Redefine Conference
The Pathway to Financial & Mental Well-being For Entrepreneurs
This online conference aims to bring together thought leaders, experts, and professionals to explore strategies for maintaining a healthy work-life balance and to gain insights into effective financial management for small businesses in Canada.
Day 1 / April 25
The Pathway to Financial Well–being
10:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Introduction
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM: Keynote Speaker / Unleashing Entrepreneurial Potential: Mastery in Financial Leadership
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Panel Discussion – Financial Management Strategies for Small Businesses
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM: Lunch Break
12:40 PM – 1:40 PM: Investment and Funding Opportunities for Entrepreneurs
1:40 PM – 2:00 PM: Wrap-up for Day 1
Day 2 / April 26
The Pathway to Mental Well–being
10:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Introduction
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM: Keynote Speaker – Mental Well–being in Entrepreneurship
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Panel Discussion 1 – Harmonizing Entrepreneurship and Well-being: Strategies for Achieving Work-Life Balance
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM: Lunch Break
12:40 PM – 1:40 PM: Panel Discussion 2 – Thriving Amidst Challenges: Coping with Stress and Burnout
1:40 PM – 2:00 PM: Wrap-up and closing remarks
Guest Speakers
Beth Hanishewski
Speaker | Coach | Chicken farmer
Beth is an international speaker, coach and writer who teaches people the art of life mastery. She has shared the stage with some of the world’s top speakers, including Jack Canfield, Robin Sharma, Lisa Nichols and Mike Dooley in Australia, the US and Canada.
She has a degree in Sociology and is a Certified Life coach from Results Coaching Systems out of New York and is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. She has guided people from every walk of life to improve their lives and relationships for over twenty-five years.
Dennis Agbegha
Senior Account Manager | BDC
Dennis Agbegha currently works as a Commercial Accounts Manager with BDC, a role he started in March 2021. Dennis joined BDC from ATB, where he worked as a Business Banking Advisor and, until recently, Senior Manager, Entrepreneurship. Before his banking career, Dennis was a Geoscientist with Exxonmobil; before that, he was a Production Geologist with Shell Upstream International in Nigeria. As a community builder and connector, Dennis enjoys volunteering for different organizations and being part of his community.
Dennis holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Mining from the University of Jos, Nigeria and a Master of Science in Petroleum Geoscience from Imperial College London, UK.
Joan Samuels-Dennis
Ph.D, Founder | Becoming Institute Inc
Dr. Joan Samuels-Dennis, Ph.D., is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning speaker renowned for her expertise in trauma recovery and the Truth, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation process. With over two decades of experience, she has made an indelible impact on individuals, families, and communities, helping them heal, thrive, and reclaim their lives.
Through her extensive background as an accomplished individual, couple, and family therapist, Dr. Joan has empowered countless individuals to overcome trauma, revitalize their physical and mental health, and conquer relational challenges. Her commitment to helping others is unwavering, and her profound insights are transformative.
Kingsley Madu
Founder and CEO | Expedier Inc
Meet Kingsley, Founder and CEO of Expedier – A global Digital Bank for under-represented and underbanked communities. Kingsley is also a global digital nomad, speaker, and tech leader with over 15+ years of background as a Technology & Business Leader at Fortune 500 companies. Kingsley and his team at Expedier have won several awards including Platform Calgary top 12 fintech in Canada and BMO Black Entrepreneur Award Finalist. Believing in the power of possibilities, he challenges conventional thinking and seeks innovative solutions. Embracing a digital nomad lifestyle, Kingsley traverses the globe while working on his startups. He empowers individuals and organizations to reach their full potential through captivating speaking engagements.
Tam Nguyen
Certified Career Coach and Facilitator
Meet Tam Nguyen, a Certified Career Coach and Facilitator dedicated to guiding aspiring changemakers and social entrepreneurs. She has been involved with several social impact networks, including Catalyst2030 and Balsam by D3, where she serves as a systems mapping facilitator and researcher, focusing on social entrepreneurs’ inner well-being and competencies. Through her work, she equips entrepreneurs with essential tools and systems awareness to create ventures capable of transforming communities and driving lasting positive impact. Additionally, she is the founder of Empurpose, aiming to steer the impact-driven career paths of underserved voices through narrative career counselling and accelerate systems innovation within Canadian workforce development.
