Referred to as “the most famous astronaut since Neil Armstrong,” Colonel Chris Hadfield is a worldwide sensation whose video of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” — seen by over 75 million people online — was called “possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created,” by Bowie himself. Acclaimed for making outer space accessible to millions, and for infusing a sense of wonder into our collective consciousness not felt since humanity first walked on the Moon, Colonel Hadfield continues to bring the marvels of science and space travel to everyone he encounters.

In 1992, Colonel Hadfield was selected as a NASA Mission Specialist, and three years later he was aboard the Shuttle Atlantis, where he helped build the Mir space station. In 2001, on Shuttle Endeavour, Colonel Hadfield performed two spacewalks and, in 2013, he became Commander of the International Space Station for six months off the planet.

A heavily decorated astronaut, engineer, and pilot, Colonel Hadfield’s many awards include the Order of Canada, the Meritorious Service Cross, and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He was named the Top Test Pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy and was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.

Colonel Hadfield is the author of three internationally-bestselling books: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth; You Are Here; and his children’s book, The Darkest Dark. Additionally, he released his musical album, Space Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can, in 2015. He is also featured on Ted.com for his talk, “What I Learned from Going Blind in Space.”

Currently, Colonel Hadfield can be seen as the co-creator and host of the internationally acclaimed BBC series Astronauts, and he is co-hosting, with actor Will Smith, the National Geographic series One Strange Rock, directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Colonel Hadfield is also the producer of the celebrated Rare Earth series on YouTube, and the creator of the on-stage celebration Generator, which combines science, comedy, and music for sold-out audiences.
Additionally, Colonel Hadfield is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo.

Colonel Hadfield is a founding board member of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, which was launched in 2017.

Dr. Daniela O’Neill is Professor of Developmental Psychology and Director of the Children’s Communication Lab at the University of Waterloo. She is also Founder and Director of the University of Waterloo’s MASc Developmental and Communication Sciences graduate program.

Dr. O’Neill earned her Ph.D from Stanford University in 1993. She was a Visiting Researcher at the MRC Cognitive Development Unit in London, England from 1993 to 1995 before joining the University of Waterloo in 1995. She was a Visiting Scholar and Lecturer at Stanford from 2000 to 2001.

More recently, Dr. O’Neill served as the Assistant Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs at University of Waterloo from 2018 to 2020. Since 2018, she has served as a member of the Advisory Board of Planet Word Museum in Washington, DC. She is also currently an affiliate member of the UBC Language Sciences Institute.

Dr. O’Neill is the developer of the Language Use Inventory (LUI) tool, a standardized early language assessment tool used globally with over 20 translations underway, and founded its publisher, Knowledge in Development, Inc.

She is active in knowledge dissemination and community outreach with schools, libraries, community organizations, speech-language professionals and primary care providers to enhance children’s early language and literacy development. Dr. O’Neill has authored over 35 scientific publications on children’s early cognitive and social communicative development, for which she has previously received the President’s Excellence in Research Award (2021) from the University of Waterloo and Ontario Premier’s Excellence Award (2000). She has presented her research in over 100 talks nationally and internationally.

Dr. O’Neill joined the board of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation in 2022.

Deepak Kaura is a pediatric radiologist and Chief Medical Officer of 1QBit, a Vancouver-based quantum computing software company. Dr. Kaura leads the development of ground-breaking advanced artificial intelligence solutions in health and life sciences. As a leader in the industry, he has built enterprise partnerships for data, developing and clinically validating several machine learning products for radiology, one of which has Class 3 medical device approval from Health Canada. He is also the Vice-Chair of the CAN Health Network, an integrated demand-based marketplace designed to unlock the economic potential of the Canadian health care system. He served as a member of the Advisory Council on Deep Space Healthcare for the Canadian Space Agency from 2019-2021. He has recently joined Synthesis Health Partners as Chief Medical Officer where he leads product development strategy, the practice of medicine and strategic growth for the company.

Previously, Dr. Kaura was the Chair of the Board of Joule, a Canadian Medical Association subsidiary. He also spent five years in Qatar with the Sidra Medical and Research Center, most recently as the Executive Chairman of the Foundational Clinical Services Management Group, where he helped to set new standards in patient care for women and children and led ground-breaking work in the application of machine learning to health care. Dr. Kaura has also served several medical and scientific societies, including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as a Subspecialty Chair in Pediatric Radiology and has established a number of start-ups in the health care industry. He received his MBA from HEC Paris, FRCPC following training in Calgary, and his MD from the University of Manitoba. He has held faculty appointments as Associate Professor at Cornell University and the University of Calgary. Dr. Kaura has also published several academic papers and articles and holds two healthcare-related patents.

Ellis Jacob was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada’s largest motion picture exhibition company, Cineplex, in October 2005. His 31 years of leadership in the motion picture exhibition industry have transformed the movie-going experience for Canadians. Mr. Jacob is also an active philanthropist. He is a member of the Board of Directors at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics. At Baycrest, Mr. Jacob recently opened the Jacob Family Theatre and helped construct similar auditoriums at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital.

