MESH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Producer, Editor and Contributor for Media Companies
Chris co-produces mesh with Sheri Moore. He is also the President and Founder of content marketing firm DJG and a partner in global media company, Digital Journal.
Chris is an award-winning entrepreneur who has worked in publishing, digital media, broadcasting, advertising, social media & marketing, data and analytics. As an editorial and digital strategist, Chris has a deep passion for new technologies and disruptive, high-growth digital businesses.
Chris started his career in media with Digital Journal Inc. as a freelance journalist. Moving from freelancer, to editor, to partner, to Chief Executive, Chris spearheaded the company's full digital transformation to become a digital media business that reaches millions of people per month.
Throughout his career Chris has worked on projects where editorial, business strategy, technology and network dynamics intersect.
On the brand side, Chris has led initiatives on behalf of companies such as IBM, PTC, Suncor, TD Bank, BMO, KPMG, Norton Rose Fulbright, Osler and more.
On the media side, Chris has worked as a producer, editor and contributor for media companies including CBC News, Fifth Estate, CBC Sports, CTV News, City News, CP24, Global News, Business News Network, Space, Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, Postmedia & dozens of syndicated TV & radio networks.
Chris is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Chris is a media and marketing entrepreneur who asks too many questions. And as a co-producer and partner in the mesh conference, that's what he plans to do lots of.
Lauren Dwyer is a researcher and academic with a PhD in Communication and Culture from Toronto Metropolitan and York Universities. Her dissertation, "Isolated Circuits: Human experience and robot design for the future of loneliness," delved into the relationship between human emotions and technological design, with a particular focus on the growing issue of loneliness in modern society.
Lauren currently holds the position of academic chair for Data and AI at the School for Advanced Digital Technologies (SADT) in Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). In this role, she oversees the development of cutting-edge programs that harness the power of data and AI to drive innovation across various fields. By leveraging her expertise in communication studies and technology, she is able to shape the future of digital innovation.
Her research interests lie at the intersection of emerging technology and human communication, with a particular emphasis on the human-in-the-loop of social robots and artificial intelligence.
Lauren Dwyer joins mesh April 12-13, 2023 in Calgary.
Job Titles:
- CEO of Second Harvest
- Visionary Leader
Lori Nikkel is CEO of Second Harvest. Lori is a visionary leader and champion of social and environmental justice issues related to food. She is an international thought leader on Perishable Food Recovery with a strategic focus on increasing awareness of the negative impacts food loss has on climate.
Lori's guidance has changed the way Canada manages food loss and waste. She is a co-author of The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste, a world-first evidence-based research project that identifies where, why, and how much food is lost and wasted across the supply chain, and Canada's Invisible Food Network That identifies the extent of food support to charities and non-profits across the country.
A favoured media contributor, Lori is sought after for her commentary and recommendations. She was globally recognized by the United Nations as Canada's Food Hero in 2020. Lori is also a Clean 50 recipient and one of Canada's 2021 Women of Influence. In 2021 Lori was named one of Waterstone Capital's Most Admired CEOs. As CEO of Second Harvest Lori has developed a national food recovery network that redistributes healthy surplus food to thousands of communities in need.
Lori Nikkel joins mesh December 6-7, 2023 in Toronto.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner at INQ Law
Mary Jane Dykeman is a managing partner at INQ Law. In addition to data law, she is a long-standing health lawyer. She is a founder of INQ Consulting, a global data consultancy.
Her data practice focuses on privacy, artificial intelligence (AI), cyber preparedness and response, and data governance. She regularly advises on use and disclosure of identifiable and de-identified data. Mary Jane applies a strategic, risk and innovation lens to data and emerging technologies. She helps clients identify the data they hold, understand how to use it within the law, and how to innovate responsibly. She has acted in general counsel roles to three Toronto teaching hospitals, currently as interim VP Legal/Risk to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (a group doing exciting things with data); and was instrumental in the development of Ontario's health privacy legislation.
Mary Jane's consulting work extends to modernizing privacy legislation and digital societies in the private and public sectors, and she works with Boards, CEOs and CIOs on the emerging risks, trends and the imperative to harness. Mary Jane regularly speaks on AI, cyber risk and how to better engage and build trust with clients and customers whose data is at play. Her most recent in person speaking engagements on the future of/with data, AI, cyber, and data governance were in Dubai, Boston, and Toronto.
