Kevin Vuong

Whether it’s in the workplace or in the community, there’s a common theme among everything that Kevin does – service before self. This drive for giving back is rooted in his own lived experience as someone who faced barriers. As a second-generation immigrant whose parents were refugees from the Vietnam War, Kevin is the first in his family to graduate from university. He overcame significant adversity to become a banker, and now a city-builder and social entrepreneur.

As CEO of the Agency for Public + Social Innovation, Kevin is focused on breaking down barriers for Canada’s most vulnerable with a focus on supporting the Indigenous community. A sample of ongoing projects include creating Canada’s first on-reserve Indigenous Social Enterprise Incubator, and creating the YCombinator of Social Enterprise. For his service, Kevin has been named one of Her Majesty The Queen’s Young Leaders, Canada’s Top 30 Under 30, and Ashoka’s 100 global Emerging Innovators.

Kathy Bunka

Kathy's day job as a rotational Foreign Service officer has taken her from South Sudan to Slovakia.  Along the way, she has cleared traffic in Nigeria, studied speech-writing at Harvard, hitched rides on UN helicopters from Bor to Juba, been pursued by armed militants in the Gaza Strip, counselled Canadians in distress in 3 continents, lived under curfew in Varanasi, and paddled the Ganges in India, the Nile in Sudan and the Nahanni in Canada’s Northwest Territories.  These experiences have taught her that humility and humour make us stronger and more resilient. With this belief, Kathy seeks to level the playing field so that everyone can have a fair shot at cultivating their talents and pursuing their dreams.  

Christopher Toivonen

Chris has always looked at challenges as a doorway to learning opportunities and new possibilities. Through his positive, collaborative and creative approach to complex issues, Chris is able to inspire and lead through others to make lasting and impactful change involving all stakeholders.  As an educator, Chris has led curriculum reform projects, student and community engagement initiatives, and school plans to promote the personalization and mobility of learning. He is dedicated to fostering and empowering all Canadian youth to become compassionate, innovative, globally competitive, connected world leaders.  Chris’ passion is to engage in conversations that begin with “What if….”