The Women in Leadership Conference brings together professional women to talk about the challenges that they face, exchange views, and learn from peers and leaders.

The event provides an invaluable opportunity to listen to industry leaders as they share best practices and insights to help women in leadership roles become more effective leaders and be on top of their game.

Join us at this in-person event. Learn, connect & reconnect, and have fun!

HEATHER TULK (Keynote Speaker)
President, Commercial and Public Sector
TELUS Business Solutions

Mentorship in leadership

Exploring the true meaning of mentorship, this session will cover the role mentorship plays in leadership and the keys to successful mentorship – for both the mentor and the mentee. Key topics will include:

• • How mentorship shapes leadership at all levels in an organization, and at all stages of your career
• • How mentorship thrives, from mentoring moments to formal programs
• • How being an effective mentor and an effective mentee strengthens your leadership capabilities and influence

JENNIFER OLIVEROS
Inspector
RCMP

Asserting with confidence

Asserting with confidence is the ability to express your ideas and boundaries clearly, without affecting the perspectives of others. It empowers individuals to advocate for themselves while fostering mutual understanding and respect. Confident assertion is not about being aggressive, but about being grounded in your values. Mastering this skill helps build trust and influence.

• • Understanding the difference between assertiveness and aggression
• • Learning to say no without guilt 
• • Developing strategies to remain composed in high-pressure or emotionally charged situations

WINNIE LEUNG
Chief Financial Officer
Beanfield

Trust as Strategy: The superpower behind culture, credibility and high-performing teams

With rapid change reshaping the business world, the continuation of hybrid workplaces, and growing expectations of leadership transparency, trust has become a strategic imperative, not just a soft skill. We will explore how trust functions as a leadership superpower through:

• • Practical insights
• • Experiences
• • Examples

BECCA MINTZ
Vice President and Head of Business Analysis
Capital One Canada

Making tough decisions with integrity

Integrity in leadership is rooted in authenticity and aligning with your personal core values when making tough decisions. In challenging times, it’s not about having all the answers or telling people what they want to hear, but showing up for those you lead with empathy and support, particularly when you know the outcome isn’t going to be what they had hoped for. Staying consistent and committed to your principles, even when it’s tough or unpopular, builds trust, creating a foundation of resilience and open communication. In this session, Becca Mintz will discuss:

• • Staying grounded in your core values, ensuring your decisions reflect what you believe is the right thing to do, even if the path isn’t easy
• • Leading with authenticity, offering transparency and clear communication even when you can’t disclose the full context; making sure your actions align with your words
• • Supporting your team with compassion, acknowledging emotions and disappointment when desired outcomes are not met 

HASNAIN VERSI
President & CEO
ISM

Encouraging innovation at all levels

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, encouraging innovation at all levels isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a survival tactic. Building a culture of innovation means embracing diversity, encouraging bold ideas, and occasionally being okay with the fact that not every brainstorm leads to a breakthrough (sometimes it just leads to more coffee).

• • Empowerment and Inclusivity:Encourage a culture where every employee feels valued and empowered to share their ideas, regardless of their position within the organization. Great ideas can come from anywhere, and often do when you least expect it.
• • Diverse Perspectives:Assemble teams with varied backgrounds and experiences. Different viewpoints lead to richer discussions, better solutions, and fewer boring meetings.
• • Continuous Learning and Development:Promote ongoing learning and development opportunities to keep employees engaged and equipped with skills needed to innovate effectively. The more your people grow, the more your business grows. 

By making space for all voices, all ideas, and a little laughter along the way, organizations can stay agile and innovative, fostering just the right dose of unpredictability to spark innovation without chaos.

IVA RADIKOVA
Director of Interior Design
Diamond Schmitt Architects

How can workplace design support well-being?

How can we define a workplace? Is it a factory, the ICU unit, your home office or the coffee shop? Regardless of setting, designers share a common goal: creating spaces that “feels good” and promote physical, emotional and mental health. Well-being in workplace design is supported through several key factors:

• • Biophilic features: Nature as a health booster
• • Control: Autonomy over the environment
• • Choice: Diversity of spaces for diversity of needs

In essence, workplace design for well-being isn’t about a single formula. It’s about creating environments, whether industrial, medical, or remote, that provide connection to nature, personal control, and freedom of choice, all of which empower people to thrive.

DEBORAH WILSON
Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs
PortsToronto

Communicating clearly in an age of information overload

In today’s world where information is endless and attention spans are shrinking, communicating clearly has become a competitive advantage. Messages that are cluttered or lengthy quickly get lost in the noise of constant emails and media streams. To build credibility in environments that are otherwise overloaded with information, communicators must simplify ideas into concise formats that respect the audience’s time.

• • Highlighting the “why” behind the message
• • Structuring content with clarity
• • Being intentional about timing and channel selection

JANINE PAJOT
Vice President, Human Resources
Bayer

Practicing reflection in leadership

When leaders take time to pause and look inward, they create space to evaluate experiences, choices, and behaviors in ways that unlock deeper growth. This intentional practice fuels personal clarity, strengthens relationships, and guides wiser actions that ripple across teams and organizational culture. Far from being a luxury, reflection is a core discipline that equips leaders to navigate complexity with resilience, adaptability, and purpose.

• • Gain deeper clarity about themselves by recognizing their values, motivations, and natural tendencies, allowing them to lead with greater authenticity
• • Cultivate stronger collaboration within teams by uncovering dynamics that influence trust, alignment, and performance
• • Make wiser choices in complex situations by learning from past outcomes and applying those insights to future decisions

RYNA YOUNG (Morning Chair)
Regional Head, Executive Search and DEI
KBRS

SHARON SAUVE (Afternoon Chair)
Retired Managing Partner
Kyndryl Canada