When innovative companies like Google, 3M, Cisco, Pepsi, Rogers, and SAP want to spark creativity in their employees and executives, they bring in David Usher. He doesn’t just talk creativity and artificial intelligence (AI) — he lives it. Usher draws from his unique experience as the lead singer of Moist; a multi-platinum, four-time Juno award-winning musician; a bestselling author; and as the founder of the artificial intelligence creative studio, Reimagine AI, to help organizations reboot their creativity in this brave new world of disruptive change. 

At Reimagine AI, Usher and his team build virtual beings and virtual being technology. He is also the co-creator of the Climate Clock, which tracks global warming in real time and the author of Let the Elephants Run: Unlock Your Creativity and Change Everything. Usher draws from his experience at the forefront of the AI revolution to reveal why now more than ever, creativity and innovation are the only way forward and an organization’s last, best competitive advantage. 

In his dynamic, interactive presentations, Usher combines live music, video, improvisation, technology, and humour to electrify audiences and demonstrate that creativity and creative success is a learnable skill that anyone can master, and helps audiences jumpstart their creative process both at home and work. 

Schedule: Wednesday, May 22 (in-person + live streamed online)  9:00am - 10:15am 

Professional saxophone player with over 10 years in the entertainment industry, Oscar has a style and sound that connects with the audience and delivers a captivating array of emotions that make his performance and your event an experience to be remembered.

Schedule: Wednesday, May 22 (in-person)  4:00pm - 6:00pm 

The road to real leadership is rarely a straight one. Among Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs, few have faced more obstacles than Zahra Al-Harazi. With a no-holdsbarred attitude, Al-Harazi helps people and organizations realize their potential for success through finding their purpose. She draws on her experience as a pioneering woman in the business world with a unique approach to attitude, leadership, and success, as well as her experience as a refugee, immigrant, entrepreneur, and community-builder. 

A survivor of two civil wars, Al-Harazi immigrated to Canada with her three children in 1996. She had no higher education or connections and very little understanding of the business world, but her entrepreneurial spirit quickly led her to start her first company Foundry Communications, an internationally recognized Canadian creative powerhouse. Al-Harazi details her incredible journey in her bestselling book, What It Takes.

Today, Al-Harazi is co-founder of the startup, Skillit, a marketplace for sharing knowledge and building skills. She is also a consultant who has worked with thousands of leaders on employee engagement, navigating disruption, leading change, shifting stakeholder values, corporate social responsibility, and brand transformations.

In recognition of her many accomplishments, Al-Harazi has been named one of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40, Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by Chatelaine magazine, and one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women by WXN. She has also received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions to Canada and the RBC Top 25 Immigrants to Canada Award and is a former Canadian Ambassador to UNICEF. 

As a speaker, Al-Harazi has spoken to audiences in more than 20 countries, inspiring leading institutions such as Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, government agencies, and professional organizations. Her clients have included The Royal Bank of Canada, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Ernst & Young, Young Presidents Organization, WXN, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Great West Life, Telus, University of Toronto, and the Government of Canada, among many others. Her specialty is in understanding the complexities required for building a smart, skilled multi-generational workforce

Schedule: Thursday, May 23 (in-person + live streamed online)  9:00am - 10:15am 

Karan is a visual designer and artist based in Kingston. He comes with 4 years of experience working in the design and marketing space with a core focus on identity design, art direction for social media & web, and art projects. He has worked for big brands in the hospitality industry like OYO, and Andaz Delhi, and startups in the femme care industry like Plush and Britvic Mixers in the food & beverage industry in India. He also has worked for the City Of Kingston as a freelance illustrator and as a creative lead at Spark SLC, SLC's student-run marketing agency. 

Besides being a designer, he is an artist who derives his inspiration from people, places, and patterns while building pop and Indian aesthetics-inspired artwork in the art world. He has successfully exhibited in Kingston at The Tett, in Toronto at the GOAT Gallery, and at the prestigious NFT NYC event in New York recently. He is also building an online art community with Colors Of India NFT, a community-driven initiative aimed at educating artists about web3 and NFTs. 

