Holding the Line
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Maison Alcan, 1188 Sherbrooke St W
A unified community—in action
Turbulent global regulations and anti-ESG sentiment are challenging the discipline of corporate sustainability. To chart the path forward, ESG and sustainability-conscious leaders must be empowered to stand confidently amongst their peers with accurate, high-quality data that elevates the true value of sustainability within the enterprise. Only by doing so can they ‘hold the line’, helping their organizations embed sustainability into core strategy and operations.
Deepen relationships with global leaders
The Novisto 2025 ESG Forum is a one-day conference that will bring together forward-thinking professionals who want to hold the line and leverage technology to achieve their goals.
Connect with ESG leaders, regulators, analysts, and sustainability practitioners from around the world. Engage in conversations that go beyond frameworks and requirements to explore how your company can continue to drive future-resilient growth and deeper ESG integration.
To foster meaningful dialogue, the Forum is invite-only, limited in capacity, and will follow Chatham House rules.
Professor Ioannis Ioannou
Ioannis Ioannou is an associate professor with tenure at London Business School (LBS) and teaches in various degree programs. He is a regular contributor to numerous LBS executive education programs, including custom modules on responsible business and sustainability for senior executives.
A member of ESG advisory boards for numerous international organizations, Ioannou has delivered keynote speeches globally at high-profile events and industry conferences.
Agenda
This invite-only event will be delivered via Chatham house rules meaning that you will have exclusive access to the candid thoughts of ESG practitioners and global regulators.
November 12th
November 13th
Novisto
In a time of regulatory shifts and mounting anti-ESG sentiment, this session looks at how organizations can stand firm in their sustainability commitments. Professor Ioannis Ioannou will share strategies for reframing ESG as a business imperative and source of resilience, even under pressure. The keynote will be followed by an interactive Q+A.
London Business School
This session explores how to move sustainability out of its silo and embed it into the core business strategy, gaining buy-in from senior leadership and the board. Attendees will hear practical approaches for framing ESG as a driver of resilience, growth, and long-term value creation.
PwC Canada
Moderator
LPL Financial
EDC
The Novisto Team will explore how the Novisto ESG data management and reporting platform is evolving to meet the demands of the rapidly changing sustainability landscape. Centered on an overview of Novisto’s partner, customer and marketplace landscape, the team will detail the strategic enhancements and innovations planned for the platform.
Novisto
Novisto
Novisto
GIST Impact
This session explores how organizations can move beyond regulatory checklists to translate core reporting activities—such as materiality and risk assessments—into strategic value. We’ll discuss how leveraging technology and data-driven approaches for these activities can streamline compliance – while unlocking actionable insights that help teams make informed, forward-looking decisions to strengthen both sustainability performance and business resilience.
Novisto
Moderator
Reconomy
GIST Impact
This session examines how multinational companies manage the complexities of sustainability across diverse markets and regulatory environments. Speakers will highlight lessons learned, challenges faced, and opportunities uncovered when aligning global strategies with local realities.
Novisto
Moderator
Emirates
Sanofi
This session explores how boards can navigate shrinking regulatory guardrails while facing growing scrutiny around greenwashing and legal exposure. Experts will share approaches to strengthen governance, uphold accountability, and safeguard long-term value in uncertain times.
Quinn+Partners
Moderator
GRI
Baker & McKenzie
This session shows how to translate sustainability into the language of finance, making it resonate with CFOs and board members alike. Speakers will share strategies for aligning ESG with financial priorities, turning finance leaders into powerful allies for resilience.
Novisto
Moderator
Co-operators
Sun Life
Millani
Despite backlash against progressive environmental and social policies, the demands on corporations to act responsibly have never been greater. Drawing on global boardroom insights, this session explores how directors can navigate conflicting pressures while positioning companies as powerful agents of positive change.
