About This Session

It doesn’t matter which industry, organization, or city you are in right now, innovation is on the tip of everyone's tongue and the focus for many organizations as they seek to outperform their previous success.

Come join the Strategic Capability Network (Calgary Chapter) for an in-person panel discussion focused on inspiring innovation in organizations. Our distinguished panel includes the Chief Innovation Officer for a $60B+ organization, The Director of Innovation at a successful and diversified Co-operative, An innovation consultant with more than a decade of research, and a Director from an organization whose sole purpose is to support innovation incubation and transfer from ideation to commercialization (more details on our panelist below). This dialogue will be facilitated by SCN Board Member and Manager of Enterprise Innovation Enablement and Culture, Mike Procee.

In this interactive discussion our experts will tackle difficult questions such as, “What is innovation?”, “What partnerships should we be leveraging?”, “What are the biggest obstacles to innovation?” and questions from you in the audience during the session! We will also create space for the panel to share their biggest wins, challenges, and learnings on their innovation journey.  

SCN Calgary’s first in-person event in two years will foster networking, peer connection and community building for those seeking thought leadership and best practices at the intersection of strategy, talent, leadership and performance. This panel discussion is NOT one to miss, combining perspectives from public, private, and academic backgrounds, and most importantly showcasing how these sectors work together to inspire innovation in Calgary, and beyond.

Our Presenter(s)

Chris Foster, Chief Innovation Officer, TC Energy

Raised in Bedford, England, about an hour north of London, Foster graduated high school at age 17 and went on to study law at Newcastle University and then Northumbria University. A practicing attorney who loved “the energy of getting up in a crowd and making a case,” and he moved to Canada in the late 1990’s. When arriving in Canada he took an intensive tech course at Calgary’s Information Technology Institute, doing so well he became a course leader and facilitator for a year. Foster continued to teach tech at other schools while working as a programmer analyst at SuperPages and Bell Canada.

In 2005 he joined the energy industry as a senior program manager for Encana Corporation, and had risen to direct its IT infrastructure services by the time he left for TC Energy in 2016. 

Since joining TC Energy, Chris has had a variety of experiences, however it is his current role, as the Chief Innovation Officer that brings him to our panel today. Chris is currently working to drive a culture of innovation in his organization and beyond.

Janay Meisser, Director, Innovation, UFA Co-operative Ltd.

Janay Meisser is a leader, she is a curious observer, and she is the Director of Innovation at UFA Co-operative Limited, an Alberta-based farming cooperative that has been weaved into the fabric of Alberta for over a century. UFA is dedicated to enabling the future of agriculture through modernizing, advancing, and transforming this key industry in Alberta by enabling growth and adoption of emerging trends and technology. 

Janay is discovering technology that will enable the farm of the future, is accelerating UFA’s corporate innovation program, and is building partnerships to support the innovation, entrepreneurship, and diversification necessary for securing the global food demands of the future.

Dr. Amir Bahman Radnejad, Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Bissett School of Business, Mount Royal University (MRU)

Dr. Amir Bahman Radnejad is an entrepreneur, innovation consultant and scholar with more than a decade of experience in start-ups, business development and innovation research in Canada, United Kingdom and United State of America. Currently, Bahman is an Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Bissett School of Business, Mount Royal University (MRU), and president of 1388 consulting, helping individuals and companies to develop Design Thinking and innovation leadership competencies. Prior to joining MRU, Bahman was a business faculty member at State University of New York at Brockport and Susquehanna University in the USA. Bahman has published research articles, conference proceedings and book chapters on Design Thinking, Open Innovation, Innovation Management, and Sustainable Energy Development. Bahman has been actively involved in several startups in the energy, food, IT and fashion industry.

Bahman has a PhD in Strategy, Energy and Environmental Specialization, from University of Calgary, Masters in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from University of Manchester, and a BSc in Chemical Engineering from University of Tehran. He has also received Design Thinking certification from Harvard Business School.

Nima Najand, Director, Life Sciences Innovation Hub, Innovate Calgary

With a decade of experience supporting the commercialization of early-stage technologies, Nima combines his understanding of science and engineering with knowledge of intellectual property, licensing, and business to devise commercialization strategies for life science companies. Nima runs the Life Sciences Innovation Hub at the University of Calgary and is a strong advocate for the life sciences sector in Alberta. He holds a PhD in Medical Genetics from the University of Calgary and a MSc in Cell Biology from the University of Alberta.

Location: TC Energy Tower (450 1 Street SW) - Calgary, Alberta 


Registration

Members of the Strategic Capability Network may attend this event at no cost, we just ask that you register. Members may bring 1 guest at the member rate.

Non-Members are charged a fee of $75.00 + GST per registration. Please note our membership rate is pro-rated which means for only $113+tax you can join the Strategic Capability Network and take advantage of this event AND any remaining 2022 events for FREE.