and inorganically, diversify the corporation, and provide the Tłı̨ chǫ with an economic development business they can be proud of, across the region.
He has undergraduate degrees in Chemical Engineering (B.Eng.) and Chemistry (B.Sc.) from McMaster University, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, and a Food Science Certificate from Guelph University. Mark is a licensed engineer in Ontario, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon.
Mr. Brajer currently sits on the boards of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, the Corporate Indigenous Relations Council, the NT/NU Chamber of Mines and the NWT Chamber of Commerce and has served on many community and not-for-profit boards across the country. Mark currently lives in Victoria, BC and Yellowknife, NT, where he works.
Alex Buchan
Director, Nunavut Affairs, Agnico Eagle Mines
Alex has over 30 years of experience in wildlife management and community economic development in Nunavut. He began his career as Renewable Resource Officer and Manager of Wildlife for the territorial government. Alex went on to work as Community Economic Development Officer for the Hamlet of Kugluktuk, assisting in working with the Canadian diamond industry and establishing the Kugluktuk Grizzlies youth group. He has been involved in community and Inuit relations for the Hope Bay Belt for over 15 years, assisting in the negotiation and implementation of both Hope Bay Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreements, and other Inuit surface and subsurface tenure agreements.
Alex has also been active in diverse areas such as the Bathurst Caribou Management Planning Committee, Peary Caribou Recovery Team, Diavik Environmental Monitoring Advisory Board, Nunavut Business Credit Corporation and Coppermine Heritage River nomination committee. Alex is a civilian instructor for the Royal Canadian Army Cadets, and actively represents Agnico Eagle Mines Limited on the Board of the NWT/Nunavut Chamber of Mines as the Vice President for Nunavut.
Hon. David Collenette
Chair, NATO Association of Canada
David Collenette served as a Toronto Member of Parliament for 21 years and 11 years as Minister under three Prime Ministers, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner and Jean Chretien. His portfolios included Multiculturalism, National Defence, Veterans’ Affairs, Transport, Crown Corporations and Minister for the Greater Toronto Area. Mr. Collenette is a graduate of York University, Toronto holding a BA (Honours), MA and LL.D. He is Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (FCILT).
During his career, Mr. Collenette was involved with constitutional patriation including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the reorganizing, restructuring, and reengineering of the Department of National Defence; the merger of Canadian Airlines International and Air Canada; initiation of the Canada Marine Act and overseeing Canada’s response to the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, together with subsequent issues related to transportation security.
After retirement from Parliament in 2004, Mr. Collenette worked as an advisor to defence, transportation and infrastructure companies in Canada and the United States and as Senior Counsel at Hill and Knowlton Strategies. He served as Chair of the Mayor of Ottawa’s Citizen Task Force on Transportation (2006-2007) and Ontario High Speed Rail Advisor (2015-2018) and director of many volunteer organizations, including Chair of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, North America, and Vice-President, CILT International (2011-2015). He is currently Director Emeritus, CILTNA; Vice-President and Secretary of Harbourfront Corporation (Toronto); Director, The Toronto Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery; and Chair of the NATO Association of Canada.
Mr. Collenette has been active in academia as an Advisor or Senior Fellow with Stanford University, California; Glendon College, York University; Metropolitan University of Toronto and Trinity College, University of Toronto.
David Connelly
Vice President Strategy and Corporate Affairs, Cheetah Resources
As an investor in and advocate for responsible economic development, David has structured many successful strategic alliances and led turnarounds. He has helped pioneer groundbreaking Indigenous business partnerships and impact benefits agreements.
He serves or has served on over two dozen public companies, private companies, Indigenous development corporations, not-for-profit, quasi-judicial and government boards.
With more than 40 years of experience, David began his career in project and international banking in Japan, Australia and Canada, including a stint with the Government of Canada restructuring funding for challenging projects. He then transitioned to developing transportation, communications and energy infrastructure projects.
As President and CEO from 1992-1997, he led the turnaround of the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, then Canada‘s largest Indigenous development corporation. He co-authored the “Five Year Review of The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement 1993 -1998“. In recognition of contributions to Indigenous economic development, he received the Queen‘s Jubilee Medal in 2002 and, in 2012, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee for the leadership of volunteer groups and corporate social responsibility.
He shared the Prospector and Developers Association of Canada‘s Environmental and Social Responsibility Award and the NWT MAX Environment and Community Engagement Award and a Second MAX award for Economic Contributions. David chaired the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee (CSR) for Canada’s first publicly traded exploration company to elevate CSR to the Board level.
David volunteered for five years, first as the founding Chair of the National Property Committee and then as DeputyNational Commissioner of Scouts Canada, responsible for restructuring a $300 million property portfolio. King Carl XVI,Gustaf of Sweden, made David a Baden-Powell Fellow of the World Scout Foundation in 2017.
David is a past Governor of Scouts Canada, Past Chair of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council North, Co-Chair of the Friends of HMCS Yellowknife, and a past three–term National Vice President of a major Canadian political party. He is a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary.
