As Head of Industry at Google, David leads the Food, Beverage and Restaurants portfolio, advising Canadian companies on how to leverage the best of Google to drive profitable growth, build brand love, and future-proof their businesses. David's guiding principles are Empathy, Honesty and Humility -- traits he believes are necessary to build meaningful connections both professionally and personally. He lives in Oakville with his wife Leora and two dogs Brella and Gilligan. 

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Scientific Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. He is as well the former Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. While at the University of Guelph, he was also the Associate Dean of Research for the College of Business and Economics. 

Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. He is one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star. 

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. He also has done some work on social licensing, which include public trust assessments and risk communication evaluations. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. He conducts policy analysis, evaluation, and demonstration projects for government agencies and major foundations focusing on agricultural policies and community development both in Canada and in development settings. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces, in the United States, Brazil, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, China, Great Britain, Finland and the Netherlands.  

Joanna Goncalves drives global marketing strategy and initiatives aimed at elevating the Boyden brand and expanding growth worldwide. A multifaceted marketing executive, she works closely with Boyden practices and partners worldwide with vision and agility, helping connect today’s top talent with top organizations. Joanna is also dedicated to building on Boyden’s commitment to diversity and inclusion through global strategies, partnerships and campaigns. 

Robert Hogue is a member of the Macroeconomic and Regional Analysis Group, with RBC Economics Research.  He is responsible for providing analysis and forecasts for the Canadian housing market and for the provincial economies.  His publications include Housing Trends and Affordability, Provincial Outlook and provincial budget commentaries.  In his functions, he is frequently called to comment on the economy both internally within RBC and externally with clients and the media.

Mr. Hogue joined RBC in May 2008 after spending 15 years with another Canadian financial institution as a senior economist specializing in industrial analysis. At the outset of his career, he spent four years as an economist with Ontario Hydro, where he specialized in industrial and macroeconomic analysis.  Mr. Hogue holds a Master’s degree in economics from Queen’s University and a Bachelor’s degree from Université de Montréal. 

Pam Kellogg is a strategic visionary with cross functional experience in marketing, sales and category management, with over 20 years of experience in CPG. She has a proven track record in accelerating sales, profit and brand loyalty by building high performing teams, generating new revenue streams and executing breakthrough campaigns. Pam is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee at High Liner Foods, FHCP’s Best Practices Sales Network and FHCP’s Advisory Team for the annual Marketing & Sales Symposium. 

Jill Payne has always had a passion for wellness. With a Masters in Employee Engagement & Workplace Performance, national level athlete and over 15 years of life and academic research, Jill’s Be A Dime Energy Management has transformed individuals and companies all over North America. Today, Jill is a proud solo mama living and practicing Energy Management every day.

As a speaker, Jill's balanced and motivational style is not only contagious and inspiring, but accessible and actionable. She radiates energy and capacity and shares the skills and steps required for us all to be at a ten with her.

Jill comes to each and every engagement with her own quality of energy and joy that will allow you to see the same in yourself. Her favourite life mantra is that life is meant to be joyful. Jill is an inspiration to those around her and is constantly researching, refining and developing new ways to live life as a DIME! 

Bernhard has worked in Consumer Goods, as practitioner and consultant, for almost 25 years. He joined Total Negotiation Group recently and his experience includes 15 years with Kantar Consulting, working as Managing Partner for the North Asia division (based in Shanghai China for 5 years) and latterly as Senior Partner heading up the Digital Commerce and Revenue Growth Management practices for Europe, based in London. Before that he worked 9 years for Procter & Gamble in South Africa and the UK.

He has consulted in over 50 countries and has a wealth of international experience including Category, Capability and Organization, Digital Commerce, Route to Market and RGM expertise across different retail environments. Bernhard has worked across the world but particularly in North America, Europe and North Asia.  

Acclaimed as a speaker at global seminars and conferences, Bernhard uses his rich and varied international experience to fresh perspectives, engaging examples, and a sense of urgency to the conversation.