People

Siobhan Özege is an instructor, product manager, and public speaker. Siobhan received her M.A. in Communications and Culture from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2012, having researched the policy frameworks for Canadian content regulation in the era of streaming. She started her career in Canada’s broadcasting industry, where she worked closely on CRTC filings and compliance. She then spent many years as a communications officer for music industry organizations like FACTOR, Re:Sound and Music Canada, before making a career switch into product management in 2018.

Siobhan is a former Code for Canada Fellow, where she worked on implementing new technology and professional assessment systems for the Public Service Commission of Canada, and later worked for the Canadian Digital Service, the RCMP, and PHAC on a number of projects. She is currently working in the private sector as a product manager in the legal tech space. She is a passionate advocate for working in the open, change management, and digital transformation.

Margaret Bancerz is a Policy Analyst at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, specializing in agri-environmental policy. She has supported the development of domestic policy initiatives and now focuses on advancing sustainable food systems from an international perspective.

She serves as a liaison to the Common Ground Network and is the founder and co-lead of a departmental Social Science Community of Practice, fostering social science collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Margaret holds a PhD in Policy Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University, where her research focused on Canadian food policy, governance, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. She previously completed a Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellowship at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, conducting research on Canada’s agroecosystem Living Labs.

Gerald has taught undergraduate and graduate research methods and statistics courses in the Political Science and Sociology departments at McMaster University for 25 years.  He finds it particularly gratifying when students come to appreciate the usefulness of being able to apply statistical methods to the substantive topics they study.  Knowing how data is collected and analyzed helps in our understanding of what we study, and makes a wealth of research available to us. In addition to teaching, Gerald has experience providing research and statistical services to various private and public-sector organizations. His services include labour force analysis, demographic change, consumer spending projections, and survey design and analysis.

Jaimie is Deloitte Canada’s national Digital Government leader. She works with clients to accelerate digital change in the public sector, helping governments to better serve citizens using modern technologies. She previously served as the chief digital officer for the Government of British Columbia and has held a variety of leadership roles in the Government of Canada.

Recognized as one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government, Jaimie is a frequent speaker on service modernization, data-driven leadership, and the future of government. Find her on Twitter at @jaimieboyd.

Ashley Challinor is a Senior Manager in EY Canada’s Government & Public Sector consulting practice where she provides strategic advice to public sector leaders, helping them develop innovative solutions that improve policymaking functions and outcomes. As the national lead for housing policy, Ashley specializes in supporting all orders of government address the housing crisis.

Prior to joining EY, Ashley served as Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy & Research for the Clerk of the Executive Council in the Government of Manitoba. Her career also includes time as the Vice President, Policy at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, editing a local newspaper in Tbilisi, Georgia, and with the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

She is currently a Fellow with Social Capital Partners, Chair of the Board of More Neighbours Toronto, and founder of Policycraft, a newsletter for public policy professionals.

Ashley holds an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an M.A. from the University of Southern California, and an H.B.A. from the University of Toronto.

Kevin Chan is a global Director and Head of Public Policy, Canada at Facebook. He has spearheaded the creation of Facebook’s Canadian Election Integrity Initiative, the Digital News Innovation Challenge in partnership with Ryerson University, and the Facebook – Canadian Press News Fellowship. He co-founded with the National Arts Centre #CanadaPerforms, the COVID-19 relief fund for the performing arts that has become a national livestreaming platform promoting Canadian culture online. Its success inspired sister initiatives globally, including #ArtsAcrossAmerica in partnership with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Kevin has played a key role in creating the Facebook-CIFAR Research Chairs in Artificial Intelligence, and the work he led to remove Canadian violent extremists from Facebook’s platforms made NOW Magazine’s 2019 Year in Review.

An executive with deep expertise in tech policy and the digital economy, Kevin is a Technology and Democracy Fellow at Harvard and a Governor of Ontario Tech University. He has testified before numerous Parliamentary Committees, including the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy. Kevin sits on the Board of Kids Help Phone, playing a governance role in its move to texting and other innovative means of serving young Canadians, as well as MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital literacy. He also served as Director of Policy and Research to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and as a fellow at Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society. He is a member of the Max Bell School of Public Policy Advisory Council. Kevin was previously Deputy Secretary-General of McGill and served for 5 years in the Privy Council Office, including as Director, Office of the Clerk of the Privy Council. He has held visiting appointments at SFU and Carleton, and served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and the Ted Rogers School of Management Dean’s Council. He was on the 2017 Selection Board of the Canada Excellence Research Chairs.

