about us
Toronto Climate Week (TOCW) was born from a bold grassroots vision: to create a Canadian platform that unites climate action with culture, innovation, and community. Its mission is to position Toronto and Canada as a globally recognized climate hubs.
advisory board
The Advisory Board brings together passionate individuals who provide ongoing strategic guidance and deep engagement. Their expertise and insight help steer the initiative’s long-term direction, ensuring its relevance, impact, and ability to connect across sectors and communities.
Cindy is a Board Member of the Dartmouth Climate Alliance and partner at InsightAI Capital, where she supports new ventures at the intersection of technology, sustainability and social impact. Previously, she served as a strategy director at RBC and as a consultant at Oliver Wyman. She actively collaborates with universities, nonprofits, and international organizations to support research into climate solutions, sustainable materials and the clean economy.
As co-founder and president of her family foundation, Joannah partners with universities, not for profits, think tanks, and other foundations for maximum impact. The foundation’s mandate is the widespread adoption of sustainable practices to promote human health and to protect the natural world. A key pillar of the foundation’s work is enabling nutrient rich food systems that are produced sustainably to help mitigate climate change.
Michelle is a global climate champion who built her career in Silicon Valley leading tech companies. She founded clever carbon, a carbon literacy project; Women and Climate, a community that creates a joyful and safe space for women to learn and talk climate; and at New York Climate Week ‘23, she launched the Carbon Newbie Summit, to make climate literacy and action accessible to all.
Murray is the Founder and Managing Partner of ArcTern Ventures. Established in 2012, ArcTern invests globally in breakthrough technology companies tackling climate change and sustainability. The firm is currently deploying its $350 million Fund III into early growth climatetech companies across energy, mobility, food systems, and industrial decarbonization. He is also a former Olympian, having represented Canada in the 1992 Games.
Nelson Switzer is co-founder and managing partner of Climate Innovation Capital, a Toronto-based climate venture fund. A pioneer in corporate sustainability and sustainable finance, he brings 20+ years of experience, including leadership roles in sustainability at Nestlé, PwC, and RBC. He’s advised Fortune 500 companies, investors, and governments, and taught at Northwestern University and The University of Waterloo. Nelson’s insights have been featured by CBC, CNN, Forbes, and more.
For over three decades, Nick has been creating ventures and platforms for positive, exponential impact. Today, as Chairman of Parker Impact, Nick makes principal investments - presently in solar, carbon-to-value, fintech, energy storage and artificial intelligence, while advancing his latest initiative -CleanAI. Founded in 2022, the Initiative’s mission is to accelerate decarbonization and sustainability through smart digital technology. Nick is currently a Board Member of GRE&T Centre, SNOLAB and the Centre for Social Innovation.
Oksana is a Partner in EY Canada’s Sustainability Advisory Practice, based in Toronto. With over 20 years of global experience, Oksana specializes in designing, implementing, and measuring the impact of large-scale transformation initiatives rooted in behavior change. Over the past six years at EY, Oksana has guided private and public sector clients in embedding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into business strategies, risk frameworks, and operations.
Randy is an entrepreneur, event producer, marketer, and speaker with over 30 years of experience. He co-hosts Green Drinks Toronto, a monthly environmental networking event, and founded Toronto Greenhouse, which produced green business events and the Green Business Strategy Summit. He’s consulted for the Green Living Show and Green Jobs Forum, drawing 30,000+ attendees. Randy has built a LinkedIn network of 27,000+ contacts, bringing deep expertise in marketing, business development, and leadership.
Scott is serial software entrepreneur who's current venture, ContactMonkey, has been recognized by Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and the Globe and Mail as one of the fastest growing companies in Canada. Recent interest in ocean and wildlife conservation brought him to Toronto Climate Week. Outside of software and conservation he is a music executive producer.
Shatha is a strategic leader who brings over a decade of experience working on climate issues, sustainability, clean technology, and innovation. Through her leadership, Climate Positive Energy has mobilized over $40M in government and industry partnerships to address the climate issues related to technology, policy and community. Shatha has been nominated for Clean50 Award and represented the University of Toronto at COP28 and IEA Energy Innovation Forum. She is an active panelist and speaker at climate and industry events.
Tonya Surman is a pioneering Canadian social entrepreneur and founding CEO of the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI). She’s behind tools like the Community Bond and Constellation Model, which have supported 6,000+ initiatives and raised $10M+ for impact real estate. Tonya also co-founded Social Innovation Canada to strengthen the national ecosystem.
domain experts
Domain Experts are leaders in their field who bring insight, expertise and connections to advise on content and lead development of our flagship events.