Board Intelligence
In this wide-ranging discussion, sustainability leaders will connect the dots and share insights across today’s most pressing boardroom and corporate challenges. From navigating deregulation, greenwashing, and legal risk to reframing sustainability as financial resilience, the panel will unpack how boards and executives can align strategy with stakeholder demands while maintaining long-term value creation. Attendees will gain practical takeaways to help steer global organizations through turbulent times.
London Business School
Moderator
Kanata Advisors
GIST Impact
PagerDuty
GRI
Featured speakers
Emily Partington
Emily is a Managing Director at Quinn+Partners where she leads the firm’s Strategy and Disclosure Practice and Board and Executive services. She has experience helping clients develop successful strategies to integrate sustainability into their governance, operations and culture. She has international advisory experience across sectors, including financial institutions, clean technology, professional services, real estate, infrastructure, telecommunications, transportation and media and entertainment. Her expertise includes ESG strategy design, materiality assessments, climate change risk assessments and scenario analysis, stakeholder engagement, net-zero target-setting and best-in-class disclosure.
Highlights of Emily’s work include ambitious climate change mandates for several of North America’s largest banks and financial institutions, where she has advised teams on science-based target setting, sustainable investing and lending activities and climate-related disclosure. As a strategist, Emily has helped many companies over the years establish their ESG mandates and begin to drive performance and measure their results. This body of work cuts across crafting focused goals, key performance indicators, scorecards, policies and governance structures. She has also counseled executives and Boards on how to build their capacity to drive organizational change in the transition to the low-carbon economy.
Rachel Guthrie
Rachel Guthrie joined Export Development Canada (EDC) in 2021. As vice-president of ESG Integration, she’s responsible for ensuring environmental, social and governance considerations are integrated into EDC’s strategy and culture. In this capacity, she has oversight of EDC’s path to net zero, sustainable finance offerings, ESG policies and governance, as well as data and reporting.
Guthrie brings more than a decade of experience in ESG strategy and reporting in the Canadian financial industry. As the head of TD’s ESG Reporting and Impact Measurement team, she navigated TD's strategy through materiality assessments, the adoption of Global Reporting Intiative (GRI) standards, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reporting. TD’s reporting won national acclaim, winning “Best ESG Reporting” in Canada from IR Magazine three years in a row.
Leslie Dunham
Leslie Dunham is Head of Sustainability for LPL Financial with oversight of the company’s corporate sustainability strategy, reporting, data governance, and chair of the Sustainability Steering Committee. She joined LPL in 2018 and has more than 20 years of financial industry experience. Previously, she worked as vice president at United Capital Financial Advisors, where she was responsible for internal and external advisor communications, public relations, and brand management.
Reem Hamzeh
Reem Hamzeh is PwC Canada’s Climate Risk Leader. Her work focuses on climate risk, adaptation and mitigation across sectors and geographies, including implications for companies and countries.
In this capacity, Reem works with investors, banks, insurers, companies and government to assess their financial impacts from climate change, develop adaptation strategies, and integrate climate-related considerations into investment decisions and risk management processes. She has led engagements supporting clients around the globe navigate the challenges of climate change on business continuity and design comprehensive action plans customized to the local context.
Stephen Rahal
Stephen has spent his career in B2B technology working with start-ups and scale-ups from early-stage through to IPO. With more than 15 years of experience in product marketing and management, including as the first product marketer in two SaaS companies, and past work as a mentor through the Founder Institute, he has helped multiple Canadian-born technologies standout and win in global markets. Prior to Novisto, Stephen worked on products in risk management, digital experience, semantic search, and collaboration. He holds a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Sam King
Sam King leads GIST Impact’s engagement with corporate clients across sectors, drawing on a background in strategy, digital, and data-transformation consulting (ex-Kearney, ex-Monitor Deloitte) to guide organizations on their impact valuation and sustainability journeys.
He loves partnering with exceptional clients and an inspiring international team of scientists, economists, and technologists at GIST Impact. Together, they navigate the transformations driven by sustainability and transition planning—defining impact baselines and setting the right targets using GIST Impact’s data and intelligence. These insights help companies identify their most material impacts, positive and negative, at the company, business-unit, and project levels, and inform operational choices and capital allocation.