His media appearances include CBC’s The National and The Current, Radio-Canada’s Enquête, as well as TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin, and he has written for The Globe and Mail and The Ottawa Citizen. He was named one of The Hill Times’ “Top 100 Lobbyists” in 2018.

Kevin graduated from Harvard Kennedy School, Ivey Business School and the Royal Conservatory of Music. An Action Canada Fellow, he is the recipient of the Public Service Award of Excellence, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal.

He and his wife have three children.

Sujoy Chatterjee is a technology consultant specializing in privacy, cybersecurity strategy, and responsible AI governance. In addition to undergraduate degrees from York University and the University of Toronto, Sujoy has a Masters in Public Administration from Carleton University and a Juris Doctor in Law from Osgoode Hall. He is called to the Bar of Ontario.

Sujoy has a keen interest in how technology is implemented in both public and private sectors, with a particular focus on how governments and global enterprises use technology for service delivery and decision-making. He has served as a technical policy advisor in government providing strategic guidance on privacy, data governance, technology implementation, risk management, and physical security.

In his consulting practice, Sujoy works with organizations in technology, healthcare, transportation, and consumer goods, helping them design and operationalize safeguards for the ethical use of data—particularly in applications involving Artificial Intelligence and large-scale data analysis.

As an experienced educator, Sujoy has created and delivered curricula for undergraduate and graduate level courses in ethics, public policy, law, and technology.

Ashley Csanady holds more than 15 years of experience as a writer, editor and strategic communicator. With a career spanning Canadian newsrooms, government, and private and public sectors, she excels at turning complex policy into powerful narratives and crisp copy.

Ashley spent a decade in Canadian newsrooms, writing about municipal, provincial and federal politics and public policy. She has hosted podcasts and radio shows, and she continues to provide punditry in print, online and in broadcast media about Ontario and federal politics. Her work has appeared in the National Post, the CBC, on Vice Media, Queen’s Park Briefing, iPolitics, among others.

Ashley left journalism for the world of politics and served in the office of former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. After the 2018 election, she worked as a consultant in the cannabis sector through the legalization process. She then joined the Nuclear Waste Management Organization as senior writer and editor, where she made complex, technical content accessible to government, the public, and various stakeholder audiences.

Today, she works as a senior consultant with McMillan Vantage with clients across the Canadian public policy space, from natural resources to agri-food to clean energy.

She earned a Master of Journalism degree from Toronto Metropolitan University; she also taught in the Toronto Met undergraduate journalism program as a sessional lecturer from 2016 to 2017. She graduated from the University of Waterloo with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English literature and rhetoric with a minor in history. Ashley is also a Certified Sommelier under the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Areas of interest: Canadian public policy, Child care & education, Comparative public policy, Federalism and intergovernmental relations, Indigenous politics, Institutions and indentity, Public policy, Social policy

Steve de Eyre is the Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs for TikTok Canada, where he engages with governments and external partners across the country to demonstrate TikTok’s commitment to being the industry leader in transparency and accountability, and to educate them on the ways that Canadians are using TikTok to share their voices, find new audiences, and grow their businesses. Prior to joining TikTok in 2020, he was Head of Public Policy at Amazon.ca from 2016 to 2020, where he established Amazon’s government relations team for Canada and was responsible for government engagement related to all of Amazon’s consumer businesses and corporate workforce in Canada.

Steve has extensive experience in internet and technology policy, international and digital trade, and Canada-US relations. He previously served at the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C. as the representative for Innovation, Science & Economic Development (ISED), and with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Steve has also worked at the Ontario Legislative Assembly, the US Federal Trade Commission, and as a volunteer on political campaigns in both Canada and the United States. Steve holds a B.A. (Honours) in Political Studies from Bishop’s University, where he was named a “Top 10 after 10” alumni in 2019; and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law (Cleveland, Ohio), where he served as a Senior Fellow with the Canada-United States Law Institute. He resides in Oakville, Ontario with his wife and two children.

Lindsay Doyle is the Director of Global Affairs for Netflix in Canada.

In this role, Lindsay leads Netflix’s engagement with Canadian governments on initiatives that impact the business and local members. She is passionate about public policy and advocates for innovation and economic growth throughout the creative and cultural ecosystem in Canada.

Prior to joining Netflix, Lindsay was the Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy for YouTube and spent nearly seven years on the Government Affairs and Public Policy team at Google Canada. During her time at Google, she focused on content, taxation, trade and AI policy.

