Speakers

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Cameron Conn is a seasoned investor and serial entrepreneur with a career spanning hospitality, casino development and operations, and technology—where he successfully exited his last venture as a founder. For the past 13 years, he has called Vancouver home and is an active board member of Arts Umbrella, a leading arts education organization. 

Cameron’s lifelong interest in fashion led him to invest in and advise Champlain, where he played a key role in bringing the brand to market. Following his early involvement, he was invited to join the company’s leadership team to help scale its growth and apply his business acumen to an industry he’s deeply passionate about. His cross-sector experience positions him as a unique and strategic voice at the intersection of culture, commerce, and innovation. 

As President of Worldpay Canada Corporation (“WPCC”), Phil oversees the establishment, development, sale, and onboarding of digital payment solutions enabling Canadian companies to expand their global geographic reach, enhance their revenues and competitive positioning in the market. WPCC’s parent, Worldpay Inc., processes over 53 billion transactions a year – making it one of the largest processors in the world.  

Prior to joining Worldpay, Phil was responsible for the Merchant Services & Mobile Payment portfolio at Everlink Payment Services, an Interac Acquirer.  At both Moneris Solutions and Pivotal Payments (now Nuvei), Phil ran their North American Technology Partner Programs. Finally, Phil started the first decade of his career at The Canadian Bankers Association where he was Director, Payments Systems Strategy.     

In April 2024, Phil was selected to be a member of Payments Canada’s Stakeholder Advisory Council which reports to the Board of Directors. Also, Phil has also written extensively on payments, technology and partner management for such publications as the Financial Post, the Globe & Mail, PROFIT, Payments Business, and the Canadian Banker. Finally, Phil is the Chairman/President of the Brampton Golf Club which held the World Junior Girl’s Golf Championship in 2023.   

Steve Mossop is the executive vice-president of Leger’s Vancouver office and leads a team of 20+ researchers in B.C. serving public and private sector clients with full-service market research solutions. 

Most recently, Steve was the president of Insights West, which Leger acquired in late 2021. Insights West offered insights-driven solutions via leading-edge tools and normative databases and had 15+ employees and $3M+ in billings annually in the 10 years it operated. Prior to this, Steve was at Ipsos for 17 years and managed 30+ client service staff in multiple cities after starting his career at the Angus Reid Group and TNS. 

Steve has released over 700+ public opinion polls on politics; topics from bridge tolls to bike lanes; support or opposition to environmental, social and policy issues; employee satisfaction; social media habits and COVID-19 impacts. He has correctly predicted the outcomes of over 25 elections over his career. 

His accomplishments include launching Insights West to be the fastest-growing B.C. market research company, winning Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40 award in 2006, and winning BCAMA’s 2001 Marketer of the Year Award. Steve was chair of the BCAMA’s Senior Executive Program for 4 years and was a member of Vancouver EO for 5 years. 

Steve is a frequent public speaker and media personality in British Columbia, making regular appearances on a wide variety of media outlets as the spokesperson for Leger and in the past for Insights West and Ipsos. Steve holds a BBA degree from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in marketing.

Mat doesn’t hold back any enthusiasm when he says that he’s madly in love with Best Buy and believes it is a humbling privilege to lead the team that takes care of the launchpad and marketplace for consumer tech in Canada.   

Prior to President, Mat held several roles in the company, most recently as Senior Vice President of Best Buy Retail, Geek Squad Services and Best Buy Business, where he and his team were responsible for hundreds of stores, thousands of Blue Shirts and Agents and millions of customers. 

In his time at Best Buy, his teams ushered in monumental efficiencies in retail operations, world-class culture and engagement scores, a slew of innovative store formats, the launch of some cool initiatives like Membership, subscriptions, trade-in, and really thoughtful ways to use stores for more than ever. 

Before Best Buy, Mat held senior and management positions at other great companies like HP, TELUS and LG, where he then considered himself a member of the broader Best Buy community and remains devoted to the meaningful win-win partnerships with our extended family – our vendor partners.  

Both at home and at work, he has a passion to know people, tackle problems, fix, improve and learn. “It’s really simple. It’s up to all of us to create a place we love, to spend others time well, and to have fun while we’re at it – it’s amazing to work for a company whose values are one’s not to just work by, but to live by”. 

Sandy is the Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer for Encorp Pacific (Canada), better known as Return-It. Last year, Return-It celebrated its 30th anniversary—an important milestone in British Columbia’s beverage container stewardship—and Sandy has been with the organization since day one. 

In her role as CMO, she has been instrumental in driving the agency’s growth, leading marketing and communications initiatives that have elevated program awareness to an impressive 95%. Prior to joining Encorp Pacific in 1995, Sandy enjoyed a distinguished career in retail management, where she specialized in sales strategy, marketing and merchandising—expertise she still draws upon to understand and engage consumers. 

A proud BCIT graduate with diplomas in Marketing and Business Administration, Sandy further enhanced her governance skills through the Institute of Corporate Directors at UBC’s program for Not-for-Profit Organizations. Her commitment to the sector extends beyond Return-It: she’s a past board member of the Recycling Council of BC and the Burnaby Board of Trade, served as President of the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society, and lent her expertise to the board of BC Technology for Learning. 

Shenela Tavarayan is a dynamic product leader with extensive expertise in developing client-centric solutions that drive growth for retail businesses. As Director of Product Development at Interac Corp., Shenela has spearheaded transformative initiatives, including the pilot launch of Canada’s first proprietary digital wallet, advancing seamless payment solutions, and enhancing merchant acceptance and usage. She also oversaw critical partnerships with major digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, revolutionizing digital payments in Canada. 

Shenela is a recognized advocate for diversity and inclusion, serving as co-lead and co-founder of Interac’s Women’s Employee Resource Group. Her efforts foster a workplace culture of respect and empowerment while contributing to the company’s broader DEI strategy. 

An accomplished speaker and panelist, Shenela has shared her insights at high-profile events, including the Collision Conference, Payments Canada Summit, and Women in Payments. Her thought leadership spans topics such as omnichannel payment strategies, the future of commerce, and building inclusive workplaces. With a reputation for operational excellence, regulatory expertise, and stakeholder engagement, Shenela continues to shape the payments landscape while championing innovation and equity in the industry. 

Santo Ligotti is the VP of Member Services and Marketing at Retail Council of Canada and brings over 20 years of experience of marketing leadership. Santo began his career in data sciences and progressed to lead B2B/B2C marketing teams across financial, technology and payments industries including companies such as TD Canada Trust, Rogers Communications, CIBC, Moneris and JPMorgan Chase.

In addition, Santo is the President Elect for the  American Marketing Association, Toronto Chapter and teaches part time at George Brown College and York University. Santo holds an undergraduate degree in statistics from McMaster University, a Master’s in Information Science from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from York University

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon and all major podcast platforms.