Team Category: Presenter

Darrell Schuurman is an advocate of effecting social change through the economic empowerment of LGBT+ entrepreneurs. He is the co-founder and CEO of the CGLCC, Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, a national not-for-profit organization with a mission to expand the opportunities and advancement of the LGBT+ business community in Canada.

Darrell is also the co-founder of the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Business Education Foundation and Travel Gay Canada.

Darrell completed his Bachelor of Commerce Degree at the University of Calgary, and completed his Executive MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University.

Nadine Shah brings over 20 years of Supply Chain Management experience in various industries, including manufacturing, telecommunication, and facility management. Nadine has been with CBRE Limited | Global Workplace Solutions for over 3 years and is currently the Sr. Strategic Sourcing Manager for the IBM Canada account.

Nadine holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Management from Ryerson University. She is a longstanding member of Supply Chain Canada, receiving her Certified Supply Chain Management Professional designation in 2001.

Married for over 18 years and the mother of a teenage son, Nadine is very passionate about diversity and inclusion and is involved in several diverse supplier outreach programs. She is the Canadian Supplier Diversity Champion at CBRE Limited and is focused on engaging and increasing the number of diverse suppliers.

Thomas Sasso has a masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the University of Guelph, where he teaches in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics. His research is dedicated to understanding and improving the experiences of diverse and marginalized populations in workplaces, with particular emphasis on LGBTQ+ individuals. He co-founded the Sexual and Gender Diversity Research Lab and focused his doctoral research and consulting on the integration of diverse roles and identities across life domains to foster inclusive practices and spaces.

In partnership with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion and Pride at Work Canada, Thomas co-authored a national report on the experiences of LGBTQ+ Canadians in the workforce entitled In & Out: Diverging Perspectives on LGBT Inclusion in the Workplace.

Acting Chair, Sahtú Renewable Resources Board

Donna Schear is Sahtúgot’ı̨nę (person from Great Bear Lake). Donna has a wide range of experience working with Indigenous, federal, and territorial governments, oil and gas operations, land management, as well as safety and environmental protection and regulatory compliance. Donna currently resides in Yellowknife with her partner and daughter and sits as a member of the Délı̨nę Dene K’ǝ Dats’eredı Kǝ (Justice Council) for a 2^ndterm and was recently appointed Chairperson for the Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı (Sahtú Renewable Resources Board).

Summarized from:https://www.srrb.nt.ca/about-us/the-board

Sartaj Sarkaria believes in creative, authentic and collaborative leadership style. Sartaj is passionate about talent, culture, learning and engagement. With a strong understanding of what it takes to move initiatives forward. Sartaj has implemented programs to enhance leadership, development, talent management and culture. She also has experience in board management and governance development. Sartaj is a member of the Human Resources Professional Association and Governance Professionals of Canada. She has a strong background in the law, best HR practices, professional development practices and project management.

Shagufta (she/her) is a communications-outreach strategist passionate about fostering inclusive spaces in postsecondary and public sector institutions. Her drive for writing and helping people led her to a marketing and communications career in Toronto’s gender-based violence sector, where she facilitated educational sessions and curated support services for intimate partner violence. At the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses, the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, and Durham College, she developed trainings and resources on gender-based violence trends, workplace sexual harassment, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. Currently, she is the Alumni Relations EDI Strategist at the University of Toronto, engaging diverse alumni and promoting inclusion in alumni engagement programs. In her free time, Shagufta explores new skills through online learning and enjoys the thrill of horror movies.

Global Diversity,Equity,and Inclusion Leader at IKEA

As a first-generation Indo-Canadian who grew up in B.-C., Sonia Sangha’s (she/her) journey of navigating between cultures has profoundly shaped her DEI work. She blends storytelling with trends and data to promote understanding, empathy and drive meaningful change.

At IKEA, Sonia has led initiatives such as theAnti-Racism Equality Is a Human Rightprogram in Canada, IKEA’s Global DEI Learning approaches, andMitigating Biasintegration. She co-created IKEA’sRefugee Skills for Employment Initiativewith the UN Refugee Agency.