Outside work, he spends as much time outdoors as possible—surfing, nature watching, cycling, and walking. A veteran of long-distance rides on his homemade bamboo bike, he has cycled the Andes and the Western Ghats and slept in more tents than he cares to count. He’s also an avid reader and always open to book recommendations.
Many kind and inspiring people have helped him along the way, and he welcomes opportunities to pay it forward—especially to those early in their careers who want to connect.
Diane Crowe
Diane Crowe leads the development and implementation of Reconomy’s sustainability strategy, working closely with an engaged executive team and colleagues committed to enabling the circular economy. Reconomy’s corporate sustainability strategy not only ensures the company does what it says it will do, but also supports customers in achieving their own sustainability objectives.
She is particularly proud of establishing the Reconomy Social Value Programme, building a strong partnership with the National House Project, and helping to make a tangible difference in the lives of care-experienced young adults. She is also pleased to have embedded nature and circularity into Reconomy’s climate strategy—because reaching net zero is impossible without nature recovery and a circular economy.
Before joining Reconomy, she built her career at Carillion across the construction, infrastructure, rail, building, and facilities management sectors. There, she developed systems to manage a wide range of sustainability data, led annual reporting, and advanced sustainable procurement.
She enjoys identifying and implementing sustainability solutions that serve both the business and its customers, ensuring these are fully integrated into day-to-day practice and clearly communicated.
Her academic journey began at Royal Holloway, where she earned a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Earth Science, followed by an environmental MSc at UMIST while starting her career with Tarmac. She has loved growing within the environment and sustainability field and seeing its impact and influence accelerate over the years.
Outside of work, she is a mum to a teenage daughter and son—happily providing taxi and referee services for their activities. She loves travelling, skiing, and spending time in the mountains, and enjoys walking, yoga, and running—having recently completed her first half marathon.
Kevin Korbien
Kevin Korbien is a seasoned risk professional with extensive experience in establishing greenfield functions. He has a strong passion for ESG, viewing it as a natural evolution of Enterprise Risk Practices. His work focuses on a data-driven, AI-powered decision approach aimed at influencing positive change throughout the organization. With strong commercial acumen, he strives for sensible and balanced decision-making.
In his leadership approach, Kevin emphasizes mentoring and coaching, taking pride in helping human capital reach its full potential. He promotes accountability, responsiveness, integrity, and efficient communication across departments, with the goal of delivering result-focused solutions grounded in rigor and discipline.
Laurent Lhopitallier
Laurent Lhopitallier, is in charge of Sanofi's duty of vigilance plan. Laurent joined Sanofi in 2013 as part of the global CSR team. Previously a consultant with Deloitte, Laurent has led global assignments in designing sustainability strategies, in embedding Human Rights in business processes and in conducting Environmental, Social and Governance due diligences. Before Deloitte, Laurent held various consulting/auditing positions with ERM and PwC. Laurent started his career working on Land Reform in South Africa. He holds both an Agronomy degree from AgroParistech and a Geography degree from the Paris X Nanterre University.
Nawar Alsaadi, FSA, SIPC
Nawar Alsaadi is the Founder and CEO of Kanata Advisors, a Toronto-based ESG fintech advisory firm operating at the intersection of business, sustainability, and technology.
His advisory work focuses on four key areas: product–market fit, strategy development, communication, and partnership sourcing.
At Kanata, he emphasizes high-quality delivery and full alignment with clients’ goals. To uphold this standard, the firm works exclusively with a small, select group of clients at any given time.
In addition to his work at Kanata Advisors, Nawar is the Co-founder and CEO of KanataQ, an innovative, low-cost platform that connects sustainability solution buyers and sellers—helping organizations accelerate their ESG and circular economy initiatives.
Ioannis Ioannou
As a leading expert in sustainability leadership and corporate responsibility, Professor Ioannou's research provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities organizations encounter when developing sustainable business models. His award-winning academic work on strategic ESG integration, coupled with his focus on the investment community and financial markets, has established him as a thought leader in the field.