Davidson Oturu
Managing Partner | Nubia Capital
Davidson Oturu is a seasoned corporate lawyer, financier, and investor whose expertise spans multiple continents and industries. As the Managing Partner at Nubia Capital, a Venture Capital Firm based in the US, he focuses on funding and investing in tech startups across Africa, Canada, and the US. Davidson’s involvement extends beyond mere investment; he actively mentors entrepreneurs, offering invaluable insights into regulatory compliance, board management, and intellectual property matters. His contributions to shaping the entrepreneurial landscape in Africa are commendable, including his pivotal role in drafting the Nigeria Startup Act and addressing regulatory challenges faced by tech startups.
Ibraheem Ogunrinola
ConnectFirst Credit Union
With more than 20 years of experience in banking, Ibraheem has extensive knowledge in Credit Risk Management, Treasury, International Trade Finance, Retail & Commercial banking and Account Management. For the last six years, he has been dedicated to assisting businesses in Alberta achieve their goals through business development. He has a proven track record in building long-lasting relationships with clients and COIs across industries such as real estate & construction, manufacturing, FMCG, energy services, logistics, and general commerce. He is passionate about service and business sustainability through process optimization, cash flow management, business owner planning and stake holders alignment.
Dr John Ughulu
Best-selling Author, Public Speaker, and Strategist
Dr. John Ughulu is a distinguished Best-selling Author, Public Speaker, and Strategist based in Atlanta. He is the visionary Founder and President of the esteemed John Ughulu Foundation, an organization committed to uplifting communities and empowering individuals worldwide. He is also the Founder and President of Mainseed Christian University. As the charismatic Host of “The Morale Booster Podcast,” Dr. Ughulu captivates audiences with his insightful discussions on personal development and leadership.
As a prolific writer, Dr. Ughulu has penned several influential self-help and Leadership books, including the acclaimed titles “The Morale Booster,” “The 7-Ps of an Entrepreneur,” and “From Shyness to Public Speaking.” His writings inspire countless individuals to overcome obstacles and unlock their full potential.
Lise Birikundavyi
CFA |Managing Partner, BKR Capital
Lise Birikundavyi is the co-founder and managing partner for BKR Capital, the first institutionally-backed black-led VC fund in Canada. Lise is an innovative finance specialist who has worked with several international institutions, most notably the Jacobs Foundation, for whom she managed an edtech impact investment strategy. Lise also mentors and supports highly promising and impactful start-ups in emerging markets.
Lise began her career in the hedge fund industry in Montreal, and her interest in mixing attractive financial returns with long-term societal impact inspired her to transition to the impact finance sector. She has experience across the investment spectrum, from funds of funds and VCs to being the transition CEO of a tech start-up.
Tim Borys
CEO of FRESH! Group
Tim knows performance as a former elite athlete, New York Yankees draft pick, and national-level coach. Whether in ballparks or boardrooms, he is an expert at eliciting higher performance from individuals and teams.
Tim believes that life and work should be awesome! With levels of stress, burnout, and pessimism at all-time highs, his mission is to ignite the potential of leaders, teams, and corporations to move from surviving to thriving. His greatest impact lives at the intersection of Human Performance, Change Management, and Business Strategy.
Moderators
Lorietta Abarshi
Business Advisor, LIFT Program Lead, BIPOC Foundation
With 9 years of seasoned expertise in the Financial Industry, Lorietta specializes in guiding business owners across Canada toward profitability and success.
From strategic planning to execution, Lorietta adopts a results-oriented approach to address the evolving needs of her clients, assisting them through every phase of business growth. Skilled in Business Management, Portfolio Management, Risk Management, and more, Lorietta is committed to empowering entrepreneurs with industry insights and sound decision-making.
Wani Alali
Business Advisor, LIFT Program Lead, BIPOC Foundation and Founder, Alpha Plexus
With a diverse educational background spanning economics, public policy, and applied mathematics, Wani brings over a decade of expertise across various sectors, from central banking to eCommerce.
As the founder of Alpha Plexus and co-founder of Lottanna, Wani is a seasoned acquisition entrepreneur and investor specializing in lower middle-market acquisitions and alternative financing. He excels in navigating the complexities of small and medium-sized businesses, offering invaluable insights into product development, capital raising, and business scaling.
