Program
Please note: Sessions will NOT be recorded — Make sure you attend live!
DAY 1
Friday, October 13, 2023
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Come register, grab your name badge and a welcome package before the Opening Remarks, then enjoy our first sessions at Families Summit of Minds 2023!
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Enjoy a delicious, welcoming lunch with other members of the family business community!
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Hear opening remarks from Thierry Malleret, Founder of Monthly Barometer, and Olivier de Richoufftz, General Secretary at Family Enterprise Foundation.
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Plenary
Description:
The magnitude of disruption and its consequential change reverberates throughout a family, creating anxiety and resistance. Andrew Keyt, Author and CEO of Generation6, explains why disruption is more about opportunities than threats.
Led by:
Andrew Keyt, Author and CEO of Generation6
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Plenary
Led by:
Kristel Van der Elst, Policy Horizons Canada
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Panel
Description:
Canada-US trade exceeds $1 trillion annually, supporting millions of jobs in both countries, yet the Great White North is heavily reliant on its southern neighbour. In a trade war, the US could wreak havoc on Canada’s economy with geographic precision. Canada is overdue for economic diversification, according to Thierry Malleret, Economist and Founder of Monthly Barometer.
Led by:
Dimitris Valatsas, LGA
With:
Thierry Malleret, Economist and Founder of Monthly Barometer
3:00 PM - 3:50 PM
Panel
Description:
Elderly people carry a wealth of life experience and knowledge that can be an invaluable gift for the next generation. However, aging is also a known risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, which would prevent not only the transfer of wisdom but also enjoyment of life in golden years. Age-related cognitive disorders continue to rise in Canada and throughout the developed world. What can be done to slow or reverse this trend of age-related cognitive decline? How can technology help?
Led by:
Dr. Mari Sild, MSc in Molecular Biology of Aging and PhD in Neuroscience
With:
Julius Frohlich, CEO, LRDG
Jared Boasen, Research Associate, Tech3Lab
Maxime Montembeault, Douglas Research Centre
3:50 PM - 4:15 PM
Enjoy a nutritional break with your family, friends and colleagues.
4:15 PM - 5:05 PM
Panel
Description:
Most intrapreneurship programs fail to produce results. Why? They have neither spread a culture of innovation nor originated a flow of quality ideas. Still, intrapreneurship drives innovation, especially when next gen can fully engage in the family business by developing new and innovative activities with their support.
Led by:
Hela Chebbi, Professor of Strategy and International Business, UQAM, Canada
Eric Michael Laviolette, Professor in Strategy and Entrepreneurship, TBS Business School, France
With:
Vassily Grosse, Phylaïa
Mike Mannix, Band Capital Partners
Nicholas Burton, James A. Burton & Family Foundation
5:05 PM - 5:55 PM
Panel
Description:
Stewardship as “caretaking” is a recipe for disaster, given the pace at which industries change and generational interests evolve. Good stewardship means each generation builds multiple kinds of value — financial, intellectual, and otherwise. The family enterprise must be managed as a portfolio of assets and activities, not just a legacy business.
Led by:
Caroline Phaneuf, Managing Partner at Crysalia, Canada
Patricia Saputo, CEO of Placements Italcan Inc. Canada
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Enjoy drinks and a lovely dinner with your family, friends and colleagues — a opportunity to catch up with members of our community or make new friends!
8:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Fireside Chats x3
Description:
Healthy cognitive function is essential to life performance. Can technology play a smarter role, without medical intervention, in monitoring our brain functions? Join Jared Boasen, Research Associate, Tech3Lab, for an enlightened chat.
Description:
How to establish credibility, take your place at the head of the table, and run your business your way. Join Andrew Keyt, author and CEO of Generation6, for a provocative conversation.
Description:
For more than 30 years, science has accumulated incredible knowledge about the benefits that connecting with nature has on our health and well-being. Nature affects everything from job satisfaction and productivity to anxiety, stress, resilience and creativity.
Led by:
Hubert Mansion, Co-founder, l’Université dans la Nature
Emilia Tamko, Co-Founder, l’Université dans la Nature
DAY 2
Saturday, October 14, 2023
7:00 AM - 8:15 AM
Enjoy a wonderful breakfast with your family, friends and colleagues before starting a full day with our community.
8:15 AM - 10:15 AM
Walkshops
Description:
The inexorable rise in living costs is throwing the views and actions of generations into sharper contrast. Millennials’ socialistic leanings and relatively meager financial holdings have prompted pundits to declare them “one of the poorest generations ever.” Yet, as the Great Wealth Transfer unfolds, many will inherit timely solutions to expensive problems. What impact will this have over time?
Will geo-economic inequalities will persist as inheriting Millenials stick to the old playbook or Will Millennials surprise and disrupt in their commitment to “spreading the wealth”?
