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Joanna Griffiths is the Founder and President of intimate apparel and activewear brands Knix, Kt by Knix and MNTD. Since launching the company in 2013, Joanna has been credited with helping invent the leakproof underwear category, which is considered the fastest growing segment within intimate hygiene and has changed the lives of millions of people around the world.

Over the past decade, Joanna has fought for representation in body diversity, paving the way for a needed shift towards inclusivity in the intimates category and in advertising more broadly. Reinforcing this ethos, the brand has always featured products on people of every size, and in 2o2o, Knix was the first lingerie brand to create an entire TV advertising campaign of women over 50. 

Joanna is a champion for female entrepreneurship, stressing the importance of supporting female-founded businesses and being vocal about the stereotypes that exist around women in business today. In 2021 Joanna made headlines for disqualifying any potential investors that questioned her ability to run a company and be a mother. Holding her ground worked, Joanna closed Knix’s $50M Series B financing just three days before giving birth to her twin daughters – on International Women’s Day no less.   

In 2022 Joanna broke the Canadian record for the largest publicly disclosed sale of a private company by a solo female founder when Swedish health and hygiene Giant Essity purchased 80% of Knix valuing the company at $400M USD. Always one to push for greater change when asked about the record Joanna shared she hopes it is a title she holds for a short period of time and can’t wait to cheer on whoever holds it next.  

A firm believer that it is every business’s responsibility to give back to the community, in 2022, Joanna launched the Knix Fund committing $1M in giving over the next three years. Each year the Knix employees vote on the fund’s focus and find partner organizations that are working in the community to effect change. The fund’s first mandate was a cause near and dear to the Knix team’s heart, Menstrual Equity. The next cohort for the Knix Fund will be a collaboration between Knix and Catalyst, to self-finance and produce female-forward documentaries that ignite conversation and inspire change. 



Joanna’s long list of accolades include Waterstone’s Most Admired CEO and Glossy’s 2024 Founder of the Year, an AdWeek Women Trailblazer and in 2023 was named Canada’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® and represented Canada for the Global title. Joanna holds an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD, sits on the board of the Toronto International Film Festival, holds multiple patents and released her first book “Life After Birth” via globally renowned publisher Rizzoli in 2021 and her first children’s book “Some Periods” in 2023.  

Joanna resides in Toronto where she lives with her husband, Dave and their three kids.  

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Ellie Austin is the editorial director of Most Powerful Women at Fortune, where she works across the magazine and conferences, interviewing the likes of former U.K. prime minister Theresa May, Lizzo, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Priscilla Chan. Before joining Fortune, Austin was an editor of live journalism at the Wall Street Journal, where she regularly interviewed CEOs and entertainment personalities live onstage. She was also a writer and editor at the Sunday Times Magazine in London, where she wrote magazine features and profiled the likes of Priyanka Chopra and Roger Federer for cover stories. Austin grew up in Jersey, Channel Islands, and graduated from Durham University, England, in modern languages. She lives in New York City.

Dr. Maryam Zeineddin, CCFP, FCFP is a family doctor, business owner and healthcare leader, known as a disruptor and change maker, with over 20 years of experience in longitudinal, community-based care. She is the co-founder and owner of Ambleside Medical Centre, a longitudinal family practice serving over 10,000 patients on the North Shore. Her interest lies in perimenopausal and midlife health, supported by extensive training beyond traditional medical education and a strong commitment to leadership in women’s health.

She is the founder of Zili CARE, a not-for-profit preventative health platform offering practical tools and insights to support women in caring for themselves and navigating the true essence of health and well-being in a demanding society.

Recognized for her role in one of the largest physician negotiations in British Columbia, Dr. Zeineddin helped advance the creation of a new payment model that embeds equity and values women’s health. She was nominated for the YCMA Awards in 2024 and awarded BC Business Woman of the Year (Change Maker) in 2025. 

As a mother of two teenage daughters and the eldest of three sisters in an immigrant Iranian family, her north star—both professionally and personally—is rooted in women’s health and gender equity.

Michelle Sutter is the Chief Executive Officer of One Girl Can and the Founder of the Opening Doors Foundation, where her work is focused on expanding access to education and mentorship for young women from underserved communities in Kenya. A long-time supporter of One Girl Can, Michelle brings a values-driven and purpose-rooted approach to her leadership.

Before stepping into the CEO role, Michelle was Vice President of Culture and Organizational Development at Fanatics, leading leadership development and employee experience while serving as the company’s internal executive coach. She previously spent two decades in shipboard and corporate leadership roles with Royal Caribbean Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Holland America Line.

Alongside her nonprofit work, she leads Michelle Sutter Coaching & Consulting, applying her expertise in organizational culture and leadership development to advise organizations and coach individual leaders to accelerate their growth and amplify their impact.

At WNORTH 2026, Michelle will share her personal story of pursuing her purpose and the transformational work of One Girl Can.

