Speakers & Panelists

MC

Brenda Irving is considered a pioneer in sports broadcasting. She helped pave the way for the wave of female sportscasters today covering male-dominated sports. Brenda was the first female rinkside reporter on Hockey Night in Canada and has also been the play-by-play voice for CBC at 10 Olympic Games. The 4-time Canadian Screen Award Nominee has been a sportscaster for more than 30 years. Maybe most importantly, Brenda is a hockey mom whose son played in the GTHL.

Kyle Dubas was named the 17th General Manager in the Club’s history on May 11, 2018 after originally joining the Leafs as Assistant General Manager in July of 2014.

In his role as Assistant General Manager, Dubas held multiple responsibilities including player personnel, managing the club’s player development department and farm system, managing the organizations Research & Development department, and overseeing the organization’s top prospects as General Manager of the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. In his four seasons as General Manager of the Marlies, the team compiled a record of 190-90-20-4 and captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL regular season champion in 2015-16 and 2017-18. In 2017-18, the Marlies reached 50 wins for the third time in team history (2007-08, 2015-16), set the League record for most road wins in a season (30) and earned the franchise’s first Calder Cup championship.

Before joining the Maple Leafs, Dubas served as General Manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons from 2011-12 to 2013-14. During his tenure, his teams finished with an overall record of 109-76-7-12, which included two post-season berths and a West Division title in 2013-14. From 2011 through 2014, the Greyhounds had 14 players drafted to the National Hockey League; second most of all OHL teams over that span.

Marlowe Stoudamire is from Detroit and is highly successful business strategist, which is one of the reasons he was hired by the NHL. His job is to make connections between the NHL teams and the culture of cities where they operate. He does way more than that, which you can see if you go to his bio. He will be at The Transition Game because he’s a guy who might just change the way you think.

Kimberly Davis is a trailblazer and change agent, positively disrupting the financial industry and wide world of sports over her illustrious 30+ year career. Well-regarded as a resilient and visionary leader, Davis brings change to life through sound strategic planning and strong organizational development. She is an inspirational storyteller, an architect of coalitions and a culture builder, with a style that empowers others and a belief that successful business contributes to healthy, vibrant communities.

Currently, as Executive Vice President of Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs at the National Hockey League, Davis has set the League on a new course to attract, retain and develop fans, with a specific focus on multi-cultural audiences. Reporting to Commissioner Gary Bettman, she is positively influencing and impacting the decisions of 32 NHL Club owners and executives relating to culture, youth participation and social impact, in an effort to improve access and availability of the sport and grow the League’s business for the long-term.

Dr. Stephen Norris is a leading performance consultant and sport scientist currently working with a select group of international organizations engaged in the performance of sport, business, and military objectives. Specific projects currently (or recently) involve; Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the Coaching Association of Canada, Golf Canada, the Professional Golfers Association of America (The PGA), LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, and several sport development & corporate speaking engagements worldwide.

Tom Farrey is executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, the mission of which is to convene leaders, facilitate dialogue and inspire solutions that help sport serve the public interest. The program’s signature initiative is Project Play, which since 2013 has mobilized hundreds of organizations to build healthy communities through sports.

A pioneering journalist, Tom worked for 21 years with ESPN. His reports helped build the reputation of the Outside the Lines and won two Emmys, a Murrow, and in 2014 a duPont – ESPN’s first. He is author of the influential book, Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children.

Dr. Marco Di Buono is the Associate Vice President of Programs & Operations at Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, where he oversees the planning, design and execution of programs intended to help children of all abilities in communities across Canada participate in sport and recreation.

Before joining Jumpstart, Dr. Di Buono spent three years as Vice President, Science, Research & Professional Education at the American Heart Association, where he was responsible for the Association’s $170 million research enterprise and oversaw the development of clinical practice guidelines and professional education resources.

Dr. Di Buono holds a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto and has a history of advocating for the health and well-being of children and youth.

Dr. Di Buono currently sits on the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. He is a very proud father to three kids who keep him active with an abundance of sport and play.

Two-time Canadian Olympic speed-skater. The only North American athlete to come out as being gay before the 2014 Olympics in Russia. Host of the CBC Sports podcast “Player’s Own Voice”. Anastasia Bucsis has spent a lifetime in sport and she knows what it feels like to be celebrated and to feel rejected. Read her story here. She will be a panelist at the Transition Game.

