Speakers

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

As the Head of AI and Emerging Technology at Canadian Tire, Cari is responsible for using AI as a lever to drive both cultural and digital transformation. With a human centered approach Cari has a successful track record of leading the development and execution of strategy, roadmaps and operating models for Automation and Artificial Intelligence resulting in revenue growth, increased employee engagement and operating efficiencies. Cari is passionate about developing innovative partnerships with start-up communities, research and academic institutions. These partnerships have led to the ideation, shared learnings, research, and development of novel AI products, education development and best practices on the operationalization of building and developing AI responsibly. Her approach to balancing the macro change required for successful adoption of AI with the value that it can generate has resulted in many international speaking engagements and advisory discussions.

David is the Founder of Plastic Bank, a globally recognized social fintech that has
redefined prosperity by transforming waste into wealth. His vision addresses two of the
most pressing challenges faced by both people and the planet: poverty and plastic
pollution.
Under David’s leadership, Plastic Bank has opened pathways to prosperity for over
50,000 families living in underserved communities across the Philippines, Indonesia,
Brazil, Egypt, Thailand, and Cameroon by enabling the exchange of over 130 million kilos
of gathered plastic for income and social benefits. His solution offers individuals and
businesses the opportunity to prosper by reducing their environmental footprint,
promoting circularity, and supporting communities.
Recognized as one of the world’s most compassionate entrepreneurs, David has been
honoured with several prestigious accolades, including the United Nations Lighthouse
Award for Planetary Health and the Paris Climate Conference Sustainia Community
Award. Other notable recognitions include the Ernst & Young Lifetime Achievement Award,
The Globe and Mail’s Changemakers Award, and the Entrepreneur Organizations’ Global
Citizen Award.
His humanitarian work has garnered international acclaim, with features from major media
networks including BBC, CNN, Time Magazine, Forbes, Fast Company, Business Week,
and National Geographic. He has delivered impactful talks on TED.com, appeared in
award-winning documentaries, and starred in an international reality television show.
David is a steward of the earth, a champion for the underserved, and a thought leader on the prosperity mindset.

Rob leads IBM Canada’s Generative AI consulting practice, a team of consultants, data scientists and developers who build leading-edge solutions for IBM clients. His team focuses on leveraging technology from domains like Customer Engagement, Supply Chain, Employee Support, IT Operations and other fields, to revolutionize business processes. IBM Canada’s Generative AI team is currently leading many transformative AI programs for our clients across industries such as Retail, Consumer Products, Travel & Transportation, Financial Services, Public Services and more. 

Laura is the co-founder of She Summits, where they empower organizations to enhance retail success through innovative customer acquisition and engagement solutions. Their transformative workshops for women have inspired thousands throughout North America at companies like Fjallraven, Athleta, icebreaker, Fairmont Hotels. 

As a Retail Success Consultant and Certified Mindset Coach Laura excels at fostering connections within businesses and between brands and customers. Join her as she moderates a discussion on adapting to shifting consumer demands and exploring creative strategies to elevate in-store shopping experiences.

Carla is the Human Resources Director at JAK’s Beer Wine & Spirits & Muse Cannabis, overseeing HR operations for 14 locations across BC. She provides strategic support in talent acquisition, performance management, employee engagement, and compliance.

With a passion for compassionate leadership and inclusive work cultures, Carla has enhanced employee engagement, retention, and satisfaction. Her focus on growth and development drives organizational success in the competitive retail industry.

Lindsay is the Manager of HR Business Partnerships for the West Division of Rexall Pharmacy Group, overseeing strategic HR leadership for an extensive network of 189 retail pharmacy stores across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and parts of Ontario. With over 20 years of experience in HR across diverse sectors, including retail, property management, finance, and supply chain, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her role.

As a vital member of an award-winning HR team committed to fostering an employee-centric culture, Lindsay drives innovative strategies aimed at attracting and retaining top talent. She collaborates closely with leadership to align HR initiatives with business objectives, ensuring the organization remains competitive and responsive while embedding excellence as a core value in all operations.

