2026 MAVERIX
LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Thursday, October 1, 2026
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
TIFF Lightbox
350 King St W, 2nd Floor
Toronto ON, M5V 3X5
Please join us for the 2026 Maverix Leadership Summit, a premier gathering where industry visionaries and bold innovators unite to drive the next wave of global impact.
Schedule
8:00 AM
Registration and Breakfast
Breakfast will be available in LUMA restaurant.
9:00 AM
Welcome Remarks
9:10 AM
Building in Canada: Entrepreneur Spotlight & Fireside Chat
Speaker:
Mark Leonard, Founder & Former President – Constellation Software Inc.
Moderator:
John Ruffolo, Founder & Managing Partner – Maverix Private Equity
Few founders have built a great company as quietly as Mark Leonard. Over three decades, he turned Constellation Software into one of the most admired capital allocators in the world by acquiring and nurturing hundreds of vertical market software businesses. In this rare and candid 30-minute conversation, Mark sits down with John Ruffolo for a look at the thinking behind Constellation's approach: how he evaluates businesses, builds durable teams, and thinks about long-term value creation.
Mark Leonard, Founder & Former President – Constellation Software Inc.
Moderator:
John Ruffolo, Founder & Managing Partner – Maverix Private Equity
Few founders have built a great company as quietly as Mark Leonard. Over three decades, he turned Constellation Software into one of the most admired capital allocators in the world by acquiring and nurturing hundreds of vertical market software businesses. In this rare and candid 30-minute conversation, Mark sits down with John Ruffolo for a look at the thinking behind Constellation's approach: how he evaluates businesses, builds durable teams, and thinks about long-term value creation.
9:40 AM
The End of the Global Order: Capital in a Fractured World
Keynote speaker: Peter Zeihan
In a world defined by fragmentation, supply chain realignment, demographic decline, and rising geopolitical tension, Peter Zeihan will unpack the forces reshaping global trade, energy, manufacturing, and capital flows. This keynote will provide a clear-eyed view of where the world is heading and what it means for investors and business leaders navigating an era of structural change.
In a world defined by fragmentation, supply chain realignment, demographic decline, and rising geopolitical tension, Peter Zeihan will unpack the forces reshaping global trade, energy, manufacturing, and capital flows. This keynote will provide a clear-eyed view of where the world is heading and what it means for investors and business leaders navigating an era of structural change.
10:40 AM
Break
11:10 AM
Company Spotlight: Kode Labs
11:15 AM
Resilient by Design: Building Canada’s 21st-Century Sovereignty
Speakers:
Barry Appleton, Managing Partner – Appleton & Associates International Lawyers LP
Jessica Shadian, President & CEO – Arctic360
Justine Hendricks, President & CEO – Farm Credit Canada
Moderator:
Vass Bednar, Managing Director – The Canadian Shield Institute
How does Canada safeguard sovereignty without retreating from the world? This panel explores a vision of sovereignty as resilience — strengthening economic security, technology, and supply chains while collaborating with like-minded partners. A timely discussion on autonomy, openness, and how middle powers preserve freedom to act amid global disruption.
Barry Appleton, Managing Partner – Appleton & Associates International Lawyers LP
Jessica Shadian, President & CEO – Arctic360
Justine Hendricks, President & CEO – Farm Credit Canada
Moderator:
Vass Bednar, Managing Director – The Canadian Shield Institute
How does Canada safeguard sovereignty without retreating from the world? This panel explores a vision of sovereignty as resilience — strengthening economic security, technology, and supply chains while collaborating with like-minded partners. A timely discussion on autonomy, openness, and how middle powers preserve freedom to act amid global disruption.
12:05 PM
Company Spotlight: Raptor Maps
12:10 PM
Lunch
Lunch will be available in LUMA restaurant.
1:10 PM
Company Spotlight: Miovision
1:15 PM
Navigating AI Solutions in a World of Conflict
Speakers:
Joe Costello, CEO – Inpho
John Watson, Group President – Bell
Kurtis McBride, CEO – Miovision
Moderator:
Glenda Crisp, President & CEO – Vector Institute
Every AI product sits on a stack: applications built on models, models running on datacenters, datacenters built with chips. Canada has serious players at all three layers — but at each one, control sits somewhere else. This session puts one leader from each layer on stage to answer the same question: how do you build a world-class AI product while keeping control of it?
Joe Costello, CEO – Inpho
John Watson, Group President – Bell
Kurtis McBride, CEO – Miovision
Moderator:
Glenda Crisp, President & CEO – Vector Institute
Every AI product sits on a stack: applications built on models, models running on datacenters, datacenters built with chips. Canada has serious players at all three layers — but at each one, control sits somewhere else. This session puts one leader from each layer on stage to answer the same question: how do you build a world-class AI product while keeping control of it?