David is a Trustee of the Interamerican Scouting Foundation. He served three terms on each of the national boards of Scouts Canada, Saint John Ambulance and The Order of St. Lazarus (Palliative Care) and three terms as Chair of the NWT Social Assistance Appeal Board and Treasurer of NWT Skills Canada. He is the Past Chair of United Way NWT and NWT Chamber of Commerce. As a Naval reserve officer, David served as the Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Advisor to eight Commanders of Joint Task Force (North). He deployed in numerous sovereignty operations. David was awarded the Canada Decoration with clasp and commendations for meritorious actions saving civilian lives.
David was promoted to Commander in the Order of St. John in 2010 for leadership and community service and Knighted by the Order of St. Lazarus for supporting palliative care in the Arctic in 2015. Born in Cape Breton (Ile Royale), Nova Scotia,he is an adventure traveler, frequently treks in remote areas, is an avid scuba diver, and enjoys cooking, wine and the arts.He is a proud husband to Rebecca Connelly, a brother, uncle, and puppy daddy.
Louis J. Crishock
U.S. Senior Arctic Official
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Louis John Crishock was born February 8, 1971 in Arlington, Virginia. He graduated from Bishop Ireton High School, Alexandria, Virginia in 1989. He received a B.A. in religion summa cum laude from The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, in 1993, and an MA in sociology from the same institution in 1995. In 2017, he was a distinguished graduate of the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy of the National Defense University, Washington, DC (MS, national resource strategy). Following graduation in 1995, Crishock taught sociology at Ural State University in Yekaterinburg, Russia (Academic Year 1995-1996) as part of the Civic Education Project. From 1996-1998 he served as the Civic Education Project’s Deputy Director for Russia based in Moscow, where he worked with Russian and international colleagues promoting educational exchange. Mr. Crishock joined the Foreign Service in January 1999. He has served at several overseas postings as well as in Washington, DC. His most recent overseas postings were as Chargé d’Affaires in St. George’s, Grenada (2012-2015) and Consul General in Vladivostok, Russia (2019-2021). |
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Crishock speaks Serbo-Croatian, Russian and some Ukrainian. His hobbies include reading and jazz music. Mr. Crishock is single and has no children. |
James Davies
President and CEO, Davie Shipbuilding
James Davies has been President and CEO since 2019. He was previously CFO from 2012. He is also a founding partner and President of Davie owners, the Inocea Group. James has overseen the transformation of Davie’s financial health while delivering a roster of mission-critical ships. James was previously CEO of a maritime-focused investment advisory in London. He has also served as Finance Director for a global investment firm with significant maritime holdings, as well as a specialist in the purchase and securitization of sovereign debt. James is a qualified accountant and holds a Bachelor in Accounting and Finance.
Clint Davis
CEO, Nunasi Corporation
Clint got his start in the banking industry at TD Canada Trust and Bank of Montreal in roles that focused on Indigenous Banking. Prior to joining Nunasi, he served as Chief Executive Officer for the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and North35 Capital Partners. Clint combines his extensive banking and Indigenous business experience with a passion for transforming Indigenous organizations to position them as leaders in their industries. He is a proud Inuk, who aims to contribute to the development and growth of Indigenous communities in all that he does.
Kurt Oolamie Deschamps
Morrisburg, Ontario
Dr. John English
Director Emeritus, Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History; Co-Chair, BOD, Arctic360 & Co-Chair, Canadian International Council
A Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo, John English has been a Liberal Member of Parliament, a Special Ambassador for Landmines and a Special Envoy for the election of Canada to the United Nations Security Council. He has also served as President of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, co-editor of the Canadian Historical Review, chair of the Board of the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum. From 2012- 2019, John English served as Director of the Bill Graham Centre at Trinity College, and is now serving as Director Emeritus.
H.E. Roy Eriksson
Finland Ambassador to Canada
H.E. Roy Eriksson is the Ambassador of Finland in Canada since 2019. He arrived to Canada from Mexico, where he served as the Ambassador of Finland to Mexico, as well as being the concurrent Ambassador of Finland to Central America.
Ambassador Eriksson started his career in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 1990. He has served in different departments of the Ministry, the latest being the Department for Americas and Asia, where he worked as the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. Further to Mexico, he has served in Turkey, Germany and the Finnish Permanent Mission to the European Union in Brussels. This is the second time he represents his country in Canada.
Ambassador Eriksson has a Master’s degree in political science from the University of Helsinki. He is married and has a son.
Dr. Heather Exner-Pirot
Senior Fellow, Arctic360 & Global Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington D.C.
Heather Exner-Pirot is a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington DC. She sits on the Boards of the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation, Saskatchewan Indigenous Economic Development Network, and The Arctic Institute, and is the Research Advisor for the Indigenous Resource Network. Exner-Pirot is also the Managing Editor of the Arctic Yearbook and she publishes regularly on energy security, Indigenous economic development, resource politics, and Arctic governance. Exner-Pirot obtained a PhD in Political Science from the University of Calgary in 2011.
