Canada’s Tech Appeal – Making Canada #1 for Global Tech Talent
Rising Leaders Series event with Terry Stuart, John Ruffolo & Ian Collyer
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Registration is $25.00.
To register for this event, please click here.
Canada ranks #13 globally on the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness rankings and #24 for innovation. With global competition growing at unprecedented speed, it is imperative that Canadian policymakers thoughtfully assess our current policy mix for fostering innovation. So, is Canada falling behind in the global war for technology talent? If yes, what can be done to foster talent in our borders?
Join the C.D. Howe Institute for its annual Rising Leader Series featuring Terry Stuart, CIO, Deloitte, John Ruffolo, CEO, OMERS Ventures and Ian Collyer, Partner, Boyden Toronto as they unpack these pressing questions.
Terry Stuart, featured at TEDxUW for his talk The Marvel of Innovation: 7 Essential Superheroes, is a creative thinker with an idea every nanosecond. A meeting with Terry leaves people itching to jump out of the present and bounce into the future.
John Ruffolo, leads the venture arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s leading pension funds; in which he invests in early to late stage companies in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications sectors.
Ian Collyer, is a key member of Boyden’s technology practice, where he helps high-growth organizations build outstanding leadership teams as they look to rapidly scale their business.
Event Schedule
17:30 – 18:00 Cocktail Reception
18:00 – 18:20 Panel Presentation
18:20 – 19:00 Open Discussion
Photos from past Rising Leaders Series
Left to right: guests; Nitin Kawale, President, Enterprise Business Unit at Rogers and Arlene Dickinson, CEO of Venture Communications; Greg Taylor, Co-Founder of Steam Whistle Brewing; guest; John Stackhouse, Senior VP at RBC, Michael Hyatt, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Bluecat Networks and Ronald Dekker, Executive Sales and Business Development Leader at Cisco Systems Canada; and guests.
Terry Stuart, Chief Innovation Officer, Deloitte
When some of the world’s leading brands need to discuss innovation strategies or figure out how to get ready for disruption, Terry Stuart often gets the call. As Deloitte Canada’s Chief Innovation Officer, Terry’s job is to be a “constructive disruptor”, helping both the firm and clients thrive in a world where exponential change is in the driver’s seat and is not obeying the speed limit. A creative thinker with an idea every nanosecond, a meeting with Terry leaves people itching to jump out of the present and bounce into the future.
Animated and passionate, Terry speaks to audiences across the country and abroad. Terry is a master connector and finds value in meeting with everyone in the innovation ecosystem—he finds inspiration everywhere. Whether Terry is experimenting with his latest Kickstarter purchase, watching a TED video on his deck with his family or attending Singularity University’s Innovation Partnership Program in Silicon Valley, he leaves ready to take action and finds others who will join him on his journey.
The word innovation can sometimes be used in a cavalier way, but in Terry’s mind it matters. Canada’s productivity is on the line and innovation is what will propel the country forward to help future generations be successful.
John Ruffolo, Chief Executive Officer, OMERS Ventures
Mr. Ruffolo is the Chief Executive Officer of OMERS Ventures, the venture arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s leading pension funds. OMERS Ventures invests in early to late stage companies in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications sectors. In addition, he is also the Executive Managing Director with OMERS Platform Investments, the innovation investing arm of OMERS.
Mr. Ruffolo serves as a board member of both Hootsuite and D2L (Desire2Learn). He is the Chairman of OMERS Energy and serves on the Member Council of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). John is the co-founder and Vice-Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators. He also serves as a board member of OneEleven and Communitech, respectively, both leading innovation hubs in Canada. John is the Vice-Chair of the David Suzuki Foundation and is a board member of Canadians for Clean Prosperity and The Next Big Thing Foundation. He is a member of the Toronto chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization.
Prior to joining OMERS Ventures, Mr. Ruffolo was a Partner at Deloitte, as well as the Global Thought Leader, the Global Tax Leader and the Canadian Industry Leader for Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice. He was also a member of the firm’s Tax and TMT Global Leadership teams and a member of Deloitte’s Board of Directors.
A chartered accountant, Mr. Ruffolo was formerly a partner with Arthur Andersen LLP and has also spent time as an instructor for both the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and York University’s Schulich School of Business, from which he holds a Bachelor of Business Administration.
Ian Collyer, Partner, Boyden Toronto
Mr. Collyer is a key member of Boyden’s technology practice.
Throughout his two decades of experience, Ian has partnered with companies ranging from private equity and venture-backed start-ups to large multi-national organizations. His practice is focused on software, analytics, telecommunications, professional services and digital information services. Ian’s recent search work includes CEO, CTO, VP Data & Analytics, SVP Sales and Product Management searches for some of Canada’s fastest growing technology organizations. His expertise is in helping these high-growth organizations build outstanding leadership teams as they look to rapidly scale their business.
Ian joined Boyden from another global executive search firm, where he was a principal in their global industrial and technology practices. Previously, he led the recruiting function for Oracle Canada, where he was responsible for identifying and attracting top performers across sales, consulting, and engineering organizations in Canada and the United States.
Ian holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a post-graduate Diploma in business administration, both from Wilfrid Laurier University.
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