Past Events

Jackie Lee (BSc ’06) – Moderator
Founder of Recruit My Friends
Co-Founder of Masks for Covid

Jackie Lee graduated from the University of Waterloo Honours Science program in 2006. While an undergraduate, she started her first business Recruit My Friends which is a referral-only recruiting firm for Engineers in North America and the UK. Recruit My Friends has incubated a Careers Platform for engineers to track and manage their careers. Jackie's passion lays in helping engineers meet their potential and in bringing high performing teams together at critical growth times. While studying at the University of Waterloo, Jackie raised $1 million in donations as one of our student callers and she continues to fundraise for Ontario hospitals during the Covid-19 crisis. Jackie is an active angel investor in software start-ups and is dedicated to building the Canadian economy.

Calvin Choi (BA ’01)
Chairman and CEO of AMTD Group
Founder and Chairman of AMTD Foundation

Calvin Choi is the Chairman and CEO of AMTD Group, and the Founder and Chair­man of AMTD Foundation. He is a seasoned banker with over 20 years of experience in investment banking, international capital markets, and professional auditing sectors. In 2019, Calvin was named “Asia FinTech Leader” by the Singapore Fintech Association. In 2017, Calvin was selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum. He was also selected by the Institutional Investor magazine as one of the global ‘‘Fintech Finance 35’’ in 2016.

Calvin currently serves as the chairman and CEO of AMTD international (NYSE.HKIB). He also serves as a board director of Bank of Qingdao Co., Ltd. (SEHK: 3866 and SZSE: 002948) and the director of ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN), which was founded by World Bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and ASEAN Bankers Association. Calvin is also appointed as the Vice Chairman of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation, Honourable President of Hong Kong Army Cadets Association, and Vice President of Hong Kong Federation of Professions.

Calvin is the Founder and Chairman of “Regional Banks+ Strategic Cooperation Al­liance”, an association which was initiated by Calvin, with a number of leading Hong Kong-listed regional banks of China as members, including Bank of Qingdao, Guang­zhou Rural Commercial Bank, Jiangxi Bank and Zhongyuan Bank; and the Founder and Chairman of “Greater Bay Young Entrepreneurs Association”, an organisation comprising a group of leading and innovative enterprises in the Greater Bay Area.

Before joining AMTD Group, Calvin was formerly a Managing Director at the Invest­ment Banking Division and a member of the Global Family Office Committee of UBS Asia. He also served as the China Chief Specialist, Asia Strategic Alliance under the Corporate and Investment Banking Division of Citigroup.

Calvin is currently a certified bank auditor and a certified public accountant in the United States. 

Feridun Hamdullahpur
President & Vice-Chancellor at University of Waterloo

As President of the University of Waterloo, Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur has devoted his tenure to fostering excellence in academics and research with a dedication to developing an innovative culture committed to experiential education. Through President Hamdullahpur's stewardship, the University of Waterloo has remained Canada's most innovative university of 27 consecutive years.  

Feridun Hamdullahpur has been an engineer, educator and leader over the span of his more than 35 year career in research and higher education. Dr. Hamdullahpur has served as the sixth President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo since 2010.

Lisa Dusseault (BASc ’96) - Moderator
CTO and Co-Founder of Compaas
Leadership Advisor for the UWaterloo San Francisco and Bay area Alumni Chapter  

Lisa has an abundant background in software engineering and design. Her work and leadership has touched a variety of organizations and fields from healthcare to sporting events and currently human resources. Her startup Compaas is an industry-leading compensation intelligence platform focused on supporting business in their quest to recognize, motivate and compensate employees in an easy and effective way.  

In her spare time Lisa has joined the San Francisco and Bay area Alumni Chapter as a leadership advisor and is passionate about sharing her expertise, opening doors and creating opportunities for UWaterloo alumni to connect.

Jesse Chor (BCS ’04)
VP of Engineering - Platform Experiences at Splunk

Jesse Chor is VP of Engineering - Platform Experiences at Splunk, where he founded and now leads the Mobile Engineering team. Jesse is responsible for developing and launching Splunk Connected Experiences, a suite of apps that makes information accessible to non-technical users, helping bring the power of data to more elements of the workplace.

Jesse has recruited, hired and kick-started the entire mobile strategy from scratch, creating a culture focused on customer obsession and engineering excellence. He is also the founder of Splunk’s co-op recruiting program, using it to build out Splunk’s new Toronto engineering office.

Feridun Hamdullahpur
President & Vice-Chancellor at University of Waterloo

As President of the University of Waterloo, Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur has devoted his tenure to fostering excellence in academics and research with a dedication to developing an innovative culture committed to experiential education. Through President Hamdullahpur's stewardship, the University of Waterloo has remained Canada's most innovative university of 27 consecutive years.  

Feridun Hamdullahpur has been an engineer, educator and leader over the span of his more than 35 year career in research and higher education. Dr. Hamdullahpur has served as the sixth President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo since 2010.