Hanne Fugl Eskjær
Kingdom of Denmark Ambassador to Canada
Ambassador Hanne Fugl Eskjaer moved to Ottawa in September of 2019 where she enjoys strengthening the already strong bonds between Canada, Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The ambassador was previously the Arctic Ambassador and Head of the North America Department in Copenhagen.
Ambassador Eskjaer has also been the Ambassador to Bangladesh and for the past 23years held various Ministry of Foreign Affairs positions throughout the world, including Syria, Prague, New York, and now Canada –working on EU, UN, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia, Security, Development, Indigenous rights and cultural policies.
The ambassador has also worked as Senior Policy Advisor to the Commissioner for Human Rights and Democracy of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Science, Copenhagen University.
John Fleming
Deputy Senior Commercial Officer, U.S. Embassy, Ottawa
- Career Diplomat with 20 years of government affairs experience.
- International Aid Worker with 5 years of NGO experience.
- Business Manager with 3 years of private sector corporate experience.
- Cross-cultural management experience leading teams of Japanese, Indian, Burmese, Cambodian and Russian professionals.
- Regional expertise: Japan; India; Sri Lanka; Myanmar; Cambodia; and Russia.
- Advanced proficiency in Japanese and Russian; fluency in French.
His Excellency Whit Fraser C.C.
Vice-Regal Consort of Canada
WHIT FRASER went north to Frobisher Bay (now Iqaluit, Nunavut) in 1967 to work for CBC’s northern service. For the next 32 years he travelled to every community in Canada’s three northern territories, reporting on the historic events that shaped today’s North, including the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, the negotiations that enshrined Indigenous rights in the Canadian constitution, and the progress of land claims from the initial demands of Dene and Inuit leaders through to the ceremony that inaugurated the new territory of Nunavut in 1999, which he co-hosted as his last broadcast for the CBC. Fraser has also served as the first chairman of the Canadian Polar Commission and as the executive director of the national Inuit organization, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. He is married to Canada’s first Indigenous governor general, Mary Simon. His memoir, True North Rising, won the NWT Northwords Book Prize in 2019. Nunavut’s paper of record, Nunatsiaq News, called it a “must-read for anyone interested in northern Canada.
Gabe Friedman
Financial Post
Gabe Friedman is a senior staff writer at the Financial Post and the host and producer of its weekly podcast on the Canadian Economy, Down to Business. He is an experienced journalist who writes often about the resource economy with a focus on Canadian companies.
Andrew Ghattas
Director, Natural Resources Canada
Andrew has over 15 years policy experience with the Canadian Government in a variety of roles.
He joined Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) in 2020 as Director of the Critical Minerals Centre of Excellence, where his team is the Government Canada policy lead on critical minerals and Canada’s critical mineral strategy.
Prior to joining NRCan, Andrew was a Senior Policy Advisor at the Privy Council Office, where he led on a variety of economic portfolios including international trade, defence procurement and foreign direct investment.
Andrew got his start at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada where he worked on multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations, trade and market access policy, as well as program delivery.
Andrew has a Master Degree in Public Administration Management from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Development from the University of Guelph.
Sherri Goodman
Polar Institute and Environmental Change & Security Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center
Sherri Goodman is an experienced leader, senior executive, and board director in the fields of national security, energy, and environment. She is a Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Polar Institute and Environmental Change & Security Program and Senior Strategist at the Center for Climate & Security. She serves as Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security. She served as President & CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, and as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of CNA which operates the Center for Naval Analyses. She is the founder of the CNA Military Advisory Board, for which she organized over 30 distinguished US military leaders to become a leading voice on the national security threats of climate change and energy. She was the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security), practiced law in a major firm and served on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where she oversaw DOE’s national labs, defense production, and environmental cleanup. She serves on the boards of numerous private sector and non profit organizations, and speaks and writes regularly for major media. She has received numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate from Amherst College, the DOD Distinguished Service Award and EPA’s Climate Change Award. A graduate of Amherst College, she has degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School. She is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Hlynur Guðjónsson
Iceland Ambassador to Canada
Kenneth Høegh
Head of Representation to Canada and US, Government of Greenland
Mr. Kenneth Høegh has vast experience and knowledge within Arctic matters. As a Greenland national Mr. Høegh was born in 1966 in South Greenland in Narsaq, and dedicated his early career to rural development in this region as well as internationally.
He served as an advisor in the Government of Greenland, followed by posts to Nepal, Bangladesh and Vietnam, with a focus on Government to Government projects on rural development. Upon his return, Mr. Høegh worked as Deputy CEO/Acting CEO at Kujalleq Municipality in South Greenland, before he became Deputy Minister, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Government of Greenland. In August 2021, he was posted to the Greenland Representation Washington D.C. Mr. Høegh has acquired in depth experience and knowledge within Greenland and the Arctic, Greenlandic social and business conditions, the Kingdom’s foreign and security policy in the Arctic, including in particular bilateral cooperation between Greenland, Denmark and the United States. Mr. Høegh has a large network around Greenlandic society as well as networks in Nordic, Greenlandic-American and Arctic co-operation, and also has experience within tourism development, fisheries policy, infrastructure development and natural resource management.