Led by:
Mary Anne Malleret, Author and Partner, Monthly Barometer
Thierry Malleret, Author and Co-Founder, Monthly Barometer
Description:
AI is not inherently moral. It can be used for evil or good. Indeed, machine learning applications do the heavy lifting for business analysts globally. What happens when a certain type of advanced, self-directing AI runs into an ambiguity in its programming that affects the real world? Can we trust AI?
Improved data controls, social acceptance and emerging breakthroughs warrant a full-speed approach to AI or are bad actors, lack of programming care and other unknowns necessitating an intensely cautious approach to AI?
Led by:
Matt Knight, Executive Director, Alberta Business Family Institute
Vern Glaser, Associate Professor, University of Alberta
10:30 AM - 10:50 AM
Plenary
Led by:
Lisa Raitt, Co-Chair of the Coalition for a Better Future
10:50 AM - 11:50 PM
Panel
Description:
Sustainability challenges of climate change and social inequities are simultaneously the greatest threat and opportunity for family enterprise continuity. Families that strategically embed sustainability principles into their legacy enterprises and entrepreneurial startups can gain an edge. Discover insights drawn from pioneering enterprises building stronger companies and communities while engaging NextGens.
Led by:
Pramodita Sharma, Professor & Chair of Family Business, University of Vermont
Sanjay Sharma, Dean, University of Vermont
With:
Susan St. Amand, The Sirius Group Inc.
Andrew Bryson, FBN-I
Toby Heaps, Corporate Knights
Lisa Raitt, The Coalition for a Better Future
11:50 AM - 12:30 PM
Panel
Description:
A cornerstone of world mythology is about answering the inner calling to find one's purpose and truth in life. Every multigenerational family business began with a hero (the founder) answering this calling, facing inner and outer demons, and bringing their vision to life. The hero's journey is at the essence of entrepreneurship and in the DNA of every entrepreneurial family.
Led by:
Dr. Roshni Daya, PhD in Applied Psychology
Margaret-Jean Mannix, CEO, Viridian Family Office
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Enjoy another fun lunch as we share our ideas and continue the conversations with other members of the family business community!
1:40 PM - 2:00 PM
Panel
Description:
Can we combine social justice and prosperity in a world frequently fraught with multiple crises? Equity favours efficiency. Inequality harms growth. Fairer distribution of wealth and improving economic growth are not mutually exclusive. Yann Coatanlem and Thierry Malleret make the case for levelling the playing field, for all players, individuals, Family companies, but also countries. Yann Coatanlem is CEO of DataCore Innovations, an economist and expert on the role “big data” plays in shaping tax and welfare policy.
Led by:
Yann Coatanlem, CEO, DataCore Innovations
Thierry Malleret, Author and Co-Founder, Monthly Barometer
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Panel
Description:
Families must think harder about the authenticity of their social impact. When it comes to social impact, we often hear big talk yet there is a reluctance to really create systemic change. Why? It undermines families’ structural power positions.
Led by:
Karim Bardeesy, the Dais at TMU
With:
Ian Boeckh, Graham Boeckh Foundation
Jordie Burton, James A. Burton & Family Foundation
Juanita Lee-Garcia, Upside Foundation
Liz McBeth, Armour Valve
3:00 PM - 3:50 PM
Panel
Description:
Business families are changing, mirroring societal trends. Family members are well-educated, geographically dispersed and diverse. Gender roles and career paths are changing. Families are more focused on satisfying individual needs, supporting individual success and putting less emphasis on members’ responsibilities to their family.
Led by:
Kiran Narang, Family Enterprise Advisor, Next Step Advisors
With:
Matthew Atwill-Morin, President, Groupe Atwill-Morin Inc.
Lisa Wolverton, President, Wolverton Foundation
Catherine Gendron, Groupe AGF Inc.
3:50 PM - 4:20 PM
Enjoy a nutritional break with your family, friends and colleagues.
4:20 PM - 4:35 PM
Discussion
Description:
There is a risk that Canada could miss out on the huge opportunities available in the low-carbon transition because our investment environment is less attractive than that in the United States. In particular, the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has opened up a wide gap between the revenue available from public-policy sources for new low-carbon technology deployment in Canada versus the US.
Led by:
Dan Wicklum, The Transition Accelerator
4:35 PM - 5:35 PM
Plenary
Description:
CSIS, Canada’s s spy service, warns that climate change poses a profound, ongoing threat to national security and prosperity. Former BoC governor Mark Carney insists boardrooms think harder about coming climate disasters. Climate change will affect revenues, profits and the economy, and stricter green legislation is inevitable.
Led by:
Devin DeCiantis, Managing Partner at LGA
With:
Micheline Ayoub, Future Earth
Dan Wicklum, The Transition Accelerator
Karim Bardeesy, the Dais at TMU
Toby Heaps, Corporate Knights
5:35 PM - 6:05 PM
Discover the best of tech and nature-based solutions at the Good4Nature prize
competition, and meet the three finalists from the 100 most innovative and impactful startups!