Professor Ioannou actively engages with leading companies, boards, and executives, providing valuable perspectives on the implications of transitioning to sustainability leadership for both businesses and investors. As a sought-after speaker and advisor, he has delivered numerous keynote speeches globally at high-profile events and industry conferences, and his work has been featured in popular and managerial press outlets worldwide. He is currently exclusively represented by Stern Speakers & Advisors.
Deeply involved in the world of practice, Ioannis' expertise has secured him positions on various advisory boards, such as the Sustainability Advisory Panel of Merck KGaA, the ESG Advisory Board of the DWS Group, and as a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Expert Network, where he offers expert guidance on Sustainable Development.
Building on his extensive experience advising leading companies and serving on advisory boards, he is keen to explore opportunities to contribute further as a Non-Executive Director or Board Member. He is particularly interested in organizations that are committed to sustainable and responsible business practices and are seeking to navigate the complexities of ESG integration at the strategic level.
His research is published in top-tier peer-reviewed academic journals, such as the Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Management Science. He is the most cited scholar of his graduating cohort and consistently ranks in the top 100 authors on the social science research network (SSRN). He is also an Associate Editor of the Strategic Management Journal.
He is currently an Associate Professor with tenure at LBS and teaches on various degree programs, and he is also a regular contributor to numerous LBS executive education programs, including modules on Responsible Business and Sustainability.
Professor Ioannou's 6-week online course on Sustainability Leadership and Corporate Responsibility (www.london.edu/SLCR) has enrolled more than 500 senior leaders and Board members from around the world, empowering them to become transformational change agents and achieve positive social impact.
Helle Bank Jorgensen
Helle Bank Jorgensen is an internationally recognized voice on governance, board effectiveness, and sustainability.
She is the founder of Competent Boards and leads Board Intelligence’s Board Development Practice globally, empowering boards and leadership teams around the world to enhance their impact through the science of board effectiveness.
Beyond her work with Competent Boards and Board Intelligence, Helle has initiated several pioneering projects. These include the world’s first green account, the first integrated report, the first holistic supply chain program and many other innovative business solutions, including her latest endeavour the Amazon bestseller The Future Boardroom: How to Transform in Turbulent Times.
Helle is a regular contributor to Financial Times’ Agenda, Board Agenda, and other prominent publications. She has also won numerous awards, including the Corporate Governance Lifetime Achievement Award 2024, the Peter Dey Governance Achievement Award from the Governance Professionals of Canada 2024, and the Globe and Mail’s 50 Changemakers for 2023. She was inducted into the Corporate Governance Hall of Fame by IR (Investor Relations) Magazine in 2024.
Milla Craig
Milla is a leading expert in the field of sustainability and sustainable investing, and she is known for anticipating trends.
Prior to founding Millani in 2008, Milla worked for more than 15 years in the institutional equity markets for major Canadian financial institutions such as RBC Dominion Securities and Scotia Capital, where she was consistently ranked as a top-tier salesperson.
Throughout her career, she has worked very closely with senior management and investor relations teams of Canadian publicly-listed companies, as well as financial analysts and investment managers of several Quebec pension and investment funds. As Deloitte's Leader – Sustainability, for the Quebec Region, she was actively involved in the development of sustainability strategy, management, stakeholder engagement, and reporting for a variety of Canadian organizations.
In June 2024, Milla completed her 6-year term as a board member of the Responsible Investment Association (RIA) and Chair of its Nomination Committee. Milla has been the Co-President of the Steering Committee of the Finance and Sustainability initiative of Finance Montréal and currently sits on its Advisory Board. She is also one of the climate governance experts of Canada Climate Law Initiative.
Milla holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Mount Saint Vincent University and holds the Sustainable Investment Professional Certification (SIPC) designation from Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business. Milla is a recipient of the 2017 Clean16 Award, and in 2020 was awarded Montreal’s Y Foundation Women of Distinction Award, in the Business & Entrepreneurship category.
