Jess Tetu

FOUNDER & Philanthropist

Jess Tetu is a Canadian serial entrepreneur making waves across the country in the beauty and spa industry while making an impact on her community through her dedication to philanthropy! Overcoming adversity at a very young age, she began her adult life on her own at the age of 15 years old and through dedication, determination and hard work has become a national award winning philanthropist and entrepreneur.

Jessica is the sole owner of four Just For You Day Spas in Saskatchewan & Alberta, Founder & CEO of Lia Reese Canada, (Saskatchewan’s Beauty Brand), Co-Founder of Entrepreneur306 Mentorship & Consulting and Founder & CEO of 4seventyone Recovery Resources, a non-for-profit charity she created.

She was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, awarded the SK Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Community Leadership award, honoured with the YWCA Women of Distinction Award and most recently received one of Canada’s most coveted awards when she was named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women.

Mark Cohon

ACTIVE CHAIR, BOARD MEMBER, INVESTOR AND COMMUNITY LEADER

Mark Cohon is a proven leader, turn-around expert, active public speaker, proud builder of Canadian brands and entrepreneur at heart.

After a highly successful career in the sports world including roles as an executive with Major Baseball League International, the National Basketball Association and the pivotal role leading the renaissance of the Canadian Football League as its 12th Commissioner, Mark now invests his time, relationships and resources to help build great Canadian brands.

In addition to Mark's successful business career he is well known in Canada for his work in the non-for-profit sector. He is the Chair of MusiCounts, the national charity for the Juno Awards, past Chair of the Ontario Science Centre, one of the world's pre-eminent science centres, served on the Board of World Wildlife Fund Canada for seven years, served as a Trustee of Northwestern University, his alma mater, was one of the founding members of Youth Challenge International, a national charity sending students on international science and service projects, he is a founding volunteer for the Ronald McDonald House Toronto expansion project and is an advisor for the Metro Toronto Zoo to name a few of the important non-for-profits Mark has supported.

From chairing important Canadian institutions such as the Juno Awards and Toronto Global to being an active partner in the rapidly growing Georgian Bay Spirit Company, Mark dedicates his time to make an impact in Canada both corporately and culturally.  

Raven Lacerte

Co-Founder, Moose Hide Campaign

Raven Lacerte is a proud member of the Carrier First Nation in northern BC and belongs to the Bear Clan. She is the co-founder and National Ambassador for the Moose Hide Campaign, a national grass-roots effort to end violence towards Indigenous and non-Indigenous women and children.

The Moose Hide Campaign started by Raven and her father Paul Lacerte in 2011 has now grown into a national movement of all Canadians working together to end violence towards women and children.

Raven is a mother of her young daughter Cedar Bear and loving fiancé Dominic Paul. Raven and her family are hunters and practitioners of traditional Indigenous cultural and ceremonial activities.

Maria Berglund

Founder, in kind boxes

Maria Berglund is a Canadian, currently raising her three boys in Oregon. She founded In Kind Boxes, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, in 2019 to support postpartum moms in need.

In Kind was founded for two reasons- Maria's frustration with the lack of postpartum support for mothers in the United States, and because Maria was raised by a single mother herself. She understands how important it is to support her community and now she pays that kindness forward daily through In Kind Boxes.

Her work is important to her because she is bringing moms together to lift each other up. She wants moms to know that they matter, and that they're not alone.

Gift boxes have been donated to hundreds of moms in need all over the United States, and to Mamas for Mamas locations across Canada.

Nalini Saxena

Founder and CEO of Elicit Consulting; Founder Connecting the Dots

 Nalini Saxena is a strategist.  Through her firm, Elicit Consulting, she advises executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations - as well as a elected officials.  She loves to solve complex problems that affect systems, organizations, and leaders, and to stretch each client into a new way of being that optimizes their impact and values-based leadership.  Her mission statement is “to explode outward the boundaries of what is perceivable as achievable in such a way that enlivens purpose, drives performance, engages partners, and connects to global citizenship.”  Elicit is known for empowering clients through a code of strength-building, listening, partnership, and thoughtful design of custom solutions.

 In 2020, Nalini founded Connecting the Dots, a passion project in response to the resurgence of BLM, which has recently achieved 501(c)3 nonprofit status.  Connecting the Dots curates weekly virtual social justice experiences to create a space for the expansion of empathy through listening and learning, and the exploration of constructive action.  Each week spotlights a new issue, ranging from “Choosing Compassion: Tangible Allyship Amid Anti-Asian Racism” to “Am I Looking at Diversity Through My Grandparents' Lenses?” and “Global Stories: How Women Have Organized for Social Change.”  The participatory virtual experience is open to anyone moved to be the change with respect to social justice.

Jim Hayhurst

Advisor to Entrepreneurs & Social Profit Innovators

Jim Hayhurst has been a founder, advisor and investor in the Victoria tech sector since he and his wife, Beth (a Realtor with Sotheby's) moved from Toronto more than 15 years ago with their 3 children.

Jim's life - and career - have been anything but straightforward - from creating a charity for inner city kids in Toronto, to being part of a Canadian Mount Everest expedition, to helping build a company that cut trees underwater in Africa.

Jim believes in giving back and has twice been recognized with the tech industry's highest awards for service and leadership. He is a director of David Foster's Donate Life Canada foundation and is an advisor to the Mayor of Victoria on issues related to innovation, community and sustainable development.

And, as you'll hear, he shares a remarkable past with our keynote speaker, Mark Cohon.

