Professor Matti Siemiatycki is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography & Planning, and Canada Research Chair in Infrastructure Planning and Finance. His research focuses on delivering large-scale infrastructure projects, public-private partnerships, and the effective integration of infrastructure into the fabric of cities. Professor Siemiatycki was a faculty leader of StudentMoveTO, a joint initiative between the University of Toronto, York, Ryerson and OCADU that successfully developed a model for inter-university research collaboration and mobilization on city-building issues. Professor Siemiatycki is a highly engaged public scholar with a deep commitment to informing public discourse about city building. He regularly provides advice to governments, civic institutions and industry, and is a frequent commentator in the media and public realm on urban issues, with a honed ability to communicate with various audiences.

Majid Jowhari was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Richmond Hill in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019. As a proud resident of Richmond Hill for over 20 years, Majid has been a passionate advocate for its residents and bringing years of expertise to cultivate a strong and vibrant community in Richmond Hill. Majid takes exceptional pride in being the voice in Ottawa representing Richmond Hill and Markham by promoting fiscal responsibility, accountability, and social progressiveness.

Currently, he holds roles in Industry, Science and Technology, and Government Operations and Estimates Committee. He is also the Vice-Chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association and holds membership in the Canada NATO Parliamentary Association. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was also a member of the special COVID-19 committee.

During the 43rd Parliament, he tabled the Private Member’s Motion, Motion-36, which calls to designate August 1st as Emancipation Day in Canada to honor the important contributions of the Canadians of African and Caribbean descent. This recognizes the abolition of slavery that occurred within the British empire on August 1st, 1834, acknowledging the history of slavery in Canada and other commonwealth countries. It further recognizes the significance this date holds as a historic celebration of freedom among abolitionists and emancipated settlers in Canada.

Majid notably founded the all-party Mental Health Caucus in 2017, advocating for mental health initiatives on Parliament Hill. As the chair of the caucus, he works with Parliamentarians from all parties to bring mental health to the forefront of the discussion. This all-party caucus continues to drive its priorities in the current parliamentary mandate.

The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) named Majid Jowhari as a Parliamentary Mental Health Champion of 2018. He was given this award for his first Private Member’s Bill C-375: An Act to Amend the Criminal Code, on October 19th, 2017. This Bill introduced legislation to amend the Criminal Code to mandate that pre-sentence reports include relevant information relating to the offender’s mental health, which currently includes information such as character, attitude, behavior, and willingness to change, also include relevant information relating to the offender’s mental health. Majid continues to work with the CAMIMH to advocate for mental health initiatives and practices on the Hill and his constituents.

Prior to entering politics, Majid specialized in large business transition and transformation enabled by technology. He advised fortune 500 companies on strategy and extending value chain business process re-engineering supply chain optimization. . This experience has helped bridge to his role as the federal representative, where he helps businesses and organizations in the community flourish and further facilitating community and business forums.

Majid came to Canada in 1979 as an international student from Iran. He has made Canada his home over the past 41 years by establishing roots with his wife Homeira and his two children, Nickta and Meilaud. He is passionate about his family and cares about the environment he will leave behind.

Rita Trichur is an award-winning journalist. She is a Senior Business Writer and Columnist in the Report on Business. Her previous roles at The Globe and Mail include Senior Editor, Financial Services Editor, and Canadian business columnist for the Report on Business Magazine. Rita returned to Globe in July 2016 after spending about 2 ½ years as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal’s Canada bureau. She primarily covered domestic banks and insurance companies from Toronto, but also wrote a variety of other stories about Canada for the U.S. newspaper. Prior to WSJ, Rita spent more than three years at the Globe, initially working as a general assignment reporter in the Report on Business before covering the telecom beat. Rita has also covered financial services and economics for the Toronto Star, and has held various roles at the Canadian Press and the Ottawa Sun. She got her first byline at age 6 when the Toronto Star published her short story about a fish-stealing cat and paid her $10. Rita, who also speaks French, was born in Toronto. She has a Bachelor of Journalism and Political Science and a M.A. in Canadian Studies – both from Carleton University in Ottawa.

Raf Tuts is Director of Programmes at UN-Habitat, based in Nairobi, Kenya, where he is overseeing UN-Habitat’s overall thematic work and field operations. He joined the United Nations in 1995. Earlier assignments with UN-Habitat included his role as Coordinator of the Urban Planning and Design Branch, focusing on promoting compact, integrated and connected cities that are inclusive and resilient to climate change. He also served as Acting Coordinator of the Housing and Slum Upgrading Branch, Chief of the Training and Capacity Branch and Manager of the Localising Agenda 21 Programme, working on strategic and action planning in secondary cities in Kenya, Morocco, Vietnam and Cuba. He co-edited Urban Trialogues, reflecting on visioning, action planning and co-production of urban space as a resource for sustainable development. He coordinated the publication International Migrants and the City, co-directed Guidelines for developing eco-efficient and socially inclusive infrastructure and supervised the guidebook on Urban Patterns for a Green Economy. He led UN-Habitat’s engagement in the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals, including the advocacy for SDG-11 on making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Before joining UN-Habitat, he worked at the Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning at the University of Leuven and the Housing Research and Development Unit at the University of Nairobi. In 1985, he obtained a Masters of Science degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Leuven, Belgium. In 2016, he was awarded the title of Honorary Professor at his alma mater university. He received the World Bank Vice-President Team Award in 2011 for global partnership building on Cities and Climate Change. He also received ISOCARP’s 50th Anniversary Award in 2015, in recognition of UN-Habitat’s urban planning work.

