Speaker Spotlight

Keynote Speaker

Tareq Hadhad

Founder & CEO of Peace By Chocolate

RESILIENCY THROUGH ADVERSITY

The audience will join Tareq on an emotional journey from Syria to Canada with heartbreaking and perspective shaping stops along the way. From sunny days in Syria where the scent of roses filled the air to the beginning of conflict and war.

Listen as Tareq shares the fear and confusion that came when violence and danger begin to slowly surround his family. Understand what it is really like to spend days hiding in your basement, praying for safety and food and medicine.

Learn how a family made the decision to leave everything behind in search of safety outside of their homeland only to find more uncertainty and desperation as refugees in Lebanon.

Witness the life changing impact of being granted a family ticket to Canada and watch as that country's Prime Minister singles out the Hadhad family and their community for its perseverance and kindness.

Resiliency Through Adversity is an emotional rollercoaster for any audience, one that leaves them feeling inspired and resolved to make their own impact on the world.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Since Tareq Hadhad’s arrival on Canada’s East Coast in 2015 as a Syrian – Canadian newcomer, he has been invited to speak to countless audiences across Canada and internationally. He has had the privilege to meet former President of the United States, Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Ministers, and has had conversations with many World Leaders. 

In January 2020, Tareq received his official Canadian Citizenship which garnered international attention and he can’t wait to collect more stamps in his passport.

His family’s journey has been detailed in a book called Peace by Chocolate as well as a feature film which is now streaming online worldwide after it premiered in movie theatres across Canada and the US on in the spring of 2022.

Business Program Speaker

Dr. Karl Moore

Associate Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

Associate Fellow, Green Templeton College, Oxford University

Those who attended the 2019 Canada Conference in Quebec will remember Dr. Karl Moore.  He led both the plenary session and one of the concurrent sessions.  His message is still resonating with delegates and we’re excited to have him back at the 2024 Canada Conference in Halifax.

Dr. Moore’s most recent book  – “Generation Why: How Boomers Can Lead and Learn from Millennials and Gen Z” - explores the changing dynamics in the workplace and the impact these dynamics have on leading and learning from the five generations currently trying to find balance in the new business environment.

Dr. Moore is also working on another new release – “Introverts/Ambiverts/Extroverts As Leaders”.  The  notions of introverted and extroverted behaviour are well understood, but there is increasing evidence that some people are ambiverts – capable of displaying both tendencies at different times.   Leaders can learn to act like ambiverts by identifying their natural tendencies and practising behaviours that are more associated with the opposing type.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

After completing his MBA at the University of Southern California and Ph.D. at the Schulich School, York University, Karl worked for eleven years in sales and marketing management positions in the high technology industry with IBM and Hitachi. 

He has taught extensively in executive education programs including at Oxford, Cambridge, Duke, LBS, RSM, Queens, McGill, IIM Bangalore, Renmin (Beijing), and Darden. An active consultant Dr. Moore has worked with Air Canada, BA, Nokia, IBM, Volvo, HP, Motorola, Accenture, Morgan Stanley and other firms.  

He has taught courses on Leadership, Strategy, Being a New Manager, Being a Change Leader and New Approaches to Product Management.

He is recognized as a world expert on strategy and leadership. For over two years he has blogged for Forbes and for six years he had done a weekly interview for the Globe and Mail where he interviews leading CEOs one week and the other week the top business professors in leadership and strategy and the world’s best universities.