Keynote Speakers
Meet our Keynote Speakers who will be taking the stage March 4th & 5th.
Michelle Holliday
Melina Palmer
Melina Palmer is CEO of The Brainy Business, which helps companies around the world apply behavioral economics so customers buy and employees buy in. She has written three bestselling books and hosts The Brainy Business podcast, which has more than 1 million downloads in over 170 countries. A consultant and keynote speaker, she also teaches applied behavioral economics via the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab. She has been featured in many outlets, including The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc and Psychology Today and on stages from SXSW to TEDxPortland.
Learn more about Melina HERE.
Michelle Holliday is a visionary author, facilitator, consultant, and researcher. For more than two decades, she has supported pioneering, purpose-driven clients across a wide range of sectors, including tourism and agriculture, to enable the transition to more regenerative systems and structures. Michelle’s research and practical experience are brought together in her highly acclaimed book, The Age of Thrivability: Vital Perspectives and Practices for a Better World, as well as more than 100 articles on themes of thrivability and regeneration. Most recently, she is co-author of the paper, “A Regenerative Approach to Tourism in Canada,” commissioned by Destination Canada. After living in 19 cities, including Moscow, London, Paris, New York and a small tourist town in Scotland, she now lives in Montréal and works around the world.
Learn more about Michelle HERE.
Plenary Speakers
Meet our plenary speakers that you’ll hear from on March 4th & March 5th
Brock Dickinson
Emily Baillie
Emily Baillie is a digital marketing and AI trainer, speaker and professor.
She works with organizations across Canada to educate and inspire folks to navigate the ever-changing world of digital marketing and artificial intelligence. With over 15 years of experience in the digital marketing industry, she has worked with large and small organizations including Canadian Marketing Association, Resorts of Ontario, United Way and Destination Northern Ontario.
Emily is a “Top Artificial Intelligence Voice” on Linkedin. She advocates for a human-first approach to AI. She teaches at McMaster University.
Learn more about Emily HERE
Brock is one of North America’s leading economic development actors. He started his career with the United Nations, working on development projects in more than 30 countries before returning to Canada to lead economic development and tourism agencies in both Nova Scotia and Ontario.
In 2007, he founded MDB Insight (now part of Deloitte), where he worked with some 300 communities across North America to identify and pursue economic development, investment attraction, and job creation opportunities. In September of 2010, the company was named to Profit Magazine’s “Hot 50” list of Canada’s fastest growing young companies, and it eventually became the largest specialist economic development consulting firm in Canada. In 2017, he joined the University of Waterloo, serving as their Entrepreneur-in-Residence and later as the Director of the University’s Economic Development Program.
Today, Brock serves on the Board of Directors of Invest Ontario, as an Executive-in-Residence with Innovate Niagara, and advises a U.S.-based private sector investment group on the financing of economic development projects around the world.
A widely published writer and popular public speaker, Brock has a BA from the University of North Carolina and a Master’s degree in International Relations from Brock University, where his research focused on global economic development best practices. He has also studied at Queen’s University, the University of Waterloo, and the French-language Université Sainte-Anne.
