Valérie Bécaert is the executive director of CIRAIG, the Interuniversity Research Centre for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services. She has held several positions within the centre since she joined in 2005, including research assistant and scientific coordinator, and assistant director of the FQRNT/FQRSC network. She has demonstrated her leadership and teambuilding skills and developed in-depth knowledge of academic research, specializing in contaminated site management and life cycle assessment. She holds a PhD in chemical engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Toby Heaps is president and editor of Corporate Knights Inc., and co-founder of Corporate Knights magazine, the world’s largest circulation magazine dedicated to clean capitalism. He has a decade of experience developing and rating companies’ clean capitalism performance, and he has been published in the Globe & Mail, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Toby holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from McGill University, and he spent a year in the Belgrade Field Program (LLB in Management Studies) with the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Bob Mann is the Chief Operating Officer at Sustainalytics, a leading global provider of environmental, social and governance research and analysis. Since joining the company in 2002, Bob has overseen that launch of the Jantzi Social Index (the company’s flagship product), led the development of a clean tech line of indices, and helped establish the Sustainability Services team, which has become one of the firm’s leading business lines. Bob has worked with Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, teaching corporate leaders about social responsibility performance rankings and ratings. He sits on the advisory committee for the University of Toronto’s Environmental Finance professional development program and on the board of directors of the Sustainability Network.

Chad Park is director of Programs and Strategy and a founding member of The Natural Step Canada. He has provided coaching advice for dozens of businesses and communities, serving as lead sustainability advisor to The Co-operators and working with Nike, Rio Tinto Alcan, Saskflax, the Halifax Regional Municipality and others. Prior to joining The Natural Step in 2002, Chad worked on sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiatives with Mountain Equipment Co-op, the Canadian Eco-Industrial Network and other companies and organizations. Chad is a former national president of AIESEC Canada. He holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management and Policy from the International Institute for Industrial Economics at Lund University in Sweden, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta.

Marlo Raynolds is senior advisor and past executive director (2003-2010) for the Pembina Institute, a non-profit environmental think-tank focused on energy and environmental issues. He is an adjunct assistant professor of sustainable development at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary. Marlo was recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40” for 2008. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta, a Bachelor of Science in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Management and Leadership for the Voluntary Sector from McGill University.

One of Canada’s leading environmental marketing, communications and events experts, Laurie has successfully expanded the scope of Green Living’s business offerings to include corporate consulting, marketing, custom publishing, branding, online content development and events. She is responsible for rebranding and publishing Green Living magazine and launching The Home Depot’s Eco Options, Canada’s largest-circulation custom publication. She sits on the boards of the Clean Water Foundation and Environmental Defence and is co-officer on the Key Publishers Company board. Laurie is part of a select group of Canadians who completed The Climate Project training program led by Nobel Laureate Al Gore, and is also a member of the Prince of Wales’ Corporate Leaders Group.

Lorraine Smith is a sustainability consultant who applies stakeholder engagement and life-cycle thinking to bring about positive social and environmental change within business. She’s worked with large retail and consumer products companies, anti-sweatshop activists, socially responsible investment experts and leading academics, and she sits on the advisory board of the Earthster Project, and is a strategic advisor to Fashion Takes Action, which promotes social and environmental responsibility in the fashion industry. Lorraine was previously a senior business analyst for Manulife Financial, manager of logistics for a New Zealand-based electronic engineering firm and supported fundraising and communications for World Wildlife Fund Canada. She is fluent in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison University.

A leading expert on quantifying and selling the business value of corporate sustainability strategies, Bob Willard has given hundreds of keynote presentations to corporate, government, university and NGO audiences. His three books, two DVDs, two spreadsheets, numerous webinars and extensive Master Slide Set provide capacity-building resources for champions of sustainability. Bob worked with IBM Canada for 34 years and currently serves on the advisory boards of The Natural Step Canada, Learning for a Sustainable Future, and Durham Sustain Ability; he is a member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals. Bob holds a PhD in sustainability from the University of Toronto.

As executive director of The Natural Step Canada, Kelly Hawke Baxter leads a team that has trained 25,000 sustainability practitioners and worked with 250 organizations, supporting hundreds of senior executives and community leaders to become sustainability role models and ambassadors at large. She was a founding board member of The Natural Step Canada and former Chair of the Board, and is currently vice-chair of The Natural Step International. Kelly is a member of the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, the Advisory Board of the Smart Growth Canada Network and the Distinguished Advisory Council of the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs. Kelly holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies and International Journalism.

Valérie Bécaert is the executive director of CIRAIG, the Interuniversity Research Centre for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services. She has held several positions within the centre since she joined in 2005, including research assistant and scientific coordinator, and assistant director of the FQRNT/FQRSC network. She has demonstrated her leadership and teambuilding skills and developed in-depth knowledge of academic research, specializing in contaminated site management and life cycle assessment. She holds a PhD in chemical engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal.

As director of research, North America at Sustainalytics, Heather Lang is responsible for managing the North American research analyst team and oversees product development and innovation for the company’s global platform and related research products. Prior to joining the company in 2004, Heather was a consultant in the non-profit and private sectors, focusing on corporate social responsibility and social justice. She is a board member of Canada’s Social Investment Organization, and is a steering committee member of the Social Investment Research Analyst Network and co-chair of its Sustainability Education and Company Engagement sub-committee. She holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University, a Master’s degree from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto.

Matt McCulloch is director of consulting services at the Pembina Institute and works closely with the consulting group’s programs. He specializes in renewable and clean energy technology deployment in Canada, resource sector innovation, climate strategies for business, life-cycle assessment and broader corporate responsibility and “triple-bottom-line” strategies. He led the development of the life-cycle value assessment, a cutting edge decision-making tool for the resource sector, and provides advice on developing progressive climate strategies, such as becoming carbon neutral. Matt joined the Pembina Institute in 1998, and has been a professional engineer since 2002. He holds a degree in applied science in engineering from Queen’s University.