Opening Keynote, Wednesday May 14

Connecting with Youth
Michelle Dagnino, Social Justice Advocate & Youth Culture Expert

Michelle Dagnino is a well-known expert on youth culture and Generation Y engagement. Her work as a social justice advocate, speaker, author, consultant and past Executive Director of Youth Action Network has put her at the forefront of youth culture and trends in Canada and globally.

Dagnino's innovative and thought-provoking work has garnered her over a dozen awards including the 2004 YWCA Woman of Distinction award. Her high-profile work also led to Maclean's calling her “one of the Top 25 Leaders under 30” in Canada, featuring her on their cover. She has been the frequent subject of various newspaper and magazine articles, including cover stories in magazines across Canada, has been featured in dozens of other media; and has been the subject of two documentaries. The Toronto Star named her “a woman to buoy the soul”, and the City of Toronto honoured her with the Person’s Day Award in recognition of her leadership and contributions to the community. In November 2006 Dagnino was named by The Globe and Mail and the Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s Top 100: Most Powerful Women.

Dagnino's work focuses on providing organizations with the information and resources they need to develop and grow high-performance teams. Her experience in creating models of youth engagement has lead her to speaking engagements and consulting opportunities around the globe, in recognition of her world-class expertise in the area. Dagnino is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and holds a master’s degree in Political Science. She has published extensively on issues of youth and civic engagement and workplace development strategies. She writes a monthly column for Workforce Strategies on intergenerational engagement issues. For more information visit www.speakers.ca/dagnino_michelle.aspx

Plenary, Thursday, May 15

Student Demographics in Ontario: What it means for all of us
Robert J. Tiffin, Vice-President Students, York University

Rob Tiffin has more than 30 years of post-secondary education experience with a focus on the delivery of student services, enrolment management and retention initiatives. He has served in a number of leadership positions in many provincial, national and international educational associations, including service as chair of the Ontario Council on University Admissions and a director on the Business Education Council of Niagara. Previous to his appointment as vicepresident students, Rob served in progressively senior roles at Brock and Western.

During his term as vice-president, Rob has overseen the strategic expansion of student services and the development of award-winning programs focused on enhancing the student experience. Rob has engaged students, faculty and the staff to better understand and improve the academic and social experience at York University.

Plenary, Friday, May 16

The Changing Face of Social Networking and Web 2.0
Dr. James Norrie, Strategy & Leadership Expert

Dr. James Norrie is a director and assistant professor at Ryerson University and an internationally known speaker on the topics of leadership, strategy, project management and business performance management. He has garnered a worldwide reputation as both an established scholar and consultant to industry on the subject of strategy, project management, leadership development, measurement theory, corporate performance management and governance. He has been both an entrepreneur and successful executive with a track record of creating, growing or managing high-tech and e-business ventures.

His co-authored book, The A to Z Guide To Soul-Inspiring Leadership, is a guide to using transformational leadership to create high performance workplaces and successful leaders. His new book, Breaking Through the Project Fog: How Smart Organizations Achieve Success by Creating, Selecting and Executing On-Strategy Projects, bridges the gap between executives who develop strategy and decide what projects get approved and the project managers who have to execute those projects flawlessly.