In his personal life he is married to Pitsi Høegh and has four children, and two grandchildren.
Erik A. Jens
CEO & Founder, LuxuryFintech – by Dutch American Management B.V.
Sustainability and innovation are key drivers in motivation. Senior management roles at financial institutions, most recently with ABN AMRO. Accredited by various regulators.
Many non executive roles at funds, including pension funds. Board roles with various industry bodies most lately in the jewelry sector.
Exploring the world of blockchain and crypto currencies, for reengineering banking and finance models. Focus on fintech for the Luxury industry, jewellery and art in particular. Seasoned banker, financier. Founder of LuxuryFintech, solutions for art and jewelry sector in funding, finance, corporate strategy, transition, merger & acquisition and sustainability matters.
All round international experience in corporate and private banking, wealth and asset management, including hedge funds and private equity. Innovative in performance improvement and turn around situations in particular.
Impactful as a leader due to strengths in strategic thinking, leading change and driving results.
Strong track record of execution and delivering materially positive outcomes on difficult corporate restructuring situations. Strategic leader with commercial acumen, which enables optimized business outcomes. Seasoned change leader who is proactive in engaging with people and communicating at all levels. General business acumen and conceptual thinking, which enables sound problem solving and leadership even in complex and novel business situations.
Passionate about applying technological solutions for a better world in the context of climate change especially in the arctics. For instance using green power for green mining extraction and using laser techniques to subtract hydrogen and gas from coal layers without extraction of the coal layers.
Yamanouchi Kanji
Ambassador of Japan to Canada
KANJI YAMANOUCHI has been the Ambassador of Japan to Canada since May, 2022. Prior to this assignment, he was the Ambassador / Consul-General of Japan in New York (2018 – 2022).
Ambassador Yamanouchi has been serving Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for over 38 years, during which he has held the positions of: Director of the First Southeast Asia Division in 2003; Director of the Press Division in 2004; Director of the First North America Division in 2007; Executive Assistant to the Prime Minister in 2009; Deputy Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau in 2011, and Assistant Minister / Director-General for the Economic Affairs Bureau in 2016.
His diplomatic postings include assignments to the Embassy of Japan in the U.S. as First Secretary in 1997 and the Embassy of Japan in Korea as Counsellor in 2001. In 2013, he was posted to the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. for the second time as the Minister for Economic Affairs.
Ambassador Yamanouchi graduated from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and went on to receive his M.A. in Political Science from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He is married and has one daughter.
Ayoe Kristiansen
Associate Community Engagement and Nuuk representative for Greenland Minerals & Senior Fellow, Arctic360
Ayoe Kristiansen is an Inuk living in Nuuk, Greenland. She is the Associate Community Engagement and Nuuk representative for Greenland Minerals, a subsidiary of the Australian based, Energy Transition Minerals.
Kristiansen has an M.A. degree in social science from the University of Greenland (Ilissimatusarfik). Her master thesis concentrated on potential mining projects in Southern Greenland with a focus on the needs and requirements around the ‘Social License to Operate’ when it comes to opening and operating a mine in Greenland. In particular, Kristiansen’s research examined the stakeholder engagement processes of the Kuannersuit(Kvanefjeld) project in Narsaq. In December 2022, Kristiansen’s thesis won an award by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science competition, “Thesis competition about the Danish Realm” on her work of the potential for mining to positively affect Greenland’s economic position in the Danish realm.
During her M.A. studies, Kristiansen served as a research partner for a Ph.D. scholar from the University of Oxford. She served as a Student Fellow with Arctic360. There Kristiansen co-produced Arctic360’s special ‘Breaking the Ice’ podcast series on Canada-Greenland cooperation.
Kristiansen received her B.A. in Social Science and psychology from Roskilde University in 2018. She has also been active in numerous non-profit organizations including Avalak (an organization for Greenlandic students in Denmark), Save the Children-Youth in Denmark, and the Red Cross in Greenland. During her BA studies, Kristiansen worked as a student consultant for Visiobox Consulting where she conducted analyses and interviews for other companies.
