SPARK Toronto 2025

SPARK Toronto 2025
April 30 @ 1:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Wednesday, April 30, 2025, from 1:30 PM to 7:00 PM EDT – This in-person paid leadership event is open to all who wish to register and has a limited number of participants.

Find inspiration. Leave with a new perspective. Spark impactful change.
SPARK Toronto 2025 is an exclusive, interactive event that connects business leaders with the global change makers who are driving 2S/LGBTQIA+ equity forward. Unlike traditional conferences, SPARK Toronto 2025 fosters intimate, impactful connections with individuals who are shaping the global workplace and human rights landscapes.
This is not a “sit and listen” event that could be replaced with a webinar. SPARK Toronto 2025 is a must-attend experience that brings together cutting-edge strategies, and actionable insights for businesses ready to elevate their approach to inclusion in Canada and globally.
This Year’s Theme: From Global to Local
As we have been seeing worldwide progress for 2S/LGBTQIA+ rights and inclusion over the past decades, we are now seeing a global backlash against Two-spirit, queer, and trans rights. This backlash has been global in reach with a number of countries recriminalizing LGBTQIA+ people, restricting access to gender-affirming care, banning drag as an artform, the banning of books and more. With international speakers this SPARK will focus on how we continue to promote 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion at home within this global context.
Event Objectives:
- Global Insights, Local Impact: Showcase strategies for workforce effectiveness by engaging directly with human rights advocates and business leaders from Canada, the USA, Mexico, the Netherlands and beyond.
- Connection & Collaboration: Create unique opportunities to interact face-to-face with changemakers like David Pollard (he/him), Co-Founder & Executive Director of the Workplace Pride Foundation, and other global leaders.
- Action-Oriented Learning: Provide actionable takeaways for Canadian companies to thrive in:
- Tougher markets where LGBTQIA+ rights are under threat.
- Emerging markets where opportunities are expanding with recent advancements like same-sex marriage legalization or decriminalization of homosexuality.
- Deepen Sponsorship Impact: Align sponsor brands with global 2SLGBTQIA+ progress while creating authentic connections with decision-makers in HR and workforce development.
GOLD SPONSOR
HOST SPONSOR & LOCATION

EY
EY Tower
100 Adelaide St W – 40th Floor
Toronto, ON M5H 0E2
Keynote Speaker:
David Pollard (he/him)
Executive Director, Workplace Pride Foundation
David Pollard is co-founder and Executive Director of the Workplace Pride Foundation. The Foundation represents the LGBTIQ+ networks of more than 130 prominent companies and organizations and strives for greater LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion internationally.
He has worked for 30+ years in the international corporate world, 20 of which have been dealing with LGBTIQ+ issues from an international Civil Society perspective. David is founder and former Global Chairman of ING’s LGBTIQ+ employee network and, in his 16 year career at ING, fulfilled a number of responsibilities including the creation and management of ING’s European Affairs Department.
David holds degrees in International Relations (BA, Political Science and Business, University of Oklahoma, USA) and in European Affairs (Masters: Diplome d’Etudes Europeén, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium). He lives in Amsterdam with his husband Michael.
Speakers:
Grandmother Kim Wheatley (she/her)
Anishinaabe Cultural Consultant
Traditional Anishinaabe Grandmother Kim Wheatley is Ojibway, Potawatomi and Caribbean in ancestry. She is a band member of Shawanaga First Nation located on the shores of Georgian Bay on Robinson Huron Treaty Territories and is Turtle Clan. She carries the Spirit name “Head or Leader of the Fireflower” and has worked for 3 decades with Indigenous and non-Indigenous Communities across Canada.
As a multi award winning speaker for over 3 decades Kim has appeared locally, nationally and internationally in books, magazines, television, radio and numerous news articles. She is a published author, hand drummer, singer, water walker, artist & ceremonial practitioner. Kim is committed to forging good relationships based on acts of reconciliation that honour the past, connect the present and contribute to the future.
Francisco Robledo (he/him)
Founder & managing partner – ADIL diversidad e inclusion laboral. Implementing partner for Human Rights Campaign Foundation in Mexico
Entrepreneur, consultant and strategist in workplace inclusion since 2010. Trainer and speaker with 15 years of work experience, with special focus and interest in LGBTQ+ people. Graduate in Information Systems from UNAM. He worked in companies such as 3M and Telefónica Movistar. He was part of the 2024 class of Stanford University’s LGBTQ Executive Leadership Program.
In 2014, he founded ADIL Diversity and Labor Inclusion, a consultancy firm to promote total inclusion and non-discrimination policies and procedures for all people in their workspaces. Strategist behind initiatives such as forums on good practices of workplace inclusion, national surveys on workplace discrimination, editorial projects to make executive leaders visible in favor of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Regarding LGBTQ+ matters, since 2016 it has implemented in Mexico the certification for companies HRC Equidad MX Best Places to Work LGBTQ+ Equality, from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which in its 2025 edition more than 300 companies participate and impacto more than 1.4 million workers. From 2011 to 2022, he served more than 1,000 same-gender couples in civil registry procedures since the approval of marriage equality in Mexico City, until it was legislated in all the states of the country.
More speakers will be announced closer to the event!
Agenda:
- 1:30pm – 2:45pm: Welcome and Opening Keynotes
- 2:45pm – 3:00pm: Networking Session / Break
- 3:00pm – 4:00pm: Regional Roundtable Discussions
- 4:00pm – 4:15pm: Networking Session / Break
- 4:15pm – 5:00pm: Key Reflections and Closing
- 5:00pm – 7:00pm: Networking Reception
What Makes SPARK Unique?
- Intimacy and Access: This is an event where you don’t just hear from the leaders—you meet them.
- Global Perspectives: SPARK Toronto 2025 provides the rare opportunity to engage with advocates and experts from Canada’s major trading partners (USA, Mexico and the EU) and beyond.
- Future-Focused: With a focus on actionable insights, attendees leave equipped to drive real change within their organizations.
Audience:
- C-suite and Senior Leaders
- DEI and HR Professionals
- 2SLGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group leaders
Registration and Pricing:
LIMITED SEATS – Purchase your tickets as soon as possible. Registrations will be open on Eventbrite soon, and the participation fees are:
Partner tickets: Senior leaders of Pride at Work Canada’s Proud Partners & Community Partners
- $345.00 (+ tax) – Early Bird Price (Until March 20th)
- $445.00 (+ tax) – Regular Price
General tickets: For senior leaders of other companies & organizations (non-partners)
- $545.00 (+ tax) – Early Bird Price (Until March 20th)
- $645.00 (+ tax) – Regular Price
On Eventbrite, participants will be asked to inform some personal & professional details, accessibility requests, food restrictions & allergies, and to rank the roundtable conversations. For any additional questions reach out to us at events@prideatwork.ca.