Emma is a PhD anthropologist with over 15 years of industry experience applying human-centered methodologies to complex innovation and organizational challenges. Using a range of social science, design and strategic foresight methods, Emma uncovers insights about human beliefs and behavior and then works with organizational leaders to apply these learnings to make meaningful transformative change. In addition to her work for clients, Emma is an Executive-in-Residence at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, where she teaches the MBA Design Research and Data Storytelling course, and is faculty in the Leading Change and ESG Executive Programs.

Patrick has built his career bringing unexpected people together. Drawing on skills from business, design, product development, and innovation management, Patrick is an expert at finding opportunities that exist between social and business impact, and building organizations to deliver on them. Patrick has spent over 20 years as a global innovation, design, and digital leader. Today, Patrick serves as President of Normative, where he runs the People & Operations function and oversees cross-functional teams focused on using human-centered design to solve business problems. He advises multiple SAAS and health startups.

Cheesan Chew is a seasoned business leader with over two decades building businesses, leading innovation, and advising senior leaders - from start-ups to Fortune 500 organizations. Cheesan is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at Manifest Climate, a B2B technology leader helping organizations become more climate resilient. She is also an active advisor in the Canadian tech ecosystem, helping start-ups and scale-ups drive their next stages of growth. Prior to joining Manifest, Cheesan was Chief Operating Officer of RBC Ventures, a subsidiary of RBC. Her role included developing best in class foundational capabilities including risk management, business management, strategic planning, marketing, analytics and people experience.

Cher (she/they) is the Logistics Director at Music for Mental Health, a Canadian non-profit that uses music to raise awareness of mental health issues. They co-founded Purple Lotus, providing culturally sensitive mental wellness support for Asian Canadian youth, as part of the first CoLab cohort. CoLab provided mentorship and funding, kickstarting their project and inspiring them to continue their journey at @UBC. Now, as a mentor, Cher is eager to share her knowledge in psychology and design thinking.

Keosha is an award-winning artist, activist and educator who builds spaces for wellness and collection liberation. As a poet and writer, Keosha is notable for centering self-actualization, womanism and generational healing in her work. In 2016, Keosha founded Our Women's Voices, a Toronto-based non-for-profit focused on amplifying the voices of women and making social change through arts, education and community organizing. With her BA in Psychology and roots in creative arts, Keosha has graced many stages and rooms as a teacher and public speaker, exploring themes of mental health, race and gender advocacy. Keosha's poem "A Prayer for Black Women" has been shared nationally and featured in CBC’s Poetic License. In 2021, Keosha debuted her first mental health series titled Black & Vulnerable also on CBC. Most recently, Keosha was the recipient of the Community Hero Award presented by TFC for her contributions towards her community. 

Katie Fenn is BC Recreation and Parks Association’s CEO. She works with its board, staff, provincial partners, and membership to build healthy and resilient communities across the 126 communities, 4500 members and 3000 fitness leaders that make up the provincial organization. She has a background in quality improvement methods, having implemented and taught quality improvement across the health system. Some of her more notable improvements include scaling up the contact tracing response in the province during COVID-19, “Making Space” for Cultural Safety in Clinical Settings and addressing recovery after times of crisis. She holds an MBA from UBC, a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education, and Bachelor of Arts (Film) both from Queen’s. She lives in North Vancouver with her young family and spends as much time as possible outside on the local trails, water, or running from one activity to the next.