Ramsay Alwani
Erica Oliver
David Hackett
David Hackett is Senior Counsel with Baker McKenzie. He advises senior management and Boards of multinational companies on compliance and risk matters including in particular relating to ESG. In addition to companies, he assists non profit entities such as A4S, Alliance for the Great Lakes, GRI, UNGC US Network, WBCSD and WRI. At Baker, he has served as North American Managing Partner and as a member of the Global Executive Committee. Prior to joining Baker, he was a trial attorney with the US Department of Justice Environment Division. He is a graduate of Haverford College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Rajiv Jalim
As the Global Director of Sustainability Solutions & Sales Engineering at Novisto, Rajiv provides "ESG therapy" to organisations navigating the ever-evolving sustainability disclosures landscape. At the intersection of sustainability and technology, he guides companies in developing the strategies and solutions necessary to meet their ESG and sustainability goals.
With a decade of experience in sustainability consulting, strategy, and program management, Rajiv has served clients across diverse sectors, including energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare. Known for his ability to build strong and productive relationships with clients and stakeholders, he is passionate about driving real-world impact. Rajiv has helped dozens of organizations deliver on their ESG and sustainability strategy, climate action, and sustainability advocacy.
Nick Sanscartier
As the commercial strategy lead at Novisto, Nick is responsible for partnerships and new verticals, ensuring the delivery of comprehensive end-to-end sustainability solutions.
Prior to Novisto, Nick gained a solid foundation in ESG at Bloomberg, holding product roles and supporting investors with ESG strategy implementation. Notably, he contributed to building Bloomberg's European ESG research business, publishing thematic research while also contributing to the development of their ESG ratings.
Nick holds a Bachelor's in Economics, having studied at both Queen’s University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Asheen Phansey
Asheen is a global leader with over 15 years of experience in corporate sustainability, ESG, and the circular economy.
He has a proven history of applying creativity and strategic thinking to build a vision and strategy that is appropriately ambitious for the team and company, while honoring their values, goals, and competencies.
He loves managing and mentoring people and takes pride in helping direct reports, peers, and mentees grow and thrive. He lives by the principle “own the blame, share the credit.”
Asheen comes alive when writing and speaking publicly and is experienced in translating—sometimes literally—his work to diverse audiences to inspire and persuade them toward a shared goal.
He has a deep, authentic network in corporate sustainability that he frequently draws upon to collaboratively solve challenges.
His career objective is to meaningfully move the needle toward a more sustainable, circular, decarbonized, and inclusive economy.
Charles Assaf
Charles is a tech entrepreneur with over 16 years of executive leadership experience founding and scaling enterprise software companies. Before co-founding Novisto, he served as CRO at Explorance, a global experience management solutions provider. He currently advises several leading software firms and sits on the boards of various charitable organizations.
Charles leverages his extensive experience to lead the Novisto team and drive our vision for next-generation sustainability management. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University and a Master of Engineering from MIT.
Pavan Sukhdev
Pavan Sukhdev is a sustainability thought leader and an influential voice for change amongst business leaders, policy makers and international institutions. A physicist by training and a career banker by profession, Pavan is driven by two long-standing and inter-connected passions: making visible the invisible economics of nature, and redefining corporate performance. While he was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, Pavan took time out to lead two landmark UN reports: TEEB (‘The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity’, 2010) and UNEP’s ‘Towards a Green Economy’, 2011. He now heads GIST Impact ( www.gistimpact.com ) a group at the intersection of sustainability, technology and big data which measures and advises on corporate and investment portfolio impacts. He has served on the Boards of Conservation International, Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Global Reporting Initiative, and as President and Board Chair of WWF-International. He is a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Pavan's pioneering work on corporate sustainability metrics, the invisible economics of nature, and economic transition to an inclusive green economy has been recognised through several awards, including the Tyler Prize (2020); Blue Planet Prize (2016); KfW-Bernhard-Grzimek Prize (2015) and the Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development (2013).