Farnel Fleurant
Fondatrice et DG | Founder & CEO, Workind
Farnel is a visionary entrepreneur whose mission is to create the world’s most caring workplaces. With a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Ottawa, she has over 15 years’ experience in marketing communications, both on the agency and client side. She has had the privilege of working for Employer of Choice such as Cossette, Yellow Pages and National Bank. Her company, Workind, helps organizations take better care of their employees and, along the way, ensures that employees take better care of themselves, others and their community. Workind is a tech platform to seamlessly offer lifestyle and wellbeing benefits to employees while having an impact. The change Farnel seeks and actively contributes to is positively shaping the future of work.
Jay Napoleon Ogbole
Community Development, BIPOC Foundation and Founder, PAACATI
A seasoned Information Technology Digitization and Business Architect with over 15 years of experience shaping the digital landscape. Additionally, he holds a prominent Board position at Brownhill Group Canada, steering Business Acquisition strategies in Healthcare and Manufacturing.
Beyond his corporate roles, Jay is the founder and president of the Pan-African Arts, Culture & Trade Institute (PAACATI), promoting trade development, diplomacy, tourism, and African culture.
Clement Esene
Executive Director, BIPOC Foundation
Clement is on a mission to foster Economic Empowerment, Financial Inclusion and Representation for underserved and underrepresented communities within the larger multicultural global landscape.
Part of his objective is to work to bridge the gap between frontier economies, especially African countries and Western markets, through education and implementation of converging technologies across different industries.
2023 Redefine Conference Gallery
2023 – Guest Speakers
Christelle Francois
Skills for Change - VP, Government Affairs & Strategic Partnerships
Christelle Francois is the Vice-President of Government Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at Skills For Change, the Board Chair of the Table of Impact Investment Practitioners and a bilingual executive and entrepreneur. She has extensive experience as a Strategy Consultant specializing in growth acceleration, revenue model design, and optimization solutions for various companies and organizations. Christelle was listed as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Black Canadians of 2022.
Victor Beausoleil
SETSI, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Victor Beausoleil is the founder and executive director of Social Economy through Social Inclusion (SETSI), a nonprofit organization that works to promote social inclusion and economic development through innovative social enterprise models. He has more than 25 years of experience in the social enterprise and community development sectors, and has been involved in a variety of initiatives and organizations focused on social and economic development. He has also been a consultant for a number of foundations and international organizations. He currently leads SETSI’s work in Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa.
Darrel Rolheiser
Manager, Business Development Bank of Canada
Darrel Rolheiser is the Business Centre Manager for Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Cranbrook areas. He has been with the BDC for 8 years starting in Calgary then Medicine Hat and now based out of Lethbridge. Although not all with BDC, Darrel has been in business banking in some capacity for over 15 years. Working with the BDC Darrel has found a home working with entrepreneurs at all levels from start up companies to employers of over 200 people. He is passionate about helping the Canadian economy be the very best in the world and this aligns perfectly with the goals of the organization.
Ashif Mawji
Managing Director, ScaleGood Fund LP
Ashif Mawji is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, venture capitalist, mentor and community builder. He chairs the Edmonton Police Foundation and TELUS Friendly Future Foundation and serves on numerous private and nonprofit boards, including the Invest Alberta Corporation, Sarah McLachlan School of Music, Hockey Canada Foundation, CN Community Foundation, Premier’s Council on Civil Society and others.
Ashif has directly invested into more than 110 companies globally, is invested in over 10 funds, is the managing director of the ScaleGood Fund LP (Social Impact VC Fund).
He received the EY Prairies Entrepreneur of the Year award, named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 and received Canada’s 50 Best Managed companies award three years in a row. Ashif was inducted into the Junior Achievement (NA) Business Hall of Fame in 2019. Ashif is an active member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and won the coveted Laing Award – he has served in the executive including as Chair of the organization (YPO-AB). Ashif has served as an Honorary Colonel in the Canadian Army and received the Queen’s Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals and the Alberta Centennial Medal.
Kojo B. Otoo
PhD - Senior Manager, Council for the Advancement of African Canadians
Kojo B. Otoo is a former banker with Standard Chartered Bank- Ghana, and Stanbic Bank Ghana (part of Standard Bank, South Africa). He has financial, leadership, and management experience of over 14 years in retail and corporate banking. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Calgary in Educational Research (specialization in Adult Learning), focusing on critical and social justice issues on marginalized and underrepresented groups in society. Kojo brings a unique skill set of client engagements, account management, entrepreneurship, and an understanding of what economic equity means to the black community. He was one of the contributors to the recently released report on The State of Black Entrepreneurs in Alberta by the Africa Centre. As a Senior Manager of Africa Centre’s Entrepreneurship Empowerment Program, his goal is to help drive economic fairness, justice, and advancement of Black entrepreneurs in Alberta.
