GUY KAWASAKI  Chief Evangelist, Canva

 

Guy is an expert on entrepreneurship, social media, and marketing. He is the chief evangelist of Canva, a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz, and an executive fellow of the HAAS School of Business at UC Berkeley.

ROBYN METCALFE  Founding Partner, Food + City

 

Robyn, Visiting Scholar and Lecturer in the College of Natural Science at The University of Texas at Austin is also the Director of Food+City, an innovative project that explores the future of our food system.

ARLENE DICKINSON  CEO, Venture Communications

 

“The purpose of marketing is to deliver business results,” says Arlene Dickinson, renowned CBC “dragon” and one of Canada’s most successful communications entrepreneurs. Whether explaining how to leverage marketing in even the toughest of economic times, sharing backstage stories from “The Den,” or giving audiences a look into her personal story of success, Dickinson’s experience and expertise always shine through.

Dickinson is one of Canada’s most renowned independent marketing communications entrepreneurs. As CEO of Venture Communications, her creative and strategic approach has turned the company into a powerhouse with a blue chip client list. She is also the CEO of District Ventures Capital a fund investing in Canadian companies in the food and health sectors.

Dickinson is best known to Canadians as one of the venture capitalists on the award-winning series Dragons’ Den, an investor on The Big Decision, and a judge on Recipe to Riches. She is the author of two bestselling books -- Persuasion, and her most recent bestselling release, All In.

Her success and leadership has been recognized with multiple honours and awards including Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Award, the Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, as well as being recognized with PROFIT and Chatelaine magazine's TOP 100 Women Business Owners Awards.

Dickinson is an Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy and is the recipient of honorary degrees from Mount Saint Vincent University, Concordia University, Saint Mary’s University and NAIT. She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal. She also sits on numerous public and private boards and is dedicated to giving back to her community and country.

CHRIS SHIPLEY  Technology industry journalist, analyst and entrepreneur

For more than 30 years, Chris Shipley has documented, influenced, and predicted the impact of technology on business and society. Entrenched in the technology industry as a journalist, analyst, event producer and startup mentor, she has had a front-row seat to the transformations - positive and otherwise - brought about by digital innovation.