Heidi Kutz
Senior Arctic Official and Director General, Arctic, Eurasion, and European Affairs, Global Affairs Canada
Heidi Kutz (BA [Communication Studies], University of Calgary, 1992; MA [Public Administration], Carleton University, 1995), joined the Department of External Affairs and International Trade in 1995 after working with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. In Ottawa, her assignments included desk officer with the Peacebuilding and Human Security Division, Summit of the Americas coordinator with the Inter-American Relations Division, deputy director of trade policy and advocacy in the Canada-U.S. Advocacy and Liaison Division and deputy director in the Mexico and North America Division. She has served as director of the Central America and Caribbean Division, the Inter-American Relations and Regional Policy Division and the South America and Inter-American Relations. In 2009, she became director general of the Task Force on Security Abroad. Ms. Kutz served in Mexico and Argentina as a political officer, returning to Mexico in 2001 to become program manager of the embassy’s Political and Congressional Relations Section. In 2010, Ms. Kutz became director general of the Security and Intelligence Bureau. She was subsequently appointed director general of the Geographic Strategy and Services Bureau. She served as Ambassador to the Portuguese Republic from 2011-2013. From 2013-2017, she assumed duties as Deputy Consul General at the Canadian Consulate General in New York. She served as director general of Assignments and Executive Management in Ottawa from 2017-2021. Ms. Kutz is presently Senior Arctic Official and director general for Arctic, Eurasian and European Affairs.
Alanna La Rose
Manager, Strategic Partnerships, RBC
Alanna is responsible for strategic development and enablement on the RBC Thought Leadership & Economics Team, with side-quests into research and writing focused on emerging Canadian trends and issues. Her latest contribution to RBC Thought Leadership’s climate series– 92 to Zero, explores Indigenous Capital and how economic reconciliation can power Canada’s net zero transition. She is currently focused on Indigenous leadership: exploring collaborative partnerships, innovative policy and forward-looking practices. Previously, Alanna was a strategy consultant to senior management and executives, developing climate-related and sustainable economic development initiatives. She holds a MBA from Ivey Business School, and a MArch from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Environmental Design.
Brandon MacDonald
Vice President of Strategy and Growth, Pennecon
As a professional engineer with over 24 years’ experience in the Heavy Civil Construction Industry, Brandon currently holds the role of Vice President, Strategy and Growth with Pennecon, a diversified provider of heavy civil, industrial, marine and services/maintenance operations throughout Canada. Brandon has spent many years executing infrastructure projects in a variety of roles from designer and resident engineer all the way up to President and CEO.
Senior and executive level work experience in two different levels of government plus his extensive background in private industry have proven to be invaluable experiences that have shaped Brandon’s 360-degree view of the construction industry. Brandon is currently the Second Vice President on the board of the Canadian Technical Asphalt Association (CTAA), is a member of the CCA National Advisory Council for Civil Infrastructure and is the Heavy Civil Section Chair for the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Association 2022 Board of Directors.
Nicole McConnell
General Partner, Mostar Financial
Nicole served 24 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, primarily for the Royal Canadian Navy, serving in various levels of management, leading the ideation, planning, and implementation of new and long-term business strategies and performance measurement. Nicole ended her career on a high note, from her position on the command team in the Naval Training Development Centre, where she served as the Executive Officer. Nicole excels at resolving workplace performance issues, and has long been responsible for training, performance measurement, and organizational challenges, tackling performance issues systemically and systematically to maximize results. She capably translates strategic goals into operational strategies, swiftly analyzing stakeholder needs. Most recently, Nicole oversaw and co-sponsored the build of iNexTT, a rapid prototyping and micro-manufacturing centre for the Royal Canadian Navy. Currently, she is a General Partner at Mostar Financial and serves as director and CEO of REGEN(X) Solutions, a defence and security management consultant firm. Nicole holds a BEd, a honours MSc in Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning and is currently working on her MBA.
Dr. Hema Nadarajah
Asian states and the Arctic
Dr. Nadarajah is a Post-Graduate Research Scholar with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and a consultant for WWF on energy-related issues. She has a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. Her dissertation examined international law governing the Arctic, climate change, and outer space from an international relations lens. Dr. Nadarajah has also published and presented widely on Asia’s role in the Arctic and formerly worked for the Government of Singapore on issues of international biodiversity conservation and climate change. She has a Master of Environment from the Australian National University where she specialized in Climate Change Policy, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto where she majored in Geography and Geology.
MP John Nater
Perth-Wellington in Ontario
I tend to wear a variety of different hats depending on the day. Some days I’m a Ph.D. Candidate at The University of Western Ontario where I specialize in Canadian Politics. On other days, I wear a municipal hat as a Councillor on West Perth Municipal Council. As a Councillor for Mitchell Ward, I am honoured to represent my constituents both on Council and on a variety of local boards and committees. On days when academia and municipal politics lend me some spare time, I will put on a partisan hat and work on behalf of both the Conservative Party of Canada and the Ontario PC Party. I am currently the Regional Vice President (South West) of the Ontario PC Party and I serve as a director on both the federal and provincial riding associations in Perth—Wellington. When I’m not immersed in all things political, I am an avid reader and every winter I enjoy a few days of downhill skiing.
Specialties: My research interests include Parliament, provincial legislatures, public policy and administration, and political institutions. While I am trained in quantitative research and statistical methods, I also employ mixed methodological techniques in conducting research. Some of my more recent work has looked at Speaker selection in the Ontario Legislature and discipline methods in the House of Commons.