Imre Szeman - Moderator

Imre Szeman is University Research Chair and Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo, where he has worked since 2017. He previously held positions at McMaster University (1999-2009) and the University of Alberta (2009-2016). Szeman is the co-founder of the Petrocultures Research Group and one of the founders of the energy humanities, a new area of research crucial to addressing climate change.

Szeman is the recipient of the John Polanyi Prize in Literature (2000), the Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award (2003), the Scotiabank-AUCC Award for Excellence in Internationalization (2004), an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2005-7), the President's Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision at McMaster (2008), and a Killam Research Professorship (2013). In 2015, he was awarded the J. Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research, the U of Alberta’s most prestigious award recognizing research excellence in humanities, social sciences, law, education and fine arts. In 2020, he was the Leverhulme Visiting Professor in Critical Studies at the University of Glasgow.

Professor Jatin Nathwani

Professor Nathwani is the founding Executive Director, Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE) and held the prestigious Ontario Research Chair in Public Policy for Sustainable Energy (2007-2020)).

As the inaugural Ontario Research Chair in Public Policy for Sustainable Energy (2007-2020), he led research initiatives on accelerating energy transitions for a zero-carbon economy through systems assessments of technology, financing strategies, risk management and public policy.

Professor Nathwani is a Fellow and currently leads the Research Cluster ‘STEM for Global Resilience’ at the Balsillie School for International Affairs, (BSIA).

Professor Nathwani, co-Directs with Prof Joachim Knebel (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany) the Global Change Initiative - Affordable Energy for Humanity (AE4H). The consortium comprises 150+ leading STEM and social science researchers, energy access thought leaders and practitioners from 50 institutions in 30 countries committed to eradicating energy poverty by 2030.

Prior to his appointment at the University in 2007, Professor Nathwani worked in a leadership capacity in the Canadian energy sector over a 30-year period. He brings a unique combination of academic perspectives with extensive experience in the business sector that includes corporate planning and strategy, energy sector policy developments, integration of environmental sustainability within power system planning, regulatory affairs and research program management.

Professor Nathwani serves on several Boards at the provincial and national levels, has appeared frequently in the media (print, TV, radio), and has over 100 publications related to energy policy, environment and risk management, including seven books. He is a Registered Professional Engineer (PEO) in the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Eryn Stewart (BES ’15)

Eryn acknowledges, with gratitude, the territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas (Hamilton, Ontario) where she grew up. She is also thankful to the Anishinaabe people whose unceded, unsurrendered territory she lives and works in.

As Director of Programs at Indigenous Clean Energy, Eryn developed and leads ICE’s keystone initiative: 20/20 Catalysts Program, Canada’s first and highly successful Indigenous clean energy capacity-building program that, in five years, has supported over 100 Indigenous clean energy champions on their energy journeys. In her current role, much of Eryn’s work focuses on clean energy in northern communities supporting community energy planning and energy education initiatives.

In 2017, Eryn was one of twenty emerging leaders selected by the Arctic Council to take part in the Arctic Remote Energy Network Academy. In 2018, she was honoured with distinction as a 30 under 30 in Sustainability and was also awarded the University of Waterloo’s Young Alumni Inspiration Award in 2020. Eryn recently authored a book titled the ‘Arctic Community Energy Planning and Implementation Toolkit’ in partnership with Gwich’in Council International for communities across the circumpolar Arctic.

One of Eryn’s passion is women’s leadership in the clean energy sector. She specifically strives for the advancement of Indigenous women in the sector.

Laura Zizzo (BES ’04)

Laura is a trained lawyer, communicator, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience leading organizations towards a low-carbon and climate-adapted future. Laura is a respected advisor to leading North American financial institutions as well as local and international governments.

A published author, Laura frequently writes for both academic and business media. As a respected speaker on the move to the low-carbon economy and implications for investors, she has addressed audiences representing over $1 trillion in assets under management (AUM). 
In 2015 co-founded and became CEO of Mantle314, now Manifest Climate, advising large private and public sector clients globally. Laura is also co-founder of the Climate Change Lawyers Network, a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) committee on Environmental Law, a member of the University of Toronto’s Environmental Finance Advisory Committee and sits on the boards of the Clean Air Partnership and Shift Action.

Liane Davey (MASc ’95, PhD ’99) - MODERATOR

Liane Davey is a New York Times Bestselling author of three books, including The Good Fight: Use Productive Conflict to Get Your Team and Your Organization Back on Track and You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done. Known as the Water Cooler Psychologist, she is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and frequently called on by media outlets for her experience on leadership, team effectiveness, and productivity. As the co-founder of 3COze Inc., she advises on strategy and executive team effectiveness at companies such as Amazon, Walmart, TD Bank, Google, 3M, and SONY. Liane has a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology.

Tanya (Toni) De Mello (BA ’02)

With a background comprising finance, management consulting, and law, Tanya (who we call "Toni") De Mello has spent much of her career focusing on, and researching, unconscious bias. She is a human rights lawyer and a certified coach and mediator. She teaches at Ryerson University and was the Director of Human Rights there for four years.

