2025 Desmarais Family Summit

Juanie Pudluk grew up in Resolute Bay and went to school for Electrical engineering at the University of Ottawa. In 2016, Juanie moved over to CGS infrastructure where he became involved with large commercial projects (fiber, schools, nursing stations, and the ports). More recently in 2020, Juanie moved over to Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC) to become the director of infrastructure. In 2023 Juanie became an associate deputy minister for NHC and put a lot of time into Nunavut 3000, an exciting initiative that the government has been behind.  

Tai Huynh is the founding editor-in-chief of The Local, a non-profit newsroom that brings in-depth, magazine-style journalism to local issues affecting Toronto communities. Under his leadership, The Local has won several National Magazine Awards and Digital Publishing Awards, including the overall prize of General Excellence in Digital Publishing three years in a row between 2021 and 2023. Tai writes, occasionally, about urban health and inequality. Tai has masters degrees in design from OCAD University and business from York University.

Helen Kerr leads one of North America’s pre-eminent, research driven foresight and innovation companies. With degrees in both Environmental Studies and Industrial Design, Helen holds over 40 product and process patents and is recognized by the Canadian government for her experimental work. Her recent work has taken her around the world to help organizations and governments achieve resilient, systems level change by preparing for volatile futures. She is particularly interested in supporting cities to thrive in turbulent times. Helen is also Practioner-in-Residence in the Master of Future Cities program at Waterloo and has written and lectured globally on research, foresight, design and innovation.