2:05 PM
Company Spotlight: Kepler
2:10 PM
Break
2:40 PM
Forging Global Champions: Entrepreneurs and the Opportunity in Defence and Dual Use
Speakers:
Eliot Pence, CEO & Founder – Dominion Dynamics
Mina Mitry, CEO & Co-Founder – Kepler Communications
General (Retired) Wayne Eyre
Moderator:
Hon. Erin O’Toole, President & Managing Director – ADIT North America
A new national mandate is clear: Canada's security and prosperity are now deeply intertwined with its technology sector. This directive calls for a new wave of Canadian innovation in sovereignty, critical minerals, space, dual-use, and defence tech. This session examines how this will transform our entrepreneurial defence sector into a primary engine for creating global technology leaders, and provides the framework for building the mission-critical champions that will define Canada's future.
Eliot Pence, CEO & Founder – Dominion Dynamics
Mina Mitry, CEO & Co-Founder – Kepler Communications
General (Retired) Wayne Eyre
Moderator:
Hon. Erin O’Toole, President & Managing Director – ADIT North America
A new national mandate is clear: Canada's security and prosperity are now deeply intertwined with its technology sector. This directive calls for a new wave of Canadian innovation in sovereignty, critical minerals, space, dual-use, and defence tech. This session examines how this will transform our entrepreneurial defence sector into a primary engine for creating global technology leaders, and provides the framework for building the mission-critical champions that will define Canada's future.
3:30 PM
Closing Remarks
3:35 PM
Happy Hour / Networking Cocktails
Reception will be held in the Founders Lounge.
Featured Speakers
Barry Appleton
Managing Partner
Appleton & Associates International Lawyers LP
Appleton & Associates International Lawyers LP
Prof. Barry Appleton is Co-Director of the Center for International Law at New York Law School and Managing Partner at Appleton & Associates. A leading authority in international trade and investment law, he has served as lead counsel in landmark investor-state arbitrations under ICSID and UNCITRAL. He advises governments, testifies before legislative bodies, and is Editor-in-Chief of Westlaw’s Investor-State Reports. He holds law degrees from Cambridge, Queen’s, and Toronto.
Eliot Pence
CEO & FoundeR
Dominion DynamicS
Dominion DynamicS
Eliot is CEO and Founder of Dominion Dynamics, a defence firm building sovereign capability in aerospace, autonomy, and command-and-control, and a board director of Xanadu, the world's leading quantum company. From 2018 to 2022, he led global growth at Anduril Industries, helping build one of America's most consequential defence technology companies. He later served as Chief Business Officer at Osmo and Cambium Biomaterials, translating frontier R&D into
real-world platforms.
real-world platforms.
Hon. Erin O'Toole
President & Managing Director
ADIT North America
ADIT North America
Erin O'Toole is President of ADIT North America and serves on the executive committee of ADIT Group in Paris. ADIT is a leading global business intelligence and diplomacy firm. Erin served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Minister during his decade in politics. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington and comments on geopolitical and economic issues in Canada. He also hosts the Blue Skies podcast.
Glenda Crisp
President & CEO
Vector Institute
Vector Institute
Glenda Crisp is President and CEO of the Vector Institute, bringing over 35 years of experience as a data and technology leader. Previously Head of Data and Analytics at Thomson Reuters and Executive, Enterprise Data and Architecture at National Australia Bank, she has shaped enterprise strategy across the financial services industry. Named a top 100 Global CDO in 2022 and 2023, Glenda also serves as an independent board member for OCAD University and The Globe and Mail.
Jessica Shadian
PRESIDENT & CEO
ARCTIC360
ARCTIC360
Dr. Jessica M. Shadian is President and CEO of Arctic360, Canada’s Arctic think tank. She gained international recognition as an academic working across the Nordic and North American Arctic after completing her Ph.D. in IR at the University of Delaware and research at Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute. Over the past decade her analysis of Arctic geopolitics, infrastructure, critical minerals and innovation has been sought by Canadian and EU governments, institutions, industry and media.
Joe Costello
CEO
INPHO
INPHO
Joe Costello is CEO of Inpho, a Canadian leader in photonic chip technology powering next-generation data center connectivity. Lead investor in Inpho's 2020 seed round, he became CEO in 2023, growing the team from 8 to 60 experts and launching first products in 2025. Previously, he was founding CEO of Cadence Design Systems, named Top CEO in North America by Chief Executive Magazine in 1997. He holds graduate degrees in physics from Yale and UC Berkeley.
