Annual Dinner 2024: Dare to Lead

Michael H. McCain is Executive Chair of Maple Leaf Foods, one of Canada’s flagship food companies, with annual sales in excess of $4.5 billion and a vision to be the most sustainable protein company on earth. 

Michael has devoted his career to the food industry, starting at McCain Foods in the late 1970s, where he held a variety of roles, including President and Chief Executive Officer of McCain Foods USA. He joined Maple Leaf Foods in 1995 and became Chief Executive Officer of the company in 1998, a position he held until May 2023. Michael is a practical visionary who has been instrumental in establishing Maple Leaf Foods as a sustainable, purpose-driven company with world-class assets, iconic market-leading brands, and bold ambition.

Claudette McGowan is an influential figure in the Canadian innovation ecosystem. As CEO of Protexxa, she leads a mission to make cybersecurity accessible to everyone. McGowan's dedication to driving change is evident. As the founder of the Black Arts & Innovation Expo and Chair of the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR), she has displayed her commitment to creating a healthier and more inclusive tech environment in the Toronto Region. Recognized as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Torontonians by Toronto Life, McGowan has received honors from many of Canada’s top institutions, solidifying her as a beacon of leadership and innovation.

Christian Weedbrook, the founder of Xanadu, a Toronto-based quantum computing company, will take the stage to share Xanadu’s journey—from the Creative Disruption innovator lab at UofT to becoming a computational powerhouse. Xanadu’s groundbreaking work in building photonic quantum computers has positioned them as one of the few teams worldwide to achieve the feat of building a quantum computer capable of outperforming the world’s fastest available classical supercomputers. This feat, known as quantum computational advantage is part of Xanadu’s remarkable progress, which has impressed governments and potential partners but also captured investor imagination, so far raising $250M.