Betty-Ann Heggie

Advocate

Betty-Ann Heggie is a former senior vice president of PotashCorp (now Nutrien), the world’s largest fertilizer company. Since retiring from her corporate position, Betty-Ann has provided mentorship to women in business as a speaker, author, and philanthropist. She was named a Distinguished Speaker by The Canadian Mining Institute, given the Trailblazer Award from Women in Mining Canada, and named one of the 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining. Betty-Ann was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, the IR Magazine Awards Hall of Fame, and the Saskatchewan Business Hall of Fame. She was also given the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, the YWCA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the University of Saskatchewan Alumni Mentorship Award.

Michelle Brooks

Indigenous entrepreneur

Michelle is a First Nations woman from the Cowessess First Nation in Treaty 4. Today, she is the proud owner of two businesses focused on advancing Reconciliation and a board member in two organizations she is passionate about. After strategically building a strong personal brand and area of expertise, she is dedicated to creating Indigenous careers, entrepreneurship, and leadership opportunities in all levels of industry. In 2020, at the height of Covid, Michelle had some life changing moments that led her to make bold changes in her life. After doing a personal inventory, she realized that she already had what she needed to transform herself.

Trevo Tessier

Innovator

Trevor Tessier is a seasoned Healthcare Leader and AI product developer whose diverse background includes service in the Canadian Forces. This military experience helped shape his leadership style, resilience, and commitment to innovation. Building on these foundations, Trevor pursued rigorous academic work at Johns Hopkins and MIT and has over 10 years of healthcare leadership experience, where he honed his expertise in emerging technologies, population health, and strategic management. Throughout his career, Trevor has led cross-functional teams to streamline clinical workflows and optimize patient outcomes. His hands-on problem-solving and data-driven decision-making approach ensures that AI solutions integrate seamlessly into real-world healthcare environments.

Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, Ph.D., FCAHS, SOM

Professor of Psychology

Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, Ph.D., FCAHS, SOM, holds the Research Chair in Aging and Health and is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Regina. With a primary focus on pain in dementia, his work has emphasized the development/validation of observational pain assessment approaches, widely cited clinical consensus guidelines, knowledge translation (e.g., resources for patients, web-based training for clinicians), pain self-management, biopsychosocial model development, policy studies, and advanced technologies aimed to facilitate pain assessment in older adults.

Billie Groom

Solutionary

Dave Sauchyn

Climate Researcher

Dr. Dave Sauchyn is a Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Regina, a Professional Geoscientist, and Director of the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative. His research interests are variability in prairie hydroclimate over the past millennium and adaptation to minimize the adverse impacts of climate change. Dave has given more than 500 invited talks on these topics. He has led more than 50 research projects investigating climate variability and change in western Canada.

John Bailey

Innovator

John Bailey is transforming how food banks operate in Canada. As CEO of the Regina Food Bank since 2019, he has pioneered the nation's first full retail model food bank while expanding service by over 230%. Under his leadership, the organization has earned recognition as one of Canada's Top 100 Charities for three consecutive years and achieved prestigious Imagine Canada accreditation. A passionate innovator in the non-profit sector, John combines his MBA expertise with hands-on experience to revolutionize food security solutions. He has modernized supply chain operations, launched new products, and developed an operations innovation pipeline that has attracted record donations and community support.

Kaleb Dahlgren

Mental Wellness Advocate

Kaleb Dahlgren is a Canadian gem. He is an inspiring community leader, mental wellness advocate, and survivor. Kaleb has an inexplicable ability to connect with any audience as he invites them to revisit the challenges of his past and share the valuable lessons he has learned from them. From a young age, Kaleb has been forced to be resilient. His hockey career was threatened before it started with a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes at four years old. Yet Kaleb proved his doctors and coaches wrong by going on to play hockey at an elite level. During his career, he played for the Humboldt Broncos - a team that made national news when their bus collided with a transport truck.