The Quay, 3rd Floor, 100 Queens Quay East, Toronto, ON
In Person
We’re pleased to be the 2024 host of the Great Lakes Sustainable Growth Forum in partnership with the Council of the Great Lakes Region.
This annual gathering, established in 2015, celebrates and examines the remarkable impact of the Great Lakes region – a 10,000-mile stretch of shoreline connecting vital economic regions across the U.S. and Canada.
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region comprises eight states, from New York to Minnesota, as well as the provinces of Ontario and Québec. For millennia, this region has also been the traditional territory for many Indigenous Nations and Peoples and a vital ecological region. Today, it also serves as a vital region in the global economy.
The region is responsible for over 50% of two-way trade between the United States and Canada. With a staggering annual GDP of 6 trillion USD, it would place as the world’s third-largest national economy. It is home to 107 million residents and 51 million jobs, representing one-third of the combined US-Canadian workforce.
At the heart of the economic region is one of the largest freshwater systems on the planet, the five Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. Over 20% of the world’s surface freshwater flows through these lakes before reaching the Gulf of the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean, and they are extremely sensitive to pollution and climate change.
Hosting this annual gathering in Toronto is an extraordinary opportunity for critical conversations aimed at fostering economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and long-term success. Join us, and the Council, in the critical conversations that will foster a new era of shared economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and individual success, across borders and sectors, in the years and decades to come.
Event Takeaways:
- Gain insights into the region's top sustainability issues, trends as well as cutting-edge research and solutions from leading experts.
- Connect with influential leaders from government, business, academia and the non-profit sector in the Great Lakes region.
- Engage in a regional agenda focused on fostering collaboration and driving systemic change for the long-term competitiveness and accelerated progress of sustainable development across the region.
Can’t attend the whole Forum? You can transfer your admission to a colleague for sessions you can’t attend.
Agenda
Welcome Reception: Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Venue: Arcadia Earth, 486 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario
6:00 – 8:00 pm: Opening Reception and Registration
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Venue: The Quay - 100 Queens Quay East, Toronto, ON
7:00 - 8:00 am: Breakfast
8:10 - 8:25 am: Welcome Remarks
- Mark Fisher, President and CEO, Council of the Great Lakes Region
- Giles Gherson, President & CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade
8:25 - 8:30 am: Breakfast Sponsor Remarks
- Tim Kocur, Executive Director, Waterfront BIA
8:30 - 9:00 am: State of the Great Lakes Economy Outlook Keynote
- Doug Porter, Chief Economist, BMO Capital Markets
9:00 - 9:30 am: Mind the Gap: North American Voter Attitudes and Electoral Preferences
- Don Guy, Owner, Pollara Strategic Insights
9:30 - 9:50 am: Remarks from The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
- The Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
- Closing Remarks:
- Earl Provost, Ontario Government Rep. of Great Lakes States, Ontario Trade and Investment Office
9:50 - 10:35 am: A Renewed U.S. – Canada Partnership: Leading the Way in the Great Lakes Region
- Tom Clark, Consul General – New York, Canadian Government
- Baxter Hunt, Consul General – Toronto, U.S. Government
- David Paterson, Ontario’s Representative in Washington, Government of Ontario
10:35 - 11:00 am: Networking Break
11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Breakout Sessions
Sustainable Infrastructure: Building Back Better; Delivering Long-Term ESG Benefits
- David Lapp, Associate, Climate Risk Institute
- Scott MacKenzie, Director, Corporate & External Affairs, Toyota Motor Corporation of Canada
- Anthony Kane, President & CEO, Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure
- K.N. (Guna) Gunalan, Senior Vice-President, AECOM
- Peter Johnson, Director, Sustainable Finance, Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets
Easing Border Congestion: Growth Potential in the Great Lakes Region
- Jane Humphreys, Founder, Beyond Borders Policy Consulting
- Marta Leardi-Anderson, Executive Director, University of Windsor, Cross Border Institute
- Charl Van Niekerk, CEO, Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority
- Natalie Kinloch, CEO, Federal Bridge Corporation Limited
- Amy Winn, Administrator, Blue Water Bridge, Michigan Department of Transportation
Skilling Up: Tackling Labour Shortages in the Great Lakes Region
- Jay Walsh, Vice President, Economic Development and Innovation, University of Illinois System
- David Morley, Vice President, National Government Relations, Pomerleau
- Surrana Sandy, CEO, Skills for Change
- Mark Fisher, President & CEO, Council of the Great Lakes Region
12:00 - 1:30pm: Moving Forward, Faster: The Future of Passenger Rail in the Great Lakes Region
1:30 - 2:30 pm: USMCA+4: Future-Proofing Cross-Border Trade, Economic Integration and Supply Chains in the Great Lakes
- Xavier Delgado, Research Associate, Canada Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center
- Dan Ujczo, Senior Counsel, Thomson Hine LLP
- Birgit Matthiesen, Director, North American Manufacturing, ArentFox Schiff
- David Adams, President & CEO, Global Automakers of Canada
- Jack Hughes, Senior Vice President, Planning and Operations, Business Council of Canada
2:30 - 3:00 pm: Networking Break
3:00 - 3:45pm: The Great Lakes Auto Sector: Leading the Future of Mobility
- Stephen Beatty, Vice-President & Corporate Secretary, Toyota Canada
- Sarah Goldfeder, Director of Government Relations and Corporate Affairs, General Motors Canada
- Bernard Swiecki, Vice President, Mobility & Research, Detroit Regional Partnership
- John de Boer, Senior Director, GA & PP, Blackberry / QNX
- Lisa Boulton, General Counsel, AGS Automotive Systems
- Mona Eghanian, Assistant Vice President, OVIN
- Raed Khadri, Head, OVIN
3:45 - 4:30pm: The Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Seaway: Leveraging our Connected Waterways to Build Stronger Supply Chains and Improve our Competitiveness
- Deborah Wilson, VP, Communications and Public Affairs, PortsToronto
- Ian Hamilton, President & CEO, HOPA Ports
- Adam Tindall-Schlicht, Administrator, Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Developments
- William Friedman, President & CEO, Port of Cleveland
- Guillaum Dubreuil, Director, External Affairs and Government, CSL Group
6:15 - 9:30pm: Registration & Networking Reception, Dinner, and Great Lakes Changemaker Awards Ceremony
- Lisa Frizzell, VP, Communications, Nuclear Waste Management Organization
- Mike Shoreman, Motivational Speaker
- Flavio Volpe, C.M., President, Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association
- Jody Grant, Nanticoke Refinery Manager, Imperial Oil Inc.
Thursday, June 27, 2024
Venue: The Quay - 100 Queens Quay East, Toronto, ON
8:00 - 9:00 am: Tech Breakfast: Accelerating Sustainability in the Great Lakes Region Pitch Session
- Ryan Jeffery, Senior Managing Director, Gener8tor Sustainability Accelerator
- David Ceolin, Partner, Innovation Grade Ventures
- Michael Arens, Co-Founder and CEO, Clean Earth Rovers
- Corey Morrow, Enterprise Account Executive, Intuitive AI
- Derek Davy, CEO, Econse
- Natalija Vojno, Director, Business Development, RainGrid
- Stephen Fischer, Business Development, Serial Cleaners
- Sanders Lazier, CEO, Carbonhound Inc.
9:00 - 9:20 am: Morning Keynote
- The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Canada
9:25 - 9:45 am: The Business of Sustainability – The Private Sector’s Role in a Sustainable Great Lakes Region
- Rumina Dhalla, UN Global Compact Network Canada, Board Chair, UNGC Network Canada
- Amy Senter, Vice President, Global Sustainability, Martin Brower
- Paul Sambanis, Vice President, Sustainability, Sloan
9:50 - 10:30 am: Sustainable Finance – Challenges and Opportunities in the Great Lakes Region
- Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, Managing Partner, TwinRiver Capital
- Ravinder Gill, Managing Director & Head of Sustainable Finance, Commercial Banking Group, RBC
- R. Paul Herman, Vice President, Sustainable Investing, HIP Investor Inc.