Lindsay looks forward to sharing her insights on how strategic HR practices can enhance talent attraction and employee retention, fueling organizational success in today’s dynamic retail environment

Briannah has 20 years of marketing leadership experience in developing sustainable competitive advantage for brands across D2C, B2B, and B2C sectors within the dynamic new media landscape. She is an experienced growth marketing leader with a proven track record in developing and executing compelling customer-centric programs and campaigns across a variety of industries including retail, tech, FMCG, and the creative industries. As a degree qualified photographer and graphic designer, Briannah balances the art and science of brand and digital to help brands effectively navigate today’s fast-evolving competitive landscape and effectively position themselves for growth, build brand equity, and create best-in-class customer experiences.

Known for fostering a culture of creative courage and collaboration, Briannah empowers her teams to take calculated risks and push boundaries to create memorable brands. Her expertise lies in designing omnichannel marketing strategies that nurture sustainable competitive advantage. In her role as Senior Manager of Digital & Content for Trail Appliances, Briannah looks after a wide array of full-funnel marketing initiatives for the family-owned company’s Retail, Builder & Designer Sales divisions.

Lauren Megson has worked in the retail industry for close to 20 years both in the US and Canada. She has been with Fjallraven for 11 years, overseeing the Canadian brand stores since their first flagship Vancouver store opening in 2012. She is passionate about developing people, building relationships and cultivating ideas to enhance positive and innovative guest experience strategy that aligns with brand values and vision. Lauren has successfully led and coordinated multiple teams, projects, and events that have increased brand awareness, loyalty, and retention. With a degree in marketing and merchandising, Lauren is forever learning ways in which to contribute to impactful change to create successful teams and workplace culture.

An entrepreneur with an innovative mindset and over 30 years of e-commerce experience. Former CEO of Northern Alliance Limited in Hong Kong, with extensive knowledge in digital marketing.
Ivan is also a community advocate, co-founder of multiple nonprofit organizations in Canada, actively engaged in local community for social issues and dedicated himself to build a society with equality and fairness.

Rachel is well known for her leadership and entrepreneurial achievement as Founder & CEO of
Canadian jewelry brand, Hillberg & Berk. The company started from her kitchen table and was
named to honour her great-grandmother, Hilda Bergman. With fourteen stores across Canada, and
global Ecommerce operations, Rachel has grown the H&B brand that continues to attract
international attention and demand. Rachel’s business successes have included a showing at The
Oscars, a deal on Dragon’s Den, partnerships with Olympic ice dance champion Tessa Virtue, model
and activist Ashley Callingbull, Canadian influencer Jillian Harris, and two custom design
commissions for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Rachel has built a successful national brand with purpose and impact baked into the DNA. Since
inception, H&B has donated millions in financial and product contributions to partner organizations
who share the company’s mission to connect women to their power.
Rachel’s accolades and volunteer contributions over the years are impressive, as she passionately
works to recognize and empower women across Canada and around the world. Rachel was
awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her volunteer work in 2012 and the Queen’s
Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2023, was named an Ernst and Young class of Winning Women in 2015,
was named one of XL’s Canada’s Top 40 under 40 in 2017, was named one of Women’s Executive
Network Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2016 and 2017 and received the Women
Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan Celebration of Achievement Award in 2018.
As a notable alumna from the University of Regina, Rachel received an Honorary Doctor of Laws
Degree in 2022, and supports the Saskatchewan community by generously funding several
scholarships that empower young women. Rachel volunteers her time as an Honorary Captain of the
Royal Canadian Navy and on the national board of Dress for Success Canada.
More recently, Rachel has been very open about her cervical cancer journey, in hopes that it might
encourage other women to access healthcare and undergo regular pap testing, and she channels
this passion into advocacy and philanthropy for medical innovation for women’s health through
Women Leading Philanthropy in Saskatchewan. Rachel is married to her best friend, Zlatan, and is a
proud mom to three children.

Jackie is Lead Recruiter and one of the founding partners at JRoss Retail Recruiters, Canada’s leading recruiting agency specializing exclusively in retail, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.  

Jackie first built a highly successful career as a hands on operator with leading retailers across Canada. She then leveraged that experience to personally recruit hundreds of retail professionals. Since starting JRoss Retail Recruiters in 2002 with Rob Fisher, she’s led a cross country team to successfully recruit thousands more, from the Store Manager to the CEO level. 

With her hands on experience as both a retailer, and as a recruiter leading a team of top performing retail recruiters working with leading brands from the executive to field operations levels, Jackie is uniquely positioned to understand the challenges and opportunities involved in recruiting in our “new normal”.

