Michael “Pinball” Clemons

CFL legend Michael “Pinball” Clemons is an icon of sporting excellence, community leadership, and personal integrity. With boundless energy and moments of quiet introspection, he talks about teamwork and the potential each of us has to achieve anything we set our minds to. Good-natured and unabashedly emotional, he shows you how to put your heart into everything you do.

Michael “Pinball” Clemons is an icon of sporting excellence, community leadership and personal integrity. Considered one of the best athletes Canada has ever known, his real legacy may well lie with the thousands of people he has inspired, both on and off the field. Clemons stands only 5 feet 6 inches; he weighs 170 pounds. Despite this—because of this—he led a spectacular CFL career, obliterating records, and winning Grey Cups with the Toronto Argonauts, as both a player and their head coach. (When you win as a coach, he has said, it’s like winning 42 times at once.)

Clemons was also the Argos’ CEO, and is now their vice chair. Away from the game, Michael “Pinball” Clemons has an undying commitment to community—especially to youth—that is simply unparalleled. He lends his name and time to countless high-profile causes, including the Argos’ Stop the Violence campaign, which encourages the active participation of communities, schools and government in educating youth and curbing increasing gun violence.

Amber MacArthur

Amber Mac(Arthur) started her career in San Francisco and Boston during the dot-com boom in the late 1990s. As a strategist for Razorfish and Director of Marketing for an e-procurement software company, she spent four years in the technology start-up trenches.

Amber left the start-up world to join Microsoft to build one of the first female-focused lifestyle portals. In 2007, she started her own digital marketing agency. The company’s first client was world-renowned business coach Tony Robbins. Their client list also includes Microsoft, Intel, Shopify, Ford, Canada Goose, Fast Company, PayPal, Scotiabank, Yellow Pages, and many more leading organizations.

In 2010, she wrote the national bestselling business book Power Friending (Portfolio: New York).  In 2016, she co-wrote an Internet safety book called Outsmarting Your Kids Online (with security expert Michael Bazzell). Amber has keynoted more than 300 events around the world.  Topics include business innovation, Internet of things, online safety, artificial intelligence, the distraction economy, and what it takes for companies to adapt and grow.

She is a regular business host and expert for Fast Company, Shopify, CNN, Bloomberg TV, CBS, BNN, The Marilyn Denis Show, and SiriusXM Radio and has more than two million social media followers online.

“With few equals,” writes YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, “MacArthur continues to demonstrate a keen insight towards the continually evolving fabric of the social web.”

Pierre Cléroux

Pierre Cléroux was appointed Vice President, Research and Chief Economist at BDC in 2012. Cléroux leads a team of experts who analyze economic data to identify business and sector trends impacting Canadian entrepreneurs. A seasoned speaker, he regularly travels across the country to help business owners understand the risks and opportunities presented by the economic environment. Cléroux is also responsible for providing economic analysis and advice to the Bank’s senior management team, and supervises all marketing and industry research activities.

Over his 25-year career as an economist, he has held several influential positions that had a direct impact on entrepreneurs in Canada and abroad. Before joining BDC, Cléroux worked for the Government of Saudi Arabia as Vice President, Business Analysis in the National Industry Clusters Development Program. His role was to create program strategies, define sector policies and conduct financial and economic analyses of industrial projects.

Previously, Cléroux was the Quebec Assistant Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, responsible for the implementation of economic policies and programs to support small and medium-sized businesses and encourage entrepreneurship. He was also a strategic advisor for Montreal International, where he was responsible for attracting foreign investment from India and the Middle East, and developing international relationships and partnerships. He worked for 12 years at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in various roles, including economist and Quebec Vice President. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a master’s degree in Economics from Laval University, as well as an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Kirstine Stewart

Kirstine Stewart was the first woman to hold the position of Executive Vice-President of CBC’s English services—often called the most powerful job in Canadian broadcasting—and was the first Managing Director of Twitter Canada, leading Canadian operations as well as advertising business and partnerships. She went to NYC for Twitter and ran the social network’s North American media partnerships business before coming to her new role as Chief Strategy Officer at ​Diply.

She is an alumna of the Forum of Young Global Leaders, an integral part of the World Economic Forum. Kirstine has been named to the Maclean’s list of the most powerful Canadians (just two places behind Justin Trudeau), to Toronto Life’s list of the most influential Torontonians and to Canadian Business’s 2015 list of the top 50 most powerful business people in Canada. She is also a bestselling author of ​Our Turn: Time for a New Kind of Leader, a leadership manual for the new economy.

Paul Roman

A dedicated partner and results-driven executive, Paul Roman has spent more than a decade at American Express Canada as a trusted advisor to companies coast to coast, helping them solve their financial challenges, attract new customers, and grow their businesses.

As the Vice President & General Manager of Global Commercial Payments, Paul is responsible for the strategic direction, management and growth of a market-leading portfolio of business clients and prospects that spans the small business, middle market, and global multi-national segments.

Harley Finkelstein

Harley Finkelstein is an entrepreneur, lawyer, and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Shopify. He founded his first company at age 17 while a student at McGill. Harley completed his law degree as well as his MBA at the University of Ottawa, where he co-founded the JD/MBA Student Society and the Canadian MBA Oath. Harley is on the Board of the C100, is an Advisor to Felicis Ventures & Omers Ventures, and is one of the new “Dragons” on CBC’s Next Gen Den.