Naomi Powell
Managing Editor, Economics and Thought Leadership, Royal Bank of Canada
Naomi is responsible for developing the narratives driving the team’s economics reports. Prior to joining RBC in 2020, she spent nearly a decade as a financial journalist in Stockholm and Dublin, where her coverage of European economics and politics appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Globe and Mail. Her most recent position was with the Financial Post, where she wrote about international trade and economics. She has a B.A. hons from Queen’s University.
Madeleine Redfern, LL.B.
Executive Director, Northern Branch, Arctic360
Madeleine Redfern is an Indigenous woman involved in high-tech and innovation. Actively involved in transformative technologies in telecommunications, transportation and energy.
Currently Madeleine is the President of Amautiit: Nunavut Inuit Women’s Association, President of Ajungi Consulting Group; Chair of Nunavut Legal Services Board; Advisor to Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Trudeau Foundation Board Member (former Trudeau Foundation Mentor); Co-Chair with Gordon Munk Arctic Security Program; Board member of Maliiganik Legal Aid. Madeleine is from Iqaluit, Nunavut and a graduate of the Akitsiraq Law School with an LLB from the University of Victoria. She was the first Inuk to be given a Supreme Court of Canada clerkship.
As a businesswoman and a strong social advocate for transformative initiatives, Madeleine has a great deal of governance and volunteer experience with Indigenous and Inuit organizations, including, but not limited to, Inuit Non-Profit Housing Corporation; Tungasuvvingat Inuit Community Centre, and one of the founding members of Wabano Aboriginal Health Centre and Inuit Head Start in Ottawa. Madeleine was also the executive director of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, a commission that reviewed the “effects of federal government policies on Eastern Arctic Inuit” between the 1950s and 1980s.
Madeleine’s advocacy, professional, and governance work shown my dedication and passion towards the development and delivery of programs assisting Indigenous, Inuit, northerners and Canadians that reflect their values, needs, and priorities. Madeleine received the Indspire Award for Public Service to acknowledge and celebrate all her hard work, commitment and contributions.
Jessica M. Shadian, Ph.D.
President and CEO, Arctic360
Over the course of two decades, Shadian has lived and worked as a researcher, associate professor, and consultant throughout the European and North American Arctic. Dr. Shadian is widely published; her peer-reviewed books, articles, book chapters and other news commentary concentrate on the global politics of the Arctic, Arctic Indigenous governance and law, critical Arctic infrastructure innovation and investment, and Canadian Arctic security and diplomacy.
Her expertise is regularly solicited by media organisations, governments, the private sector, academia, and think tanks. Shadian’s 2014 book: The Politics of Arctic Sovereignty: Oil, Ice, and Inuit Governance (Routledge) is the first in-depth history of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) and Inuit sovereignty in global politics reaching back to pre-European discovery. Her consulting work began while living in the Norwegian Arctic as the co-creator and organizer of an Arctic Dialogue series that brought together state and local political and industry leaders, local and Indigenous communities, and academia to increase information sharing about Arctic resource development.
Dr. Shadian holds a Ph.D. in Global Governance from the University of Delaware (2006) during which she wrote her doctoral dissertation at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), University of Cambridge, UK on an NSF award. She spent the following 5 years in Norway at the Barents Institute and then as a Senior Researcher at the High North Center for Business and Governance, Nord University, Bodø after which she was awarded an Associate Professor, Marie Curie COFUND Fellowship, at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), Denmark. In June 2017, Shadian completed a two-year Nansen Professorship co-funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the University of Akureyri, Iceland after which she turned to dedicate herself full-time to build Arctic360.
Shadian lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.
Dr. Bree Sharratt
Partner, Mostar Financial
Bree leverages her diversity of experience in consulting for start- ups and established companies across automotive, aerospace, defence, medical device, and municipal sectors to steer Mostar Financial’s technical due diligence activities. An entrepreneur at heart, Bree has spent more than 12 years providing her expertise in deep-dive R&D, program management, advanced materials, regulatory compliance and risk assessment to propel companies forward.
Previously, Bree was the Sr. Engineer at Profile Composites, a start-up in composite hydrogen storage technology, where she was fully immersed in the company’s R&D and fundraising efforts.
She holds BSc degrees in Engineering Science and Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University, where she balanced classroom time with varsity athletics as the captain of the NCAA Division I women’s golf team. Bree went on to achieve a MSc and PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford where she was a lecturer and post-doctoral scholar in Materials Science before moving back to Canada in 2007.
In her spare time, Bree can often be found in her tea studio or out exploring Vancouver Island’s natural paradise.
Helene Scherling Olsen
Deputy Head of Trade, Sr. Advisor, Arctic, Danish Trade Council
Helene Scherling Olsen is Deputy Head of Trade and a Senior Commercial Advisor at the Danish Trade Councl in Toronto. Her focus area is on Arctic Commercial opportunities for companies in the Kingdom of Denmark. She has worked with Greenlandic and Danish companies and stakeholders since 2016, and for the past 3 years headed up the Arctic Business Alliance – ABA – consisting of 9 companies from Greenland and Denmark. She has a strong passion for creating networks between the Canadian North and in particular Greenland. She is also a member of The Trade Council North America Food and Agriculture team lead from Washington D.C. Helene has been working at the Danish Consulate and Trade Council since 2011. She has an extensive knowledge in working with private as well as public stakeholders, organising inbound and outbound business delegations, as well as public affairs and market access projects. She is a board member of the Danish Canadian Chamber of Commerce since 2016. Helene is a dual citizen of Denmark and Canada – making Canada her home for many years.
