UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies, Director for the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, Professor in Geography and Environmental Studies

Alison Blay-Palmer is the founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and a professor in geography and environmental studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her research and teaching combine her passions for sustainable food systems and community viability through civil society engagement, and innovative governance. Blay-Palmer collaborates with academics and practitioners across Canada and internationally, including partners in Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States. This work gained national recognition in both 2012 and 2019 when her partnership was one of three nominees for a national SSHRC Partnership Impact Award.

Current projects with partners and students include: city-region food systems, Climate Resilience with the Resources Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization; food security, health and climate change in the Northwest Territories; exploring urban agriculture through an intersectional feminist lens in Quito Ecuador; and the Bee City movement in Canada.

The main focus of my community-defined research is on supporting and building more sustainable food communities to foster community capacity. The goal is to use food as an active lever to address diet-related health challenges, climate change and biodiversity loss.

Priyanka is the Executive Director of Green Economy Canada, a national non-profit working to accelerate Canada’s transition to a vibrant and inclusive net-zero future. She holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, an M.Sc. in Biochemistry from McGill University and an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University. Priyanka has held marketing and supply chain roles at Novartis Consumer Health and Frito-Lay respectively and was the Business Development Manager for REEP Green Solutions. She was named to the 2017 Clean 16 and was selected in 2022 as one of the 100 Women in Energy Transformation as a powerful and inspirational leader in Canada.

Co-Founder, EarthSuds

Marissa is a 2020 BBA graduate from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a Co-Founder of EarthSuds, a social enterprise that aims to reduce plastic bottles in cosmetics by selling zero-waste tablets of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Marissa has always had a passion for sustainability and found a way to create an outlet for this while growing the business during her time at Laurier. EarthSuds has been able to partake in the AC Jumpstart and Next Founders program, while also being named the 2020 & 2021 Enactus Canada National Champion and top 10 in National Geographic's global Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge. EarthSuds currently sells online, to retailers, and is soon to be listed on Amazon. Marissa also currently works as a Senior Consultant at Deloitte in ESG Reporting Advisory.

CEO and Founder, Diva

Carinne Chambers-Saini knew from an early age that she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps, as an entrepreneur and advocate for women’s health. As a teen in the 1960s, her mother Francine was frustrated with the menstrual products available and knew there must be a better solution to handling her period. After graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University’s Honours Bachelor of Business Administration program in Waterloo in 2002, Carinne joined forces with her mom and launched the DivaCup. The duo started Diva on a shoe-string budget, working from their kitchen table as they faced an uphill battle to establish themselves in a male-dominated industry. Their product was often rejected by industry experts as an unwanted threat to the disposables.

Twenty years later, the DivaCup has transformed the industry, catapulting menstrual cups to the mainstream. As Diva’s CEO, Carinne and her company have received notable recognition, winning EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Sustainable Products and EY’s Special Citation Award for Industry Disruptor. In 2017, Carinne was also the recipient of Canada’s Top 40 under 50. Carinne received a 2019 RBC Women of Influence TELUS Trailblazer award, in recognition of her industry-disrupting work with Diva, and was recognized as one of Bay Street Bull’s Women of the Year in 2021. Carinne is a sought-after speaker and panelist for menstrual equity, women’s health, and business.