As vice president of Best Buy Express, Jennifer leads this strategic partnership including guiding the success of a joint operating model with Bell and launching Best Buy Express stores in Canada. 

Jennifer is an experienced merchandise leader who began her career with Best Buy more than 18 years ago. After working in various categories as a buyer, she became director of the dual brand wireless business in 2013. Following brand consolidation, she led Best Buy’s major and small appliance businesses, playing a key role in expanding major appliances across Canada and introducing key brands to a rapidly growing small appliances business. She returned to wireless as category officer and added wearables and portable audio to her portfolio in 2021. 

As a values-driven leader, Jennifer has a track record for developing people, building cross-functional business strategy, and providing mentorship to create opportunities for growth, including being a champion for women leaders. Jennifer is committed to contributing to the community through various volunteer work and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the UBC Sauder School of Business. 

Eric Morris is the Managing Director and Head of Google’s Retail practice in Canada, where since 2002, he has worked alongside the country’s top marketers and advertising agencies.  

Eric has held several leadership roles at Google Canada, leading sales, operations, research, strategy and analytics for Google’s advertising business. Most recently, he led Google Canada’s search and performance advertising business.  

In 2016 Eric was named inventor and issued a patent in the United States for identifying rising search queries and trends at scale for advertisers worldwide. 

Eric was elected to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada’s board of directors in 2009, and elected Chair of the board in 2015.   

As President of Big Box Outlet Store, Jeff has spearheaded an aggressive growth strategy, doubling the size of the 39-year-old company in just over a year.

Retail is in Jeff’s blood, having grown up behind the counter in his families’ retail store.  Following university Jeff was a part of the early growth of Starbucks Coffee Company in Canada and New York City.  He went on to have senior roles in a Berkshire Hathaway company before moving into consulting.

Over more than 43 years in the grocery industry, Brenda Kirk has honed her reputation as a dynamic, strategic and committed leader who’s focused on achieving results and doing what’s right for her team and customers.
Brenda began her career as a cashier in 1980. She quickly advanced through a variety of progressively senior leadership positions in retail operations, including the development, launch and management of the industry-leading automated supermarket concept, Smart Market, in Vancouver, B.C. in the early 1990s. From there, Brenda added key strategic roles to her portfolio, including regional manager of Save-On-Foods, director of front-end operations and general manager of centre of store merchandising for Save-On-Foods, before joining the company’s senior leadership team as vice president of centre of store merchandising in 2015.
As part of Save-On-Foods’ team of vice presidents, Brenda has held a number of titles, including vice president of innovation and strategic initiatives (2018), senior vice president of health, wellness and our brands (2019), senior vice president of merchandising (2020) and in 2024, Brenda took on her current role as senior vice president of operations for strategic banners, including speciality, discount, and ethnic. In this role she is an instrumental part of the Pattison Food Group’s senior leadership team, overseeing an integral part of the company’s growth platform.
A key contributor to the development of the company’s strategic plan and evolving innovation strategy, Brenda was named Save-On-Foods’ 2014 Business Leader of the Year—the organization’s highest accolade. She is also the recipient of a Star Women in Grocery Award from Canadian Grocer Magazine and a Special Achievement Award from the Jim Pattison Group. Most recently, Brenda was inducted into the Grocery Business Hall of Fame and is a board member of both the Canadian Health Food Association and GS1 Canada.
As a founding member and now executive sponsor of the Pattison Food Group’s TogetHER Network, which is aimed at driving change around diversity and inclusion, Brenda is a strong advocate for making a positive and measurable difference in the workplace.
About The Pattison Food Group Pattison Food Group is a Jim Pattison business and Canada’s largest Western-based provider of food and health products. Headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, we have been in business for 107 years. We proudly employ more than 30,000 team members who are committed to achieving long-term growth and share a passion for giving back to the communities where we do business. Together, we leverage each other’s collective strengths to enhance efficiencies across our respective organizations. Our largest and signature company is Save-On-Foods. With 11 retail banners operating nearly 300 food and drug retail locations through Western Canada, in Whitehorse Yukon, Washington State, and Oregon each uniquely positioned to cater to the needs of their community; 4 wholesale businesses catering to the diverse needs of their customer base across Canada; 5 food and pharmacy production facilities focused on high quality distinct offerings; an industry-leading loyalty program and a world-class set of proprietary consumer brands, Pattison Food Group businesses are proud to be recognized as leaders in customer service and innovation.