Harley was inducted into the Order of Ottawa in 2016, received the Canadian Angel Investor of the Year Award in 2017, and most recently was awarded Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award.

Ann Kaplan

Ann Kaplan is a multi-award winning Canadian businesswoman who holds an MBA, an MSc, a Corporate Governance Designation, and who is currently completing her PhD thesis and Doctor of Business Administration. In 1996, Ann was concerned about a government decision to cut back funding for medical procedures. From this, she founded Medicard, a company offering consumer loans for cosmetic procedures through service providers across Canada. Today, Medicard has evolved to become iFinance Canada, a multi-time PROFIT 500-winning Canadian leader in financing medical, dental and veterinary procedures with offices located across the country.

Ann has been the recipient of numerous awards for her business achievements, including the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award. To date, Ann has written four books, and has been featured in hundreds of publications, including two university textbook case studies on entrepreneurship. Ann is currently working on her fifth book.

Alyssa Kerbel

After working for a wholesale fashion sales agency for just under two years, Alyssa Kerbel left and opened her own fashion sales agency. For 12 years, Alyssa and her team represented Canadian, U.S. and international men’s and ladies’ fashion to better independent boutiques, chains and department stores across Ontario and the Maritimes. In 2008, after having her first child, Alyssa decided that she was yearning for something new, something that would be more creative and challenging in different ways. Noticing that there was an apparent lack in the market for good quality, simple, organic infant and kids basics, Alyssa drew upon her fashion industry knowledge and started the children’s apparel brand mini mioche.

Over the past 8 years, mini mioche has grown from a small collection of infant basics to a full range of basics and seasonal fashion collections for infants and kids newborn to age 8. The collection, which is organic and made locally in Toronto, is currently sold in the company’s two downtown Toronto brick & mortar stores, as well as across North America through the company's online shop. After running both businesses simultaneously for seven years, Alyssa sold her fashion agency business in December 2014 in order to focus her full attention on growing mini mioche. In 2016, Alyssa was featured on PROFIT’s W100 ranking of Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs.

Greg Habstritt

Greg Habstritt has been a life-long animal lover and entrepreneur, having been involved in starting and building more than 20 different ventures since his first venture at age 13. He’s been featured in a range of media including Inc. and the National Post, and his ventures have raised more than $1 million for a variety of philanthropic and charitable organizations. He is the President and Managing Partner of Vets To Go, Canada’s largest mobile veterinary service. Vets To Go was recently named Calgary’s Small Business of the Year, one of Alberta’s fastest growing companies and is on the PROFIT 500 list for the second time in 2017.

Mike Silagadze

Mike Silagadze is the CEO and co-founder of Top Hat, a veteran PROFIT 500 company. Under Silagadze’s leadership and vision, Top Hat has become the market leader in student engagement software, and is used by millions of students at three-quarters of the top 1,000 colleges and universities in North America. Silagadze is an active speaker and lecturer in the higher education, technology and startup communities, having appeared at the Rotman Commerce Entrepreneurship Organization, the ASU GSV Summit, MaRS, Tech Fest Toronto, SAAS North and TEDxLaurierUniversity, among others. Silagadze holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Rachel Mielke

Rachel Mielke is the CEO of Hillberg & Berk, a purpose-driven Canadian brand focused not only on designing, manufacturing and retailing attainable luxury jewellery, but also on empowering women around the world. With over 700% growth in the last five years, the company—a PROFIT 500 veteran—continues to build a culture dedicated to improving the lives of women, one sparkle at a time.

Matt McMillan, CPA, CA

Matt McMillan is a partner with Deloitte Private Tax, based in Edmonton, who has served privately owned enterprises and their shareholders since joining Deloitte in 2003. Prior to that, Matt worked in policy development, assessing the impact of various tax and economic initiatives on competitiveness and investment attraction. He brings a practical perspective to advising clients on their tax matters, including proactive measures to thrive in a changing and uncertain tax environment. More recently, Matt has led Deloitte’s market response related to the proposals, announced by the Minister of Finance in July, to significantly modify how private companies (and ultimately their shareholders) are taxed. He holds an undergraduate degree and masters of professional accounting from the University of Saskatchewan, and is a CPA, CA.

Debbie Fung

Debbie Fung is the co-founder of Yoga Tree Studios, Toronto’s premier yoga studio offering over 2,000 yoga classes a month. Since 2007, Yoga Tree has grown from being one studio located in Thornhill, Ont. to five locations across the Greater Toronto Area, including studios in Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Midtown and Downtown Toronto. Debbie is the recipient of 2016’s Canada's Next Top Entrepreneur Award presented by KPMG & Ivey School of Business and is a multiple-time award recipient for PROFIT’s W100 ranking of Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs. She has been active in the Toronto community promoting startups, female entrepreneurship and has been a guest speaker at Ivey School of Business, University of Waterloo and City of Toronto Small Business Forum. Debbie's growth journey is also featured in Stacey Kravetz's newest book She’s So Boss, and her studio has been listed on the PROFIT 500 for the second time in 2017.