Director, IRIS Knowledge Foundation; Editor eSocialSciences, a social sciences webportal, repository and publication space. At IKF she has anchored the UN-HABITAT’s urban youth programme in India and conceptualized, edited and published India’s first and subsequent Urban Youth Report. She is also on the faculty and scientific committee of the Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes, a centre of Anusandhan Trust of which she is a founder trustee. She was formerly an associate editor of Economic and Political Weekly, a prestigious social science journal, for 20 years. She is a sociologist and her areas of interest are science and technology studies, sports, urban employment and urban health care, gender and youth. 

Adam Smith was born on June 15, 1965, in Washington, D.C. Adam was raised in SeaTac, Washington where his father, Ben, worked as a ramp serviceman at SeaTac Airport and was active in the local Machinists’ Union. His mother, Leila, stayed at home, raising Adam and his two brothers. Adam attended Bow Lake Elementary, Chinook Middle School, and Tyee High School, graduating from Tyee in 1983.

After a year at Western Washington University, Adam transferred to Fordham University, where he worked his way through college loading trucks for United Parcel Service and graduated in 1987 with a degree in Political Science. Following his graduation, Adam attended the University Of Washington School Of Law, and earned his law degree in 1990. He later worked in both private and public practice, first as a lawyer at Cromwell, Mendoza and Belur in 1992, and then as a prosecutor for the City of Seattle from 1993-1995. As a prosecutor, Adam focused on drunk driving and domestic violence cases, and in 1996, went on to work as a judge pro tempore.

During his final year at UW, Adam decided to run for the State Senate in the 33rd Legislative District, where he grew up. He campaigned door to door, eventually doorbelling the entire district twice and defeating the 16 year incumbent in the 1990 election. When he took office in January 1991, Adam was 25 years old and the youngest State Senator in the country. While in the State Senate, Adam served on the Education and Law and Justice Committees, and served as Chair of the Law and Justice Committee from 1993-1997. Despite the strong Republican tide in 1994, Adam was re-elected to the State Senate in 1994 and his victory helped the Democrats retain control of the State Senate by one seat. During his time in the State Senate, Adam developed a reputation for having a thoughtful and common sense approach to governance.

CV, Erik Berg (12.09.46), 3 children, Asker/Norway. BA, Un. Oslo, 1972; MA, Un. Trondheim, 1975: M.SC (theory ) Un.Agric./NORAGRIC, 1988. Programme Officer NORAD Zambia, Nairobi, Dar es Salam 1983 – 1993. Head Evaluation, Min. Foreign Affairs, 1995-99, Country Director/ Councellor, Nor.Emb., Bangladesh, 1999-02. Ambassador a.i. Nor. Emb, Eritrea, 2008, Senior Advisor, Urban dev. 2013. Chair, Nor. Students Int. Dev Fund, 1974-77, Founder/ Chair, “Alternative Trade”, Norway, 1976-79. Chair, Asker Fotball, 2004-10. Chair, Habitat Norway, 2015 - ,Vice chair, UN Habitat Advisory Group on Gender Issues, 2018. Member of SDI’s Board of Governors 2010 – 2017. Member of IUPF Board 2018 - 19     

Stephen is the CEO for Bittrex Global, one of the top 10 digital asset exchanges in the world.

Stephen has spent his entire 25-year career working in financial markets in London and New York. He left the traditional world of finance to get involved in the crypto and blockchain industry. He now serves as the CEO of Bittrex Global, one of the most reliable and secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Stephen also educates and advises the leadership of Fortune 50 companies on their cryptocurrency and blockchain strategies.

Prior to Bittrex Global, Stephen joined the Investment Management Division of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Stephen advised executives, entrepreneurs, and foundations on all items of economic impact to their balance sheet. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he advised some of the world’s most sophisticated investors as a Partner and US CEO at Brevan Howard, Head of the New York office at Winton Capital, and Managing Director at Credit Suisse Asset Management. Prior to this, Stephen worked as a Managing Director in Fixed Income Sales and Trading at JPMorgan, and in Mergers and Acquisitions.

Stephen holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Columbia University. He has also served on several public company and non-profit boards.