Mark is President of the consulting company Here to There and an Associate of Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement.

While studying the Solidarity movement in Krakow, Poland, in mid-1989, Mark experienced a variety of tumultuous events that signalled the end of communism in Eastern Europe – including walking on the Berlin Wall with a million people the week it came down in November 1989. He then rolled up his sleeves and worked as an investment advisor in Poland’s Foreign Investment Agency, the Foreign Assistance Coordinator for Grants in the new Ministry of Privatization, and the Mission Coordinator for the creation of the United Nations Development Program’s first regional economic development initiative in Eastern Europe.

Back in Canada, Mark was the Coordinator of the Waterloo Region’s Opportunities 2000 project (1997-2000), an initiative that won provincial, national, and international awards for its multi-sector approach to poverty reduction. He served briefly as the Executive Director of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) (2001) and was Vice President of the Tamarack Institute and the Executive Director of Vibrant Communities Canada (2002-2011).

Mark’s current focus is on developing practical ways to understand, plan and evaluate efforts to address complex issues. This includes challenges such as neighborhood renewal, poverty and homelessness, community safety, educational achievement and health. He is particularly involved in developing and promoting developmental evaluation, a new approach to assessment, which emphasizes real time feedback and learning in emerging, messy, and sometimes fast-moving environments.

Mark lives in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) with his wife Leann and their children Isaiah and Zoë.

Management consultant, think tanker, and senior economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Tyler Meredith brings nearly two decades of experience at the intersection of economics, public policy and politics. Previously voted the second most influential staff person in Ottawa by the Hill Times’ annual staff survey, Tyler has been a key thought leader supporting the domestic economic and social policy agenda of the Justin Trudeau government.

He was the lead author of the 2019 and 2021 winning election platforms of the Liberal Party of Canada, helped lead the delivery of six federal budgets and five economic statements and contributed to the writing of multiple ministerial mandate letters during government transition.

Until his departure in late 2022, Tyler was the lead economic advisor for Justin Trudeau, and two Ministers of Finance – Chrystia Freeland and Bill Morneau. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was the principal architect of the government’s economic response, including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, Response Benefit, and Rent Subsidy. From 2016-2022, his work touched nearly all aspects of the government’s social and economic agenda, from financial sector and tax policy, to the design of the Canadian cannabis market, to the negotiation of the 2017 health accords.

Before working in government, Tyler was the economic research director for the Institute for Research on Public Policy, where he oversaw and authored numerous peer reviewed publications on Canadian economic policy. He was also previously a management consultant for nearly five years with a Big 4 firm.

Tyler holds a Masters of Public Administration from Queens University and a Joint Honours in Political Science and History from the University of Ottawa.

Elizabeth Mulholland is the Chief Executive Officer of Prosper Canada, a national charity dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for Canadians living in poverty through program and policy innovation. Elizabeth joined Prosper Canada in 2011, after a 25-year policy career in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, including a decade of independent policy consulting, five years as Senior Social Policy Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister, and five years directing United Ways of Ontario’s government relations program.

She has served as a member of the federal government’s National Steering Committee on Financial Literacy, Financial Consumer Protection Advisory Committee, Canada Revenue Agency External Advisory Panel on Service, and Open Banking Working Group on Liability; and is currently a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Council of Payments Canada. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geology and French from Wellesley College and successfully completed McGill University’s Graduate Summer Program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Harvard Business School Executive Program in Strategic Management for non-profit leaders.

Maya Roy is an experienced social worker and is the past CEO of YWCA Canada and Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto. Experienced in affordable housing and public policy, Maya has served on a range of committees and task forces providing expert council to decision-makers. Maya served on the 2018 Gender Equality Advisory Council during Canada’s G7 Presidency and was the Co-Chair of the Future of Jobs Working Group.

In 2019, Maya was a member of Canada’s official delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. In partnership with Rotman School of Business, she served as Strategic Co-Lead on A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada: Making the Economy Work for Everyone, the first nationally-focused plan of its kind in the world. She currently serves on the board of Women’s College Hospital where she serves on the Quality Assurance Committee and is an appointed member of the National Housing Council. She has also worked internationally as a front-line social worker where she worked to mainstream gender-based analysis in Brazil, India, Thailand, and the U.K., in human rights and violence prevention programming.

Maya’s contributions have been recognized nationally and internationally. She was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, where she serves on the YGL Advisory. She has been a recipient of many honours including being named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Toronto Community Foundation’s Vital People, and has received the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA)’s Gender Equity Advocate Award.

Maya is proficient in Bengali, French, and English. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2022, she completed executive education with the Harvard Kennedy School and Wharton School of Business in public leadership and board governance.

Robert Steiner is Director of the Dalla Lana Fellowship in Global Journalism, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. The Fellowships are a fundamentally new type of post-graduate training in global journalism, for starting journalists with advanced knowledge of complex disciplines.

Robert began his career as a global finance correspondent for The Wall Street Journal with postings in New York, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, where he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and won two Overseas Press Club awards and the Inter-American Press Association Award. After leaving The Wall Street Journal, he received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and then worked as a business strategy executive, first at The Boston Consulting Group and later as Group Vice President in charge of Strategic Planning for Bell Globemedia, parent of the Globe and Mail and CTV. From 2006 to 2010, he served as Assistant Vice President of the University of Toronto in charge of Strategic Communications.

Robert has also held a number of senior campaign positions in Canadian politics. In 2002 and 2003, he served as health policy advisor and principal speechwriter for the Hon. Paul Martin, during his candidacy for the premiership of Canada and during his subsequent tenure as Prime Minister-designate. In 2000, he managed the Liberal Party of Canada’s new media campaign in the period leading to and during the federal general election, working for Prime Minister Jean Chretien. 

He lives in Toronto with his wife, a social worker and psychotherapist; they have a daughter at Concordia University and son at McGill.

Kathleen Wynne was Ontario’s 25th Premier. She was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Don Valley West, and she became the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in January 2013.

Kathleen has dedicated her professional life to building a better province for the people of Ontario. She and her government were guided by the values and principles that knit this province together: fairness, diversity, collaboration and creativity.

Kathleen has served as Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Minister of Transportation, Minister of Education and Minister of Agriculture and Food.

In her role as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Kathleen worked in partnership with First Nations communities to address issues such as mining development, First Nations land claims, and improving quality of life for Indigenous people living off-reserve through affordable housing and recreation programs.

As Minister of Education, Kathleen led the government’s efforts to reduce class sizes, implement full-day kindergarten and provide more opportunities for high school students to reach their full potential.

Kathleen has served as a Public School Trustee in Toronto. She has led citizens’ groups in a number of grassroots community projects, and has played a major role as an organizer and facilitator. This experience has contributed to her results-based approach to life, government and community.

Kathleen has three adult children, Chris, Jessie and Maggie, and six grandchildren, Olivia, Claire, Hugh, Violet, Arthur and George. Before moving to Alliston, Ontario, Kathleen and her partner Jane lived in North Toronto for more than 30 years.