Lisa Merchant is a Professor for the Faculty of Media & Creative Arts - Comedy: Writing and Performance at Humber College, focussing on Improvisation. She is also a Senior Faculty member with The Second City Training Centre and The Second City Works division. She created, produced and performed in her week long comedy festival.

She is a multiple nominee and winner of 4 Canadian Comedy Awards, 3 for Best Female Improvisor. Some credits include: Murdoch Mysteries, American Gods, Degrassi XV, Train 48, Go Girl!...

In addition to performing numerous improv shows around Toronto and across Canada, she performs monthly in Monkey Toast, the live improvised talk show, now in its 19th year. She also delivered workshops to some of the Canadian Olympic Team hopefuls for the London 2012 Summer Games as well as Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

Dr. Meghani is the Commissioner and Medical Officer of Health for Halton Region. She is a Public and Preventive Medicine physician and a Fellow with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Meghani has a Masters of Public Health in Family and Reproductive Health and a Masters in Management (Health Leadership). She joined Halton Region from the City of Hamilton in 2014. Dr. Meghani is passionate about public health, prevention of illness and increasing health equity. As Halton’s Medical Officer of Health, she is deeply committed to keeping all residents safe and working with partners to create an environment that fosters good health.

Gail Mercer-MacKay is the proud founder and Chief Storyteller at Mercer-MacKay Digital Storytelling, an organization focused on creating amazing content and closed loop marketing campaigns for technology firms. With double-digit growth year-over-year, the Mercer-MacKay client list includes many of the world’s leading technology organizations. Recent selected by Forrester as one of the top marketing firms for the channel, MMS has also been named as one of the best companies to work for in Canada.

Gail’s company is currently building a SaaS marketing platform to help technology companies’ market more effectively.

Gail enjoys kayaking, walking her dogs and playing three-chord campfire songs on her Gibson guitar.

Evangeline Chima is the founder of Black Mentorship Inc. BMI – an organization dedicated to fostering the professional growth and personal expansion of Black professionals.

BMI was born out of her personal experiences as a Black professional woman in Canada. Despite having a master’s degree in Information Technology Services, diplomas in Computer Network, Project Management, and Business Analysis – along with numerous professional certifications, she was unable to be heard in business.

She experienced bias, being overlooked for promotions, and the frustration of being unable to achieve her true potential– regardless of her work commitment or qualifications. Importantly, she realized that she wasn’t alone...that all around herwere powerful, dynamic, talented Black professionals and entrepreneurs – also experiencing the same career challenges.

Being a woman of action, she created BMI to inspire, support, and mentor Black professionals to fulfill their potential, to build community, and to promote change. As part of her work, Evangeline helps organizations to create exceptional atmospheres where everyone thrives.
Evangeline has been named one of Black women to watch and she is nominated for Women of Inspiration award. She is a proven community leader with a “tall” ambition of diversifying the leadership landscape.

Her dream is to see every Black professional shine and reach their full potential. She’s also a devoted wife & mother of four boys!

Through education, advisory services, and strategic connections, Haltech enables start-up and scaleup technology innovators and entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth and navigate the path to profit. Haltech is a non-profit corporation supported by Ontario’s the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, and our valued Corporate Sponsors.

The Regional Municipality of Halton, or Halton Region, is a regional municipality in Ontario, Canada, located in the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario. It comprises the city of Burlington and the towns of Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hills. The region provides policing by the Halton Regional Police Service. The regional council's headquarters are located in Oakville. Burlington and Oakville are largely urban and suburban, while the towns of Milton and Halton Hills are more rural.

This is where technology, talent and ideas come together. Led by Burlington Economic Development, TechPlace is where new and growing technology companies get everything they need to grow and succeed. It doesn’t matter if your company is new or established, headquartered in Burlington or not so local. If innovation is your goal, and technology is your strategy, TechPlace is for you.

Startup Canada is the national rallying community and voice for Canada’s 2.3 million entrepreneurs. Since launching in 2012, Startup Canada has grown to represent more than 200,000 entrepreneurs and 50 grassroots communities from coast to coast to coast. Through digital programs and flagship events, Startup Canada is the network promoting, inspiring, educating, connecting and giving a voice to Canada’s entrepreneurs; supporting them to start, operate and scale businesses that build a better Canada for the world today and for future generations.