Safe Brave Stories

Lesley Hawkins is a partner at Marsley Canada, a dynamic business leader, keynote speaker, host of The Lesley Hawkin's Podcast and former Vice President at Adidas, where she helped drive brand growth, innovation, and global strategy for one of the world’s most iconic sports companies. With decades of experience in leadership,marketing, and organizational transformation, Lesley has built a reputation for empowering teams, elevating brands, and helping organizations navigate change in highly competitive industries.

Today, Lesley works with companies and leaders around the world as a keynote speaker and advisor, sharing insights on leadership, brand strategy, resilience, and the future of work. Her perspective combines real-world executive experience with a passion for developing people and building culturesthat perform at the highest level.

To find out more about Lesley and her work you can reach her at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-hawkins/ or at www.lesleyhawkins.ca

Nicki Straza is the Founder of Straza Solutions, a strategic consulting firm focused on helping organizations bring clarity,structure, and sustainable growth to their operations. With a strong background in leadership development, business strategy, and organizational effectiveness, Nicki works with companies to align teams, streamline processes, and turncomplex challenges into actionable plans.

Known for her practical, results-driven approach, Nicki partners with leaders and organizations to move from vision to execution — helping them build systems and strategies that support long-term success. Through Straza Solutions, she supports businesses in strengthening their foundations, improving operational efficiency, and creating environments where people and organizations can thrive.

Nicki is passionate about empowering leaders, fostering strategic thinking, and helping organizations navigate growth with confidence and clarity.

You can find out more about and to connect with Nicki via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicki-straza-flourishing-workplace-culture/ or via her website https://www.nickistraza.com/

Barry Braun is an entrepreneur, investor, and business leader with a passion for building enduring companies and communities. He is the Founder of Good Neighbour Society, an initiative focused on fostering meaningful connectionsand strengthening the social fabric of neighborhoods and businesses alike.

Throughout his career, Barry has built and scaled companies with a disciplined, long-term approach to growth. Known forhis strategic clarity and operational depth, he brings a practical perspective on leadership, culture, and value creation. Barry believes that sustainable success—whether in business or community—comes from intentional relationships, strong foundations, and a commitment to serving others.

To find out more about the amazing work Barry is doing check out https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrybraun/or http://www.goodneighbourbuilders.org/ and connect with him directly at [email protected].

Janey Brown is a performer, professional singer, trauma-informed coach, motivational speaker, and author of Fear to Fearce. She specializes in helping individuals harness fear as fuel rather than be ruled by it. After decades in the performance industry — including working with Grammy-winning producers and performing on major stages — Janey experienced firsthand the crippling effects of performance anxiety,perfectionism, and self-doubt. That journey led her to develop a powerful framework for transforming fear into confidence and resilience.

Blending over 30 years of performance experience with psychology, somatic tools, and mental resilience training, Janey founded Fearce Academy, where she works with creatives, entrepreneurs, athletes, and leaders to overcome imposter syndrome, manage high-pressure environments, and unlock authentic performance.

Through her book Fear to Fearce, coaching programs, and speaking engagements, Janey empowers people to embrace their shadow, build emotional intelligence, and cultivate the psychological skills needed to show up boldly in life and work. Her mission is simple but transformative: to help people move from fear to “Fearce” — courageous, aligned, and unapologetically powerful.

To find out more you can connect to Janey through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeybrown/ or through her website at https://janeybrown.com/

Paul Finkbeiner is the President of Fink Advisory Management Corp. and a seasoned real estate executive based in Oakville, Ontario. With decades of experience leading and scaling major real estate platforms, Paul brings a practical, people-first perspective on leadership, strategy, and long-term value creation. He’s known for building high-performing teams,mentoring leaders, and helping organizations grow without losing focus on culture and purpose.

To find more about Paul you can connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-finkbeiner/

Peter Aceto is a Canadian business leader, entrepreneur, and best-selling author, best known as the former CEO ofTangerine Bank. During his tenure, he helped redefine digital banking in Canada by proving that a customer-first, values-driven approach could also deliver strong financial performance. Under his leadership, Tangerine became widelyrecognized for its culture, innovation, and trust.