Racheli Edelkopf

The biggest nonprofit mistakes & how to fix ‘em

Racheli is the founder of Pedal, a marketing company that helps you market the heck out of your nonprofit and achieve the impact you set out to do! She works with you to market in a way that moves your audience to take meaningful action on & offline and to create content that moves them from knowing you exist to becoming superfans ready to spread your message, volunteer, donate, and champion for you. 

With a decade of experience in marketing and nonprofits, Racheli understands the unique challenges and potential in nonprofit marketing and is beyond excited to partner with you to propel your cause.

Laura Eboa Songue

Your online event launch: the perfect funnel

Laura is a Communications & Marketing Strategists. She helps impact-driven businesses, NGOs & IGOs leverage influence to predict ROI on autopilot. Over the course of her 13-year career, she has been a publisher, producer, editor, marketing & PR geek, consultant, and overall solution-finder in various creative, tech & institutional spaces.

She has worked on various projects with institutions like the UN, UNDP, Giz, AfBD, AFD, or companies like Microsoft, L'Oréal, LVMH, Flydubai, Rugby Afrique, Seedstars, Facebook, and more. She worked with celebrities like Solange Knowles and Kelly Rowland. She has also been featured in Forbes, Le Monde, The New York Times, or CNN.

Now, with the Map, she wants to share her expertise and give the best tools on the market to fellow impact organizations & entrepreneurs. It's possible to live right on purpose, create amazing content and reach great revenue goals. 

Kamila Brown Washington

Kreating a Profitable Charity with Social Media

Kamila Brown Washington, MBA, is a Million Dollar Charity Coach & Strategist to Nonprofits Founders (www.kamilarownwashington.com) with a demonstrated history of working in the professional training & coaching industry. She is skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Global Humanitarianism, Entrepreneurship, Public Speaking, and Management. Her strength in entrepreneurship provides business coaching to nonprofit business owners to help grow their community initiatives.

On background, Kamila is the Founder/CEO of Kamileon Professional Development (www.KPDinc.org). She started her nonprofit organization in 2008 with $0 and generates over $4MILLION annually in revenue. The agency has leveraged its visibility globally through humanitarian partnerships in Kenya, Haiti, Brazil, Chile’, and Honduras. KPD provides professional development training, technology resources, wardrobe and image services to these impoverished communities.

Naz Lauriault

How to Get the Local Media Involved in Your Nonprofit Story

Naz Lauriault is the founder and principal of 50th Parallel Public Relations based in Courtenay and Victoria, BC. Founded in 2018, her boutique agency offers full service strategic and creative communication services to their First Nations and government agency clients. The agency specializes in providing collaborative and comprehensive communications services to First Nations in the BC Treaty process.

For over a decade, Naz has worked in communications for not-for-profit organizations, corporations and small businesses before beginning her consulting career working for First Nations in Terrace, BC. To date, 50th Parallel PR’s all-female team has worked with over 20 First Nations and Indigenous organizations in BC.

Christina Edwards

3 Ways to Make Your Nonprofit Stand Out Using Canva (Without Being a Graphic Designer!)

Christina Edwards is the Founder of Splendid Consulting. She is a social media expert, brand strategist, a nonprofit vision builder and a communications professional. 

Christina teaches online marketing and fundraising courses rooted in bold storytelling and big impact, in addition to a booked roster of clients in the social impact sector. She's on a mission to scale and grow nonprofit organizations so that they can attract more supporters online and stop the feast-or-famine fundraising cycle for good. Coupling expertise in social media trends and time-saving resources, Christina is the guide that every purpose-driven organization needs to grow, increase engagement, fundraise, and supercharge social action. For more information, visit: www.splendidatl.com.

Tami Tate

Easy Steps to Organize your Social Media Content

Tami Tate is the owner of 365 Day Media Group. As a marketing agency, Tami has worked with numerous businesses and non-profit organizations over the years in helping them with everything from social media management, marketing and event planning. For 20 years she ran fundraising events for non-profit organizations through her company Triple T Consulting.

At 365 Day Media Group, Tami works with a team of marketing assistants who are university students or recent grads. In order to make a remote team work effectively and efficiently, Tami has developed a system with her team that helps organizing social media, content batching, communication and more. This presentation will show you how these systems could work with your own team as you collaborate on all things social media.

Tedi Bezna

Share Your Mission with SEO For Non-Profits'

Tedi Bezna is a digital marketing and SEO professional who is passionate about helping businesses achieve new levels of online exposure and scalable growth. As the founder of Tedi Bezna Digital Marketing, she has extensive knowledge in search engine optimization & content and helps develop customized digital marketing strategies that improve a business’s online presence.

As a passionate professional, nothing makes Tedi happier than helping organizations thrive and become noticed within the online world. When she’s not working, you can find Tedi out exploring the beauty of Vancouver Island, spending time with her husband and child, and excitedly waiting for the arrival of baby #2. This session will uncover identifying your target audiences online, keyword research, and creating content to address common searches.

Dave Bahr

HOW TO MAKE THE SOCIAL MEDIA VISIBLE FOR A NON-VISUAL PERSON

Blind since birth, Dave Bahr has spent a lifetime working to demystify the public's perception of how to interact with people who have disabilities. Dave uses storytelling and a very dry, biting, and usually irreverent wit to illustrate that people should not be afraid when confronted with a person with a disability. Dave is the CEO of In-Sightful Living.

When he is not speaking or writing, you will most likely find him analyzing music, listening to baseball games on the radio, and reading nonfiction books at 350 words per minute.