Opening Keynote: Carl Oxholm, FCPA, FCA, COC, Founder and CEO at Virtue Compass Inc.

Topic: Ethical Leadership 

Ethical leadership isn’t just a philosophical ideal—it’s a daily discipline, especially in professions built on trust, precision, and accountability. In this keynote, Carl explores how self-awareness, empathy, and the courage to admit what we don’t know can elevate how we lead and collaborate. With real-world relevance for CPAs, this talk challenges attendees to examine the habits, values, and energy they bring to complex situations—especially when the stakes are high. Expect practical tools, fresh insights, and a candid look at how ethical alignment can strengthen decision-making, reduce risk, and create a ripple effect of integrity across teams and organizations.

Key Takeaways: 

• Ethical Leadership Begins with Inner Alignment:
  True ethics starts within. Leaders must cultivate self-awareness, honesty, and intentionality to act in alignment with their values—especially under pressure. 
    
• Mistakes, Empathy, and the Courage to Not Know:
  Ethical leaders embrace vulnerability. By acknowledging mistakes, practicing empathy, and staying open to uncertainty, they build trust and foster authentic contribution.
   
• Response-Ability Over Reactivity: 
  Ethical leadership is a practiced discipline. The ability to respond with clarity—rather than react impulsively—shapes team dynamics, mitigates risk, and creates a ripple effect of integrity.

Monique Mackinnon, CEO l Investigator l Speaker | Corporate Trainer

Topic: Mastering Your Inner Sleuth: 5 Steps to Developing Investigative Foresight

Successful ethical problem-solving and investigations begin with knowing your sleuth strengths and trusting your instincts. With 55% of accountants witnessing unethical behavior, learn how to sharpen both your investigative edge and ethical compass while managing different personalities and upholding professional standards. Discover why psychological availability is your secret weapon: critical decisions and key evidence surface naturally when you achieve this mental clarity. Become a proactive sleuth who gains credibility as a trusted business partner.

Key Takeaways:

• Discover your sleuth type (Insightful, Inventive, Persuasive, or Resourceful) to leverage your natural investigative strengths while maintaining ethical clarity.
• Master the 5-step investigative foresight method (Intention-Intuition-Answer-Action-Follow Through) to solve complex ethical challenges efficiently.
• Build self-trust through psychological availability, and ethical decisions and investigative insights emerge easily.

Danny Weill, MBA, Q.Med., Executive Vice President at ALIAS 

Topic: Best Practices in Ethics Reporting for your Clients 

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding of risk exposure to your clients in having/not having proper ethics reporting mechanisms (whistleblowing reporting) as part of good governance.
• Whistleblowing reporting in this era of heightened sensitivity.
• How you can support your clients through awareness/compliance.

Dr. Cindy Gordon, CEO, AI Data Scientist, AI Ethicist, Board Director

Topic: The AI Precipice: The Challenges of Balancing Innovation and Responsible AI

Key Takeaways:

• Dr. Gordon will share the top challenges in balancing innovation and responsible AI based on over ten years of AI operational experiences designing and building AI software and strategies to advance AI transformation needs globally.
• Market Research of the growing unease of trusting AI and cases compelling to increase legislation and AI guard rails, especially for children, and in health care.
• Case Studies will be highlighted of organizations getting AI right and also those getting AI wrong.
• A strategic framework to advance Ethical AI practices will also be highlighting.

Closing Keynote: Joanna Gualteiri, Lawyer and Prominent Canadian Whistleblower

Topic: Blowing the Whistle: The Assault on Free Speech Intensifies

Whistleblowing at its essence, is the exercise of free speech rights to expose wrongdoing that threatens or harms the public interest. Whistleblowers are the essential conduit between institutional secrecy and the public’s right to know.  An indispensable pillar of a free and democratic nation, whistleblowing emerged in response to President Nixon’s cover-up of criminal activity against his political opponents. America has led the charge.  But where is Canada? Drawing on thirty years of experience including her landmark case against the Federal Government which exposed staggering taxpayer waste in Canada’s diplomatic corps, Joanna will chronicle how for five decades Canada’s successive governments have failed to provide even basic whistleblower protection. Joanna’s clarion call will be for us all to know that the risk of silence is great, and potentially lethal.   

Key Takeaways: 

• Whistleblowing is Free Speech:
  When a truthful employee elects to blow the whistle, they are engaging in constitutionally protected free speech. Moreover, they are compelled not by personal profit, but by public interest and trust.  The days of maligning a whistleblower as a malcontent or disgruntled employee are over.
   
• Truthtelling Whistleblowers Protect Organizations:
  The tried and true response of organizations is to silence and crush dissent. History shows (recall Enron) that this can be catastrophic and misguided for the health and durability of the organization. By engaging in an ethos of respect, openness and responsibility, organizational leaders not only avert escalation but engender employee loyalty and trust with the public.
   
• Towards a Better Future: Understanding the Price that Whistleblowers Pay and Committing to End It:
  Those who tell the truth endure devastating consequences: professionally, financially and personally. Recovering is a lifelong process. Faith — not only institutions but social justice — and cohesiveness is shattered. A society must not, should not, and cannot, rely on whistleblowers to protect us while we do nothing to protect them. By understanding the virtue of whistleblowers, the commitment to demanding legal protection and cultural tolerance becomes easier and ultimately viewed as necessary. Collectively we thrive as a nation when our organizations uphold the sacred public trust.