Morning Keynote: Michele Romanow

Dragon, CBC's Dragons' Den | Co-Founder, Clearbanc

Tech titan Michele Romanow is an engineer and a serial entrepreneur who started five companies before her 33rd birthday. A "Dragon" on CBC's hit show Dragons' Den, Michele is the co-founder of Clearbanc, which in 2018 gave entrepreneurs more than $100 million in funding; SnapSave, which was acquired by Groupon; and Buytopia.ca, ranked #3 on the Profit Hot 50 list of fastest growing companies. Named in WXN's "100 Most Powerful in Canada" and listed as the only Canadian on Forbes' "Millennial on a Mission" list, Michele brings her incredible entrepreneurial savvy to every stage.

Michele has driven new digital solutions to many of the world's leading brands, including P&G, Netflix, Starbucks, and Cirque du Soleil, and she has advised Fortune 100s and governments on innovation, AI, blockchain, and the new economy. She was a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award; the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards; and was a Cartier Women's Initiative Award global finalist. Awarded Angel Investor of the Year by the Canadian Innovation Awards, Michele is a prolific angel investor who has also co-founded the Canadian Entrepreneurship Initiative with Richard Branson to encourage more women entrepreneurs. In the media, Michele's work has been profiled in Forbes, The New York Times, Entrepreneur, The Globe and Mail, and Chatelaine.

During her Civil Engineering undergrad at Queen's University, Michele founded The Tea Room, the first zero-consumer-waste coffee shop. She was also given the Queen's Tricolour—the highest honour awarded by the university—and, after completing her Queen's MBA, she founded Evandale Caviar, a vertically integrated commercial fishery.

Michele is currently a director for Vail Resorts, Freshii, League of Innovators, Queen's Business School and Shad Valley, a transformational program that develops the entrepreneurial potential of exceptional Canadian youth.

Afternoon Keynote: Ella Chan

Sci-Files on YouTube | 2018 STEAM Horizon Award Recipient

Ella Chan is an 18-year-old student at the University of British Columbia. Ella's passion for science was ignited through her younger brother's diagnosis with Nephrotic Syndrome, a potentially debilitating kidney disease. Finding the lack of treatment options unacceptable, she hopes to enrol in UBC's Pharmacology program and enter the field of medical research to discover long-term treatment options for autoimmune conditions. 

Since the age of twelve, Ella has been running her YouTube channel, Sci-Files, where she shares unique science experiments and demonstrations of topics from binary code using Lego blocks to genetics explained with jelly beans. Her videos have been featured on platforms such as "The Kid Should See This" and the Chicago Field Museum's "The Brain Scoop." Her book, STEM Files, was written to empower and educate young children of careers and opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Ella is a recipient of the 2018 STEAM Horizon Award and attended the 2018 Prime Minister Science Fair for her work in STEAM outreach. She hopes to grow her channel to reach a larger audience and continue to inspire youth to get involved in STEAM.

Closing Keynote: Sabina Nawaz

Global CEO Coach | Leadership Keynote Speaker

Sabina Nawaz is a global CEO coach, leadership keynote speaker, and writer working in over 26 countries. She advises C-level executives in Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and academic institutions. Sabina also teaches faculty at Northeastern University and facilitates a faculty fellowship development program at Drexel University. Previously she spent over 14 years at Microsoft, where she led the company's executive development and succession planning efforts for over 11,000 managers and 700 executives. In addition, Sabina has spoken at hundreds of seminars, events, and conferences including TEDx. Currently, she sits on the board of Power and Systems, a leadership development institute. Sabina believes the greatest privilege of working with executives is bearing witness to their acts of courage. Look for more stories, insights, and advice on thriving as a leader on Forbes.com, HBR.org, and Inc.com. Please connect with her on Twitter.

Sabina's education includes a B.A. in Computer Science with a minor in Electronics from Smith College, an M.S. in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, and several certifications and advanced training in leadership development.