Research and Innovation Symposium 2024 Speakers

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Conference Speakers

Speaker	Biography
Dale Booth Owner and President, Innovation7	Dale Booth is the Owner and President of Innovation7, and a Subject Matter Expert who specializes in the field of business, community and economic development. With more than 20 years of experience working with Aboriginal people, all levels of governments and in the construction industry, he is known as a visionary leader with special and tested talents for shaping productive, cooperative working environments by eliminating deficits and creating a successful corporate vision for the future.
Adam Found Metropolitan City Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute and sessional lecturer in Economics at Trent University	A recognized expert in municipal finance, Adam Found holds a PhD in economics from the University of Toronto and a Professional Land Economist designation from the Association of Ontario Land Economists. He has written several peer-reviewed publications and engaged media on such topics as property taxation, development charges, tax increment financing, municipal governance, and business tax competitiveness. As Manager of Corporate Assets at the City of Kawartha Lakes, Adam oversees the City’s capital planning, capital budgeting, and development charges portfolios, and in 2023 he was elected to serve as Vice President and President of the Municipal Finance Officers’ Association of Ontario for 2024 and 2025, respectively. He is also a Research Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, a part-time faculty member at Trent University’s Department of Economics, and a public finance consultant specializing in municipal finance. As a professional economist and an advocate for municipalities’ autonomy and self-reliance, Adam continues to work in the public finance field through the municipal, academic, public policy, and consulting sectors.
Lisa Helps Executive Lead, BC Builds Project Origination and Process Innovation, BC Housing	Lisa is currently working as Executive Lead BC Builds Project Origination and Process Innovation at BC Housing. Previously she was the Housing Solutions Advisor to Premier Eby for the start-up of BC Builds, a new housing program that uses public land, low-cost financing, and other innovative tools to get more housing built more quickly for working people in B.C. Prior to that she was a two-term Mayor of Victoria, British Columbia. As Mayor, Lisa worked hard to create deep collaboration across the community to get Victoria ready for the future and built connection across the Province as Co-Chair of the BC Urban Mayors Caucus to advance shared priorities for cities. Areas of focus included economic development and prosperity, housing, climate action, resilient infrastructure, and reconciliation.
Katie Maslechko Chief Executive Officer, BC Rental Protection Fund	Katie Maslechko is the Chief Executive Officer of the Rental Protection Fund, the $500-million Fund established by the Province of British Columbia, which provides equity investments to non�profit housing providers to support the preservation of existing, unsubsidized affordable housing (NOAH) through acquisition and renewal, while expanding the capacity of the community housing sector across the Province of B.C. She finds great passion in, and has a strong track record of, strategic partnerships across the private development, non-profit and government sectors to deliver innovative, community�building projects. In her prior role as Director of Development for a local developer, Katie was at the helm of groundbreaking projects in a variety of sectors and asset classes including: several public-private affordable housing partnerships, Vancouver’s first purpose-built Life Sciences laboratory and manufacturing facilities, and the award-winning MEC Flagship, the largest retail application of mass-timber construction. She has also worked with a New York City non-profit developer delivering facilities for charter schools in underserved neighborhoods through unique development and financing strategies. Katie is the Chair of the Urban Land Institute’s Public-Private Partnership Product Council (Gold Flight), as well as ULI Americas YLG/NEXT Advisory Board and ULI BC’s Management Committee as Chair of DEI+R. She previously served as the Americas Co-Chair of ULI Americas Young Leaders Group, and as Board Director for a non-profit housing society in Vancouver.
Mary Rowe