Lindsay graduated from Trinity College at the University of Toronto with a degree in International Relations and Political Science while working as a researcher at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. She currently serves as a Board Director at the Canadian American Business Council, was a founding board member of the Canadian Advocacy Network and is a former board member at MediaSmarts and the Government Relations Institute of Canada.

Lindsay lives in Ottawa with her husband and two children.

Dunn, Ph.D. (Jim) is a Professor in the Department of Health, Aging & Society and Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University. He holds the Senator William McMaster Chair in Urban Health Equity and is the Director of the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, a knowledge mobilization and research capacity building hub. Trained in urban health geography and social epidemiology, he has published widely in geography, public health, urban planning and epidemiology and his research addresses the effects of income security, housing, urban development on health, aging and healthy child development

Areas of interest:
Artificial Intelligence (RA)
Digital Technology (RA)
Ethics (RA)
Public Policy (RA)

Jacob Glick is the head of public policy for Canada at Amazon, and a global leader on complex issues at the intersection of technology, public policy, and law. He brings more than 15 years of executive experience in technology and telecommunications law and policy.

Before joining Amazon, Jacob was vice president, public policy at TELUS, prior to which he was general counsel of North Inc., a world-leading smart glasses start-up, funded by Intel Capital, Amazon and others, and acquired by Google. He also served as chief corporate affairs officer at Rogers Communications Inc.

Jacob was the head of Google’s central public policy and government relations team, based at Google’s headquarters in California. Prior to that, he founded and led Google Canada’s public policy and government relations team. He also served as general counsel, director of policy at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority and was a litigator with McCarthy Tétrault LLP.

Jacob was a senior executive fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and a distinguished visiting executive fellow at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. Called to the Bar in 2003, he holds a Bachelor of Arts with high distinction and a Bachelor of Laws, both from the University of Toronto.

Josh Gordon is a Senior Analyst in the Canadian Housing Statistics Program at Statistics Canada. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow in the Digital Society Lab at McMaster University. Before joining Statistics Canada, he was a limited-term Assistant Professor at the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University.

His research in the past decade has focused on the Canadian housing market. He has published academic articles on the impact of foreign ownership, the politics of housing affordability and policy debates around upzoning. At Statistics Canada, he has published research on investors and investment properties, as well as the intergenerational transmission of advantage in the housing market.

Andrew Graham is co-founder and CEO of Borrowell, one of Canada’s largest financial technology companies, with over 1.5 million users. Borrowell helps consumers find financial stability and make great decisions about their money. It was the first company in Canada to offer credit scores for free and recently launched Boost, which helps consumers track and pay bills. Borrowell has won numerous awards, including being named one of the top 100 fintech companies in the world by KPMG, one of the fifty fastest growing technology companies in Canada by Deloitte and top 50 “Best Workplaces in Canada” for the past two years.

Andrew has a keen interest in public policy and previously worked in the federal government as a senior aide to two cabinet ministers. He is a former president of the Banff Forum and of the Canadian Club of Toronto.

Andrew holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MA in economics from the University of Edinburgh. He was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Emerging Entrepreneur category) for Ontario in 2019.

Mai Ibrahim is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. Her research examines toxicity in video games, aiming to develop genre-specific definitions that can inform game developers. She holds a PhD in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, U.S.

Areas of interest: Digital cultures, Cultural Studies, Artificial intelligence, Public Policy, Philosophy of Technology

Areas of interest: Canadian public policy

Laura Johnson is the administrator for the Master of Public Policy program at McMaster University. She is also the administrator for the Digital Society Lab. Laura is a past recipient of the McMaster President’s Award for Outstanding Service.

Natasha Kim was appointed Associate Deputy Minister of National Defence, effective June 12, 2023.

Prior to this, she was the Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).  She also had the privilege of being departmental champion for diversity and inclusion during her time in each organization.

Earlier in her career, Natasha also held various positions at the Privy Council Office, Public Safety Canada, Justice Canada, and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Natasha holds a Master of Laws from Harvard University, a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University and majored in Women’s Studies at the University of Alberta.

Areas of interest: Canadian politics, Canadian public policy, Election law, Public opinion, Social policy

Mark Lawson is the Founding Principal of Anthem Advisory.

Mark previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff & Head of Policy to the Premier of Ontario, Chief of Staff to Ontario’s Finance Minister, and as Chief of Staff to Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

In the private sector, Mark has served as Vice President of a NASDAQ-listed startup and as Vice President of a global wellbeing infrastructure developer as a member of the leadership team for the company’s first North American property.

