Meet Our Speakers

The Lighter Side of Work and Life

Comedian Susan Stewart blends the wit and wisdom she’s known for with powerful messages about not taking life too seriously — especially in times of adversity and uncertainty. In her stand-up comedy style, Stewart shares ways to see the lighter side of life leaving her audiences uplifted and equipped to meet their challenges with a positive outlook, and, of course, a sense of humour.

Professionally, Stewart has taken a winding road. After earning a degree in theatre arts from the University of Waterloo, she began performing stand-up comedy in Toronto. Three years into her comedy career, Stewart began battling depression and anxiety, which eventually led her to quit performing. When she got back on her feet, she wanted to know “how the other half lived” and transitioned into the world of human resources as an organizational learning and development consultant with the Ontario government.

A year into her new HR career, Stewart was asked to create and deliver a comical presentation about wellness for an upcoming staff professional development conference. Her presentation was a smash-hit and she eventually left her HR career to return to the stage full-time and use her comedic powers for good. For the past decade, Stewart has been making audiences laugh while delivering messages about resiliency, stress relief, and nurturing strong mental health.

Stewart is the author of Reaching The Laugh Resort: Why The Journey To Remembering Who You (Really) Are Is Worth The Jet Lag; Your New Lenses Are Ready For Pick Up: A Guide To Seeing The Lighter Side Of Life; and You Gotta Laugh: Wit And Wisdom About Not Taking Life (Or Yourself) Too Seriously. 

Stewart’s podcast, “Still a Hot Mess”, and comedy album, Relentless, are available on Spotify and iTunes.

Strategy in a World of Disruption

As a globally recognized innovation and disruption strategist, Shawn Kanungo works at the intersection of creativity, business, and technology. He spent 12 years at Deloitte working closely with leaders to help them better plan for the opportunities associated with disruptive innovation. In his high energy keynotes, Kanungo draws on his extensive experience to provide audiences with an optimistic roadmap for the future; one that embraces unexpected approaches to innovation to remain competitive and relevant. 

Since leaving Deloitte, Kanungo has worked with hundreds of organizations on their journey to digital transformation. He’s led complex projects incorporating artificial intelligence, cloud technologies, behavioural economics, Web3, and more. Today, Kanungo is a Partner with Queen & Rook, where he advises leading organizations and executives on disruptive trends and invests in early-stage ventures.

Kanungo’s work has been featured in the Globe and Mail, The Guardian, CBC, and CTV. He’s been recognized by Avenue Magazine as one of their “Top 40 Under 40” and by Inc. magazine as one of the “100 Most Innovative Leaders”. In 2021, Forbes called Kanungo the “best virtual keynote speaker I’ve ever seen”. 

A prolific content creator, Kanungo’s content on innovation has garnered millions of views across LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. His first book, The Bold Ones: Innovate and Disrupt to Become Truly Indispensable will be available in December 2022.

Professional Trainer, Public Sector Management Expert

Dr. Gordon McIntosh, CLGM has over 40 years of public sector management, educator, and consultancy experience. Gordon has conducted over 1,400 training sessions involving more than 150,000 elected/appointed officials and staff from regional, local, and Indigenous governments throughout Canada and overseas. Past session participants affirm that his dynamic and practical sessions enable them to make an immediate leadership difference.