John Ruffolo
FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER
MAVERIX PRIVATE EQUITY
MAVERIX PRIVATE EQUITY
John Ruffolo is Founder and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, investing in technology-enabled growth across Smart Cities and Smart Enterprises. He chairs the Investment Committee and leads sourcing and strategy across the technology sector. John previously founded OMERS Ventures and co-founded the Council of Canadian Innovators with Jim Balsillie. He serves on several boards, including Kepler Communications, KODE Labs, Raptor Maps, and Viral Nation.
John Watson
GROUP PRESIDENT
BELL
BELL
John Watson has spent nearly three decades in Canadian telecommunications. He has served as Group President at Bell since 2010, and previously held leadership roles at TELUS as President and at Clearnet Communications as Executive Vice President. Since 2021, he has also served as a board member of Sanctuary AI. John holds a BBA and MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University.
Justine Hendricks
PRESIDENT & CEO
FARM CREDIT CANADA
FARM CREDIT CANADA
Justine is President and CEO of FCC, bringing 17 years at Export Development Canada and 7 years at RBC. A dynamic leader, she has driven organizational transformations, championed innovative financial products, and supported Canadian businesses across agriculture, agri-food, and beyond. As EDC's first Chief Sustainability Officer, she aligned corporate strategy with environmental and human rights principles. She holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa and serves on its Board of Governors.
Kurtis McBride
CEO
MIOVISION
MIOVISION
Understanding traffic is fundamental to managing the evolution of our cities. When Kurtis McBride looked at how cities measured traffic, he saw methods that hadn't changed in decades. He co-founded Miovision in 2005, a fast-growing Kitchener company using computer vision, AI and advanced modeling to help cities manage traffic more efficiently and safely. Kurtis holds a Bachelor's (2004) and Master's (2007) in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo.
Mark Leonard
founder & former president
constellation software
constellation software
Mark Leonard founded CSI in 1995. Prior to founding CSI, he worked in the venture capital business for eleven years. Mark Leonard holds a BSc. from the University of Guelph, and an MBA. from the University of Western Ontario.
Mina Mitry
CEO & CO-FOUNDER
KEPLER COMMUNICATIONS
KEPLER COMMUNICATIONS
Mina leads Kepler with a vision to extend the human reach into space by building a modern Internet infrastructure on-orbit for the future space economy. Under Mina's leadership, Kepler has raised over $200 million USD in funding and achieved notable industry recognition as the largest satellite operator in Canada, one of the most innovative companies in space by Fast Company, and 'Top 10 in Satellite' by Via Satellite in 2023.
Peter Zeihan
Founder
Zeihan on Geopolitics
Zeihan on Geopolitics
Peter Zeihan is a globally recognized leader in geopolitical strategy, combining expertise in demography, economics, energy, politics, technology and security to help clients prepare for an uncertain future. His latest New York Times bestseller, The End of the World is Just the Beginning, has been endorsed by Mitt Romney, Fareed Zakaria and Ian Bremmer. Founder of Zeihan on Geopolitics, Peter advises energy majors, financial institutions, universities and the U.S. military.
Vass Bednar
MANAGING DIRECTOR
THE CANADIAN SHIELD INSTITUTE
THE CANADIAN SHIELD INSTITUTE
Vass Bednar is the Managing Director of the Canadian SHIELD Institute and co-author of The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians. She contributes a monthly column to The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business and occasionally writes for the Walrus Magazine.
General (Retired) Wayne Eyre
General Eyre retired in 2024 as Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff. Starting as an infantry officer, he rose over a 40-year career to command at all levels, including the Canadian Army. He led numerous domestic operations in Canada and served on missions overseas in Cyprus, Croatia, Bosnia, Afghanistan (twice), and South Korea. He holds a BSc. and three master’s degrees. Since retirement, he has been writing, teaching, speaking, and advising.
Location
TIFF Lightbox
350 King St W, 2nd Floor, Toronto ON, M5V 3X5
350 King St W, 2nd Floor, Toronto ON, M5V 3X5
Parking
Paid parking, Reitman Square Parking, is available underneath TIFF Lightbox. Please note that P2 is not available from the elevator, it must be accessed from P1 or P3, then walk up/down the ramp.
Paid parking, Reitman Square Parking, is available underneath TIFF Lightbox. Please note that P2 is not available from the elevator, it must be accessed from P1 or P3, then walk up/down the ramp.
2025 Key Takeaways
This graphic recording captures the key takeaways and real-time discussions from our 2025 conference in a single, comprehensive visual summary.
Click on the sketch for a larger view.
Click on the sketch for a larger view.