In this Five Good Ideas session, Aleem Punja, Executive Director, Future Ready Initiative, Aga Khan Council for Canada, shared lessons from leading and advising boards across sectors.

How can leading with head, heart, and homework transform governance from functional to exceptional? 

His five good ideas: 

1. Start with purpose, not paper

2. Govern, do not manage

3. Centre equity and pluralism in every decision

4. Build a strong, trust-based relationship with the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer

5. Commit to learning, preparation, and self-reflection

For Aleem's full bio and resources, vist the session page. 

In this Five Good Ideas session, Sherri Torjman shares lessons from her 25 years at the Caledon Institute of Social Policy.

In a field as complex and challenging as social policy, how do we stay the course and make an impact?

Her five good ideas:

1. Find your North Star

2. Do your homework

3. Dream big - and small

4. Create the pathways

5. Tell your story

For Sherri's full bio and resources, visit the session page.

In this session, Zabeen Hirji, former Chief HR Officer at RBC and now in her Purposeful Third Act, explored how AI is reshaping the nature of work. As AI changes the relationship between employers and workers, why should people choose to work for your organization? How can organizations help their people thrive in this new era?

Her five good ideas:

1. Help every employee understand their purpose

2. Start small, learn together, and stay curious

3. Build AI fluency, not technical mastery

4. Focus on change management

5. Invest in human skills

For Zabeen's full bio and resources, vist the session page.

In this session, non-profit consultant Claire Forster discussed how to make meaningful and sustainable change in your organization. How do you integrate a new function or program into your current structure? How do you communicate with your teams to ensure that the change is not disruptive or disengaging? What implications are there for the existing teams and culture and how do you manage that? What issues do you need to anticipate and account for?

Her five good ideas:

For Claire's full bio and resources, visit the session page.

Liv Mendelsohn and Christa Haanstra joined Five Good Ideas to discuss how to build a culture that recognizes and values caregiving.

Their conversation with Elizabeth McIsaac highlighted that creating a caregiver-friendly workplace is compassionate and strategic. Organizations that recognize this gain a competitive edge through improved retention, productivity, and workplace culture.

Liv and Christa's Five Good Ideas:

Understand your workforce

Provide equitable support

Prioritize flexible work arrangements

Recognize the value of caregiving skills in
the workplace

Build a caregiver-supportive culture

For Liv and Christa's full bios and resources, visit the session page.

Mohammed Hashim, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, joined Five Good Ideas to share practical strategies to bridge divides and foster positive change in challenging times.

His conversation with Elizabeth McIsaac highlights the power of genuine dialogue, community resilience, and grassroots action in creating a more connected future.

Mohammed's Five Good Ideas:

For Mohammed's full bio and resources, visit the session page.

Sharif Mahdy and Kwaku Agyemang, from the Students Commission of Canada, joined Five Good Ideas to share how organizations can engage youth to participate in systems change.

“The deficit that we’re trying to address is this,” explained Sharif. “First, young people don’t get engaged and involved on these issues. Second, the process for engaging in our democracy is eroding. And the process for being able to engage in healthy discourse is being challenged for all sorts of reasons.

What we’re offering here through these five good ideas is an approach that we’ve tried over time that could be scaled and could help address some of the deficits we’re currently experiencing.”

Sharif and Kwaku’s five good ideas: 

For Sharif and Kwaku's full bios and resources, visit the session page.

Sarada Peri, founder of Peri Communications and former Senior Speechwriter to President Barack Obama, joined Five Good Ideas to share how to create messages that are sharp, compelling, and persuasive.  

“What are some questions that I can ask myself to get to the one thing, the one thing I want to say?  ‘What is my purpose?’” asked Sarada. “In everything you do, you should start with ‘What is my purpose?’” 

Sarada’s five good ideas:  

1. Say one thing  

2. Know your audience 

3. Speak from their values, not yours 

4. Tell a story 

5. Write and speak like a human  

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Ingrid Palmer the Principal IDEAL Advocate at Realize, joined Five Good Ideas to discuss the benefits of applying IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Leading to belonging) principles in the workplace.

"Belonging is a necessary component of our humanity and no one should be denied that fact," said Ingrid. 

Ingrid's five good ideas:

1. Level up from IDEA to IDEAL. 

2. Expand your understanding of disability to include episodic disability.

3. Be aware of the nuances of intersectional barriers to employment. 

4. Accommodations benefit both the employer and the employee. 

5. There is no end to IDEAL work. 

You can download the session handout, view Ingrid's bio, and read the transcript here. 

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Bob Goulais, founder of Nbissing Consulting Inc., joined Five Good Ideas to discuss some wise practices to be more inclusive of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.

“Most of all,” said Bob, “consider integrating Indigenous values and ways of being.”

Bob’s five good ideas:

You can download the session handout, view Bob's bio, and read the transcript here.