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Enjoy drinks and another lovely dinner with your family, friends and colleagues — yet another opportunity to engage with members of our community!
8:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Fireside Chats x3
Description:
Should we trust AI? Will society ever accept governance by algorithms? Join Vern Glaser and discover how to mine your own data, on your terms, on your own AI journey.
Description:
A 2021 study conducted in ten countries revealed that 59% of young people surveyed said they were “very” or “extremely worried” about climate change. So, should we continue to alert them at the cost of inciting negative eco-emotions, or should we adopt another approach? Join Hubert Mansion, Founder of University In Nature, to explore new paths.
Led by:
Hubert Mansion, Co-founder, l’Université dans la Nature
Emilia Tamko, Co-Founder, l’Université dans la Nature
Description:
Join Juanita Lee-Garcia, Executive Director of Upside Foundation, for a walkthrough of giving forward.
DAY 3
Sunday, October 15, 2023
7:00 AM - 8:15 AM
Enjoy one more breakfast with our whole community before we venture out for the Walkshops!
8:15 AM - 10:00 AM
Walkshops
Description:
Social entrepreneurs are trying to solve systemic problems that are deeply entrenched and may not fit with the world of accelerators, venture capital, scale, competition or returns. Forcing companies into this paradigm pushes social entrepreneurs to create products that only solve problems at the margins.
Do family enterprises have the resources, models and talent to make an impact or are they too conservative to disrupt and create profound change?
Led by:
Tim Yeung, Associate Advisor at Next Step Advisors
Kiran Narang, Next Step Advisors
Description:
Canada outspends 30 advanced countries with comparable universal healthcare systems yet delivers less. Is our ability to thrive under threat? New data suggest we value time with family, career success, and being physically active highly. Despite these values, Canada has slipped to 15th on the UN’s human development index. Can families still thrive? Putting family values first and individual morals second heals society faster or Mindful emphasis on developing individuals builds stronger families.
Led by:
Jason Frohlich, reLounge Wave
Mary Anne Malleret, Monthly Barometer
10:10 AM - 10:30 AM
Discussion
Description:
Digital-native Millennials, who are highly attuned to global issues, bring fresh capabilities. Have we let them? Their potential as disruptive innovators deserves attention. If not, might a departure on career paths to fulfill their own entrepreneurial dreams usher in a less palatable form of disruption? Karl Moore, Associate Professor at McGill University, Green Templeton College, Oxford University, will share the results of his research.
Led by:
Karl Moore, Associate Professor at McGill University, Green Templeton College, Oxford University
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Discussion
Description:
It is time to think about the future boardroom. Helle Bank Jorgensen, CEO and Founder of Competent Boards, discusses the expectations we have on leaders who oversee companies as they transition to a net zero economy and face geopolitical challenges, biodiversity and climate change issues, the threat of recession, global migration and beyond.
With:
Helle Bank Jorgensen, Competent Boards
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
Plenary
Description:
Family leaders have a responsibility to operate their enterprises ethically and in a socially responsible manner. Yet they must balance their actions against economic realities. Supply chains still impaired, many businesses began passing on higher costs to customers by raising prices. Have wages have kept up? That’s up for debate. What isn’t is the need for a reinvigoration of corporate citizenship activities that forge stronger bonds between employees and business, boost morale, and aid employees and employers in feeling more connected to the world around them.
Led by:
Tim Yeung, Associate Advisor at Next Step Advisors
With:
Helle Bank Jorgensen, Competent Boards
Juanita Lee-Garcia, Upside Foundation
Yann Coatanlem, Data Core
Olivier Laquinte, Talsom
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Plenary
Description:
In the last year, there has been an explosive rise in generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications including ChatGPT. What are the implications of this technological revolution for family firms — a promise of new opportunities or a perilous threat? In this session, we will examine both perspectives and discuss the ethical implications of AI for family business with Vern Glaser, Associate Professor at the University of Alberta.
Led by:
Matt Knight, Executive Director, Alberta Business Family Institute
With:
Vern Glaser, Associate Professor, University of Alberta
Eric Wetlaufer, TwinRiver Capital
Dean Koeller, CEO, Calvert Investment Corporation
Francois Labonté, Computer Research Institute of Montreal
12:45 PM - 1:15 PM
Discussion
It's time to extract all the nuggets and reflect on what we've learned at Families Summit of Minds 2023. Come hear closing remarks from our community leaders, who will highlight key takeaways we can all learn from and put into practice.
1:15 PM
Enjoy this last chance to connect with other business families, share key takeaways or make new connections over a buffet lunch!
Thank you for coming to Families Summit of Minds 2023!