Max Schiller
Bachelor of Commerce student (Finance major), John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal
Dr. Ruben Shiffman
Executive Chairman, Greenland Resources
Dr Ruben Shiffman is the Founder and President of Greenland Resources Inc, a Canadian public company owner of the world class Malmbjerg molybdenum project in east central Greenland. Ruben was also the Executive Chairman and co-founder of the mining company listed at the Toronto Stock Exchange called Calvista Gold, that was successfully sold to AUX group (now Mubadala Investment Company), a project that had significant social ingredient. In Toronto Canada, he was Managing Director of trading at Scotia Capital and VP trading at TD Securities. He was also a member of the CPSS at the Bank for International Settlements in Basle Switzerland. He holds a BBA, MBA and PhD in finance and is fluent in Danish.
Hamid Shirazi
Senior Adviser, Innovation Norway, Toronto
Hamid works with Innovation Norway in Canada as Senior Manager for Cleantech & Renewables. He supports Norwegian companies and clusters with their market entry and growth in Canada. He also plays a role in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Canada to Norway.
Hamid’s background includes various aspects of economic development such as export development, industry sector development, and FDI attraction in multiple industry sectors.
He has worked at an international medical device company, The U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (in Canada), City of Toronto, Business Sweden (in Canada), and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade in Senior Business or Managerial roles for the past 32 years.
Hamid holds a bachelor’s degree in medical technology, a graduate diploma in International Business, an MBA, and currently pursuing his Doctoral degree in Business Administration (DBA) with a focus on entrepreneurship.
He is an adjunct professor of international Business at Seneca College in Toronto and has been lecturing seven courses since 2014.
Hamid works with Innovation Norway in Canada as Senior Manager for Cleantech & Renewables. He supports Norwegian companies and clusters with their market entry and growth in Canada. He also plays a role in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Canada to Norway.
Hamid’s background includes various aspects of economic development such as export development, industry sector development, and FDI attraction in multiple industry sectors.
He has worked at an international medical device company, The U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (in Canada), City of Toronto, Business Sweden (in Canada), and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade in Senior Business or Managerial roles for the past 32 years.
Hamid holds a bachelor’s degree in medical technology, a graduate diploma in International Business, an MBA, and currently pursuing his Doctoral degree in Business Administration (DBA) with a focus on entrepreneurship.
He is an adjunct professor of international Business at Seneca College in Toronto and has been lecturing seven courses since 2014.
Pamela Strand
Deputy Minister, Industry, Tourism and Investment, GNWT
In 2020, Pamela assumed her current position as Deputy Minister, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Government of the Northwest Territories.
Pamela, who served as the department’s Assistant Deputy Minister, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Branch since 2017, and Director, Mineral Resources Division since 2014 also held other federal and territorial government positions such as Director Geologist and Mineral Initiatives Officer. She has worked 25 years in the mining industry as a senior officer for a number of public and private exploration companies and in a number of commodities including gold, diamonds, lead-zinc and gold.
Pamela is a Professional Geoscientist and is a graduate of the University of Toronto (Bachelor of Science, Geology Degree) and the University of Western Ontario (Master of Science in Geology).
Pamela serves as a member of the Board of the Northwest Territiories Power Corporation, as well as past president of NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines and a past director of Alberta Chamber of Resources. Pamela’s achievements have included being awarded Edmonton Global Woman of Vision and Edmonton Consumers Choice Business Woman of the Year.
Vasileios Tsianos
Director of Corporate Development, Neo Performance Materials
Director of Corporate Development and Assistant Corporate Secretary at Neo Performance Materials, the leading global company producing rare-earth and rare metal materials that are critical to fast-forward our world’s transition to green technologies.
Concurrently, he serves as elected President of the Hellenic Canadian Board of Trade, as elected Board Director of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Canada, and as elected Board Director of the Global Rare Earth Industry Association (REIA).
Previously, he served as:
• Management Consultant & Special Projects Lead at StrategyCorp, where he advised clients in highly-regulated industries on corporate development strategy;
• Vice President, Corporate Development at Keela.co;
• Investment Banking Analyst at IJW & Co;
• Venture Partner at NextGen VC, where he participated in investment due diligence committees;
• Chair of the Canada Observatory (Transatlantic Relations Initiative) of the IE School of Global & International Affairs;
• Member of Global Panel of the MIT Technology Review.
He obtained his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto (Canada) and his Masters in Finance at IE Business School (Spain).