Schedule: Thursday, May 23 (in-person + live streamed online)  1:45pm - 3:00pm 

With over 20 years of tech experience, educational technology curriculum development and instruction, Kelly has demonstrated a passion in using tech for good. She is one of the cofounders at Poptronic, a virtual reality solutions provider that connects Canadians to VR technologies, across the country. She graduated from the Computer Programmer/Analyst program at SLC. Kelly has worked in San Francisco, Toronto, Ottawa, and overseas in the federal government, nonprofits and Salesforce. She moved back to her hometown of Cornwall to bring new technologies and innovative opportunities to her community. Kelly was nominated by SLC for College Ontario Premier's Awards in Tech in 2018 and recently helped expand a prominent tech company's education program to Canada. She has helped develop curriculum discussing Ethics in AI and is an advocate for ethical AI. 

Schedule: Thursday, May 23 (in-person)  1:45pm - 3:00pm 

Megan Bailey is a professor of health information management at St. Lawrence College and a PhD candidate in the University of Victoria's Health Information Science program. With a background in environmental and health sciences, her research interests are highly interdisciplinary and cover many areas of the digital health spectrum, including privacy and information governance. Her graduate research projects have included using artificial intelligence in clinical informatics, examining digital health services to reduce system costs for rural communities and creating mobile applications to increase provider/patient communication for informed consent and patient safety.

In addition to her scholastic accomplishments, Megan has worked in various analytical and application development roles for the past 15 years. Her former employers include the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the South East Local Health Integration Network, and most recently, the Hastings Prince Edward Ontario Health Team.

Schedule: Thursday, May 23 (in-person + live streamed online)  1:45pm - 3:00pm 

Vivek is a Data and AI Engineer at IBM with over 8 years of experience in the data and AI space. At IBM, he specializes in crafting innovative data and AI solutions for clients across banking, healthcare and retail sectors with a focus on driving business value. Previously, Vivek served as a Machine Learning Developer at Trapeze Group, focusing on cloud-based analytics products for optimizing public transit operations with data. With a background in business analytics and business administration, Vivek combines technical prowess with strategic insight to drive impactful results. Passionate about everything driven by data, Vivek loves mentoring students in the data and AI space to help them achieve their goals. Additionally, he has a fervent enthusiasm for programming and loves tinkering with cloud technologies.

Schedule: Thursday, May 23 (in-person + live streamed online)  1:45pm - 3:00pm 

Patrick is currently the Acting Dean of Business and Community Services at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario. He co-founded a social enterprise, Informanus Analytics & Artificial Intelligence, to leverage analytics and artificial intelligence applications to hold African governments accountable for development in key sectors of the economy. 

Patrick was a Professor and Program Coordinator for the Business Analytics program at St. Lawrence College, which he helped launch. He taught several courses in the program, including Business Intelligence, Data Mining, Strategic Analytics, and Operational Analytics. Patrick started the Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Club at SLC in collaboration with the Business Analytics students and launched the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence Conference in 2018. Patrick was later appointed as the Associate Dean of the School of Business in 2020. He was also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, where he taught an introductory course on Digital Business & Technologies.

Patrick has spoken at different events and conferences on artificial intelligence, analytics, and the future of work. He has spoken at the Toronto Association of Systems and Software Quality (TASSQ), Queen's University, the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), various HRPA Chapters, Export Development Canada (EDC), Sault College, and he was one of the speakers at the 2019 Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) National Conference in Toronto. He also spoke on Artificial Intelligence to more than 200 attendees at the Canadian Management Consulting Conference. 

Patrick Egbunonu earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University (Ile-Ife, Nigeria). He moved to Canada in 2003 and obtained a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Arts in Economics from Queen's University. He also completed an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Queen's University and Cornell University. Patrick's entrepreneurial passion has seen him launch a few start-ups in Canada. His experience as a black entrepreneurial immigrant continues to drive his interest in supporting other black entrepreneurs. Patrick is a founding board member (and Chair) of the Southeastern Ontario Black Entrepreneur Ecosystem, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering the growth and prosperity of Black Entrepreneurs in Southeastern Ontario. He is currently working on his doctoral research in digital technology, focusing on Digital Technology and Minority Entrepreneurship (especially in Black communities).

Patrick has held different volunteer roles within the City of Kingston. He served as the inaugural Chair of the Data Analytics Working Group for the Kingston Workforce and In-migration Strategy. He also served on the Afro-Caribe Community Foundation of Kingston board and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO). 

Schedule: Thursday, May 23 (in-person + live streamed online)  1:45pm - 3:00pm