Paul Carson is the Vice President of Hockey Development and is now in his 18^th season with Hockey Canada. Prior to this, Paul served as the chairman of the Coaching Committee for 4 years.

Recent highlights include three terms as a board member with the Coaching Association of Canada. He also served as co-chair of the Development and Coaching Committees with the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Paul played key roles in the development of the Hockey Canada Skills Manuals and Skills Camps, the National Coach Mentorship Program, the Skills of Gold Technical DVD series, the Hockey Canada Skills Academy Program and was instrumental in the design and implementation of Hockey University, Hockey Canada’s online education programs for coaching, officiating and safety and the Hockey Canada Network.

Dr. Laura Misener is an Associate Professor and Director of the School of Kinesiology at Western University (London, Ontario). Her research focuses on how sport and events can be used as instruments of social change, with an emphasis how sport for persons with a disability can positively impact community accessibility and social inclusion. Her research program is interdisciplinary in nature and pushes the traditional boundaries of her field to emphasize the importance of critical scholarship for innovation. She also serves as a research and policy advisor to a number of sport organizations focused on broadening the role of sport in postive social outcomes.

Lali Toor BSc, MBA is the Founder & President of Apna Hockey, the very first South Asian based hockey network. With the help of his co-founder and former professional South Asian hockey player Dampy Brar, they have focused on establishing working relationships within the South Asian hockey community in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, and India. Connecting current and former prominent South Asian athletes via their social media outlets and website is their focus. Building a brand that is synonymous with elite South Asian hockey talent is Apna Hockey’s goal.

Steve Whitaker is an elementary school teacher with over 20 years’ experience teaching and coaching with the Toronto District School Board as well as local soccer and hockey clubs. Steve was the recipient of a 2018 TDSB Teaching Excellence Award and now specializes in Health and Physical Education at Baycrest Public School. He is also the founder and coordinator of the Sports, Wellness and Achievement Network (SWAN) in the community of Lawrence Heights. The SWAN initiative is a TDSB- supported project aimed at improving student wellbeing and overall achievement through sport and other wellness programs in underserved communities.

Wayne McNeil was Trustee and Vice-Chairman of the Rocky View School Division, volunteer President of the Sheldon Kennedy Foundation, which raised over $ 1.2 Million during the 1998 Cross-Canada Skate to increase awareness to prevent child abuse, served as Chairman of the Alberta Gymnastics Federation and was a founding Board Member of the Calgary Child Advocacy Centre. These volunteer roles, his commitment to child advocacy and his professional IT background lead Wayne to co-found Respect Group in 2004; Canada’s first, on-line, bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination prevention training program for sport organizations, schools and the workplace. Respect Group has certified over 1.3 M Canadians and is an accredited B Corp.

Moezine (Moe) Hasham is the Founder and Executive Director of Hockey 4 Youth, a grassroots charitable foundation. H4Y’s mission is to foster social inclusion for newcomer and high priority youth of all genders through hockey and our off-ice experiential learning program called T.E.A.C.H. (Technology, Entrepreneurship, Arts, Community giving, Healthy active living). Moezine has a background in Corporate Philanthropy, Community Outreach, Volunteer Management and Non-Profit Development. Moezine was born and raised in Vancouver and has been in Toronto since 2010 where he lives with his wife, Dr. Monika Amlani. He misses the Vancouver mountains, coast line and sushi and he remains a loyal Canucks fan!

Scott McCain is President of JSM Capital Corporation, a private investment holding corporation.

In 2014, Mr. McCain retired as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Agribusiness Group at Maple Leaf Foods Inc., a role he held since 1999. From 1995 to 1999, he was Executive Vice President at Maple Leaf Foods.

Prior to joining Maple Leaf Foods, Mr. McCain was Vice-President of Production, McCain Foods Limited in Canada. Mr. McCain joined McCain Foods in 1978 where he held progressively senior positions in manufacturing and operations.
Mr. McCain holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mount Allison University (1978).

He is a director of McCain Foods Group Inc., McCain Foods Limited, SeaFort Capital Inc., Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, Saint John Major Junior Hockey Club Limited and the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation Inc.