Mark is a member of the Banff Forum, was selected as an Action Canada Public Policy Fellow and has been named a member of Bishop’s University’s Top Ten After Ten. His writing on public policy has been featured in The Globe and Mail, The Montreal Gazette, The Line and The Hill (D.C.).

Mark holds a B.A. from Bishop’s University and a master’s degree in Energy and Earth Resources from Queen’s University.

Duncan is an applied economist with interests in housing, neighbourhoods and cities. He was the Founding Director of the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council ‘s Centre for Housing Research at the University of Glasgow. He is Emeritus Professor of Housing and Urban Economics at Glasgow, Visiting Professor in Housing Economics at the City Futures Research Centre, UNSW (Sydney) and an Adjunct Professor at CHEC at McMaster University. He has also held senior roles in government in Scotland (Special Adviser to the First Minister), Australia (Chief Economist, State of Victoria) and was Chief Economist at Infrastructure Canada.

Stephanie Oldfield is the Director of Digital and Data Policy at the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement in the Ontario government. Prior to this role, she was the Senior Manager of Policy for the former Ontario Digital Service, helping fuse policy with best digital practices from leading jurisdictions. She currently oversees three teams which lead files like Artificial Intelligence policy, data policy, and the new Enhancing Digital Security and Trust Act, 2024. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration and an honours undergraduate degree in International Development Studies. She started her policy career supporting the Tibetan Government in Exile in Dharamsala, India – which sparked her career-long passion for delivering services thoughtfully and effectively. She has held progressively senior roles in the Ontario Public Service since 2016.

Steve is an Ottawa based housing research consultant and part time lecturer at Carleton and McMaster, teaching housing policy. Widely recognized as one of the leading housing policy experts and thought leaders in Canada, Steve has  40 years of experience in the housing sector, working at the municipal and federal government, in non-profit development and since 1994 as a consultant and part-time academic. In 2019 he helped create the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative (CHEC) at McMaster to establish a stronger academic presence in housing research and policy analysis and remains active as an Industry Professor and Executive Advisor.

Since 1994 he has authored over 230 research reports and papers on housing and homeless issues. He is a frequent commentator on housing issues in various national and local media – but he doesn’t tweet!

Areas of interest: Climate, water & sustainability, Critical international relations, Global political economy, Globalization, International relations

Mark Schaan is the Associate Deputy Minister at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), confirmed in October 2025, which builds on the direction from the Prime Minister on July of 2025 that he act as the direct Deputy support to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Innovation. In these capacities, Mark supports Canada’s industrial AI and digital agenda, working to position the country as a global leader in the responsible development and use of these technologies.

Mark’s career has been highlighted by this cross-cutting policy and framework effort, including leading major consultations and reforms, including for telecommunications, investment review, intellectual property, bankruptcy and insolvency, privacy and AI. Mark’s public service career has included roles across the policy spectrum, as well as leading on revitalizing the public service through innovative recruitment models.

Mark earned his BA (Honours) from the University of Waterloo, where he studied as a Loran Scholar. Mark earned his MPhil in Comparative Social Policy, conferred in 2004, and his DPhil in Social Policy, conferred in 2010 from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Mark is also actively involved in his communities.

Dan is the Director of Policy at Social Capital Partners, a Toronto based think-tank focused on expanding pathways to wealth building for Canadians. He has led the policy and advocacy work to bring Employee Ownership Trusts to Canada, a new method that allows retiring owners to sell their businesses to their employees.

His career has spanned the political, bureaucratic, and non-profit sectors. He spent eight years in provincial politics, including as a Senior Advisor to Premier Kathleen Wynne and a Finance Minister, overseeing a wide range of policy files including economic development, taxation, infrastructure development, and cannabis legalization. In the civil service he oversaw the rollout of cannabis retail stores within the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

He holds a Masters of Public Administration from Queen’s University.

