Our speakers

FWD50 features the world’s leading public servants, tech innovators and academics to share their knowledge and chart the course of digital government. Here’s who’s taking the stage at FWD50 2022—but stay tuned, we’ll be adding more speakers as we get closer to the event:

Marina Nitze

New Practice Lab Fellow, New America

Mike Bracken

Partner, Public Digital

Maria Patterson

EIR & Director of New Ventures, LG Nova
Former Fellow, White House Presidential Innovation Fellows

David McRaney

Science Journalist
Author

Irene Solaiman

Policy Director, Hugging Face

Navdeep Martin

Product Management Leader, Machine Learning Strategist

Sean Boots

Public Servant-in-Residence, Carleton University
Senior Policy Advisor, Canadian Digital Service

Julie Inman Grant

eSafety Commissioner, Australia

Amanda Renteria

CEO, Code for America

Ryan Hum

CIO & VP Data & Information Management, Canada Energy Regulator

Amanda Clarke

Associate Professor & Public Affairs Research Excellence Chair, Carleton University’s School of Public Policy & Administration

Piret Hirv

Manager, Estonian Connected Health Cluster

Katherine Benjamin

Deputy CTO, City of New York

Roy Nader

Manager, Engagement and Digital Culture, Digital Workplace Taskforce, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)

Honey Dacanay

Executive Director, Benefits Delivery Modernization, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)

Katy Lalonde

Director of Product, Ontario Digital Service

Siim Sikkut

Former CIO, Government of Estonia
Author, Digital Government Excellence: Lessons from Effective Digital Leaders

Dorothy Eng

Executive Director, Code for Canada

Dave McCann

President, IBM Canada
Managing Partner, IBM Consulting Canada

Vass Bednar

Executive Director, MPP in Digital Society Program and Adjunct Professor, Political Science, McMaster University

Jacky Tweedie

Digital Transformation Leader

Ryan Androsoff

CEO & Founder, Think Digital

Pia Andrews

Serial Public Sector Transformer

Jaimie Park

Service Designer, Button Inc.

Franco Amalfi

Head of Sustainability Strategy, Global Public Sector, Google Cloud

Emma Gawen

Partner, Public Digital

Michael Awe

Senior Program Lead, Office of the Corporate Chief Information Officer, Government Information Technology Ontario, Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery

Aneeta Bains

Managing Partner, Government of Canada, IBM Canada

Winter Fedyk

Associate, Think Digital

Gary Patsey

Manager, Office of Indigenous Initiatives, Innovation, Information and Technology, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)

Melanie Gilbert

Partner, Public Sector Canada, IBM

Nikhil Deshpande

Chief Digital Officer, State of Georgia

Lisa Carroll

Canadian Public Sector Leader, Microsoft

Ashley Evans

Senior Analyst, Digital Community Management Office, Office of the Information Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Blair Neufeld

Executive Director, Product, Digital Delivery and Innovation, Service Alberta

Daphnée Nostrome

Head, Digital Talent Strategy, Benefits Delivery Modernization, Service Canada

Dea De Jarisco

Director, Digital Talent Attraction & Development, Government of British Columbia, Digital Office - The Exchange Lab

Shahrouz Shahnavaz

Managing Director & Federal Advisory Lead, Accenture Microsoft Business Group (AMBG) Canada

Natasha Clarke

Associate Deputy Minister, Chief Digital Officer, Service Nova Scotia & Internal Services

Sanjeevan Srikrishnan

Head, Global Solutions Architecture, Equinix Canada

Kelly Acton

Assistant Deputy Minister of Policy & Performance, Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat

Lewis S. Eisen

Speaker, Consultant, Author

Maryam Haghighi

Director, Data Science, Bank of Canada

Gigi Chang

Senior Analyst, Digital Talent Strategy, Service Canada

Meghan Hellstern

Facilitator & Trainer, Think Digital
Senior Policy Advisor, CDS, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

James Duncan

Co-founder and Principal, Stance Global

Xiaopu Fung

Director, Product and Service Delivery, Benefit Delivery Modernization, Service Canada

Luke Simcoe

Communications Strategist

Mohammad Qureshi

Corporate Chief Information Officer & Associate Deputy Minister, Government Information Technology Ontario (GovTechON)

Shelby Switzer

Faculty Fellow, Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation

Jane Lu

Research and Policy Analyst, Benefits Delivery Modernization, Service Canada

Jordan Storozuk

Chief of Staff, Digital Experience and Client Data Workstream, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)

Lindsay Chan

Strategy & Policy Lead, Benefit Delivery Modernization, Service Canada

Kirsten Wyatt

Fellow, Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation

Aaron Snow

Acting Executive Director, Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation

Jen Schellinck

CEO, Sysabee

Alistair Croll

Co-founder & Chair, FWD50