Peter’s leadership philosophy centers on authenticity, empathy, and accountability. He believes great leaders create clarity of purpose, empower people to do their best work, and lead with humanity—especially during times of change. These ideas are at the heart of his writing and speaking, where hechallenges conventional thinking about power, performance, and what it truly means to lead.

Beyond business, Peter is deeply committed to giving back. He has been actively involved in charitable and community initiatives focused on mental health, education, and social impact, and he regularly supports organizations that help people reach their full potential. For Peter, leadership isn’t justabout results—it’s about leaving people and communities better than you found them.

To connect with and learn more about Peter and his work you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteraceto/

Dean Hopkins is a Partner at GreenPoint Partners, where he focuses on investing in and partnering with high-quality businesses that have strong fundamentals and long-term growth potential. He brings deep experience across private markets, having spent his career working closely with management teams to drive strategic clarity, operational excellence, and sustainable value creation.

Prior to Green Point Partners, Dean built a track record of investing across a range of industries, developing a reputation for being a hands-on, thoughtful partner to founders and executives. His approach emphasizes disciplineddecision-making, long-term alignment, and helping leadership teams navigate complex growth inflection points.

As a leader, Dean believes the best outcomes come from trust, transparency, and a shared vision. He is known for his collaborative style, focus on fundamentals, and commitment to building enduring businesses rather than optimizing for short-term results.

You can find more about and connect with Dean on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdhopkins/

Gustavo Razzetti is the CEO and founder of Fearless Culture, a culture design consultancy that helps teams do the best work oftheir lives. For more than 20 years, Razzetti has helped leaders from Fortune 500s, startups, nonprofits, and everything in between on every continent but Antarctica.

Gustavo is also the creator of the Culture Design Canvas, a framework used by thousands of teams and organizations across the world to map, assess, and design their culture.

In addition to his consulting work with clients, Gustavo regularly speaks with leaders and teams about culture change, teamwork, and hybrid workplaces. His coaching and tools have helped countless executives and teams develop work environments where people collaborate to accelerateindividual and collective performance.

A prolific writer and author of four books on culturechange, most recently "Remote, Not Distant," Gustavo’s insights have been featured in The New York Times, Psychology Today, Forbes, BBC, and Fortune, among others.

To learn more about Gustavo you can connect with him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavorazzetti/ and to check out his amazing culture work check out https://www.fearlessculture.design/

Glain Roberts-McCabe (PCC,CTDP) is the Founder and President of The Roundtable, a Toronto-based leadership development and coaching firm specializing in group, peer, team, and executive coaching. With more than two decades of experience, she helps leaders and organizations strengthen collaboration, navigate change, and build lasting leadership capability through innovative coaching and community-based learning models.

Glain in addition to being an amazing human, is also a keynote speaker and author known for advancing intentional, collective leadership. 

To find more information about Glain and the work she does you can reach her on here LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/glain/ or check out The Roundtable at https://goroundtable.com/

Carlos Cadogan is a Certified Cultural Intelligence Consultant who helps individuals and organizations improve theircapability to function effectively in a cultural context.

With over 20 years of experience leading successful diverse, and inclusive teams, he has turned his passion for developing and coaching individuals into a cultural competency consulting firm named, The CQ Mindset. The CQ Mindset supports leaders and organizations to achieve and develop cultural intelligence skills and applications across all desired outcomes such as cultural competency, inclusion initiatives, executive performance, and leadership development and organizationeffectiveness.

Carlos is also an Assessment Consultant at Multi- Health Systems.

Carlos formally volunteered on the Diversity and Inclusion Board for the Town of Stouffville, Ontario, and a former mentor for at-risk youths through KuppaFoundation.org.

Carlos holds a certification in leadership and Inclusion through Centennial College and the Canadian Centre for Diversityand Inclusion.

For more information or to connect directly with Carlos go to LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-cadogan-67b8b232/ or https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-cq-mindset/posts/?feedView=all