Mr. Jacob is a Director of Cineplex Inc., the Movie Theatre Association of Canada and the Toronto International Film Festival. He is the Chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO). Among his many accomplishments, Mr. Jacob was awarded the Most Innovative CEO award from Canadian Business magazine in 2013 and in 2014, Mr. Jacob was recognized as Waterstone Capital’s Most Admired CEO in the Enterprise Category. In 2010, Mr. Jacob was appointed to the Order of Canada for his contributions to the entertainment and movie exhibition industry, and for his voluntary and philanthropic endeavours.

Mr. Jacob joined the board of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation in 2018.

Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation Co-Founder and Co-Chair, Chairperson, Board of CPP Investments (CPPIB) and Director, Royal Bank of Canada. From 2003-2013, served as the Principal (President), McGill University — the first woman to hold this position; 1994-2002, Vice-President (Research and International Relations), University of Toronto.

Dr. Munroe-Blum is a member of the boards of numerous academic, scientific and community organizations serving as Chair of the Gairdner Foundation, Member, the Advisory Board of Stanford University’s Centre for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences (CASBS), the MUHC – McGill MI4 Initiative (microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases), the McGill – MNI Tanenbaum Open Science Institute (TOSI), and, Member, Selection Committee, LUI Che Woo Prize for World Civilisation.

Contributing over her career to the advancement of higher education, public policy, and, science and innovation for broad public benefit, she is the recipient of numerous national and international awards and honorary doctorates, an Officer of the Order of Canada, an Officer of the Order of Quebec, a ‘Grande Montréalaise’, and, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Dr. Munroe-Blum’s childhood enchantment with literature was nourished by her parents’ reverence for books and reading, and the enriched public library system which nourished her insatiable desire to read. This was matched with the generosity shown by the Toronto Public Library system, which annually declared amnesty on the family’s overdue books, easing their otherwise insurmountable library debts. The role reading has played in her life, and this early public benefit have contributed significantly to her desire to share the gift of literacy with all Canadian children.

Dr. Munroe-Blum serves as Co-Chair of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, which she co-founded with Heather Reisman in 2017, towards the goal that Canada’s children become the most literate children in the world.

Heather Reisman is the founder and CEO of Indigo, Canada’s largest book, lifestyle and specialty toy retailer, and co-founder of Kobo, a leading global eReading company. Ms. Reisman was born in Montreal and educated at McGill University.

For the first 16 years of her career Ms. Reisman was Managing Director of Paradigm Consulting, the strategy and change management firm she co-founded in 1979. Paradigm was the world’s first strategic change consultancy and pioneered many organizational change strategies still in use today.

Heather is a former Governor of McGill University and of the Toronto Stock Exchange. She has served on many North American boards and continues to serve as a Director on the board of Onex Corporation, and as an Officer of Mount Sinai Hospital.

In 2020, Ms. Reisman co-executive produced “The Social Dilemma.” This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations. Social Dilemma has found resonance around the world. In 2014, she co-executive produced the feature documentary “Fed-Up,” focussing on the role which the processed food industry is playing in the worldwide obesity crisis.

Ms. Reisman is the recipient of Honorary Doctorates from Ryerson University (2006), Wilfrid Laurier University (2009), Mount Allison University (2010), St. Francis Xavier University (2013), University of Manitoba (2016), McGill University (2017), and The Weizmann Institute of Science (2017), as well as several awards including The Order of Canada, The WXN Top 100 Most Powerful Women, Financial Times of London Top 50 Women in World Business, Waterloo Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, University of Waterloo; International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, University of Manitoba; and the John Molson School of Business Award of Distinction, Concordia University. In January 2015, Ms. Reisman received the Desautels Management Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Canadian business and society.

In May 2015, Ms. Reisman was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Ms. Reisman is married to Gerald Schwartz, Chair and CEO of Onex Corporation. She has four children and nine grandchildren.

As the former President of Rogers Sports & Media, Jordan Banks was responsible for the $2 billion business and approximately 4,000 employees across Canada from a variety of sports and media properties, consisting of 23 conventional and specialty TV channels including Sportsnet, 29 local TV stations, 56 radio stations, 3 OTT services, 2 podcast networks, The Shopping Channel, a multiplatform content studio, and data offerings.

With deep strategic insights in the digital space and global content experience, Banks was uniquely positioned to lead the next chapter of Rogers Sports & Media and its cross-channel consumer experience. A highly respected business leader, Banks was named one of Canada’s 50 Most Powerful Business People by Canadian Business magazine, one of the 25 Most Influential Innovators in Canada by Financial Post magazine, as well as being named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.

