WATER IS LIFE

Barrie Laver is Managing Director, Head Venture Capital & Private Equity with Royal Bank of Canada and leads RBC Capital Partners, the bank’s VC & PE arm. Mr. Laver’s background is primarily in the venture capital industry both with RBC as well as having founded his own independent venture fund that focused on early stage technology investments. Mr. Laver has also served as CEO with companies in the technology, hospitality and manufacturing sectors and has experience on numerous private, public and not-for-profit boards.

Mr. Laver is a member of CPA Canada and the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Daniel has extensive experience in digital strategy, business architecture, and complex technology implementation projects. He is a trusted advisor to executives and managers looking to reinvent their business or create more value from their current operations. He works across the entire strategy to execution domains.

Daniel has broad industry experience and has spent a significant part of his recent career in agribusiness and agri-food both in Canada, US and New Zealand. More recently he has led digital strategy and digital transformation engagements for a global consumer food organization and large ag-retailing co-operative. He has experience in agribusiness operations, with technologies such as farm management information systems, precision farming technologies, eCommerce and agronomy applications. He is also experienced in helping agribusiness and agri-food enterprises in areas such as digital strategy, business architecture, data integration, innovation and cognitive applications, cloud infrastructure, and data governance

Helen Sheridan is Chief Human Resources Officer at STEMCELL Technologies, which is Canada’s largest life sciences company.  STEMCELL has a 30-year track record of year-over-year growth and has over 2,200 staff in 18 countries across the world.

STEMCELL Technologies provides high-quality cell culture media, cell separation technologies, instruments, accessory products, and educational resources to scientists around the world working on stem cells, immunology, cancer, regenerative medicine, and cellular therapy research.  STEMCELL is dedicated to improving lives through advanced knowledge and scientific discovery, through our commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion in STEM and the life sciences industry, and through our investments in sustainability, community, and social responsibility. Rooted in scientific expertise and rigor, we are a company of Scientists Helping Scientists, and we care deeply about making the world a better place.

Known for her ability to build vibrant organizational cultures capable of generating exceptional business results and growth, Helen is a creative, values-based, community-centered, environmentally active, and entrepreneurial leader.

She holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science and a Masters in Organizational Systems.  She has always been an active member of her community sitting on multiple Boards representing both environmental and social interests, including currently, Aqua Action and the British Columbia Technology Association.  Most recently she sat as an active member of Oceanwise’s Executive Comittee of the Board during a period of significant transition.  She is married to a renowned BC chef and has two sons.  Helen loves our British Columbia outdoors lifestyle and gets outside whenever she can as a hobby farmer, runner, hiker and sea-kayaker.

Kevin Chan is the Global Policy Campaign Strategies Director at Meta Platforms, where he is focusing on the future of the internet, including the metaverse, AR/VR/MR, and the creator economy. In this role he is responsible for Meta's $50 million XR Research and Programs Fund, and is Meta’s representative on the World Economic Forum’s Global Collaboration Village.

A former government executive and university administrator, Kevin launched Facebook’s Canadian public policy function and spent 7 years as its Head and then Director of Policy. His work fighting white nationalists made NOW Magazine’s 2019 Year In Review, and he was awarded a 2020-21 Harvard Technology and Democracy Fellowship for his leadership of Facebook’s Canadian Election Integrity Initiative.

Kevin graduated from Harvard Kennedy School, the Ivey Business School and the Royal Conservatory of Music. An Action Canada Fellow, he is the recipient of the Public Service Award of Excellence, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. In 2022, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

David has over twenty-five years of information technology and engineering experience across both the public and private sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology, and a Master of Science degree in Business Intelligence. He specializes in the intersection of business technology, data, and security. David is currently the owner and principal consultant of Center Mast Consulting; a business technology strategy firm which has helped some of the most recognizable brands in the world build innovative business capabilities through automation, artificial intelligence, and data analysis.

David resides in the Houston Texas metropolitan area and is an outdoorsman who joined AquaAction to protect freshwater in North America.