10:30 - 11:00 am: Networking Break
11:00 - 11:45 am: Breakout Sessions
Freshwater Future: Advancing Corporate Water Stewardship in the Great Lakes Region
- Roy Brouwer, Professor of Economics and Executive Director, University of Waterloo’s Water Institute
- Noelle Brigham, Director of ESG, A.O. Smith
- Brian Bruce, President, Municipal Water - Central Region, Veolia North America
- Alan Gilden, Vice President, Global Quality, Watts Water Technologies
- Dr. Andreanne Simard, Senior Natural Resources Manager, BlueTriton Brands
Back to our Roots: Leading the Global Regenerative Agriculture Revolution in the Great Lakes Region
- Jordan Sinclair, Vice President, Strategy, ALUS
- Alan Martinez, Senior Manager, Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University
- Elizabeth Sheppard, Manager Integrated Supply Chain and Agriculture Strategy, McCain Foods
- Laurie Isley, Farmer Director and Agricultural Communicator, United Soybean Board
- The Hon. Lisa Thompson, Minister of Rural Affairs, Government of Ontario
A Fair and Just Future: Environmental Equity for Communities across the Great Lakes Region
- Des Jones, Chief Strategy Officer, TBWA/Group Canada
- Claude Griffin, Executive Director, US Business Council for Sustainable Development
- Shoshannah Lenski, Associate Director, Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
- Sanjiv Sinha, CEO, CIS
11:45 am - 1:00pm Achieving the Global Sustainable Development Goals
- Sandra Pupatello, Board Chair, PortsToronto
- John Wilkinson, Former Ontario Provincial Government Minister and CGLR Board Member, Wilkinson Insight
- John W. McArthur, Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Brookings Institution
- The Honourable Bob Rae, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations
1:00 - 1:45 pm Breakout Sessions
Nature Now: Confronting Biodiversity Loss; Rewilding the Great Lakes Region
- Daria Vučko, Senior Manager, Programs and Business Relations, United Nations Global Compact Network Canada
- Mike Williams, Manager, Conservation PRO - Ontario, Ducks Unlimited
- Anthony Eallonardo, Senior Technical Manager, Biodiversity & Ecology, Ramboll
- Heather Brown, VP, Environment, Health and Safety, Ontario Power Generation
Accelerating Climate Ambitions: Achieving Net-Zero by 2050 in the Great Lakes Region
- Dan Hoornweg, Associate Professor and Richard Marceau Chair, Communications and Public Affairs, Ontario Tech University
- Laura Devoni, Director of Strategy, Corporate Affairs, & Sustainability, Algoma Steel
- Kurt Kornelson, Director of Environment and Climate Change, Ontario Power Generation
- James Nowlan, Executive Director, Environment & Climate, City of Toronto (TransformTO)
- Alexis Harley, SVP and Chief Risk & Resiliency Officer, New York Power Authority
Great Lakes AI and Data Science: Pushing the Boundaries of Global Research and Innovation
- David Ceolin, Partner, Innovation Grade Ventures
- Aarti Singh. Director, U.S. NSF AI Institute for Societal Decision Making, Carnegie Mellon University
- Dr. Deval Pandya, Vice President and Head of AI Engineering, Vector Institute
- Stephan F. Jou, Senior Director, Security Analytics, OpenText
- Patrick Tammer, Director, Investments, Scale AI
1:45 - 2:00 pm: Networking Break
2:00 - 2:45 pm: Circular Great Lakes – Forging a Future without Plastic Waste and Litter
- Mark Stumpf, Chief Advisor, Projects - Americas, Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW)
- Michelle Salim, North America Advanced Recycling Commercial Manager, ExxonMobil
- Eric Dixon, Vice President of Sustainability and Environmental Solutions, WM
- Rachael Graziotto, Compliance Manager, Reverse Logistics Group
- Mark Fisher, President and CEO, Council of the Great Lakes Region
2:45 - 3:05 pm: Creating Change – Bringing Everyone Along
- Des Jones, Chief Strategy Officer, TBWA/Group Canada
- Sandy Skees, Executive Vice President, Global Purpose & Impact, Porter Novelli
3:05 - 3:45 pm: Keynote Address
- Lucas Cleveland, Mayor, City of Coburg
3:45 - 4:00: Remarks and Great Lakes Changemaker Award presentation
- Vance Badawey, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Government of Canada
4:00 - 4:10 pm: Concluding Remarks
- Brian Ames, Chair of the Board, Council of the Great Lakes Region
Speakers
Tickets & Registration
Toronto Region Board of Trade / Council of the Great Lakes Region Members:
Individual tickets: $650 CAD / $475 USD*
Bundle of ten: $5,850 CAD / $4,275 USD*
Non-Members:
Individual tickets: $800 CAD / $585 USD*
Bundle of ten: $7,200 CAD / $5,260 USD*
*Exact USD pricing will be based on the daily exchange rate.
Each ticket grants access to the full schedule of events on both June 26th and 27th, as well as the opening reception on June 25th.