Sonia Sunger is a heart ventured-leader, proud-second generation Canadian, community builder, women’s advocate and broadcast journalist with two decades of experience in western Canadian. Sonia has been anchoring Global News Morning BC for nearly half of her career and uses her platform to shine a light on wellness, women’s empowerment and inclusion. She volunteers her time with several charities (BC Womens’ Health Foundation, Surrey Hospitals Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society & Canuck Place Children’s Hospice) and is a staunch advocate of women’s health equity. As a wife and mother to two young children, Sonia hopes to inspire others lead a life that is authentic to them.

Jennifer Heil is an Olympic champion, Guinness World Record holder and one of the most accomplished freestyle skiers in history. As the first person to win every major title in her sport, she set new global standards for performance, preparation and consistency.
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After more than a decade at the top of world sport, Heil turned her focus to building systems that enable sustained human performance. She co-founded B2ten, a pioneering performance organization that raised over $25 million in private investment to deliver integrated support – uniting world-class sport science, coaching and health experts for Canada’s top athletes. B2ten became a model for how targeted investment and coordinated expertise can transform elite outcomes.
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Heil also advanced national Safe Sport initiatives by helping design one of Canada’s first independent complaint-and-adjudication systems.
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Today, Heil is the CEO and co-founder of Revvel, a performance-tech company redefining how women – particularly those ages 40 to 55 – access elite expertise. Revvel democratizes the knowledge traditionally reserved for top athletes through its Expert Twin: a digital model built from the approaches of leading sport scientists and human-performance experts.
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By translating advanced performance practices into accessible, everyday support, Revvel is opening new opportunities to meet women’s health and performance needs and shaping a future where sustained energy, resilience and healthspan are within reach for more people.
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Heil’s leadership is recognized across sectors. She is a Stanford Graduate School of Business Leadership Award recipient, a Governor General’s Meritorious Service Cross honoree, and a three-time inductee into Canadian sports halls of fame. A sought-after speaker, she is known for connecting elite performance principles with innovation and scalable impact – helping audiences understand what it takes to push boundaries, build effective systems and unlock new levels of human potential.

Philanthropist and entrepreneur Taylor Hui founded the BeaYOUtiful Foundation at 17, offering free confidence and mental wellness programs for girls and non-binary youth. With a growing mentorship team of over 500 women volunteering their time, her initiatives have directly impacted over 6,100 young people across Canada. Alongside running the BeaYOUtiful Foundation, Taylor has worked extensively in the fashion industry 13+ years. In 2018 she founded The Roster, a women’s clothing brand that merges fashion with purpose. Every sale donates proceeds back to BeaYOUtiful — further championing resilience, leadership, and self-love.  

Maggie joined Beem in 2024 as Chief Growth Officer, where she is responsible for ensuring member and market insights are converted into omni-channel member experiences that drive sustained revenue growth, increasing member wallet share and new member acquisition.

Over the past two decades, Maggie has worked and led across all business lines in the financial services industry. Her career has included international banking experience where she held senior roles at RBC, as well as Westpac and BT Financial in Australia, before joining the Canadian credit union system in 2015, most recently as Chief Growth Officer for Conexus Credit Union, where she has helped innovate and modernize the member experience.

Maggie holds an MBA in Human Resource Management from the University of South Australia and has completed the Executive Program at Queen’s University.

She is also Vice-Chair of the Canadian Credit Union Association Board of Directors, a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Bankers, and holds a Financial Planning designation and a ICD.D director designation.

With over two decades of leadership in real estate development, Carla Guerrera has delivered more than $2 billion in transformative projects, earning her a reputation as a visionary developer and leader in sustainable urban development. As the Founder and CEO of Purpose Driven Development, Carla leads a trailblazing firm dedicated to mixed-use, mixed-income projects that prioritize people, planet, and profit. Working with First Nations, governments, non-profits, and developer/investors, she specializes in simplifying complexities, mitigating risks, and unlocking value to create communities where everyone can thrive. Carla’s specialized expertise lies in revitalization of large, challenging sites, including waterfronts. She is a leading authority in working with large and complex organizations to successfully navigate real estate development and delivery. Her track record includes globally recognized projects like the West Don Lands redevelopment in Toronto—an 80-acre former industrial site transformed into one of Canada’s first climate-positive neighborhoods, celebrated internationally for its innovation. Carla has also catalyzed and is delivering North America’s first housing for women, by women project, an $85m intergenerational housing development, the Soroptimist House. Carla also serves on the Board of Directors for the Thames Estuary Growth Board—the UK’s largest regenerative development initiative—and is also a Board Member of the BC Pavilion Corporation, providing strategic leadership with a global perspective. Her work has been recognized with local, national, and international accolades, highlighting her influence as a transformative leader in real estate development including being awarded the 2024 Business in Vancouver’s Top CEO’s in BC. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Carla’s love for the outdoors is boundless. Whether kayaking, hiking, cold ocean swims, or meditating by the water, she embraces nature as her sanctuary. A proud and devoted mom, she draws inspiration from her two children, Siena and Reece, who motivate her to approach life with passion and purpose. Driven, compassionate, and innovative, Carla Guerrera is not just shaping the future of real estate development—she’s redefining what it means to lead with vision and heart.

May Busch works with good people who want to advance to the next level and make the difference they’re meant to make in the world – without sacrificing their values in the process.

