Event Details

Thursday 23 November 2023 | Liberty Grand, Toronto

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Agenda

Thursday

November 23
Liberty Grand, Toronto
6:00pm – 7:30pm

Cocktail Reception

7:30pm – 10:30pm

Awards Ceremony and Dinner Banquet

10:30pm onwards

Post-Party Celebration

ATTIRE:
Formal (tuxedo/business suit/long gown/cocktail dress)

PARKING:
The venue offers complimentary parking you will be directed to the parking lot on arrival

Host

Amanda Lang

Acclaimed Business Journalist | Host, Taking Stock


An award-winning business journalist, Amanda Lang has covered North America’s top business stories for 25 years. Today, she is the host of Taking Stock, a weekly national television news program airing across multiple Bell Media networks, including BNN Bloomberg, CP24, and CTV News Channel, and available as a weekly podcast on iHeart. Known for her no-holds-barred approach to the people, companies, and stories making the news, Lang is available for keynote speeches or as an interviewer/moderator.

Prior to Taking Stock, Lang was host of Bloomberg Markets, a global program airing in Canada on BNN Bloomberg and on the Bloomberg Television network globally. Lang has also worked as CBC’s senior business correspondent, reporting for its flagship nightly news program, The National, and as host of The Exchange with Amanda Lang, a daily business program that aired on CBC News Network. For five years before that, Lang hosted The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, with Kevin O’Leary. The pair also co-hosted SqueezePlay on BNN for six years.

Lang studied architecture at the University of Manitoba, before becoming a journalist. Her first job in journalism was with the Globe and Mail and then she joined the Financial Post becoming their New York correspondent. In New York, she made the leap to television, joining the team that launched BNN before working as a reporter and anchor at CNN.

Lang is a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. She is also chair of the board of directors of Covenant House Toronto, the largest agency in Canada serving homeless and at-risk youth. She is also the bestselling author of two books. The Power of Why explores the connection between curiosity and success, and The Beauty of Discomfort examines how difficult change can be and outlines strategies for how to achieve it.

Keynote – Future of ESGs: Innovation in Sustainability

Nicole Verkindt

Tech Entrepreneur | Founder, OMX

Named “Canada’s Woman Entrepreneur of the Year” by Startup Canada in 2017, Nicole Verkindt is a serial entrepreneur. She has a knack for finding industry gaps and building innovative platforms and technology to fill them. Speaking to the importance of entrepreneurial and disruptive thinking, diversity in leadership, technology, and innovation, Verkindt empowers audiences to turn their ideas into success.

In 2012, Verkindt founded and launched OMX, an online supply chain data analytics business. The technology platform helps to increase and measure local spend/socio-economic impacts, including ESGs (environmental, social, governance) and other sustainability metrics. Today, Verkindt is the CEO of Buggy.ca, Canada’s rapid grocery delivery business, and an active angel investor involved in dozens of Canada’s early-stage tech businesses.

Verkindt is a frequent technology commentator on CBC and a technology columnist. She was also an investor on Gimlet Media’s The Pitch in the US and a “Dragon” on CBC’s Next Gen Den, which focused on early-stage technology. Verkindt sits on the board of the Canadian Commercial Corporation and is a Next Gen member of the Business Council of Canada (BCC), where she is also the Co-Chair of the BCC’s Task Force on Canada’s Economic Future.

In 2018, Verkindt was awarded the Peter Brojde Award for Next Generation Executive Leadership, and in 2019, she was named Startup Canada’s Ambassador for Women’s Entrepreneurship and one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40”

Entertainment

Ascension Groove

Band

Ascension Groove Band delivers high energy, show stopping live musical entertainment for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, galas, private and corporate events. Simply put they ROCK THE HOUSE! Founded and led by Joe Palawan, they are comprised of some of the best singers and talent in the Toronto music industry and regarded as one of the city’s premiere wedding and corporate bands. They have performed on Broadway and have had club and chart success Europe, Asia and the Middle East, to the luxury cruise lines of the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Alaska Panhandle. 

Known for the authentic sounds of Motown, R&B, Soul Funk, Jazz and Rock, they are also on the pulse of what’s new and current in today’s market. Ascension Groove Band also performs in Italian and Spanish. They strive to create an immersed experience for clients that are of the highest caliber. Whether you want a soloist or an 11 piece superband fronted by 3 stellar vocalists and a “killer” horn section for your wedding or event, Ascension Groove Band not only provides great music but will cater to your specific needs and create a customized package for you which includes a photographer/videographer at a preferred rate, professional sound, lighting and DJ services so you don’t have to hire another music provider. We can make a playlist of the songs that you want to hear between breaks.