Team Category: Presenter

Co-Founder, Artistic Director, LeadArtistand Workshop Instructor

JesseGouchey(he/him) is a self-taught, award-winning Cree Métis muralist, painter, animator,filmmakerand Animation Concept Art graduate from Vancouver Film School, who now lives and works on the traditional, ancestral andunceededCoast Salish territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations, commonly known as Vancouver.

Jesse mixes modern media with Indigenous culture. His wide range of skills includes aerosol, illustration, paintings, graphic design, bleached art apparel,photographyand animation. Hismain focusis on large-scale spray-painted murals and commissioned paintings. Jesse is best-known for bringing wild animals and nature to life throughpaint. Over the past decade and beyond, Jesse has been teaching mural and painting workshops with groups of all ages with Indigenous communities across Western Canada.

Combining mural skills and animation to make a unique style of stop motion, Jesse teamed up with Co-DirectorXstineCook to create a piece entitled, ‘Spirit of the Bluebird’. This short documentary featured the story of an Aboriginal woman that faced injustice and was murdered in 1999. In 2011 and 2012, this award-winning film screened at TIFF,Imaginenative, APTN and over 100 film festivals worldwide.

Jesse’s recent work on another impressive stop motion mural animation which took him over 7 years to paint, ‘Johnny Crow’, again with Co-DirectorXstineCook, speaks to historical oppression and racial injustice to Indigenous peoples.In 2021 and 2022, ‘Johnny Crow’ was circulated at many international film festivals,and alsotook home several awards.

As Canada’s number one consumer electronic retailer, Best Buy welcomes people from all walks of life and backgrounds to shop, work and do business with us. Carol assumed the role of Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in 2020. Her portfolio includes Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging leadership for Best Buy’s retail locations, corporate headquarters, and distribution centres across Canada.

Born and raised in the New York metropolitan area, Carol has held a variety of leadership and Human Resources roles in the retail space for Macy’s in New York and Atlanta before immigrating to Canada in 2006 and signing on with Best Buy.

Carol believes that the best organizations know that creating pathways that allow people to offer their unique talents and perspectives freely is an essential business strategy: “when we create safe, brave spaces, and find ways to value, celebrate and leverage difference, magic happens. My job is to set the table and empower team members to do their best work.”

Shari Golberg holds a PhD in Religion from UofT. Her academic work explores feminist approaches to Jewish and Islamic texts and contemporary text-based collaborations between Jewish and Muslim women. Dr. Golberg has developed and taught numerous courses and workshops in university, community-based, and corporate settings on world religions, gender issues, and competing human rights. Although working primarily outside of academia, she is also a frequent guest lecturer and panelist speaking about interfaith engagement and activism, systemic racism (including antisemitism and Islamophobia), religious accommodation, and creating inclusive workplace cultures. She has worked as a researcher, facilitator, and consultant for a number of organizations including the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, and the Ontario Public Service’s Inclusive Diversity Office, an internal centre for excellence with expertise in research, data analysis, learning and program development on diversity, equity, and inclusion. For eight years, she also coordinated and facilitated Shema & Iqra’: The Jewish-Muslim Text Project, a grassroots initiative which brought communities of Muslims and Jews together using classical religious texts as a springboard for dialogue to explore issues of mutual concern, including gender and religious leadership, environmental ethics, and creative expression. She currently works on legislative policy in the Ontario Public Service is leading the development of an outcomes-based Anti-Racism Action Plan.

National Practice Leader, Indigenous Services

BFL CANADA – Calgary

As National Practice Leader for Indigenous Services, AnnmarieGarbyis responsible forcollaborating with BFL CANADA partnerships,colleaguesand clients in creating sustainable solutions and ownership models for the First Nations, Inuit,and Metis throughout Canada.

Prior to joining BFL CANADA in 2021, Annmarie worked in various roles developing and implementing processes that supported growth and development within various First Nations that she represented throughout Treaty 6, Treaty7and Treaty 8.

She has successfully submitted project plans and proposals funding to regional and national agencies for the economic, social, and administrative development; monitored and disseminated provincial legislative changes and their impacts on the rights and interests of the member First Nations of the treaty territories; and provided First Nation Leadership and management with policy support regarding Alberta First Nations Consultation Policy and Guidelines on Land Management and Resource Development.

Annmarie is a proud member of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation. She first began working in the industry in January of 2004, and is currently working towards her MBA.

Bio coming soon.

Julian Franklin is a Canadian Marketing Hall of Fame member, and business leader with 20+ years client and agency experience in consumer-packaged goods and sports industries. His expertise includes strategic planning, communications, and marketing. His career is distinguished by marketing leadership roles in Canada and the U.S. where he perennially achieved successful business results. Julian has worked for industry leading organizations Toronto Blue Jays, Weston Foods, and Kraft Heinz, where he was North American lead forKraft Hockeyville.As Managing Director for Geometry Global, he was responsible for leading high-performance teams and creating retail marketing programs for Unilever, GSK, Tim Hortons and Danone.

Currently he isPresident,Franklin Management Group Inc.(FMG),a strategic planning, sponsorship and activation consultancy for blue chip clients Danone, Clorox, Kids Help Phone, Kruger, Amazon, Lerners Law Group, and Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

Julian’s corporate governance experience is extensive, currently sitting as President, University of Ottawa Alumni Council (Toronto Chapter), and Board of Director/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair – Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada. He is also a Founding Member of POCAM (People of Colour in Advertising & Marketing), an association that advocates the inclusion and advancement of Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour (BIPOC) within Marketing.

Andrew Follwell is the Vice President of Labour Relations and Integrated Health Management (IHM) at Sobeys Inc. As Vice President of Labour Relations and IHM, Andrew supports two distinct but integrated functions. As the Vice President of Labour Relations Andrew and his team are responsible for creating a positive and progressive labour relations environment while ensuring the fair and consistent treatment of all employees. From an IHM perspective, Andrew and his team are responsible for creating a proactive safety culture in all work environments, including stores, warehouses and offices across the country. Prior to joining Sobeys Inc. Andrew was Canadian Human Resources lead for the Molson Coors Beverage Company overseeing implementation of strategic Labour Relations practices. Andrew holds an MBA from Ryerson University and an MIR and BComm from Queen’s University.

Tim Fox (Natoyi’sokasiim) is a member of the Blackfoot confederacy from the Blood (Kainai) reserve. As Vice President of Indigenous Relations with Calgary Foundation, Tim supports the work of philanthropy while also facilitating an internal systems change approach. His efforts help to strengthen and enhance the culture and practice of the foundation while designing ways of mobilizing reconciliation internally and in the broader community. He is honored to co-chair The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada board of directors and was recently named a top 40 under 40 for his efforts of incorporating reconciliation and decolonization.

Tiana Field Ridley is an enthusiastic mental health advocate with a passion for turning systems knowledge into real-world change. She is currently working as a program manager at the Mental Health Commission of Canada, where she supports employers in building workplace mental health strategies that align with the National Standard of Canada on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.

Her former experience includes six years serving on the Alberta Mental Health Review Panel where she gained extensive experience within both mental health and judicial systems. She was also previously self-employed as an independent Mental Health First Aid instructor and conflict management consultant with a focus on community development.

Tiana holds a degree in Human Services, along with certifications in Psychological Health and Safety, Mediation, Communication and Conflict.

Ziv Finkelstein holds a Master of Arts from York University where they researched the trajectory of medieval antisemitic perceptions to modern literary antisemitism, specifically in children’s fantasy literature. They find it important to educate about antisemitism and who the Jewish people are.