With over 20 years of corporate experience as a project manager, Christina Sookram is an experienced project leader and educator. She has provided project leadership experience at some of Canada’s largest technology companies. She has subject matter expertise in both waterfall and agile project delivery and product management functions with a focus on Scrum, Kanban, and SAFe® agile methodologies. Christina is also a 2003 graduate from McMaster University’s Political Science department with a Master of Arts degree where her major and minor areas of studies were international relations and public policy respectively.  A successful entrepreneur, Christina founded CNS Project Consulting Inc in 2020 to help clients in the IT and education industries. Christina is also an instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University, OCAD University and the University of Guelph where she enjoys sharing her love of all things project management with students

Graeme Stewart has over twenty years of leadership experience in public policy, strategic communications, and advocacy both inside and outside government. His areas of policy expertise include innovation and higher education.  He served as Director of Policy for the Deputy Premier of Ontario and worked as a civil servant in the Ontario Public Service. Graeme has provided strategic policy and government relations advice to politicians, student organizations, faculty associations, and university presidents. Active in policy research, he holds a PhD from the University of Toronto as well as degrees from Queen’s University, Western University, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

The web is one of our most valuable public resources — it’s Mark Surman’s job to protect it.

Mark is Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation, a global community that does everything from making Firefox to taking stands on issues like privacy and net neutrality. Mark’s main job is to build the movement side of Mozilla, rallying the citizens of the web, building alliances with likeminded organizations and leaders, and growing the open internet movement. Mark’s goal is nothing short of making the health and accessibility of the internet a mainstream issue around the world.

Mark has been doing work like this for 20 years: standing up for open source and putting technology into the hands of everyday people. Mark was the founding Director of telecentre.org, a $26M initiative connecting community technology centers in more than 30 countries. He ran the Commons Group for 10 years, a boutique consulting firm that provided advice and insight on networks, technology and social enterprise to nonprofits and governments around the world. Mark was awarded the prestigious Shuttleworth Foundation fellowship, where he explored how to apply open source approaches to philanthropy in the year before he joined Mozilla.

Cyrus is the City of Hamilton’s Chief Digital Officer and his portfolio includes Smart City / Intelligent Communities Initiative, Open Data, Digital & Innovation, Community Initiatives. Strategic Partnerships, and CityLAB programs. Cyrus has over 20 years experience in senior leadership roles in IT, digital solutions and transformation, quality assurance, process improvement and project management in the health care, manufacturing and education sectors.

Cyrus has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Management from McMaster University (1998), is a Professional Engineer, and a Certified Project Management Professional with keen interest in digital social equity and all things technology related. He is also a member of the United Way Halton Hamilton Cabinet representing the City of Hamilton and is a YMCA Community Connections Newcomer Mentor.

Areas of interest: Econometrics, Health economics, Population economics, Public economics

Thomas Vogl is a researcher whose work explores the unanticipated consequences of information technology change on public policy and its administration. Thomas completed his doctorate at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford where he contributed to the work of the Oxford Commission on AI & Good Governance, the Data Science for Local Government project, and the Oxford Martin Programme on Misinformation, Science and Media. His research has been published in Public Administration Review and the Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems. Thomas has spoken on expert panels, delivered conference presentations around the world, and been involved in public policy discussions in the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Canada, briefing public sector officials on technology’s implications for the workings of government. Previously, he completed a Master of Public Policy at the University of Toronto and worked in the Ontario Public Service where he received an Amethyst Award.

At the intersection of Indigenous sovereignty, technological advancement and a rapidly expanding technology and innovation economy, Denise has the privilege of working with Indigenous peoples, governments, academics, technology futurists and social change makers to map an ecosystem that will result in fair and equitable access to the tools and education required to lead digital transformation in the 21st century. Denise leads a theory of change that aims to ensure Indigenous peoples are leading and competitive in Canada’s technology and innovation sector and in growing connected economies at home. Her purpose is to create space for Indigenous peoples to access the knowledge they carry from their ancestors and bring back community, balance and humanity to the design, integration and evolution of digital technologies and online spaces. The legacy of which is meant to advance Truth and Reconciliation both in physical and virtual worlds.

With a passion for contributing and volunteering with organizations that influence real change and the advancement of Truth and Reconciliation, Denise proudly serves as the President of the Urban Native Youth Association and as a Director on the Boards of the Vancouver Foundation, Tides Canada, Innovate BC, Policy Horizons Canada, Hollyhock Learning Institute and Simon Fraser University Board of Governors as Alumni-in-Order and Chair of University Relations, where she earned her masters degree in business administration in 2015.

Denise has been selected as one of Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation’s Mentors with the 2020 stream of scholars in technology and ethics, is an Activator with SheEo and has been awarded Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40 in 2018, Motherboards Human of Year in 2017, BC’s Most Influential Women STEM Stars in 2017, and Women in Technology’s Community Champion in 2016.