In the past, he served as the Policy Chair and drafted the platform for the campaign of a leadership candidate for a major Ontario party. He co-led the initiative to create a Modern Greece Studies program at the University of Toronto, and served as Head of Delegation at the COP21 UN Climate Summit. He has published articles on LSE ‘s EuroCrisis and the Huffington Post. He has been a campaign advisor to several political candidates and elected officials in Canada, the European Union, and the United Nations.
He has been recognized as one of the 100 Future Global Leaders by the Web Summit and a Greek America’s 40 Under 40. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the investor community Manual of Ideas, and a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum.
Doug Turnbull
Vice Chairman and Country Head, Canada at DBRS Morningstar Credit Ratings
Doug Turnbull is Vice Chairman and Country Head, Canada at DBRS Morningstar Credit Ratings. In this role, Mr. Turnbull is responsible for overseeing all of DBRS Morningstar’s day-to-day operations in Canada. As part of the executive team, Mr. Turnbull also focuses on the strategic development of DBRS Morningstar’s global rating business and senior outreach activities for the company.
Mr. Turnbull has more than 40 years of experience in the investment banking industry, and is the retired Deputy Chairman, TD Securities Inc. Mr. Turnbull has worked in Toronto, Tokyo and New York, where he advised government, corporate, infrastructure and public sector clients on numerous public and private market transactions.
Mr. Turnbull is Chairman of the board of directors of The Canadian Ditchley Foundation. In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation and the Advisory Board of Mera Cannabis Corp. Mr. Turnbull has held a number of board positions with public sector and not-for-profit organizations, including, Metrolinx, the Ontario Financing Authority, George Brown College Foundation, the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, the Advisory Panel of the Canadian Electricity Association and ORBIS Canada. Mr Turnbull was also Co-Chair of the Canada- Assembly of First Nations, Joint Working Group on Resource Development.
Per Unheim
Head of Public Affairs and Trade, Embassy of Iceland in Ottawa
Per is a senior international affairs, trade, and development professional with over 15 years of experience in over a dozen countries around the world. As Head of Public Affairs and Trade at the Embassy of Iceland in Ottawa he engages with government, private sector, and community stakeholders in both Canada and Iceland to deepen and broaden commercial, cultural, and other bilateral relations between these two countries. He also monitors and reports on political, economic, and security/defence-related decisions and trends in Canada of relevance to Iceland. Iceland’s trade and investment portfolio with Canada focuses on seafood and seatech, renewable energy and cleantech, health technology, creative industries, food and natural products, and tourism and travel. Per holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from McGill University and graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and Carleton’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.
Mike Walsh
Director General of Policy and Planning, Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
Michael has spent most of his 22 years in the public service focused on Northern and Indigenous issues. This includes a much enjoyed six year posting in the Yellowknife Regional Office in the Northwest Territories to start his career. After moving to Ottawa, Michael has been lucky enough to hold a number of executive positions where he continues to pursue his professional interests in leadership development and team building. Michael is currently the Director General of Policy and Planning for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, which provides him the opportunity to help foster sustainable economic development with Northern and Indigenous partners, to the benefit of all Canadians.
Mitch White
Senior Communications Advisor, Executive Training, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and BOD, Arctic360
Nunatsiavimmiuk Mitch (he/him) White’s journey has been one of a storyteller, as a journalist and within Indigenous policy and industry.
He supported and oversaw the radio and television production of the OKalaKatiget Society as Program Director before serving as Editor of Inuktitut Magazine.
He also supported and executed Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s Arctic Executive Tour and the development and communication of their policy work, including the creation of the Inuit Development Corporation Association.
Roles with the Liberal Research Bureau in Indigenous Outreach and Indigenous-owned communications and branding firm Creative Fire saw that journey take him into federal politics and the private sector, respectively.
And a summer spent as a Zodiac Driver on an Arctic icebreaker has seen him visit most communities in Inuit Nunangat, while an expedition to Antarctica gives him bi-polar status.
Today, he finds himself at the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association as their Communications Manager.
White has also served as Youth Representative on the Nunatsiavut Transitional Government, a Councillor on the Nain Inuit Community Government, and on the boards of the Aboriginal People’s Television Network, Canadian Roots Exchange and the National Indigenous People’s Day Committee.
Lim Woongsoon
Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Canada
Mr. Woongsoon Lim, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK), arrived in Ottawa on October 13, 2022. His recent assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) and Political Minister in the Korean Embassy in Washington D. C., and Deputy Consul-General in New York.
Mr. Lim joined the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988. He served as Principal Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2002), Director of European Division II (2005), Director of Humanitarian Assistance Division (2006), Deputy Director-General for North Korean Nuclear Affairs Bureau (2011), and Director-General for Human Resources (2014). His previous overseas postings to ROK embassies include Vienna (1995), Nairobi (1998), Washington D.C. (2002 & 2016), Rome (2008), Paris (2012), and Madrid (2019).
He holds a B.A. in Economics from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea (1988) and has received an Order of Service Merit (Red Stripes) in 2013. He is married to LEE Eun Sun with one son and one daughter.
