Managing director and founder of Kunnskapskompaniet. The company researches, disseminates and advises on the establishment of innovation districts and knowledge cities, and has operations in Oslo and Trondheim. MSc from NTNU and master's degree establishment of innovation district and project management. Good knowledge of international and national practice and theory in urban development, organizational development and network development.

Jeff Lehman is the 46th Mayor of the City of Barrie, having been re-elected to a third term in 2018 with 91% of the popular vote. Mayor Lehman is the current Chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus, representing Ontario’s 29 largest cities. Mayor Lehman is also a founding director of Alectra, the second largest community-owned utility in North America, serving more than a million customers in southern Ontario.

He holds a B.A. from Queen’s University, and a Master’s Degree with first class honours from the UK’s London School of Economics. As an economist, he writes and speaks frequently on issues affecting Canada’s cities. In 2019, the prestigious US business magazine Fast Company named Lehman one of its top 100 Most Creative People in Business for his innovative solutions in government. Mayor Lehman is a passionate believer in transforming urban economies through public and private entrepreneurship.

Amanda McDougall was first elected to the Cape Breton Regional Council in 2016 serving as Councillor for District 8 and most recently elected to serve as Mayor of the CBRM in 2020. 

As Councillor for District 8 Amanda has proven to be a strong and community-minded leader. With a moral compass to make the right decisions and ask tough questions Amanda has the character and courage needed to lead the CBRM towards a prosperous and sustainable future. 

Although Amanda holds a Bachelor in Political Science Degree from Cape Breton University, it was her years of volunteer work with organizations such as the Main-a-Dieu Community Development Association, Cape Breton C@P Society, Lumiere, Cape Breton Community Housing Association and more, that sparked her passion to lead change within the CBRM. 

As a CBRM Councillor, the Executive Director of ACAP Cape Breton and a past Program Coordinator at Coastal Discovery Centre, Amanda has helped move our communities forward and is well-aware of the incredible potential our community holds. 

Amanda resides in Glace Bay with her partner and growing family, but can be found along the shores of Main-a-Dieu throughout the summer.

Kari Nessa Nordtun was elected Mayor of Stavanger on 21th October 2019. She represents the Labour Party, and is now serving her first four-year term as Stavangers’s 53rd mayor.

Prior to her election as mayor, Nordtun served for 8 years in Stavanger Municipal Council. She has been a member of the Municipal Executive Presidency since 2013 and a Municipal Executive Board member since 2015.

Mayor Nordtun is comitted to fighting inequality, and works to improve the lives of her fellow Stavanger residents of all backgrounds and neighbourhoods. As head of Norway’s energy capital she is dedicated to the further development of the oil, gas and growing renewables sector, and is a strong voice for new technology, climate issues and green urban develoment.

Nordtun has a law degree from the University of Bergen, and during her time in university she worked with pro bono legal advice. She also studied European law in Brussels.

She began her law practice at Sjødin Meling & Co, where she represented families of victims of the 22th July terror attack at Utøya. Later she went on to work for Elden Law Firm, and is currently on leave from Elden to work as a full-time politician.

Mayor Nordtun lives in Stavanger with her husband and two children, and is a life-long supporter of Stavanger’s home team and winner of the 2019 Norwegian Football Cup, Viking.

Dr. Wyper has a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Midwifery from Laurentian University, a Bachelor of Education from Trent University, a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Community Development from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Adult Education and Community Development with a specialization in Comparative, International and Development Education from OISE, at the University of Toronto. Dr. Wyper has worked in community development for more than twenty years and is currently Chair of the Department of Community Economic and Social Development at Algoma University. She teaches courses on Environment and Community Resilience, Sustainable Community Development, and Community Advocacy and Social Justice, among others. She is a long time food activist, a board member for Slow Food in Canada, and sits on Slow Food International's activist-educators working group.

Dr. Axumite Gebre-Egziabher holds a Doctorate (PhD) in Development Planning, from the DPU, UCL, University of London, U.K. She is currently involved in the private sector and is a Board Member and Senior Adviser of different International NGOs. She has also served as a Jury Member of prominent International Awards including the Sustainability Programme of Coca-Cola Euro-Asia and Africa.

 Dr. Axumite Gebre-Egziabher was the Director of the Regional Office for Africa in the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) before retiring from 22 years of dedicated service in June 2015. She transformed the Regional Office for Africa both substantively and financially and developed partnerships with the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa.

Prior to her last post, Dr. Axumite Gebre-Egziabher was the Director of the Global Division (June 2009-December 2012) and provided intellectual leadership to the Urban Development, Urban Environment and Climate Change, Land, Housing and Disaster Management and Capacity Development Branches. As Director of the UN-HABITAT New York Office (July 2002- June 2009), she transformed the office and raised the profile of UN-HABITAT at UNHQs. She provided substantive contribution to the policy and strategy formulation of the organization.

She worked as Coordinator of the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly for the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda (Istanbul + 5). In addition, she worked as Senior Human Settlements Adviser, UNCHS (Habitat), covering a portfolio of nine countries in Africa.

Prior to joining UNCHS (Habitat), she was a consultant with international NGOs and the United Nations. She has fifteen years of work experience in government marked by a progressive professional carrier that culminated at the position of Acting Head of the Department of Physical Planning and Research, National Urban Planning Institute in the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, Ethiopia. Dr. Axumite Gebre-Egziabher has sound theoretical knowledge and solid work experience in the field of housing and sustainable urban and regional development proven through strategic leadership, management, policy and strategy advisory service, programme/project design, development and evaluation, consultancy and action-oriented research work. She has written numerous of articles and contributed to several publications within the UN.

Dave Maney is a national economic and financial writer and commentator and founder and CEO of Deke Digital, a content-based digital media and marketing services company. He writes about the economic future for the Daily Beast and appears weekly with Neil Cavuto on the Fox News and Fox Business News networks. He is a three-time entrepreneur, having successfully founded and led a broadband technology services company, a middle-market merchant bank and now Deke Digital.