Jody Kohner
Senior Vice President of Employee Marketing and Engagement, Salesforce
“Culture is your company's greatest competitive advantage – it engages your people and drives the creation of more innovative products and better customer experiences.”
It's never been more important for companies to invest in their employees and build their sense of purpose to increase productivity and passion. This will translate into increased customer loyalty and business success. Behind every happy customer is a happy employee. As SVP of the Employee Marketing and Engagement team, Jody Kohner’s responsibilities range from managing the employer brand reputation to recruitment marketing initiatives through onboarding new hires and various programs designed to make employees love their job.
Mona Malone
Chief Talent Officer, BMO
Mona is an agile leader who loves aggressive goals, motivating and leading teams and partnering to innovate. She is a trusted advisor to the Senior BMO Leadership Team and has driven results within BMO that include leading engagement levels and diversity representation.
Spending 20+ years in the financial services industry Mona has been a passionate advocate for learning, leadership and development and has held roles in HR, learning and other roles within the business. Employee engagement is a cornerstone of her leadership philosophy.
Jenny Poulos
SVP, Workforce Strategy and Employee Experience, RBC
As SVP of Workforce Strategy and Employee Experience, Jenny leads a global team of HR centers of expertise responsible for employee experience and employment brand, performance enablement, recruitment, learning and development and more. Her mandate focuses on helping RBC maintain a high-performing and engaged workforce by building future-focused capabilities and delivering exceptional employee experiences that attract, inspire and retain talent.
Jenny has led teams responsible for providing leadership, advice and support on all aspects of HR for the businesses and geographic regions of Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and Insurance segments. Prior to that, Jenny held increasingly senior positions in the business, specifically in Sales, Sales and Market Management and Strategy.
Martina McIsaac
President and GM, Hilti Canada
Martina leads an organization of more than 500 team members in direct sales, marketing, engineering, project management, customer service, retail, human resources and finance from the Canadian headquarters. Two thirds of the Canadian team members have direct daily contact with customers.
Martina started her career with Hilti in 2013 as a division manager leading the Toronto area and was promoted into her current position in January 2017. Prior to joining Hilti, Martina held senior leadership and general management positions for more than a decade in other global businesses. She understands that people are a key asset in the advancement of business.
Steven Fitzgerald
President, Habanero Consulting Group
“It’s time to invite the entire human into the workplace. Let’s leave managing people like robots to actually managing robots.”
Steven believes organizations thrive in this unpredictable world because they find ways for people to be their best selves and do their best work. This drives a move from command-and-control hierarchies to open networks that encourage experimentation, collaboration and self-leadership. Obsessed with helping people live better lives through better work experiences, his mission is to help organizations get out of the way of employees realizing their brilliance.
Manu Varma
VP of HR, Traction on Demand
“Why do we keep taking edge cases and creating rigid policies and procedures, brushing all people with the same brush? Let’s change the way we treat people.”
As Traction’s People Person, Manu hates the term “resources” when referring to people. Traction is a value-based, culture-driven company with an owner’s mentality redefining how they approach people practices. He believes that when managers treat people as adults they will respond as such. HR has so much more value to add than simply being the policy police. He believes HR should be insurgent, thought-provoking and inspiring, really putting people at the forefront.
Samer Saab
CEO, eXplorance
“A culture of free will, when implemented with responsible adults in mind, makes for a happier and better-performing workplace.”
As a CEO in the modern market, it is striking to Samer how managers spend so much time on “low-value” tasks such as administering employee time-off policies and formalizing performance management processes. He believes when we empower employees with the advantage and accountability of having free will, great things can happen for business, leadership and employee happiness. An avid supporter of institutional and corporate education, the accountability Samer provides at eXplorance makes a strong culture of free will enabling professional and personal development.
Michael Katchen
Founder and CEO, Wealthsimple
Michael is the CEO and co-founder of Wealthsimple, a leading online investing service operating in Canada, the US, and the UK. Wealthsimple launched in September 2014 and quickly established itself as a leader in Canada, and in under three years, it has grown to manage $2 billion for more than 65,000 clients. Prior to founding Wealthsimple, he led product and marketing at 1000memories, a Y Combinator startup that was acquired by Ancestry.com in 2012. Michael started his career at McKinsey and Company where he advised clients in finance and technology.
Michael has been called an Industry Mover by the Financial Post, a Change Agent by Canadian Business magazine, and one of Toronto’s 50 most influential people by Toronto Life. He won Entrepreneur of the Year at the Canadian Startup Awards in 2017, is a winner of a EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award, was named one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 by Caldwell Partners International, and is a member of the Canadian Business Council.
Michael Bush
CEO, Great Place to Work®, Inc.
“A great place to work for all must be created through trust and inclusion. It takes a culture of trust and inclusion to drive growth.”
As global CEO of Great Place to Work® and former member of President Obama’s White House Business Council, Michael believes inclusive workplaces drive trust, innovation and business results. As businesses face digital disruption, tightening budgets and more consumer demand than ever, it is more critical than ever for organizations to get the human element of human resources right. As he will show in his talk about how organizations can think differently about D&I, he, along with Great Place to Work®, has evolved his mission and methodology to recognize companies that build great workplaces for all employees, regardless of who they are or their job description.