THRIVE 2025

Ann Divine’s education includes University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainable Leadership graduate. A Master’s in Human Resource Management, BA in Sociology with Honours, Post Graduate Diploma in Social Work from London UK. The Instructional Skills Workshop Certificate, and the Federation of Coaching Certificate. These are some her qualifications.

Ann is an accomplished businesswoman known and respected for her professionalism and willingness to support, coach, and mentor others. Her business provides extensive strategic guidance and influence in cultural and organizational change and social justice issues. Her work has impacted individuals, private and public sectors at national and international levels.

Prior to emigrating to Canada, in 2004, Ann held several senior leadership positions in government in London, UK, and in 2014, she retired as a leader from the government of Nova Scotia, to start her journey to entrepreneurship.

Ann is a strong advocate for women’s leadership, she founded the Black and Immigrant Women’s Network to elevate the voices of women of colour as well as striving to bring about change in her community and nationally by participating on various boards such as the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, the United Way Centraide Canada and the Team Work Cooperative to name a few.

Saylesh Wesley is a Two-Spirit educator and knowledge keeper who is of Coast Salish and Tsimshian decent. She currently works as an Indigenous Enhancement Teacher for the Chilliwack School District and also continues to present at a wide variety of events as it relates to her Two-Spirit and Indigenous teachings.

Chandran is the Founder and Managing Partner for Matrix360 and has built an advisory platform for talent management and workplace strategy in the Canadian real estate and development industry over two decades.

In 2021, he was invited to join and selected to participate in Forbes Leadership Council. As a strong advocate and champion for gender equity and inclusion, his company was an Advisory Partner for the UN GCNC Gender Equality Leadership that focused on creating a gender-based benchmark and measuring tool for Canadian corporate entities.

In 2018, he was instrumental in forming the CREED Council, an organization focused on diversity and equity in the real estate industry. In addition to sitting on the boards of several non-profit organizations that are focused on advancing diverse and underrepresented communities, Chandran is an advisor for many organizations that focus on transforming communities, workplaces and society.

Paul Taylor is a long-time activist, non-profit leader, educator and media commentator. He is also the Co-Managing Director of Evenings & Weekends Consulting. For the last several years, he has also taught in the areas of organizational leadership, people resources and fundraising at Simon Fraser University.

From 2017 to 2023, Paul served as the Executive Director of FoodShare Toronto, Canada’s largest food justice organization. At FoodShare his leadership was consistently recognized for inspiring adoption of equity-focused people policies and practices in organizations well beyond FoodShare.

Paul’s experience includes Executive Director roles at Gordon Neighbourhood House and the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House. He has also chaired the British Columbia Poverty Reduction Coalition, served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and as Vice-Chair of Food Secure Canada.

He has written several op-eds on leadership, the non-profit sector and various social issues. In 2020, Paul was named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40, one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential Torontonians and voted as Best Activist by Now Magazine readers.

When not at work, Paul is almost always found in the kitchen, on his bike, in a good book or at a local protest.

Kjeld Mizpah (KJ) Conyers-Steede is a dedicated leader and changemaker focused on empowering rural and isolated communities. As the founder and CEO of Future Civics, Kj specializes in fostering innovative collaborations that merge business startup ideologies with community-centric approaches. With over a decade of experience in public space programming, social innovation, and governance, Kj’s work is rooted in creating sustainable and resilient solutions for rural and coastal communities.

Kj’s journey includes notable roles such as Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships Director at Inspiring Communities, leadership on the Valley REN Board of Directors advancing agriculture technology, and extensive research into social financing and impact investing within rural contexts. Kj’s mission is to reshape how communities navigate transitions by focusing on governance innovation, economic development, and inclusive municipal frameworks.

Healy Thompson is the Senior Manager of Advocacy at the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF), where she leads the organization’s strategic work within international development and philanthropic communities to advance support for community-led organizations addressing the impacts of the HIV epidemic. Over the last 10 years, Healy has worked in a variety of positions at the SLF, including as the Senior Development Officer for Foundation Giving, as the Manager of Community Campaigns and Strategic Initiatives, and as the Manager of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. She is proud to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Dignity Network Canada. Healy is non-binary, autistic, queer, a former competitive athlete, a community-builder, a baker, and a pun lover. She lives in Waterloo, Ontario, with her partner and two kids.

When you purchase a ticket to attend THRIVE, you will get access to:

• Five group sessions featuring top Two-Spirit, queer, and trans leaders on topics like authenticity in leadership, the impact of inclusion and communication
• Opportunities to connect with your peers in five study group sessions
• An exclusive virtual speed networking event at the beginning of the program
• Access to the THRIVE Alumni LinkedIn Group to connect with previous, current, and future cohorts of THRIVE
• Access to Pride at Work Canada’s Member Webinars and Events during the course of the program

All of the programming at THRIVE will focus on making change within your current employment environment, whether that’s through being a better manager, employee volunteerism or working with an employee resource group (ERG)*. Attendees who have been in the workforce for at least five years, are currently working and have some responsibility around managing staff will likely get the most out of the program. If you don’t have a job right now or if you’re still in school, you are more than welcome. You just might not get as much immediate benefit from the speakers and content as other attendees.

If you’re a jobseeker, you may want to consider attending one of our upcoming ProPride events taking place from May to September. These events are free and open to the public. Maybe we’ll see you at THRIVE 2025 after you’ve landed that dream job!

* Please note we use Employee Resource Group as a catch all term which is inclusive of Business Resource Groups, Affinity Networks, and other similar employee led groups focused on equity-deserving groups.

Everyone is welcome at THRIVE! The goal of the event is to energize and enable Two-Spirit, queer, and trans talent. So most of the speakers will be 2SLGBTQIA+ and the content will focus on the experience of being 2SLGBTQIA+. All of the event learning outcomes are about how to succeed in the workplace as an out leader. If you don’t identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ but think you could get something out of that experience, we want you with us.

At Pride at Work Canada, we hear the same thing over and over from 2SLGBTQIA+ professionals: “Everyone at work expects me to be an expert on the community just because I’m insert identity here!” So don’t worry, we don’t expect you to come to THRIVE with encyclopedic knowledge of queer and trans communities. Hopefully you’ll learn more about the community from the conference content and your fellow attendees. We’ll share some Community Guidelines before the event to make sure you have positive interactions with other attendees, regardless of your experience.

If you want to brush up on your vocabulary, learn about the history of 2SLGBTQIA+ rights in Canada or just feel more prepared for the event, try completing some of Pride at Work Canada’s elearning courses in preparation for THRIVE.