Business Leadership Conference

About the 2022 Notre Dame Business Leadership Conference

Our 20th annual Business Leadership Conference is coming up on May 26th, 2022! It will be the first in-person conference since 2019. Please consider this as an official invitation to attend this year’s conference as a guest!

Each year, the Business Leadership students strive to create the best possible conference for all who attend. The Leadership Conference is a venue for students to realize their fullest potential and push themselves to see what they are truly capable of. This conference is completely student-run under the direction and guidance of Mr .Barbati and Mr. Reusch.  

This year’s Leadership Conference theme is “Dream: Believe, Explore, Achieve”. The goal is to inspire Notre Dame students and guests to dream big and strive to achieve their goals by having them listen to various interesting speakers coming from different backgrounds and life experiences.

Over the past 20 years, the conference has hosted some impressive Keynote speakers such as Hayley Wickenheiser, Kaleb Dahlgren (Humboldt Bronco Bus Crash Survivor), Clara Hughes, John Montgomery (The Amazing Race), Justin Trudeau, Paul Henderson, Michael “Pinball” Clemons, Craig Kielburger, Spencer West, and Sarah Blackwood (Walk off the Earth) and Lights. 

Our session speakers have included people such as Walter Gretzky, Nav Bhatia (Raptors Superfan), Ron McLean, Kia Nurse, John Tavares, Elly Gotz (Holocaust Survivor), Geronimo Henry (Residential School Survivor) and many more. Our Conference has become a notable annual event that several hundred students attend each year! 

This year’s Keynote Speaker is Isabelle Weidemann, Canadian Olympic Speedskater, winner of Gold, Silver, and Bronze at the 2022 Winter Olympics and Flag Bearer at the Closing Ceremonies this year! Other session speakers this year include Diana Matheson (Canadian Women’s Soccer Player), Kelly Samuel (Business owner), Rosemary Reid (Magician), Cheryl Pounder (Canadian Women’s Hockey Player), Dawn Hill (Residential School Survivor), amongst others. 

The day will begin with a breakfast, and then attendees will go into their individual speaker sessions where they will listen to two guest speakers. Following that all guests will proceed to the gymnasium to listen to our keynote speaker and then finally, have the chance to attend a Meet and Greet with the keynote speaker and some of the session speakers as well.

The session speakers of this year’s conference include:

Rosemary Reid – Magician & Hypnotist

Rosemary Reid is a professional magician and she became the “first solo woman performer to take the stage at Canada’s only one-day magic convention The Browser’s Bash”.

Cheryl Pounder – Canadian Hockey Player

Canadian women’s hockey player who competed in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics. She is a 2x Olympic gold medalist.

Kelly Samuel – Social media expert

Founder of Let’s Snack Toronto Social Media Agency, member of Forbes Agency Council, and Professor of Social Media at Fanshawe College.

Dawn Hill – Residential school survivor

Former residential school student of Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School in Brantford. Currently secretary of the Mohawk Village Memorial Park not-for-profit organization

Shelley Clarke – Intergenerational Residential school survivor

Her mother attended Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School. She is currently Board Director of the Mohawk Village Memorial Park.

Anastasia Bucsis – Canadian speedskater

Anastasia Bucsis is a retired Canadian speedskater. She competed at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics and is now a sportscaster for CBC.

Kwesi Millington – Mental Health Speaker

Former RCMP Police Officer, Resilience Expert, and Certified Wellness Coach. He helps people to overcome adversity, cope with stress, and build confidence.

Erin Ambrose – Canadian Hockey player

Canadian women’s ice hockey player with the PWHPA and the Canadian national team. She made her debut with the Canada women’s national ice hockey team at the 2014 4 Nations Cup.

The main goal of the Conference is to inspire students to realize their leadership capabilities and to recognize their ability to make a positive impact on the world. Our theme this year is “Dare to Dream.” We believe that it is more important than ever to encourage students to dream about their future to achieve the endless opportunities awaiting their discovery.

Tickets are $10 and include a breakfast, a chance to win door prizes, an opportunity to listen to and meet our inspiring speakers, and a loot bag. Tickets are available on cash online. Students must bring in a copy of their receipt to the shamrock at lunch to receive their ticket and choose their session speakers. This is a full-day event so students will be signed out.

Parents and guardians are more than welcome to attend the event; however, your student must pick up your ticket.

Robinson, BarbBusiness Leadership Conference