Alastair MacFadden, M.A., B.Sc. – Assistant Deputy Minister, Saskatchewan Region, Prairies Economic Development Canada Alastair MacFadden is an Assistant Deputy Minister at Prairies Economic Development Canada, the federal agency that ensures businesses and workers are equipped for a durable inclusive and diversified economy. Previously, he was Director of Executive Education, interim Director of the University of Saskatchewan campus, and Executive-in-Residence …

Councillor – City of Humboldt Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Sarah pursued a career in neuroscience before discovering her passion for higher education. She worked at the University of Winnipeg and later at the University of Prince Edward Island, where she co-founded Young Voters, a non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing political literacy and youth engagement. In her time on Prince …

Verona Thibault is the Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatchewan Economic Development Alliance (SEDA), where she leads provincial efforts to strengthen community and regional economic resilience across Saskatchewan. In her role, she oversees strategic initiatives that support municipalities, Indigenous communities, regional alliances, and economic development practitioners through capacity building, investment readiness, and systems‑level collaboration. With deep experience in community economic …

Les Perreaux is the editor-in-chief of Policy Options, the commentary site of the Institute for Research on Public Policy. Policy Options is a non-partisan, digital publication based in Montreal that brings together leading voices from academia, government, journalism, civil society and industry to analyze pressing public policy issues in Canada. It publishes timely, accessible commentary that connects research to real-world …

Dr. Merelda Fiddler-Potter is a Cree and Métis scholar, journalist, and Associate Professor at the First Nations University of Canada. She teaches in Indigenous Journalism & Communication Arts and Indigenous Business & Public Administration. With nearly 20 years in media, including a career with CBC as a reporter, producer, and documentary filmmaker, she brings strong real-world storytelling into her academic …

As Senior Vice President, Policy, Theo leads the Council’s policy team and provides analysis and insights on a wide range of issues related to the economy and public policy. Theo has studied and written on global economic and political affairs for three decades. His journalism career began in the mid-1990s, where he reported on the developing economies of Eastern Europe …

Kyle Folk – CEO – Kyle grew up grain farming with his parents on their 4000-acre farm. In 2011 he founded an AgTech company called IntraGrain Technologies Inc. Kyle started IntraGrain from nothing and grew it to be one of the largest grain storage monitoring companies in the world before it was acquired in 2018 by a Canadian public company. …

When Eliza Doyle’s car broke down in Nashville in 2015, she found herself happily stuck in Music City. The venerable Saskatchewan banjo player and singer/songwriter had stopped in to see a festival and ended up enjoying an extended stay, playing in bars and meeting all manner of talented musicians. Having been on sabbatical to follow her muse anyway, it seemed …

Zita Cobb is a Canadian business leader and social entrepreneur who helped transformed her birthplace into a model for community-driven economic development. Born on Fogo Island, Newfoundland and Labrador in 1958, her family was forced to leave when the cod fishery collapsed. After studying business in Ottawa, she became CFO of JDS Uniphase, a global leader in fiber optics technology. …

Margot Cathcart Chief Executive Officer Rural Manitoba Economic Development Corporation (RMED) Margot Cathcart grew up in rural Manitoba, graduated from Brandon University, and after living in Japan and Winnipeg, returned to Brandon with her husband to raise their two sons. Describing herself as a “builder,” she has been involved from the ground up in product, business, and industry development. Her …