Prior to joining Rogers Sports & Media, Banks was the Managing Director of Facebook & Instagram Canada, leading all domestic commercial operations, while also serving for a period of time as Facebook’s Global Head of Vertical Strategy.

Banks’s previous roles include CEO at JumpTV, Managing Director of eBay Canada, and working as an executive at the National Hockey League Players’ Association in their international business and licensing group. Banks also practiced corporate law at Goodmans LLP, and was the co-founder of Thunder Road Capital where he provided investment and advisory services to tech companies.

Banks sits on the Board of Directors for SickKids Foundation, the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, and Cineplex Inc., and has spent the past two decades tirelessly raising money and awareness for Alzheimer’s research and care.

Konata Lake is Partner of Torys LLP. Across M&A, venture capital and private equity investments, Mr. Lake brings strategic thinking and deep knowledge to help businesses scale and investors realize their investment strategies in emerging and high-growth companies. As a member of Torys’ M&A Practice and the head of Torys’ Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Group, Mr. Lake regularly advises founders, investors and other strategic and financial parties in all aspects of investing and divestiture transactions, including shareholders arrangements, majority and minority equity investments, and joint ventures.

Mr. Lake serves on the board of Canadian Club Toronto, and is vice-chair of the board of governors of York University, and chair of the university’s HR & Governance Committee.

He is a recipient of the 2019 Lexpert Rising Stars—Canada’s Leading Lawyers Under 40 Award. Mr. Lake holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University and a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School.

With over 50 years in the publishing industry, Louise Dennys is an internationally renowned editor and publisher. After graduating from Oxford University at the age of 19, Ms. Dennys began her career by managing a bookshop in London, England before moving to Toronto in 1972, where she worked as an editorial assistant at independent publishing house Clarke, Irwin & Company.

Feeling inspired to spotlight writers that she felt were being overlooked, Ms. Dennys launched her own publishing house at the age of 25. Soon after, she went into partnership with independent publisher Lester, Orpen & Dennys, and helped turn it into an internationally renowned house. While there, Ms. Dennys created and launched the International Fiction List with the aim of bringing “the best of Canada to the world and the best of the world to Canada.”

In 1991, Ms. Dennys founded Knopf Canada, an editorially independent house within Random House of Canada. Under her tenure, Knopf Canada would go on to publish some of the finest writers in both Canada and the world. Over the next 31 years, Ms. Dennys served as an Executive Publisher and Executive Vice-President for Canada’s largest publisher throughout its various iterations, until stepping back from the role in late 2022. In her new role as Publisher Emerita, Ms. Dennys continues to serve as an ambassador and advocate for Penguin Random House Canada’s authors and works, both in Canada and abroad.

Ms. Dennys’ long and illustrious career extends beyond her work as a publisher: she is also known for being a “hands-on writer’s editor” for celebrated authors such as Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and Yann Martel. The Canadian Bookseller’s association has thrice voted her Editor of the Year — in 2000, 2001, and 2012, respectively.

She previously served as President of PEN Canada (1992-1993) and was a founding member of the Toronto International Festival of Authors. In 2004, Bishop’s University granted Ms. Dennys an Honorary Degree in Law. The following year, she received the Order of Canada for service to Canadian culture. In 2013, she was presented with an Ivy Award in recognition of her significant contributions to Canadian publishing.

Ms. Dennys joined the board of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation in June 2023.

Maryanne Wolf is Visiting Professor and Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at UCLA. She is the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain (14 translations; HarperCollins, 2007); Tales of Literacy for the 21st Century (Oxford University Press, 2016); and Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World (HarperCollins, 2018). Dr. Wolf is also the former John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, the Chapman University’s Presidential Fellow (2018-2020) and past Fellow (2014-2015) and Research Affiliate (2016-2017) at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

Her awards include highest honors from International Dyslexia Association (Geschwind and Orton awards) and Dyslexia Foundation (Einstein Prize); Distinguished Researcher of the Year for Learning Disabilities in Australia; Distinguished Teacher of the Year from state and national American Psychological Association; Fulbright Fellowship (Germany); and Columbus Award for Intellectual Innovation for co-founding Curious Learning: A Global Literacy Initiative, with deployments in Africa, India, Australia, and the rural United States. She is external advisor to the International Monetary Fund and other Boards, and a frequent speaker about global literacy at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. She has authored over 160 scientific publications; RAVE-O reading curriculum for dyslexia; and RAN/RAS tests of reading prediction with Martha Denckla.

Dr. Wolf joined the board of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation in 2018.

Peter Mansbridge is an award-winning journalist and author, a Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and a member of numerous boards and committees. He is best known for his five decades of work at the CBC where he was Chief Correspondent of CBC News and anchor of The National for thirty years. He has won dozens of awards for outstanding journalism, has thirteen honorary doctorates from universities in Canada and the United States, and received Canada’s highest civilian honour, the Order of Canada, in 2008.

Mr. Mansbridge joined the board of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation in 2018.