Leadership and Vision

Five Good Ideas about the power of ideas: The 100th session

Published on December 5, 2016

The evening’s panel discussion provided a behind-the-scenes look at how some of our sector’s leaders come up with ideas, how they can tell when they’ve got a good one, and how to make them stick.

Mary Rowe, urbanist, civic entrepreneur and newly appointed Deputy Principal Secretary, Office of the Premier of Ontario, moderated a panel of four Five Good Ideas speakers:

Lisa Mattam, Founder and President, Sahajan
Nick Saul, President and CEO, Community Food Centres Canada
Peter Sloly, Executive Director, Deloitte Canada
Sherri Torjman, Vice-President, Caledon Institute of Social Policy

Mary W. Rowe

President & CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute

Mary is President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute. An impassioned civic leader with diverse experience in the business, government, not-for-profit and philanthropy sectors in Canada and the United States for over 30 years, Mary has been a steady advocate and champion for place-based approaches to building livable and resilient cities, and community-driven local economies. She has led campaigns, organizations, initiatives, and companies spanning a few months to several years. Mary was deeply engaged in the self-organizing initiatives that emerged in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, providing support to two dozen initiatives that focused on various forms of resilience. She also supported, in her role at MAS NYC, community engagement efforts during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, and Rebuild by Design. Subsequently, Mary has led local, national and international urban initiatives from Toronto and New York City, including the initial development of Re-Imagining the Civic Commons, an initiative to strengthen elements of the urban fabric that create social cohesion and community resilience, including libraries, community centres, parks and other “third places.” Following her return to live in Toronto, in addition to her role leading CUI, Mary is a Senior Fellow with Evergreen and Future Cities Canada, Lead Facilitator for the National Urban Project and serves on the Advisory and Governing Boards of the New Cities Foundation and The Bentway respectively. Mary is also Senior Fellow with Shorefast, a charity and social enterprise focused on building place-based economic development strategies that strengthen local communities and foster their resilience.

Lisa Mattam

Founder and President, Sahajan

Lisa Mattam is the Founder and President of Sahajan, an Ayurvedic Natural Skin and Haircare Company. Since the company’s launch in 2015, Sahajan has enjoyed great success with coverage in Chatelaine, Cityline, Best Health and Vogue and has a retail presence in both Canada and the U.S. Lisa was the only Canadian chosen for Sephora’s inaugural Beauty Accelerator program, and Forbes magazine has described her as one of eight female entrepreneurs changing the face of beauty. A serial entrepreneur, Lisa’s first venture was The Mattam Group, a consulting practice where she established thought leadership in strategic process, leadership development, diversity and the advancement of women. An industry leader in talent management, The Mattam Group’s clients include Pepsi Bottling, IBM, Dell and Bayer. In 2009, Proﬁt Magazine ranked Lisa as one of the top ten women emerging entrepreneurs in Canada; and, in 2011, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce named Lisa its Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

Nick Saul

President and CEO, Community Food Centres Canada

Nick Saul is co-founder and President and CEO of Community Food Centres Canada, a national organization that builds and supports vibrant, food-focused community centres in low-income neighbourhoods. These centres are based on the idea that good food is a powerful force for greater health, equity and social change. Nick is a recipient of the prestigious Jane Jacobs Prize, as well as the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and has an honorary doctorate from Ryerson University. A long-time community organizer, Nick speaks regularly on issues of justice, civic engagement and the Community Food Centre model of food access, health and community building. Born in Tanzania and raised in Canada, Nick studied at University of Toronto and Warwick University in the U.K. as a Commonwealth Scholar. His bestselling book, The Stop: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement, written with his wife, Andrea Curtis, was nominated for the Toronto Book Award and won several other awards. Nick lives in Toronto and is the proud father of two boys.

@aplaceforfood

@njsaul

Sherri Torjman

Social Policy Consultant and former Vice-President, Caledon Institute of Social Policy

Currently a social policy consultant, from 1992 to 2017 Sherri Torjman was Vice-President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, one of Canada’s leading social policy think tanks. In this role, she helped to propose and design the Canada Child Benefit and other income security and tax measures. From 2018 to 2022, Sherri served as the Vice-Chair of the Disability Advisory Committee reporting to the Minister of National Revenue. She Co-Chaired the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities in 2004-05, reporting to the Minister of Finance and Minister of National Revenue.

In 1987, Sherri wrote Welfare in Canada, developing the methodology still used today for calculating social assistance incomes across Canada. Sherri has worked for the House of Commons Committee on the Disabled and written four books on disability policy for the Roeher Institute. She was a founding partner of the Vibrant Communities initiative focused on local solutions to reducing poverty. In recognition of her policy work, Sherri was awarded the 2017 Senate 150 Anniversary Medal, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2011 Champion of Human Services Award from the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association and 2010 Top 25 Canadians Award from the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.

Peter Sloly

CEO of Sloly Solutions Inc.

Peter Sloly is the CEO of Sloly Solutions Inc. which provides strategic services to governments, private sector organizations and public sector agencies. He coaches, mentors, and supports business executives, board directors, and community leaders enabling them to develop socially just communities, smarter safer cities, and more inclusive sustainable societies. Peter has enjoyed three successful careers as a professional athlete, a partner at a professional services firm, and as a police officer who rose through the ranks to become Chief of Police. Peter has deep expertise in the areas of justice sector modernization, physical/cyber security, integrated human services operations as well as community safety and well-being strategies. Peter has vast experience leading organizational and cultural change, and he is a life-long champion for diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism. Peter’s work took him to five continents and over fifty countries which included participation in several international development missions and two tours of duty in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo. Peter is a recipient of the United Nations and Canadian Peacekeeping Medals – he was also invested as an “Officer of the Order of Merit” (Police Forces) by the Governor General of Canada. Peter is a graduate of the FBI’s “National Academy” and a graduate of the Canadian Forces College “National Strategic Security Studies” program. He has a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. Peter’s motto is “others before self, compassion for all”. He was born in Jamaica, immigrated to Canada, and is married with two children.