Ivano Pirro is an experienced sales leader with over two decades of telecommunications leadership. He currently supports more than 3500 team members across Bell, Virgin+ Best Buy Express and Lucky Mobile. As a strategic leader he is passionate about customer experience and talent development and driving high performance. Ivano’s leadership ensures Bell’s retail stores are a go-to for personalized customer service, innovation and simplifying complex technical problems into everyday value add solutions.

Ivano is a seasoned business leader whose contribution has been felt throughout Bell in a range of progressively senior roles. Ivano began his career with Bell as a technician, later serving in various call center roles, and then in 2006 he joined Bell retail stores leading the successful nationwide integration of brands like Solo Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

Ivano holds a Diploma in Business Administration from Dawson College and a Bachelor’s degree from Concordia University with a Major in Sociology and a Minor in Law.

Sgt. Craig Reynolds has been a member of the Vancouver Police Department for 17 years. He began his career in the Operations Division, where he served in District One (downtown core) and District Four (south west). His assignments included roles as a plain clothes officer, beat officer, and field trainer. For six years, Craig worked as a Detective in the Investigation Division, working across various specialized sections, including the Major Crime Section’s Robbery Assault Arson Unit and the Youth Investigative Unit.

In 2022, Craig transitioned to the role of VPD Business Liaison, where he became the Co-Chair for the Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Task Force. In this role, he has coordinated national efforts to combat retail theft and has played a pivotal role in Vancouver’s Project Barcode, targeting violent chronic offenders.

In February 2024, Craig was promoted and is now the Sergeant for the VPD Operational Support Unit.

Dr. Lana Porter specializes in retail and branding research and has spearheaded the strategic research initiatives for some of the world’s leading brands. As a native Vancouverite, she brings her wealth of global expertise and insights to assist Canadian clients develop and optimize their strategic and tactical initiatives for local, national, and international markets.

Lana has had a front row seat in the theater of consumer behaviour around the world for over 25 years. She is a world-renowned hybrid researcher and has conducted more than 4,000 focus groups in 20 countries and 15 languages alongside thousands of quantitative surveys in North and South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Building on her Ph.D. in Experimental Social Psychology, her quantitative research expertise spans an array of business objectives, from consumer segmentation and brand positioning to advanced statistical analyses and applications.

Before joining Leger, Lana was the President of Lana Porter Group Inc., a full-service market research firm she led for 20 years. Under her leadership, the firm became known for its innovative and integrated qualitative-quantitative research methodologies, conducting studies on a local, national, and international scale.

As a Senior Vice President in the Consumer Insights Division at Leger, Lana continues to provide strategic insights to clients across various sectors, including restaurants, food & beverage manufacturers, grocery stores, apparel retailers, jewelry and accessories retailers, department stores, athletic footwear manufacturers, toys & games manufacturers, financial services, and many more. Whether she is speaking to industry professionals, corporate leaders, or academic audiences, Lana’s presentations are recognized for their clarity, depth, and practical relevance. Her presentation style is both dynamic and insightful, characterized by her ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights. She is known for her engaging storytelling, which not only captivates but also educates her audiences, ensuring that the information she presents is both accessible and impactful. Her ability to blend rigorous data analysis with real-world examples and narrative flair ensures that her insights resonate long after the presentation ends.

Andy is responsible for connecting the dots between TC’s design studio, digital teams and their print, structural and industrial production facilities, to grow the envelope of what’s possible in-store, while maximizing sales lift, customer engagement and ROI for both brands and retailers.  Andy’s previous roles in distribution and as a brand owner, working with supply chain, operations, finance, sales and marketing, gives him a unique, holistic lens to problem solving for current in-store challenges. 

An entrepreneur with an innovative mindset and over 30 years of e-commerce experience. Former CEO of Northern Alliance Limited in Hong Kong, with extensive knowledge in digital marketing.
Ivan is also a community advocate, co-founder of multiple nonprofit organizations in Canada, actively engaged in local community for social issues and dedicated himself to build a society with equality and fairness.

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.