Mary Jane Dykeman joins mesh December 6-7, 2023 in Toronto.
Rika is a technology leader, VC investor, best-selling author, and frequent public speaker on technology-powered industry transformation. She is Global Vice President with NTT's New Ventures & Innovation team where she is building Agile Co-innovation practices for emerging technologies like 5G, Edge Computing, AI, and IoT. In her additional role as Head of Sustainability for Americas at NTT, Rika is driving NTT's sustainability ambition in operations while also orchestrating the go-to-market for NTT's climate-positive solutions across their portfolio of digital infrastructure solutions. For 2 consecutive years in 2022 and 2023, Rika has been awarded "Power 70" and "Power 80" recognition for the Women of Channel awards with The Channel Co's CRN network. She has also been ranked as "Top 100 in Emerging Tech" by Women of the Future.
Trilingual in Japanese, German, and English, Rika grew up in Japan and moved to the US to attend Princeton University. Rika has since worked internationally in senior executive roles in strategy, business development, consulting, and marketing with Fortune 500 companies - Accenture, NVIDIA, Capgemini, Sony - and Silicon Valley startups. She is a digital innovation veteran and has served on multiple boards in Next-Gen Computing, XR/VR/AR, Cybersecurity, and AI ecosystems. Rika is currently board chair at STRIDES AI - a social impact venture that is advancing diversity in senior leadership with an AI platform, and a board member of Venus Shell Systems - a circular and blue economy enterprise.
Rika is the best-selling author of "Dear Chairwoman" - featuring the trials and triumphs of women corporate board leaders. Her next book, featuring the intersection of sustainability, digital innovation, and the pandemic, is called "Beyond the Black Swan: How the Pandemic and Digital Innovation Intensified the Sustainability Imperative - Everywhere" and will be released by the elite publisher Taylor & Francis in January 2024.
Rika Nakazawa joins mesh December 6-7, 2023 in Toronto.
William J. Barry, PhD, blazes trails as an academic visionary with unique contributions to human-AI collaboration development, research, and use. Dr. Barry's impressive portfolio and distinguished background earned him international recognition as a leading innovator, futurist, ethicist, and subject expert. Dr. Barry is an accomplished former Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Ethical Reasoning at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member and Executive GovCon SME for Emerging Technologies at the US Army War College and teaches an innovative course about human-AI team collaboration. He draws on his extensive experience to develop an innovative curriculum about ethical human-AI team collaboration that earned him the Patriotic Civilian Service Award from the Department of the Army.
Dr. Barry has over 25 years of experience as an innovative and creative experiential educational educator. He uses socially advanced artificial intelligence technology to enhance education quality and eliminate education poverty. Dr. Barry achieved a world-first accomplishment by having a mindfile artificial intelligent android as a student in university undergraduate philosophy courses for an academic year. A New York documentary production company filmed this achievement for a full-length feature film.
William is also a renowned international keynote speaker. He speaks on various topics related to AI and human collaboration at conferences worldwide. Dr. Barry showcased his depth of knowledge and innovative thinking with his recent keynote presentation for Proctor and Gamble's Innovation Lab Symposium in January 2023.
Dr. Barry is a passionate advocate for the worldwide promotion of digital and media literacy in K-12 schools and universities. His professional service to education includes being a director of Secondary Education in a university teacher certification program, heading a university philosophy department, serving as a university's Black Student Union advisor and Ombudsman, and demonstrating his active leadership and commitment to diversity and inclusion.
He has earned recognition for his work, including being named one of the World's top 50 Global Key Influencers in 2020 by EyS Magazine in Australia. He co-authored a book chapter titled "The ethics of AI and War: Digital Trigger" in the Routledge publication, Teaching and Learning the West Point Way. Dr. Barry also co-edited a soon-to-be-released book about Strategic Landpower in the 21st century.
Dr. Barry's commitment to advancing AI research, education, and collaboration has a profound impact on society. His work continues to inspire future generations as academic and socially responsible innovators. His daughter, Jessica Barry, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2022 and serves in the cyber branch of the Army, furthering the family's commitment to national defense.
Dr. William Barry and Dr. Maria Gomez Rachelle will deliver an interactive session where the pair will co-present alongside AI-powered digital avatars - Maria Bot Digital© and Niva© - who will share insight and take unscripted, live questions from the audience.