Nerissa Allen
Founder & President Black Business Association of BC
Nerissa Allen is a community leader and entrepreneur with a dedication to building economic prosperity within the African Diaspora. As the Co-Founder and President of the Black Business Association of BC, Nerissa drives progressive change by harnessing her 20 years of experience as a federal public servant and many years serving on boards such as the Barbados Cultural Association of BC and the Vancouver Economic Commission Advisory Board. Winning the 2021 Surrey Board of Trade, Women in Business Social Trail Blazer award; being named 100 Most Influential Black Canadians by AfroGlobal TV in 2022; most recently, being nominated “Community Champion” in the YWCA 2023 Women of Distinction Awards.
Troy Grainger
BBA, CDME -Executive Director, Community Futures Lethbridge Region
“Troy Grainger has dedicated the last 25+ years in commercial banking, fostering labour markets, and as a strong proponent in regional and municipal economic development. Troy now has brought this experience from northern Alberta and is now leading Community Futures Lethbridge Region, an organization providing access to capital, knowledge transfer, and ecosystem collaborative programming for small, medium, and underrepresented enterprise.”
Jefferson Roc
Founder,EIMHE
Jefferson Roc was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and immigrated to Canada at an early age. He grew up in Montreal, Canada and pursued accounting education before being organically pulled into entrepreneurship. He previously ran a distribution company, where he learned the fundamentals of sales and business. During his 15 years of enterprise sales experience, Jefferson was repeatedly recognized with overachievement awards. He combines tribal knowledge and sales-focused methodology to create customer value and is trained to achieve business objectives. His latest venture, EIMHE, is born from his lived experience with mental health challenges that inspired him to imagine a collective way to experience wellness, supercharged by cutting-edge technology such as machine learning. EIMHE is a peer support solution creating its own category, and recognized by many mental health stakeholders. EIMHE is set to become a de facto in corporate wellness. As he’s building EIMHE, Jefferson is also the Director for Partnership and Alliance for Groupe3737; Canada’s largest Startup incubator focusing on ethnocultural diversity, and he recently became a Startup mentor for BIPOC Foundation and the Alchemist X. He believes in creating contagious success and being part of the solution to the existing funding gap for under-represented groups. Jefferson’s recipe for success is resumed in passion, purpose and profit.
Popoola Akande
BA, MAcc, FCIB - President, Canadian Imperial Advantage
Popoola Akande is a serial entrepreneur, a seasoned consultant with a high level of professionalism with over two decades of banking experience. He is a Financial Analyst, and a Business Professional with proven abilities in Project Management, Strategic Planning, Infrastructure, Enterprise Application, Process Integration/Management and Change Management. Popoola is an astute advocate for community development and is the president of Canadian Imperial Advantage an organization focused on entrepreneurial development and newcomer integration and a part of the Black National Ecosystem funded by the Canadian government to support black businesses in Alberta and the whole of Western Canada, particularly with access to capital. He was recently awarded The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (2023) for his contribution to the Province of Alberta and Power of Inclusion Leadership Award by the Council of Nigerian Professionals (2022) for his contributions to the Black community in Canada.
Efe Fruci
TEDx speaker, Consultant, Entrepreneur, and author of Faith Over Fear
A visionary, motivator, community builder, educator and mental health activist. She is a TEDx Speaker, founder of the ‘The Coaching Element’ with 10+ years of experience in coaching and consulting and the founder and executive director of Odihi Foundation, a women and girls empowerment organization dedicated to providing free access to educational resources, mentorship and boardroom training for BIWOC girls and women nationally and globally.
Dipo Alli
Executive Director - Black Business Venture Association
Dipo Alli is passionate about helping Black founders start and succeed in their technology business, as a result he co-founded Black Business Ventures Association (BBVA) to support Black founders through their entrepreneurial journey. Dipo is currently the Executive Director of BBVA. Before this role, he spent most of his career helping start-ups and established businesses raise equity capital to start and scale their business.
Gwendoline Nubila
CCNP, MCSE, Ms. Tech - Founder, 4Change Staffing Solutions
Gwendoline is the owner of 4Change Staffing Solutions, a recruitment and staffing firm that helps businesses find talent. She is a seasoned IT recruiter and career coach who educates, empowers, and connects IT people to employers to do meaningful work they enjoy. She is a graduate of the University of Waterloo with a Masters in the Management of Technology, and is a certified Human Resource Leader(CHRL). She has been a guest on the Canadian Job Search Podcast and is passionate about helping others achieve their best. She lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her husband and four sons.
