Sylvia Ng

CEO at ReturnBear

Sylvia Ng is the founder and CEO of ReturnBear, Canada’s first nationwide returns drop-off network, now expanding globally to offer direct-to-consumer brands Amazon-style instant refunds. With over 18 years in tech, including leadership roles at Shopify, Google, and eBay, Sylvia is on a mission to not only cut return costs but also reduce emissions—helping brands slash both by over 40%. Sylvia has been recognized with multiple accolades, including being named one of Canada’s Inspiring 50 Women in STEM, WeWorkingWomen’s CEO of the Year, DMZ’s Women of The Year, and Supply and Demand Chain's 2024 Women in Supply Chain. A cancer survivor and mom of two, Sylvia also launched Amidira, a brand supporting cancer patients and caregivers. She’s a passionate advocate for women in tech, a frequent speaker, and a champion of innovation that drives both growth and sustainability.

Roy Aubeelack

Head of Technology, Canada at Unilever

Steve Ballantyne

Founder at Station Cold Brew Coffee Co.

Steve is an entrepreneur based in Toronto, ON. His mission is to make the world better by building businesses that put people and planet first. He values 1. innovation as a means to benefit community, 2. community to help new businesses grow, and 3. new businesses to create a higher standard of operations by transforming wasteful to sustainable, competition to co-operation, obligation to passion. Steve founded 3 businesses and currently leading Station Cold Brew Coffee Co.

Marie Chevrier Schwartz

CEO in residence at TechTO, former Founder & CEO at Sampler

Marie Chevrier is the CEO of TechTO and a passionate advocate for founders and startups. As the former founder and CEO of Sampler, she led innovation in retail-tech, helping brands like L’Oreal and retailers like Kroger digitize product sampling. With over 4.5M consumers reached, Marie brings her experience in scaling startups to TechTO, aiming to elevate its impact within the Canadian tech ecosystem

Kelly Brawn

Director, Product Marketing at Roots

Kelly Brawn leads the product marketing team at Roots. With a decade of experience in brand strategy and communications for retail, Kelly has dedicated her focus to helping brands conduct market research and create go-to-market strategies for current and future initiatives. Before joining Roots, Kelly served as the VP Marketing at Sampler, an omnichannel digital sampling solution. There, she helped to develop and implement Sampler’s B2B2C brand voice through the creation and amplification of full-funnel customer journeys. She has played an integral role in helping win industry awards as well as secure press coverage from top publishers like TechCrunch and Ad Age. Prior to Sampler, Kelly led Marketing and Communications at luxury footwear brand TKEES.