Akash is a seasoned business executive with 20 years experience in the Financial Services industry – in senior roles that included Partner & Canadian Head of Financial Services Advisory practice at a Fortune 200 consulting firm and institutional derivatives trading. Akash is currently the Chief Capital Strategy Officer at Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, co-founder of the Reykjavik Protocol, mentor at CDL – Oceans Stream, member of Canadian National Carbon Management Coalition, mentor to numerous ocean-based CDR startups and a Board member of Humber Bay Sailing Centre.
Na’im is Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada, advancing carbon removal as a climate, social, and economic solution. He’s the founder of Carbon Curve, a consulting practice advancing equitable carbon removal, and an advisor to Terraset and the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative. He brings over 10 years of global non-profit leadership experience.
Phil is currently co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of CURA, an electrochemical cement decarbonization startup. Prior to CURA, Phil was Chief Science & Commercial Officer at direct air capture project developer Deep Sky, led carbontech at McKinsey & Company, was the youngest-ever Director at the National Research Council of Canada, and was a finalist in the Carbon XPRIZE. He is a Governor General Gold Medal winning scientist, a Member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, an adjunct Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto, and a Forbes Top 30 Under 30.
Serena Mendizabal (she/her) is a Cayuga Wolf Clan Panamanian woman from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Serena is a community-based researcher, grassroots organizer, and environmental advocate, and has worked in climate, environment, and clean energy for almost a decade. Serena is the Managing Director at Sacred Earth, an Indigenous women-led organization supporting Indigenous communities in implementing climate solutions and healing justice. Through Sacred Earth Solar, Serena has implemented renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure projects alongside communities across Turtle Island.
Tyler Hamilton is Senior Director of Climate at MaRS and guides all climate-related activities for ventures, corporate partners and investors. He is also on the board of the Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association (OCTIA)
core team
Toronto Climate Week is powered by a homegrown team of volunteers, creatives, and builders - driven by love, hustle, and a shared belief in bold collaboration. TOCW is proudly community built and community owned. It’s not just about talking climate - it’s about sparking action, building networks, and turning Toronto into a global stage for climate leadership.
Programming, Partnerships & Sponsorships
becky park-romanovsky
Founder & Executive Director | LinkedIn
john hansen
Programming Lead | LinkedIn
linnet kocheril
Partnerships Lead (North America) | LinkedIn
sebastian davila
Partnerships Lead (Global) | LinkedIn
georgette alam
Finance Lead | LinkedIn
tarika vijayaraghavan
Programming Coordinator (Food Track) | LinkedIn
angie khayan rojas
Operations Assistant | LinkedIn
Operations
sarah clayton
Head of Operations | LinkedIn
athul kumar
Operations Lead | LinkedIn
abrar ahmed mohammed
Operations Coordinator | LinkedIn
cynthia roberts
Event Coordinator | LinkedIn
eviatar tron
Business Processes & Automations Lead | LinkedIn
PR & Media
chloe d'agostini
Head of Brand & Comms | LinkedIn
shubhi vijay
Brand & Media Lead | LinkedIn
Content
kaitlyn osborne
Head of Content | LinkedIn
elizabeth cockle
Newsletter Lead | LinkedIn
mady sharp
Social Media Lead | LinkedIn
tina krizman
Social Media Coordinator | LinkedIn
dan bargo
Social Media Coordinator | LinkedIn
nile choi
Social Media & Newsletter Coordinator | LinkedIn
Design
ella sabourin
Designer & Art Direcor | LinkedIn
clare willis
Brand Creator | LinkedIn
rucha bhatt
Designer | LinkedIn
Web Development
kunaal arora
Website Lead | LinkedIn
isabelle beaudry hajji
Web Developer | LinkedIn
Data
ellen gute
Data Strategy Lead | LinkedIn
max allison
Data Analyst | LinkedIn
patrick mcadams
Data Analyst | LinkedIn
david grant
CRM Implementation | LinkedIn
Marketing
kristy sadler
Marketing Lead | LinkedIn
melina corvaglia
Content Strategy Coordinator | LinkedIn
alexandra kolar
Marketing Coordinator | LinkedIn
People & Culture
srikar kovirineni
Volunteer Coordinator | LinkedIn
sophie wolkoff
People & Culture Co-Lead | LinkedIn
melina damián
People & Culture Co-Lead | LinkedIn
Videography
oren falkovitz
Videographer & Storyteller | LinkedIn
josephine tse
Video Coordinator | LinkedIn