Barb Sweazey (BES ‘94)

Barb is Partner at Stratos, a management consultancy for governments, businesses and civil society organizations seeking sophisticated counsel to help them navigate complex environmental, socio-economic and governance issues in a rapidly changing world.

In her capacity as the Director of Organizational Effectiveness at Stratos, Barb also recruits and builds a world-class team of consultants for this values-based corporation. She specializes in finding expert, impassioned talent that seeks to join a sophisticated, entrepreneurial and well-rewarded team.  Barb’s HR work developing the capacity and careers of the Stratos team, forms the foundation for Stratos’ influence on the governments, industry, and communities of Canada’s future.

An experienced facilitator, motivational team leader, creative problem-solver and seasoned sustainability consultant with over 20 years’ experience, Barb has lead multi-interest sessions for international and domestic government meetings, cross-Canada multi-stakeholder dialogues on challenging themes, strategic and work planning sessions, large workshops and conferences, as well as corporate retreats. She works closely with organizations to better understand their internal cultural and organizational challenges, leaning on her problem-solving skills to co-create and implement effective solutions for these teams. She has also designed and instructed courses on an eclectic range of topics, including: team building, conflict resolution, human rights and security, auditing and verification, as well as environmental liabilities.

Barb is a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) with the International Association of Facilitators. She is also certified with Langevin Learning Services as an Instructional Designer/Developer.

Mikal Skuterud

Mikal Skuterud is a Full Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Waterloo and is affiliated with the Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF) and the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). He received his Master's degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia and his Ph.D. in Economics from McMaster University. His research interests include: the labour market integration of immigrants, labour market policies that influence hours of work, and the economics of trade unions. His work has appeared in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Labor Economics, and the Canadian Journal of Economics and has received national media coverage in the New York Times and the Globe and Mail.

Stacey Daub (MA ’99) - MODERATOR

A trusted, visionary, values‐based Ontario health care leader, Stacey Daub is currently the Vice President, Strategy, Integration and Digital Health at North York General Hospital, an urban hospital known for its exceptional quality, research and teaching. Prior to this, Stacey was the President and CEO of Headwaters Health Care Centre, where she helped to co‐design the Hills of Headwaters collaborative, a first‐generation Ontario Health Team. Prior to that, Stacey was the CEO of the Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre, recognized for its groundbreaking work in home and community care.

Stacey has an MA from University of Waterloo, an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and has garnered provincial and national recognition including: Top 100 Women of Canada, 20 Faces of Change, National Award for Organizational Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion, and Ministers Medal for Quality Improvement.

Stacey has served on several Boards and advisory committees including the Ontario Hospital Association, the Change Foundation, Rotman School of Management: Health and Life Sciences and the Creative Destructive Lab.

Born and raised in the Kitchener Waterloo area, Stacey lives with her husband and two children in Toronto.

Emmanuelle Piérard

Emmanuelle Piérard is an associate professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Waterloo, a fellow of the Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, an associate of the Canadian Centre for Health Economics and Associate Chair Undergraduate Studies Department of Economic. Her research areas are in health economics and in applied econometrics.  Specifically, she is interested in how business cycles and the health care system, both health care inputs and wait times, affect the health of individuals and their use of health care. She obtained her MA and PhD in economics from McMaster University and her BSc Sciences Économiques from Université du Québec à Montréal.

Heather MacDougall

Heather teaches at the University of Waterloo, specializing in Canadian history and the history of medicine, public health and health policy. Since publishing Activists & Advocates: Toronto's Health Department, 1883-1983 (Toronto, 1990), she has continued to research the history of Canadian efforts to control the 1918 flu pandemic and to compare that event with SARS and avian flu. The former director of the MA program in Public History, she has also served at the acting chair of the History Department (1996, 2013, 2016-17) and twice as Associate Dean of Arts for Graduate Studies and Research (1992-1994, 2000-2005). A longstanding member of the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine, she served as its Vice-President (2001-2003), President (2003-2005), and Past President (2005-2007).

Nel Wieman (MSc ’91)

Dr. Cornelia (Nel) Wieman works for the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) as the Acting Deputy Chief Medical Officer and as an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. Nel was also recently appointed as a new member on the Pacific Blue Cross Board of Directors.

Nel is Canada’s first female Indigenous psychiatrist (Anishnawbe – Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Manitoba).  She completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

She has over 20+ years of clinical experience, working with Indigenous people in both rural/on-reserve and urban settings.  Her previous research activities include co-directing an Indigenous health research program in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and the National Network for Indigenous Mental Health Research, being the Deputy Chair of Health Canada’s Research Ethics Board and serving on CIHR’s Governing Council.  She has also worked and taught in many academic settings, has chaired national advisory groups within FNIHB-Health Canada and has served on many boards and committees, including the Indspire Foundation’s Board of Directors.  She is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and an Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University.

She was recently re-elected to a second 3-year term as President of the Indigenous Physicians Association in Canada (IPAC).

Nel’s clinical, academic and advocacy work has always been focused on improving the health and mental health status of Indigenous peoples, especially Indigenous youth, across Canada.