Soniaholds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, certifications in Leadership and Inclusion from CCDI, and in Advanced Gender Diversity atTransFocus. She has presented for the Tent Foundation and Pride atWork, anddiscussed the rise of anti-South Asian hate in Canada onLeader Talkswith Anne-Marie Pham.

With an intersectional lens, a curious soul, and a down-to-earth approach, Sonia creates connections between communities, convinced no action is too small to count in our collective pursuit of belonging.

Maya Roy (she/her)is a member of the National HousingCouncil andthe past CEO of YWCA Canada and Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto.Sheserved 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, she 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 firstnationally focusedplan of its kind in the world.

Roy is proficient in Bengali, French, and English. She holds amaster’s in social policy and planningfrom the London School of Economics, and abachelor’s in social workfrom TMU.She alsocompletedanexecutive education with the Harvard Kennedy School and Wharton School of Business.

Margaret Regan is the President and CEO of The FutureWork Institute, a global consulting firm that translates future trends to transform organizations. Operating on four continents, North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America, The FutureWork Institute is a certified women-owned business (WBE) that serves as an incubator of innovation and change in addressing current and future workplace and marketplace issues. Its focus is on helping clients achieve a MindShift, a HeartShift and a SkillShift in creating a more inclusive, future-focused culture and environment.

As a futurist and member of the World Future Society, Margaret is often asked to bring to her perspective on the next 10 years and their implications for workforce change management.

She recently keynoted a FutureFluent conference in India and spoke at the UN in Geneva on 2030 Game Changers: How They Will Impact Our Work and Our Life. At the UN, she also testified on the Ethical Implications of AI and Machine Learning and what it will mean to be human or have personhood in the future.

As a change management consultant, Margaret operates at the cutting edge of change, using research and consulting expertise to help clients envision the manager, employee and customer of the future.

As an executive coach, she works with clients going through a change process to coach individual executives on leading the change.

As a global consultant, Margaret has led executive teams in Japan, keynoted future-focused conferences in Europe, Asia and North America, worked in Paris on French-American mergers and global summits, educated executive teams on cross-cultural differences, and conducted women’s studies in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia. She has led projects that conducted employee research, focus groups and training in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Bangalore, Beijing, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Munich, Singapore, Sydney, Mexico City, Frankfurt, London, Paris and other major cities.

Margaret was formerly a Partner and Global Practice Leader for Towers Perrin, where she led the Global Reinventing HR Practice, Global Human Capital Management Practice and the Global D&I Practice. She was also the first women executive in three different organizations.

Director of DE&I, Community Business

JeizRobles (she/her) is a Filipina, bisexual, neurodivergent womanrecognisedglobally on the Top 20 ofInvolve’sGlobal LGBT+ Future Leaders for several years. She champions societal inclusion by influencing Diversity & Inclusion strategies,policiesand programs through active work with Employee Resource Groups, BusinessLeadersand Civil SocietyOrganisations. As Community Business’ Diversity,Equityand Inclusion Director (DE&I), sheis responsible forthe strategic direction of Community Business’ DE&I offerings.

Prior to joining Community Business,Jeizworked with IBM in various capacities for 14 years. As APAC Marketplace Diversity Leader, sheleveragedon IBM’s experience and thought leadership on global diversity & talent management to build and strengthen customer relationships andidentifynew business & collaboration opportunities for IBM within the Asia.

Prior to joining Marketplace Diversity, she worked with IBM Consulting leading delivery of HR & Talent Services for various industries globally.Jeiz’sdecade of experience in the company has revolved around leading HR services through transformation, robotic process automation and analytics.She has lead user-centric innovation by use of Design Thinking and Agile ways of working.

Outside her various experience in IBM, she is one of the Trustees for the Philippine Financial & Inter-industry Pride (PFIP) where she ran industry-leading initiatives including publishing the PFIP Playbook, founding its Advocacy by Leadership Enablement Program, ran and speak on its Leadership Forums, Pride summits and more. She also was one of the Co-chairs of the Philippine Business Disability Network andrecognisingthe importance of intersectionality and Diversity and Inclusion beyond the workplace, she and her wife have CofoundedTheNational Inclusion Council of the Philippines that have enabled them to reach and support LGBTQ+ youth and enable workplace inclusion for the local government.