After her own 24-year rise to Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley Europe, she discovered the hidden shift that separates those who advance from those who plateau: it’s not enough to deliver excellent performance – you also need to make your potential visible to key decision-makers.

As founder of Career Mastery™, May has developed a practical framework that helps professionals accelerate their advancement while staying authentic. Her approach has guided hundreds of professionals toward promotions, leadership roles, and greater career satisfaction.

A Harvard College and Harvard Business School graduate, May serves as Senior Advisor for Leadership at Arizona State University and provides executive coaching globally. Her work proves that good people can finish first.

May is the #1 International Bestselling author of VISIBLE: How to Advance Your Career without Playing Politics, Selling Your Soul or Working Yourself into the Ground and Accelerate: 9 Capabilities to Achieve Success at Any Career Stage.

Everything May shares is what she wishes she’d had during her own journey.

Jen Murtagh is the co-founder of Maturn, an organization dedicated to supporting, developing, and retaining women at work as they navigate key life transitions, including fertility, maternity leave, motherhood, and peri/menopause. With over 20 years of experience in corporate and nonprofit sectors, Jen is a recognized leader, strategist, and advocate for gender equity, known for her heart-centered approach to leadership.

As a former C-suite executive, Jen has led national campaigns and raised millions for causes including anti-bullying, vulnerable youth, and women’s health and equity. She has been recognized as a Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 and a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade Women of Promise, and continues to be a dedicated voice for advancing women in leadership.

Beyond her work with Maturn, Jen is a heart disease survivor and a passionate advocate for women’s heart health. She uses her voice to raise awareness of the cardiovascular risks women face, sharing her personal journey in the media and on public platforms to inspire change. Committed to advancing women’s heart health in Canada, she has helped raise significant funds to support life-saving research and initiatives.

A trusted advisor in the business community, Jen serves on the BC Business Advisory Council, SPOKEN Advisory Council, the Heart & Stroke Gala Committee and Vancouver College Advancement Committee. A proud mother and stepmother to four children, Jen champions meaningful change, mentors women leaders, and advocates for more inclusive workplaces. You can connect with her on Instagram @jenmurtaghcoaching.

Herneet Dhillon is the Vice President of People and Culture (HR) at University Canada West (UCW). Under her strategic direction, UCW has experienced exponential workforce growth, mirroring its expanding international student population. She has been instrumental in aligning people strategy with institutional goals, championing diversity and inclusion by building a workforce representing 58 nationalities, and ensuring that faculty and staff reflect the global backgrounds of UCW’s students.

Herneet is a human resources leader with a demonstrated hitory of working in private equity and the education management industry. She has led the HR function through periods of rapid growth and complex change-management challenges. A graduate of the University of East London (UK), Dhillon began her career as an educator before transitioning into recruitment and private equity. Upon returning to Canada, she rejoined the education sector and went on to become a senior leader at UCW, where she has been a catalyst for progressive and people-centred change.

Herneet is a passionate advocate for mentorship and women’s empowerment. As a mentor with Young Women in Business (YWiB) at Simon Fraser University, she supports emerging female leaders in building confidence, navigating career pathways, and expanding their leadership potential. Her commitment to equity is reflected in UCW’s workforce, where over 60% of employees are women.

In recognition of her leadership and impact, Herneet was named one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Vancouver in 2024 and 2025, and in 2025 was also recognized as one of HRD: Canada’s Elite Top 25 Women in the HR Industry.

Aeryon Ashlie is a nutritionist, wellness expert, keynote speaker, and #1 bestselling author and the founder of Aeryon Wellness Supplements, a 100% women-owned Canadian brand redefining women’s health through science-backed, transparent innovation. With nearly two decades of experience, she has built a trusted platform spanning product innovation, national media, and a highly engaged digital community where she inspires women to lift heavier, age powerfully, and take ownership of their health. Aeryon is based in Vancouver, BC, where she lives with her daughter and their labradoodle—continuing to lead a movement rooted in strength, longevity, and unapologetic self-leadership.

Heather Ray is a transformation executive who believes the most powerful driver of business performance is people.

Her leadership philosophy is grounded in a simple idea: transformation doesn’t start with strategy — it starts with people.

As Chief Transformation & People Officer at Mark Anthony Group,  one of North America’s most successful private beverage companies, Heather leads the company’s enterprise-wide transformation and global People Operations, guiding leadership, culture, and capability for iconic brands including White Claw Hard Seltzer, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and Mission Hill Family Estate Winery.

With more than 20 years of leadership experience, including roles at PepsiCo and Mark Anthony Group, her work focuses on integrating the transformation agenda with the people agenda – helping organizations navigate complexity, evolve their cultures, and unlock growth.

Beyond her corporate leadership, Heather is a passionate advocate for community and human connection. She supports organizations such as InspireHealth Supportive Cancer Care, performs with the award-winning a cappella group Sweet Scarlet, and treasures time with her husband and two children.

Heather is also a champion for the advancement of women in leadership and speaks about leading through complexity, unlocking human potential, and building high-performing cultures where ambition and humanity coexist.