When we first starting watching Mad Men, we were shocked and amused to see people smoking in workplaces. But in 20 years, we’ll look back on today and ask: Why did a multi-billion-dollar industry market junk food to 3-year-olds? How did a culture of obesity become the norm? Obesity is the defining health issue of this generation, like smoking was of the last. How can we change that? Alex Munter is President and CEO of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa, a world-class centre that provides outstanding family-centred patient care, pioneering research, and training for the health care professionals of the future. Since joining CHEO in 2011, he has helped CHEO earn recognition as one of Canada’s most admired corporate cultures and a leader in research, health technology and patient-centred care. A leader even in his youth, Alex founded a newspaper at age 14 and served four terms as a municipal councillor after being elected to city government at 23. He has been in the forefront of major change on public policy issues like smoke-free public places, equal marriage rights and mental health.

An unconventional death educator with an equal parts wry and wise delivery style, Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller is committed to showing her audience that talking about death and dying won’t kill you. Using stories and research, Kathy extends an invitation to view death as not a taboo subject - but rather a shared life experience. Audience members walk away with shifted perspectives and a deep understanding that talking about death, without knowing or needing all the “answers”, actually brings us closer to our loved ones than we ever imagined possible. Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller, MSW, PhD thinks about dying and death a lot. She knows thinking about it – and teaching and researching about it – helps her to embrace life full on. An unconventional death educator with a passion for palliative care and improving end of life care for all, Kathy has inspired and challenged a generation of healthcare providers to be prepared to care for individuals who are dying, as well as their families, regardless of the setting. She has been teaching and researching at Lakehead University for over a decade leveraging her experiences as a cancer survivor, and as a palliative care provider, to challenge us to have the important conversations about dying, death and life. Kathy strives to make an impact with her teaching and research to discover, share and communicate the information that we are all "dying to know."

In Defence of Barriers: Look Behind the Barrier and you will see a reservoir of pristine opportunity. The CEO and Co-Founder of Canopy Growth, a leading Canadian medical marijuana provider, feels a bit like the Lorax speaking for the trees when he speaks in defence of barriers. Bruce Linton looks at perceived barriers such as marijuana prohibition and how they really create massive pooled entrepreneurial opportunity preserved for generations. Once these barriers begin to come down, the potential to create new markets and supply chains can be huge.

Success means different things to different people. How do you define success? And how can we measure success in our lives, our Cities and our Nations. Following upon a long, illustrious career as a senior executive in Ottawa’s high-tech sector, Marco Pagani became President & CEO of the Community Foundation of Ottawa in January 2014. Under his leadership, it launched the city’s first New Leaf Community Challenge, providing a $125 thousand grant to address critical issues around food security and access to healthy, affordable food in the capital.

We all have SuperHero Powers. Janice McDonald encourages us to use them. She asks us to bring along our values when we shop and use the power of our wallet and smartphone to change the world ...because we create the future... with our daily decisions. Janice McDonald is an award-winning serial entrepreneur with expertise in the music industry and apparel/accessories with www.istyleoriginals.com. She has leadership training from Harvard and INSEAD and was appointed to the Women’s Leadership Board of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

This talk explores how spending time in nature can have unintended consequences. Consequences that we all want to experience. As a researcher and director of the Carleton University Happiness Laboratory (CUHL), Johm Zelenski studies individual differences in happiness and how personality manifests itself ‘in the moment’ as emotional and cognitive processes. His recent work has focused on the causes and consequences of social behaviour (e.g., in relation to the personality trait of introversion-extraversion), and the links among nature, people’s sense of connection to nature, happiness, and sustainable behaviour.

Art and business may seem like an odd couple, but it’s creativity, innovation and artistry – not technology or even R&D dollars – that will help companies win on a global scale. The combination of these elements = perfection. Jason Flick, President and Co-Founder of Flick Software and You.I TV, always knew he was destined to be an entrepreneur. Prior to venturing out on his own, he worked at five different companies where he was inspired and mentored by each organization’s leaders.

What do objectivity, aesthetics and design all have in common? Beauty! Mark is a seasoned leader of product teams, with experience in consumer electronics, automotive, and product design. His work has won international awards, including Best in Show in Automotive at CES 2012. He is a frequent presenter at technical and design conferences in Europe and North America.

Is the Entrepreneur the hero or the heretic? What lessons can be learned from those who have paved the road before us? Tune in for Sue's Life Code. PS. Kids won't ruin your career. For over 30 years, Sue Abu-Hakima has worked in technology, establishing an exemplary record as an Industry leader, employer and technology pioneer. Sue holds 30 International patents in content analysis, communications and security. Currently she is CEO of her second start-up Amika Mobile which focuses on situational awareness, communications and control in critical and emergency situations. Her first start-up, AmikaNow! focused on AI and automatic content analysis. Her leadership is key in securing financing and forming effective business and technical teams.

A resume is simply a piece of paper. A piece of paper that attempts to capture the essence of a person, in just a few pages. How can we approach this differently....how can we recruit people, not through pieces of paper, but learning who they actually are. John Fleischauer is a professional speaker and a senior member of Halogen Software talent acquisition team. As the worlds only Recruitment and Talent Magician, he is an expert at using LinkedIn as a professional resource, and an evangelist of social tools and talent branding as a way of achieving tangible and positive outcomes. Ask him mom or any of his colleagues, John eats enthusiasm sandwiches for lunch, and is always happy to share his thoughts on today's recruitment trends and challenges. John holds a BSc in Biomedical Toxicology from the University of Guelph, and he has never lost a nail hammering contest.

Our journey on earth is short. Yet we all have the power to be explorers, whether its on earth or elsewhere. We can explore, without limits. It is perhaps not surprising to learn that as a youth Jeremy Hansen, who later became a CF-18 fighter pilot, turned his treehouse into a spaceship and later joined the Air Cadets. A modern-day explorer, Jeremy has lived in underground caves and undergone geological training expeditions in the High Arctic. He just generally craves adventure. A Canadian Space Agency Astronaut since 2009, LCol Hansen works as Capcom at NASA's Mission Control Center and recently guided the crew in the planning and execution of underwater Extravehicular Activities.