Christine Edith Dikongué
Start-Up Founder, Innovation Consultant, Global Speaker
Christine is a global speaker, consultant, community builder, and entrepreneur. She is the co-founder of AfricaHacks, which organizes Africa’s largest tech competition – a virtual hackathon with thousands of youth, judges, and sponsors from around the world. On the global stage, Christine speaks about innovation, smart cities, entrepreneurship, and the African potential. In 2020, she was selected as a young leader to meet former US President Barack Obama.
Wunmi Adekanmbi
Digital Catalyst, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
Wunmi is the founder of Immigrant Techies Alberta, a community grassroots movement empowering immigrant professionals to explore tech careers and startups. She also founded ReSkill Calgary, an organizations that helps employers bridge their tech talent gap by leveraging the highly skilled immigrant talent pool. Wunmi is a Digital Catalyst at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) where she facilitates digital transformation across SAIT to elevate students future-of-work readiness. She is an active player on the Alberta tech and innovation scene and enjoys bringing people together for the collective good.
Reesa John
Director, Fund and Fellowship Alberta Innovates
Reesa John is the Director, Fund and Fellowship at Alberta Innovates. She is an impact driven passionate relationship builder with over 25 years of experience facilitating positive innovation changes for Albertans. She works with Alberta Innovates Business Units to “Invest for Impact” by designing and implementing Performance Management and Impact systems that drive to targeted outcomes. This has included the Clean Resources Climate Change Innovation and Technology (CCITF), Technology Innovation and Emission Reduction (TIER) portfolios and most recently the Scale-up and Growth Accelerator Program. In her role as Fund and Fellowship Director, she will be marshalling collective efforts of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for sustainable impact. She has previously worked as a Performance Management and Improvement Consultant with Alberta Health Services, The Workers Compensation Board of Alberta and the Victorian Work Cover Authority in Melbourne Australia. She has extensive experience in service delivery model and framework development, provincial scale and spread implementation, program evaluation, performance improvement and contract and service provider management.
Dr. Gerald Grant (Emcee)
Professor, Information Systems & Director, Centre for Information Technology, Organizations, and People
Gerald Grant is Director of the Centre for Information Technology, Organizations, and People {CITOP), Full Professor, and Coordinator of the Information Systems Area at the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He is Principal Investigator and Co-Lead of the Black Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub {BEKH). He obtained his PhD in Information Systems from the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom. He is co-author of the book The Value Imperative: Harvesting value from your IT initiatives.
Mo’ Ekujumi
Director at SkillHat
Mo’ is a seasoned technology executive and servant leader with 10 years of experience leading and facilitating global teams. He possesses a wealth of Product, Project Management & Business Analysis skills, leading teams to develop new products, drive incremental revenue, and streamline national operations. He is the Managing Director at SkillHat – a global tech company launching motivated professionals into dream careers through e-learning and career development. Channeling his passion for education, Mo’ has developed globally accredited training courses with PMI, IIBA & Scrum Alliance. He has trained 400+ Project Managers, Scrum Masters, Business Analysts, and Product Owners, who are now thriving in their mission driven-careers.
Liza Arnason BA, MA
Owner and chief education officer at Arnason Consulting, Founder and Chair of The Ase Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities
Liza Arnason MA , the owner of the owner of Arnason Consulting established in 2005, founder and Chair of the Ase Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities, founder and Chair of the UCalgary Black Alumni Network, and an UofT Alumni from Ontario Institute for Studies in Education; and above all a mom, grandma, and champion of Black talent. Liza’s commitment to the principles of “nothing without us” and “for us, by us”, has always been the cornerstone of her work as an career coach, educator, administrator, and community advocate. Her depth of knowledge and expertise is informed by her lived experiences, progressive senior administrative and teaching experience, critical research and policy initiatives, passion for equity, and an inspirational 35-year career journey as pioneer and visionary. Liza draws on critical pedagogy including Black Feminism, disability justice, and critical race practices that inform her work across public, private, and non-profit organizational structures. She unapologetically brings the lived experiences of of race, gender, and disability to the “table”, identifying nuances, gaps, and disparities within systems, structures, and research. Through collective leadership and wisdom across Canada, Liz continues to design and advocate for new models and systems that will affect real change; particularly those that elevate the talents and growth opportunities for Black people with disabilities.